一、钱孝子寻父传说
慈城城隍庙
位于宁波江北区的慈城原来是慈溪的县衙所在地。慈城，顾名思义即慈孝之城，“慈孝”二字真可谓名副其实，一段慈城的历史就是众多慈父（母）孝子（女）的故事集，其中钱氏孝子钱秉虔千里寻父的故事哪怕放到今日也依然闪着光芒。
根据《慈溪县志》的记载，钱秉虔是清朝时期人，小时候家道中落，父亲外出挣钱，秉虔与母亲则留在慈城，相依为命，日子过得十分清苦。真所谓“穷人孩子早当家”，秉虔九岁（相当于现在二年级的小朋友）就开始挣钱补贴家用。他找来一些粘土制作成玩偶，换来粮食给母亲做饭。有时候顾客给他一些点心果品，这个孩子必然忍住口水不吃，带回家来跟母亲分享。
等到钱秉虔14岁了，他听说父亲在东北某地，便跟母亲商量去接他回来。当母亲的肯定舍不得，但是秉虔早已下定了决心去找父亲。他从慈城出发，一路徒步走到辽东。那个年代没有火车高铁，没有高速公路，也没有手机导航，连当时的马车和客船他都没有余钱享用，他这一路所经历的千辛万苦真是难以想象。天遂人愿，最后，他找到了数年未见的父亲。可那时父亲已经身体虚弱，他就用肩挑担做小买卖，一分一厘地攒下了盘缠。直到秉虔19岁时，他终于可以带父亲回家了。
钱氏宗祠
不料，在回家途中，父亲身染重病走不了了，吃了各种药都没有用，两人在江苏宿迁耽搁了下来。秉虔向神祈祷，为父亲祈福，想割下自己身上的肉来为父亲治病（应该是受到某些说教故事的影响吧）。幸好这时有老人敲门求见，阻止了他的自残行为，说行孝虽然重要，但是叫他万万不可伤害自己的身体，并留下了一剂良药。病重的父亲吃了药，果然病就好了。父子二人欢欢喜喜回了家。
故事结尾听起来有些神奇，但是仔细想来非常感人。不管这记载是真是假，故事不仅仅是对孝子的赞扬，更饱含了叙述者对为人子女者的一片慈爱之心。
慈湖
一、The Story of Qian Bingqian from Cicheng
Cicheng Town, formerly the city center of Cixi, and now the biggest town in Jiangbei District of Ningbo, is worthy of its name, which means a town of parental love and filial love. And the history of the town is practically a collection of numerous stories of affectionate parents and their loving children, among which the legend of Qian Bingqian is a most brilliant one, even in the eyes of people today.
According to Cixi County Records, Qian was born during the Qing Dynasty, into a family that had gone down in the world. His father left the town in the hope of making a fortune, but never returned. So Bingqian was brought up by his mother, who could barely make ends meet. As the Chinese old saying goes, children from poor families learn to mature early, so did Bingqian, who began to make money at nine, of the age of today’s second graders. He made some clay toys to trade for rice to support the family. Every time he got snacks or fruits from his customers, he would take the foods back home and share with his mom, even if they had made his mouth water.
When Bingqian was 14 years old, he heard that his father was seen somewhere in Northeast China. He asked his mother whether he could go there to bring his father back home. The mom was too concerned about the son’s safety but he was determined to do it. He walked from Cicheng on foot all the way to Liaodong, or East Liaoning, at the time when there were no trains, no express roads, or no phones with GPS navigation. Without even extra money to spend on fares of carriages or boats, he had to endure all kinds of unimaginable pains on his way to look for his father, whom he found at last. But the old man was too weak and sick to walk back home with him, and the son had to save for travelling expenses by peddling door to door. When he turned 19, he finally got enough money to start his journey with his father back home.
Unfortunately, on their way home, his old dad was stricken with some acute disease and unable to go on with the trip. He tried all kinds of medicine but none worked. The father and the son were forced to stay for a time in Suqian, Jiangsu, about 1,000 miles away from their home town. Bingqian prayed to deity for his father’s wellbeing, and was about to cut off a piece of his own flesh to feed his dad as a cure when an old man knocked at the door and stopped him. The man told him, “Important as filial piety is, people should never stick to it by hurting themselves.” The man then gave him some medicine before disappearing. He fed it to his father, who did recover his health before long. They resumed their trip back home happily.
The legend may sound too dramatic, but it is still a very touching story. Whether fictional or not, this account from the historical book is not merely a praise of a devoted child, but also a full expression of its narrator’s affections for all sons and daughters in the world.
二、董孝子传说
宁波火车站南侧曾有一座董孝子庙。随着城市的扩张和火车站的升级改造，这座庙再次面临迁址。可是哪怕城市再怎么发展，这座庙是万万舍不得毁弃的，因为宁波多个地方的文化之根源于此庙，如慈溪市、江北区慈城镇、慈湖、慈江和余姚大隐镇。由于行政区划的历史变革，上述地名已经分属不同的县市，但是如果寻根溯源，原来它们都和东汉时期的一位著名大孝子董黯有关。
据史书记载，董黯是东汉时期句章（今慈城附近）人，是西汉时期倡导“罢黜百家，独尊儒术”的董仲舒的第六代后人。他十岁不幸丧父，与寡母相依为命。母亲生病的时候不思饮食，唯独想念老家大隐的甘冽山泉，董黯便日日来回二十多里路奔波，肩挑清泉侍奉母亲。见儿子如此辛苦，当母亲的于心不忍，于是母子二人考虑搬家，最终在山溪附近定居下来。不知是孝心所致，还是山泉有奇效，董母的病后来真的好了。
董黯侍母图（图片来源网络）
董黯的孝行人人传颂，连皇帝都听说了，因此封他到京城当官。但是董黯一心只求照顾老母亲，不肯赴任，宁可日日砍柴，粗茶淡饭，终此一生。后人为了纪念这位孝子及其慈母，将大隐溪改名为“慈溪”，并建造董孝子庙以感怀董黯的孝行。从此，慈孝文化代代相传，造就了今日的文明城市。
慈城老建筑
二、The legend of Dong An
There used to be a Dong Xiaozi Temple, a folk religion building devoted to a dutiful son surnamed Dong, near the railway station of Ningbo. Because of the expansion of the train stop and the growth of the municipality, the sanctuary is to be relocated again. Whatever development the prefectural-level city seeks, the temple is never to be abandoned, for it symbolizes the cultural root of many places in Ningbo, such as Cixi City, Cicheng Town in Jiangbei District, Cihu Lake, Cijiang River, and Dayin Town in Yuyao City, the names of which, though belonging to different county-level cities or districts, were historically related to Dong An, the famous devoted son during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 -- 220 AD).
According to historical records, Dong was a native of Gouzhang County, where Cicheng Town is, a sixth-generation descendant of Dong Zhongshu who promoted Confucianism as the official ideology of ancient China since the Western Han Dynasty (206BC –25AD). He was brought up by his widowed mother after his father died when he was ten. Once, his mother fell sick. Learning that she was having no appetite for anything but the streamlet water from her childhood home in Dayin, he went on foot to the village in the mountains about four miles away, to fetch the sweetish natural drink every day. The mum, on the other hand, felt sorry to see her child working so hard for her wellness. They decided to remove to the hamlet and finally settled down near Dayin Stream. The mother recovered from her illness later, either due to the magic healing effect of the spring water or thanks to the filial piety of her son.
Dong’s deeds were celebrated widely and soon the emperor heard about it, who appointed him to a high-rank position in Luoyang, the then capital of the dynasty far from Ningbo. Dong, however, reclined the offer, determined to take care of his old mother back home even if it meant having to live a simple life in the country. Later, the streamlet in Dayin was renamed “Cixi”, with “ci” meaning maternal love and “xi” rivulets, in memory of Dong and his affectionate mother. Since then, the culture of filial piety has been handed down from generation to generation, making Ningbo a city of civilization.
三、葛洪与孝子岭传说
孝子岭石碑
葛洪是东晋时期著名的道教学者和炼丹家，但是从今天的眼光来看，应该算是道教学家、化学家和医学家，甚至是养生学家。根据北仑新闻网报道，诺贝尔医学奖获得者宁波人屠呦呦曾说，青蒿素的发现也受到葛洪的医学著作《肘后备急方》启发。
葛洪曾云游四方，因此在浙江多地留下了美好传说，很多地名和建筑与他有关。如杭州有著名的葛岭和抱朴道院，舟山普陀山有葛洪井，而宁波北仑则有孝子岭、望娘岗和灵峰寺。孝子岭古道风光旖旎，是宁波驴友最爱的徒步路线之一，途中必经的灵峰寺则香火旺盛，庙中供有葛洪像，善男信女常常上山朝拜。
“孝子岭”名称的由来与葛洪和其母亲有关。有一说法是，当年为避乱世，葛洪携母来到东海之滨茅洋山，二人见此地风水奇特，民风淳朴，且山高林密，多有奇花异草，决定在此定居下来。自此，葛母住在茅洋，而葛洪则在旁边灵峰炼丹。但是，每日炼丹之后，葛洪必走一段山路前去看望母亲，风雨无阻。如此孝心，引得村民交口称赞，后人就把这条山路称为“孝子岭”。
而望娘岗的名称则有不同解释，有人说是葛洪得道成仙后，母亲思念儿子，经常在山岗上盼望。可是这毕竟是神化后的传说。也有说法认为“望娘”是土话“茅洋”的谐音。更可信的说法是，“望娘”就是前去看望娘亲的意思，因为“望”字本身就有探望之意，吴方言里面有“望病人”这样的说法。
葛洪在灵峰寺修炼期间常常用自己的高超的医术救治百姓，留下了很多神奇的故事，至今流传，因此当地信奉葛仙翁的善男信女很多。北仑则成立了专门研究这一传统的葛洪非物质文化遗产研究中心。
三、The Story of Gehong and Xiaozi Ridge
Ge Hong was a famous Taoist occultist and alchemist in search of elixir of life during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and is considered today to be a Taoist scholar, chemist, and physician, or even health scientist. One of his medical works had inspired the discovery of qinghaosu, or artemisinin, said Tu Youyou, a Nobel laureate for Physiology or Medicine from Ningbo, according to Beilun news report.
As Ge Hong travelled far and wide, leaving behind many legends and folklores related to him, many places and buildings in Zhejiang are named after him or his deeds. In Hangzhou, there is a hill called Ge Ling near the West Lake, and a Baopu Taoist Temple on the hill, with Baopu being Ge Hong’s another name meaning embracing simplicity. In Zhoushan, there is a Ge Hong Well on the island of Mount Putuo. And in Beilun District, Ningbo, there is a long mountain range called Xiaozi (which means a devoted son) Ridge, a nearby peak called Wangniang Gang and temple called Lingfeng Temple. Xiaozi Ridge is an age-old scenic walk on the mountain ridge, one of the most favoured destinations for the local hikers. And Lingfeng Temple is a must-go spot along the path. It is a place of pilgrimage for local religious people, with a statue of Ge Hong in the main hall.
The name of Xiaozi Ridge is said to have originated from stories of Ge Hong and his mother. According to one version, Ge came to this Maoyang Mountain with his mother in order to escape the tumult of the world. They decided to settle here after they saw the peculiar geography of the place and the simple way of life of the local farmers, and, more importantly, after they found the high mountains and deep forests, a habitat for many rare herbs. From then on, the mother lived in Maoyang Mountain and the son practiced alchemy in the near Lingfeng Mountain. Every day, after a day’s work on alchemy, Ge Hong would walk along a ridge path to pay his mom a visit in all weathers. His filial piety won him praises from the villages, who began to call the ridge road Xiaozi Ridge.
孝子岭
As for the origin of Wangniang Gang, there are different theories. Some believe that Wangniang means a mother gazing into the distance. They say that after Ge Hong achieved immortality and rose into heaven, his mother thought of him and watched for his return every day. Another explanation goes that Wangniang is simply the homophone of Maoyang in the local dialect. A more credible interpretation is that Wangniang means visiting one’s mother, because one meaning of wang is to visit a person, with the proof of the phrase “wang bingren (to visit a patient)” in the dialect.
There are many folktales about how Ge Hong cured the local villagers with his superb medical skills during his stay in Lingfeng Temple. Therefore, many old people here still have the tradition of worshiping the immortal Ge Hong. Some years ago, an intangible cultural heritage research center on Ge Hong was established in Beilun District of Ningbo.
茅洋禅寺
浙江省社科联社科普及课题成果
课题编号：19YB36
课题名称：汉英对照浙江慈孝故事集
负责人：曹钦琦
工作单位：宁波大学
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