水下考古撩开神秘面纱

计划，文静幽默地称之为：“龙王看了欧洲杯，正在海底开派对，将水搅浑了。”

考古专家王光远介绍说:“我们必须分步对文物进行脱盐，第一个脱盐池浓度还比较高，不至于将文物瞬间稀释，然后逐步递减盐的浓度，使文物适应现在的环境，这个脱盐过程将持续很长时间。”专家们将对出水文物制定相应保护方案。少量梅园石将留在海底继续压舱。届时，沉船表面将用泥沙和梅园石覆盖回填予以保护，等待２０１３年再进一步发掘打捞。

梅园石走出国门

沉睡的矿石是一个亿万年不醒的梦，行走的梅园石却造就了一段不朽的文化交流传奇。

许多人或许以为梅园石不过是石头而已，何来珍贵一说？而在专家眼里它们却是极有价值的，意义重大。水下考古队队长林国聪介绍说，这些梅园石不仅仅是文物，而且是珍贵的文物，通过它可以解决很多问题，比如能判断这艘船的始发港是宁波。而且梅园石在保护沉船遗址至今等方面起到重要作用，它起到镇压沉船的作用，同时又减轻了海水对沉船的冲刷。

梅园石是宁波的特产。林国聪介绍说，梅园石分布于宁波市鄞州区鄞江桥一带，岩石层属凝灰岩，结构致密坚硬，矿物粒度大小均匀，石质细腻、色泽素雅、硬度适中，是一种高档的建筑和雕饰石料。

千百年来，宁波梅园石的行踪遍及海内外。鄞州当地民宅明堂里铺的石板是梅园石，村口庵边小溪上的小桥是清一色的梅园石。在宁波的老外滩、七塔寺、白云庄等历史建筑中都有梅园石，古宅陋巷以及许多不知名的民居建筑里，更是处处可以见到梅园石的踪迹……

宁波梅园石还被广泛用于工艺美术、古典石刻、石雕件及大型建筑门楼。国家级文物保护单位宁波保国寺石牌坊、宁波东钱湖畔的南宋石刻群、天童寺的御碑、阿育王寺的金刚殿栏杆、天一阁门前的石狮、奉化溪口的蒋母墓道以及近代上海汇丰银行的宏大建筑，都采用宁波梅园石建筑或雕刻而成。

古往今来，宁波梅园石早已走出国门，远涉海外。宋朝时去日本、韩国一带的宁波商船常将它当做“碇石”或“压舱石”，既增强船只的稳定性和抗风浪性，又可将石材运到日本、韩国等地作为优质建筑或石雕原料出售。位于日本奈良市的东大寺，始建于公元741年，是日本乃至世界上目前仍在使用的规模最大的佛教寺院之一，被列入《世界遗产保护名录》。中日两国100位专家学者一致公认，距今800多年、被称为日本国宝的奈良东大寺石狮子，用的石材就是宁波梅园石，由来自宁波的工匠专门打造而成。东大寺南大门前的一对石狮子，高1.5米，两前肢直立，两后肢蹲踞，面向正前方，昂首挺胸，一头嘴略张，一头嘴微闭，形象庄严而不失雄壮。它们身上的这些特征，与今天的宁波石狮十分吻合，显示着宁波的传统文化。

日本奈良东大寺门前的这对石狮和般若寺的十三重石塔是宁波梅园石早期行走海外的见证。２００７年和２０１０年宁波市先后出使意大利佛罗伦萨与德国海德堡的仿制东钱湖南宋石刻的两对“文臣武将”，用的也是地道的宁波梅园石。梅园石是宁波对外文化交流的重要载体和沉默的使者。

与此同时，更多的梅园石被用作从宁波港出发的各国船只的压舱石，早就源源不断地来到异国他乡，成了早期宁波与日本和东南亚各地文化交流的佐证。

梅园村民话说梅园石

梅园石，顾名思义就出在宁波一个叫梅园的地方。在今夏的一天，我们来到了位于宁波市鄞州西乡的梅园村，紧挨梅园村的就是梅溪村，在梅溪村附近的山脚下只见几位民工正在挥汗干活，不远处一台采石机正在隆隆地响着。

一位姓袁的工人热情地告诉我们，他是地道的梅溪村人。梅园石这个名称就是从梅园地名传承来的，梅园村就是它的故乡，盛产正宗梅园石的主要有梅锡和梅溪两个点，这里就是最有名的梅溪。

梅园石就是介于普通石头与宝石之间的石材。梅园石色泽浅灰紫，素雅大气，质地均匀细密，硬度适中，而且耐酸碱，是碑刻、石雕和建筑材料的上选石材。此石开采历史悠久。据史籍记载，早在西晋时梅园石便以石质优良著称，是名闻遐迩的建筑与工艺品用材。清徐兆昺《四明谈助》录黄宗羲（明）《四明山志》云：“东浙碑材。不能得太湖石，次之梅园。质颇近腻。今石孔久闭，佳者不易求矣。”在这里，梅园石被视为碑材中之上品，仅次于太湖石。近半个世纪前，“佳者不易求矣”。那“不易求”者是石材，而非经加工雕凿后的工艺品。

梅园石有别于其他“天生”宝石，诸如钻石、翡翠、玉、水晶、玛瑙等，又不同于大理石、花岗石和含有各种金属元素的矿石。

梅园村的村民讲述，埋藏有梅园石的大山在未开采之前，它是整片山岩的一部分，裸露部分称老岩、山壁，隐藏部分叫地骨、岩层。开采加工之后叫法就多了，不同功能、不同形状的梅园石材有不同的叫法，诸如板、梁、柱，碑、础、磉，还有石人、石兽、石器，石门、石窗、石皿等，不胜枚举。

村民还告诉我们，在梅园村方圆2公里之内的梅园石最正宗、材质最好、价值最高。梅园村村民面对层峦叠嶂的梅园石既感到自豪和欣喜，同时也感到责任与压力。在梅溪开采点，工人们指着这座大山七嘴八舌地诉说：这里的梅园石产矿点最多只能再采上3年。村民们也早就预见到这一天的到来。由于开采梅园石有可观的经济效益，当地出现了抢采、盗采梅园石的不法行为，已经引起当地政府的重视，并对其进行了整治。如今，鄞州西郊正宗的梅园石资源已经日渐稀少，如果继续大规模开采，资源将很快就会枯竭，因此切实保护好梅园石资源的责任正历史地落在当地干部群众的肩上。

Rediscovered Stones Relate Past Legend

By Xu Xuemin, Qiu Mingliang

Small White Reef (Xiao Bai Jiao) is one of the 41 reefs and 13 isles of Yushan Islands 27 sea miles southeast of Shipu Port in Zhejiang Province. In 2008, an underwater prospecting jointly conducted by Ningbo Institute of Cultural Heritage and the Underwater Archaeological Research Center of China National Museum discovered a sunken ship off the reef. The shipwreck is named Small White Reef 1. With the approval of the National Administration of Cultural Heritage in April 2011, a group of archaeologists went underwater to explore the sunken ship on the morning of June 26, 2012. CCTV, China’s largest national television network, televised the quest live.

What came up from the ship in the view of television audience were porcelain utensils and cut stones locally known as Meiyuan Stones.

Meiyuan Stones are cut stone building blocks that were widely used in Ningbo in ancient times and exported even to overseas users. The stones salvaged from the 160-year-old shipwreck are about 80 centimeters long, 60 centimeters wide, and 5 to 8 centimeters thick. Each weighs about 50 kilograms. Compared with finds salvaged from sunken Chinese ships in recent years in China’s coastal areas, these building stones are unique.

Meiyuan Stone is a local name for volcano sandstone in Yinzhou District, Ningbo, a port city in eastern Zhejiang Province. Meiyuan Stone was first quarried around Meiyuan Village in Ningbo, thus the name. Local scholars have a long list of standing architectures to demonstrate the popularity of the traditional building blocks. The stones from Meiyuan quarries can be seen in residential houses, bridges, pagodas, lanes, archways, government offices, temples. The best-known artwork abroad carved out of Meiyuan Stone is a pair of lions sitting in front of Todaiji Temple in Japan, built in 741. The 1.5-meter-tall lions, carved of Meiyuan Stone by stonemasons from Ningbo about 800 years ago, are now Japan’s national treasure. In Ningbo, a group of stone statues of military generals and ministers carved of Meiyuan Stone, which goes back to the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), stand in front of tombs on the banks of Dongqian Lake. An imperial monument at Tiantong Temple, a pair of lions in front of Tianyige Library, the banister of Vajra Hall of Asoka Temple, among other important architectural things across Ningbo, are made of Meiyuan stones.

In ancient times, Meiyuan stones were frequently used as ballasts for Chinese ships that carried Chinese goods to Japan and Korea. Once the ships reached their destinations, these building stones were then sold to foreign buyers.

The quarrying of Meiyuan Stone started in the Jin Dynasty (). The sandstone looks purple and its smooth and fine texture looks noble and gracious. For many people across Ningbo, the sandstone is something precious between ordinary rocks and gemstones.

The best quality Meiyuan Stone comes from quarries within a circle of 2 kilometers around Meiyuan Village. It is widely known that a quarry can be operational only for about three years before the resource in the quarry is exhausted. Local stonemasons have developed a full range of methods to cut stone pieces out of the hills, as they cut rocks in certain shapes in the most economical way. What remain as useless dregs are used as small rocks for paving roads. Looking at mountains around Meiyuan, villagers know they are blessed with the rocky fortune that can benefit them for a long time to come. However, the mountain can be gone one day in the future if stone quarrying goes on recklessly. Some illegal excavating programs have been going on for a while. The local government has adopted measures to protect the sandstone resource.

The underwater exploration on June 23, 2012 was only the first endeavor to look into the treasure in the sunken ship off Small White Reef. Half buried at the bottom about 26 meters deep, the ship holds quite a few Meiyuan stones. The explorers would come back to the wreckage in 2013. Until then, the ship will stay at the bottom, allowing the stones to act as ballasts and keep the ship where it is.

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