Footprints of Xuancheng's visit to Li Bai.

Follow in the footsteps of Li Bai in Xuancheng

Writing and Photography: Weng Xin

This article was published in the newspaper's Private Geography.

Recently, some netizens photographed a bunch of wine bottles in front of Li Bai's tomb. Weibo once shared, attracted numerous regrets. Few people know that Li Bais Tomb is located at the foot of Qingshan Mountain in dangtu county, Anhui Province, unless a hot search is made in the photo later. In ancient times, Dangtu County was under the jurisdiction of Xuancheng. Li Bai and Xuancheng are inextricably linked, so that he spent most of his later years in Xuancheng. Next, let's follow in the footsteps of Li Bai and visit this "land of Xuancheng poets since ancient times".

Xuancheng, known as Xuanzhou in ancient times, is located in the southeast of Anhui Province and is the famous hometown of Four Treasures of the Study. Xuancheng has a long history and profound cultural heritage, especially Li Bai left many footprints and famous sentences here in his later years. From the age of 53 to 62, Li Bai visited Xuancheng seven times in the last ten years of his life, which shows that he has special feelings for Xuancheng, and all this is mainly related to one person, that is, Xie Tiao, a poet of the Southern Dynasties.

"Thanks to Xuancheng for saving his life", this poem is written by Li Bai. Li Bai's talent was not met all his life, and he only admired Xie Shu, a landscape poet in Southern Qi Dynasty. Xie Shu used to be the satrap of Xuancheng, known as "Xie Xuancheng". After Li Bai came to Xuancheng, no matter where Xie Shu had been before his death, Li Bai would leave footprints three times and four times.

There is a "Xie Tiao Building" in Xuancheng City, which was originally Xie Tiao's study when he was a satrap in Xuanzhou, and was later converted into a building named after people. Li Bai visited many times and wrote poems in memory of Xie Tiao. His two representative works, Qiudeng Xuancheng Qi Xie North Building and Xuanzhou Xie Tiao Building Farewell to School, are written here. In particular, the latter's "But since the water is still flowing, even though we cut it with our swords and raise our glasses to drown our sorrows, since the world can't satisfy our desire, I will let go of my hair tomorrow and take a fishing boat" has become a famous sentence throughout the ages.

As one of the "Four Famous Buildings in the South of the Yangtze River", Xie Tiao Tower is also an important geographical symbol of traditional poetry and literature. After coming to Xuancheng, I visited Xie Tiao Building at the first stop. Xie Tiao Building is located in the center of Xuancheng, on a hillside of Fushan Square, next to the small Xuancheng Museum, and there is a statue of the poet Xie Tiao in the square. When I came here, I found that it has become a leisure place for local people. Many old people around here are drinking tea and playing cards, and the environment is no longer quiet.

It is said that the historic Xie Tiao Building was well preserved until the Republic of China, when it was bombed and destroyed in the war. Today's Xie Tiao Building was rebuilt on the original site in the 1990s, and the Huaixie Pavilion was rebuilt next to it, but it hasn't completely restored its original style.

Xie Tiao Building is not high, with one floor and two floors. The floor is simple and elegant, and the life of Xie Tiao is briefly introduced. On the second floor, the view was blocked by residential buildings. In ancient times, you could see Jingting Mountain in the north of the city when you boarded Xie Tiao Tower, so it was also called Beiwanglou.

"Whoever goes to the North Tower will thank the public in the breeze", and now the Xie Tiao Tower has already been submerged in the high-rise buildings of the city. I'm afraid I can't find the scenery described in Li Bai's poems, such as "picturesque scenery" or "autumn geese are accompanied by the wind, so I face it from this villa and drink my wine".

Xie Tiao's style of landscape poetry, which integrated emotion into the landscape, influenced many poets in the Tang Dynasty. Li Bai's worship and admiration for Xie Tiao is unparalleled. Some people say that Li Bai saw his own shadow in Xie Tiao. For example, both of them are talented hermits who are frustrated in their political careers and can only seek comfort. Jingting Mountain, a few kilometers away from Xie Tiao Building, is the intersection of their spiritual sustenance.

Jingting Mountain is also a must-see place to Xuancheng, located in the northern suburb of Xuancheng. This mountain belongs to the branch of Huangshan Mountain, and its altitude is not high, only more than 300 meters, and it stretches for more than ten miles from east to west. It is said that Xie Tiao visited Jingting Mountain when he had nothing to do. Li Bai not only visited many times, but also built a small house here.

There is a poem to prove it: "My family worships the pavilion, and after thanking the public for hundreds of years, the wind period is like yesterday." I followed Xie Shu and settled down at the foot of Jingting Mountain. Although Xie Gong has been dead for a hundred years, it seems like yesterday when I think of his elegant demeanor-he is completely a capital fan.

Compared with the famous mountains and rivers, the scenery of Jingting Mountain is nothing special. Jingting Mountain became famous only after poems such as You Jingting Mountain written by Xie Shu in Southern Qi Dynasty and Sitting alone in Jingting Mountain written by Li Bai in Tang Dynasty were widely circulated. After thanking Li, poets such as Bai Juyi, Du Mu and Han Yu all came here to visit and write poems, so Jingting Mountain is also called "Jiangnan Poetry Mountain".

Starting from the main entrance of the scenic spot, there is still a distance from climbing the stairs. Fortunately, the scenery along the way is good. Now Jingting Mountain is surrounded by tea fields, and the tea produced has a nice name called Jingting Green Snow.

Passing through the Twin Towers of Guangjiao Temple along the main road, it is said to be the only existing Twin Towers of Song Dynasty in China. Near the foot of the mountain, there are two newly-built temples, Guangjiao Temple on the left and Hongyuan Temple on the right. Don't visit the temple, cross Jingting Square in front and climb the mountain officially.

Not far along the mountain road, after the ancient Zhao Pavilion, there is a beautiful stone statue in the depths of the bamboo forest. She is the legendary Princess Yu Zhen, who became a monk in Jingting Mountain. Not far away, there is a acacia spring, which is said to be evidence that Li Bai and Princess Yu Zhen love each other.

Princess Yu Zhen is the sister of Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. She has a high position, and indeed she has had many intersections with Li Bai. Li Bai's appointment to imperial academy was her recommendation. Later, Li Bai offended the dignitaries and let him go to Hanlin. It is said that Princess Yu Zhen gave up her title in a rage and came to Jingting Mountain to become a female Taoist. It is rumored that Li Bai fell in love with him, so he had reason to come to Jingting Mountain seven times. But the official history of this matter is not recorded, which is not enough to be believed. It may also be an anecdote deliberately created by the scenic spot to attract popularity.

After Acacia Spring, there are Shitao Memorial Hall and Cui Yun Temple, and then there is an uphill road without steps. What appears in front of your eyes is the magnificent "Taibai Building with Single Taiwan". The name of this building is taken from Li Bai's poem. It is a four-story imitation Tang building with a spacious exhibition hall to show Li Bai's footprints in Xuancheng. Although not on the top of the mountain, standing in front of the building can overlook the whole picture of Xuancheng.

Sitting alone in Jingting Mountain was written in the twelfth year of Tianbao. When Li Baichu came to Xuanzhou, he was invited by his brother Li Zhaozhi. He has been wandering for ten years since he was forced to leave Chang 'an. He climbed Jingting Mountain alone, sat alone for a long time, was moved by the scene before him, and sang this eternal swan song sadly.

"Birds fly high, and lonely clouds go alone. Seeing each other tirelessly, I only respect Tingshan. "

All the birds flew away, and all the lonely clouds remained. Only Jingting Mountain looked at him silently, and he looked at Jingting Mountain as if he had found a bosom friend.

At the moment, I am also sitting in Jingting Mountain, experiencing Li Bai's poems. On the surface, this poem describes the scene in front of the poet when he sits alone on Jingting Mountain, but in fact it is a way to use the scenery to melt feelings and write feelings. In the end, does the poem "Meet each other late" refer to mountains or people? Is it Xie Tiao? Or princess Yu Zhen? I'm afraid only Li Bai knows.

Xuancheng and the scenic spots related to Li Bai's poems are mainly famous for the first floor, a mountain and a pool. The building is Xie Tiao Building, the mountain is Jingting Mountain, and the pool is Taohuatan.

From Xuancheng to Taohuatan, you should first take a bus to Jingxian, and then transfer from Jingxian to Taohuatan. Jingxian county is a famous rice paper producing area. Li Bai, who loves to travel everywhere, has visited Jingxian County three times, and the mountains and rivers in Jingchuan are almost everywhere. "Three hundred miles in Jingchuan, with beautiful scenery" was written by Li Bai when he visited Jingxian County.

Taohuatan is located in the southwest of Jingxian County, on the shore of Taiping Lake and in the upper reaches of Qingyi River. Taohuatan is not a real peach blossom, nor a real pond. Refers to the section of Qingyi River that flows through the town, hence the name Tan. The famous Peach Blossom Pond originated from Li Bai's poem To Wang Lun.

When Li Bai came to Taohuatan, he was actually taken in. According to A Qing poet Yuan Mei's Poems with the Garden, Wang Lun, a celebrity in Jingxian County, loves Li Bai's poems and songs. When he learned that Li Bai was in Xuancheng, he wrote a letter and warmly invited Li Bai to visit Taohuatan.

The letter reads: "How is your husband? There are miles of peach blossoms here. How about your drink, sir? There are thousands of hotels here. " This letter fooled the poet who loves to play and drink. After Li Bai came, Wang Lun could only tell the truth. The so-called Shili Peach Blossom refers to the local name "Taohuatan", and Wanjia Hotel is because there is a hotel owner named Wan in the village. Li Bai laughed after listening, but he was not angry. Instead, he was very grateful for Wang Lun's kind invitation, so he sang for a few days by the Peach Blossom Lake with Wang Lun's poems and wine.

Taohuatan Town, called Nanyang Town in ancient times, preserves many ancient houses with southern Anhui characteristics. A Qingyi River divides Taohuatan Town into Zhai Village on the east coast and Wancun Village on the west coast. There are ancient pavilions on both sides to commemorate the poet Li Bai. Standing on Chencun Bridge, looking at the pool surface of Qingyi River, the water is bright, the blue waves are empty, the distant green hills are like Dai, and several village women are washing clothes by the bluestone revetment, just like a scene in the Peach Blossom Garden.

The locals said that if you want to see the most beautiful scenery in Taohuatan, you must come back after the rain. Because the beauty of Taohuatan is mostly hidden in the thick. After the summer rain, the water vapor of Qingyi River rises and floats by the pool, just like an ethereal fairyland. It's a pity that I came at a bad time and missed such a scene.

Along the path along the Qingyi River, I first went to Donganzhai Village. It seems that most of the aborigines in the village have moved out, and many old houses have been abandoned for a long time because they are uninhabited. Going to Zhaicun Old Street is also deserted. Only a few antique shops are still open, and telephone numbers for rent and sale are marked on the sidewalks of some streets. Obviously, there are not many tourists here, and it is an unpopular attraction.

At the end of the river ferry, there is an arched alley door in Zhaicun Old Street, on which is a "bank pavilion" in memory of Li Bai. When Li Bai boarded the ship, Wang Lun led people to take a song to bid farewell. Li Bai thanked Wang Lun for his deep friendship and wrote "To Wang Lun": "Li Bai was about to take a boat when he heard singing on the shore. Peach Blossom Pond is deeper in thousands of feet than in Wang Lun. ".

When I first read it, I thought it was simple and straightforward, but it was also very emotional. Perhaps it is catchy, which is widely spread in Li Bai's poems, and also becomes the eternal advertising word of Taohuatan in the future.

Pass through Tage Anting and come to Gudu by the river. From here, you can take a boat to Wancun on the west bank of Taohuatan. The scenic spots on the west bank mainly include Huaixian Pavilion in memory of Li Bai, Wang Lun's Tomb, and Wanjia Hotel where they drink. I think it's enough to see the scenery on the east coast, so I didn't buy a ticket to go to the other side by boat.

To the north is Zhai's ancestral hall, which was built in the Ming Dynasty. In the ancient ancestral temple, I saw more than a dozen dragon boats with different shapes, which were neatly placed upside down, only to know that Taohuatan has the custom of dragon boat racing every year. I think maybe I can come here to enjoy the Dragon Boat Festival next year. If it rains, maybe I can see the dragon boat walking on the foggy pool water. Isn't it beautiful?

Located in the west of Jingxian County, Chaji Ancient Village, more than ten miles away from Taohuatan, is the largest ancient village in southern Anhui, and is known as the "Secret Land of Southern Anhui". And Taohuatan belong to a tour route, so after swimming in Taohuatan, I went straight to Chaji Ancient Village by car.

Chaji is surrounded by mountains on three sides. There are Maolin bamboo trees on the mountain, a large area of fertile land beside the village, and three streams outside the village pass through the village. There are more than 100 ancient buildings in Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. It is said that if an artist hadn't come here to sketch and found it, Chaji might still be hidden in the deep mountains at the northern foot of Huangshan Mountain, unknown.

Speaking of Chaji, it has a lot to do with Li Bai. It is said that when Li Bai left Taohuatan, he stayed in Chaji for several days. When he left, he said, "Ask Yu what I mean by living in Bishan, but laugh without answering his heart." Peach blossoms and flowing water suddenly go away, and there is nothing in the world. This poem was written by Li Bai when he lived in Chaji Bishan, but many people don't know it, because it is not as popular as To Wang Lun.

Cha Ji's "Cha" is pronounced "Cha" because most people in the village are surnamed Cha. Chaji Village, a branch of the Cha family, moved from Jiyang, Shandong Province in the Tang Dynasty and has a history of 1000 years. The surname Cha has a large population and many ancestral halls. It is said that there were 108 ancestral halls here in its heyday. Jin Yong, whose surname is Cha, should have some origins here.

Today, Chaji is the sketch base of art colleges in various countries, and many painters have built studios here. Chaji is also known as the painter village. When I came to Chaji, I really felt that there were more students taking pictures here than tourists, and there was a strong artistic atmosphere.

In Chaji, the bridge impressed me most. The whole village was built along the river. In order to facilitate travel, the villagers in Chaji have built many arch bridges, flat bridges and cave bridges along the river in an orderly manner. The bridges in Chaji, some small and exquisite, some heavy and vicissitudes, patchwork, are integrated with the houses, which also creates the artistic conception of the houses here.

Chaji is like a simple and elegant ink painting with a long charm. Walking on the bluestone path in the village is like walking in a natural picture scroll. No wonder Li Bai called it a "foreign land" and lingered here, just because Chaji was a place that one would not want to go after having been there.

There is still no conclusion about the birthplace of Li Bai and the dispute between Central Asia Broken Leaf City and Sichuan Jiangyou. But Li Bai's Qingshan cemetery in Dangtu, Anhui Province is indisputable. Dangtu county, about 70 kilometers away from Xuancheng, belonged to Xuanzhou in the Tang Dynasty and is now under the jurisdiction of Maanshan.

It takes about an hour from Xuancheng to Dangtu, and then transfer from Dangtu East Station to Taibai Tomb. Li Bais Tomb is located at the foot of the green hills in the southeast of dangtu county. When Xie Tiao was appointed as the satrap of Xuancheng, he loved the scenery of Castle Peak, often wandered and recited, and built a house in Shannan (now Xiegong Temple), so Castle Peak is also called Xiegong Mountain. When Li Bai was in Dangtu, he also climbed Castle Peak many times to search for Xie Gong's remains.

According to historical records, Li Bai was poor in his later years. At the age of 665,438+0, he still wanted to join the army to counter the rebellion, but he couldn't make it because of illness, so he had to take refuge in the uncle Li of Dangtu County magistrate and live in Longshan, south of Dangtu City. A year later (in the winter of 762), the poet died at home and was buried in Longshan.

Decades after Li Bai was buried, Fan, the son of Li Bai's old friend, passed by Dangtu and found Li Bai's granddaughter. Knowing that she had the last wish of "living near Castle Peak and Xie Tiao", she helped Li Bai's remains to move from Longshan to the foot of Castle Peak. Castle Peak is the place where the poet Xie Tiao often travels. Moving here is tantamount to becoming a "different generation neighbor" with Xie Tiao, which is also Li Bai's last wish. This is why Li Bai's tomb is in Dangtu Castle Peak.

Dangtu people have now expanded Li Bais Tomb into Li Bai Cultural Park, and today's cemeteries are pavilions. There are Taibai Forest of Steles, Taibai Temple, Ten-Yong Pavilion, Qinglianchi and other scenic spots, and there are an endless stream of tourists who come to mourn and visit every year.

Taibai Temple is located in the core of the whole cemetery, and there is a statue of Li Bai in his later years in the ancestral hall. On both sides of the wall, there are some inscriptions, engraved with the epitaph written by Fan and the full text of Li Bai's farewell song. Behind Taibai Temple is Li Bai's graveyard. The grave is round, and the prominent grave is covered with fragrant grass and surrounded by Shi Zhuan. There is a stone tablet in front of the tomb of Li Taibai, a famous minister in the Tang Dynasty, which is said to have been written by Du Fu. I don't know if it means that "the sober people and sages of ancient times are forgotten, and only great drinkers can be immortalized".

I took out the prepared white wine, but I saw many bottles in front of the tombstone. For thousands of years, there has probably never been a shortage of wine in front of Li Bai's grave, and only Li Bai among poets can have such treatment. I sprinkled wine around the grave as a sacrifice, then crossed my hands and made three obeisances to Li Bai's tombstone to show my respect for the immortal poet Brewmaster.

Li Bai and Dangtu have a deep relationship. Besides Li Bais Tomb in Castle Peak, there is also a Li Bai cenotaph in Dangtu. Caishiji is located in the northwest of dangtu county, near the Yangtze River, where Li Bai wrote "Nostalgia" at the foot of Niuzhu Mountain.

More than ten kilometers southwest of Dangtu, it is also the Tianmen Mountain near the Yangtze River, where Li Bai wrote Looking at Tianmen Mountain. That poem was written in the 13th year of Kaiyuan in the prosperous Tang Dynasty (725), that is, the year after Li Bai left Sichuan for a long trip. On his way to Jiangdong by boat, he saw the danger of Tianmen Mountain and couldn't help chanting casually, "Tianmen cuts off the Chu River and Higashi Shimizu flows." The green hills on both sides of the strait are opposite, and the solitary sails come from the sun.

It was the first time he passed the pawnshop without stopping. At that time, he was only 26 years old and full of ambition. He wouldn't have thought that Dangtu would be the place where he died decades later. It was his best time, and he didn't need to think about it yet.