Love in Xiangxi Prose

In my childhood a long time ago, for some reason, there was a world in my heart. This world is not a vast sea or a vast plain, but a vast mountain. There are all kinds of wild animals in the mountains that can become human, but they have never hurt me; I can always find strange flowers and fruits that can become immortals after eating them; Knives and axes split mountains and hang clouds, and the jade pavilion in Qionglou and the Gui Dian Lan Palace are hidden. Occasionally, an old man with a white beard drives out in the clouds ... this is the world in my heart. She became my companion. Before I fell asleep, when I didn't have a playmate, in the class where I was often bored and distracted, she supported me to be happy or lonely, and supported the sky of my ignorant childhood until I grew up.

When I knew that such a mountain was just a fairy tale, the world in my heart did not collapse because of it, but fell into reality and still lived in my heart, that is: Xiangxi! Yes, the world in my heart fell to Xiangxi.

When I was a child, I heard some stories about mountains. For example, people in the mountains call shoes "children", such as villages where houses need wooden sticks to support three or two families, and methods. The other is the origin of this clan, which has been passed down from generation to generation. Probably our family didn't move here from Shanxi Sophora japonica. If so, our little toenails should be two flaps. Our ancestors moved from Yunnan, and we are all descendants of ancestors who moved from Yunnan. After listening to it, I once took off my shoes and looked carefully. The little toenail really didn't have two petals.

According to the geography book, the southwest of China is like a roof, and then it descends to the east. Xiangxi is just at the end of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, followed by Dongting and Jingchu, as well as Jiangnan and the Central Plains. I once stood by the Yuanjiang River and wrote a song "Traveling in Xiangxi and Looking Back at China by the Yuanjiang River in Yuanling".

"eight hundred miles to fill the Dongting,

Moisturize Jingchu for five thousand years.

In the March fireworks in Jiangnan,

Since ancient times, the Central Plains has unified the sky. "

So in my mind, there are Jingchu, Sichuan and Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi, Fujian and Guangdong in western Hunan, and so on. These places, together with Jiangnan and Zhongyuan, have been a family since ancient times, and their roots are in the Yellow River. Because, although they wear different clothes and have different accents, as long as they open their books, they all know the same characters and read the same sage books. More importantly, all Chinese sons and daughters are beating a heart that their country and the world are unified. In addition, in my heart, although these places have a mysterious feeling inside and outside, there is always a long sense of closeness, such as blood ties, which is difficult to give up. This is kinship, kinship, love, blood-related love, which seems to be innate. Yes, I love Xiangxi, because Xiangxi is located in the mountains. Then, I also love the whole vast mountains in the southwest of the motherland, including Xiangxi.

So, I want to see what Xiangxi is like. So, spread out the map, just like marching to fight, and look carefully. Looking at it, I feel that Xiangxi on the map is quite eye-catching, because there are many beautiful place names on it: Shimen, Taoyuan and Sangzhi; Gardens, ancient temples ... this makes me daydream, thinking that every place name in it may have a story, either intense or charming, tragic or joyful, or relaxed and humorous or tearful. However, it is scattered all over Xiangxi, neither a line nor a pile. It's hard to walk one by one. When I was in trouble, I suddenly found the Yuanjiang River, winding through the mountains of Xiangxi, almost running through the whole of Xiangxi, and finally pouring into Dongting. What's important is that the tributaries of Yuanjiang River, tributaries of tributaries, extend almost like human blood vessels in the mountains of western Hunan. It is also like a giant vine, born on the bank of Dongting. The trunk is Yuanjiang, and the branches are tributaries and tributaries of Yuanjiang, covering the whole of Xiangxi. As a result, the eyes began to look back at the place where the Yuanjiang River entered the lake, and several county towns came into view in turn: Yuanling, Luxi, Chenxi, Xupu, Mayang ... and a string of place names that touched people's hearts and thought of Wan Li.

Yes, Yuanjiang is like a huge vine, its roots are on the west bank of Dongting Lake, and its branches cover the whole mountain in western Hunan. I traveled to Hunan for the first time in 2008. The route I chose was to get off at Yueyang, Hunan, cross Dongting to Changde, then go upstream along Yuanjiang, pass Yuanling, Luxi, Chenxi and Mayang, and finally reach Fenghuang.

Entering Xiangxi and going upstream along the Yuanjiang River, the first stop is Yuanling.

I have checked that this winding long river has the saying that "five streams belong to Yuanjiang", that is, Wuxi, Wuxi, Chenxi, Suixi and Youxi in Yuanling, Luxi and Chenxi belong to Yuanjiang respectively. Youxi (also known as Youshui or Youjiang) belongs to Yuanjiang, south of Yuanling. This Youxi passes through Yule back and forth, and this name must have come from it. According to legend, after Qin Shihuang unified the whole country, he ordered to "burn all records of the Qin Dynasty" and began to "burn books to bury Confucianism" from then on. There was a doctor in Xianyang, Fu Sheng, who smuggled out more than 2,000 volumes of poetry history for the crime of beheading. Armed with five cars, he traveled all over Qian Shan by car. In the end, the book was hidden in the cave of Mount Youer in western Hunan, and it was not until the death of the Qin Dynasty that the hidden book was dedicated to the Han Dynasty. Youer Cave was named "Holy Cave of Fu Sheng Library" because of its outstanding collection of books. And the famous idiom "learn to be rich in five cars, learn to read two books" also comes from this.

From Yuanling City back to Jiang Shangxing and furong town, its name is no longer Youjiang, but Mengdong River. Mengdong River, with steep rapids and twists and turns, has the tendency to rampage in the mountains. The coastal canyons are green, and the stone walls are green and steep, just like water from the sky, which makes people feel that this place is everywhere. In the canyon where the Mengdong River flows, when the water level is slightly flat, you can occasionally see a very gorgeous flower in the vegetation near the river, some of which are demon-like. Some people say it's a flower on the other side. "Flowers on the other side, flowers on the other side, is it helpless water spent on the other side? Is it the flower on the other side where the soul is going? " Hearing this, I mused in my mind that this fierce cave river is not only like water from the sky, but also has a sense of inside and outside. Because of the stunning flowers on the other side, there are now more images of yin and yang. In addition, according to the local Tujia people, the majestic old Sicheng once stood in the depths of the Mengdong River. However, even the ruins are now silent and have long been lost in the dust of history.

Yuanling goes to Luxi by ferry. This road gives people a very deep impression: the ship is in Jiang Shangxing, the river is around the mountain, the peaks and valleys are stacked along the way, the river bends, the towering places and clouds float under the mountain, and when the water comes out, it is another world; Standing by the boat, the wind swept my ears, the river was surging, and the rain on the river was uncertain. Sometimes it suddenly rains and clothes get wet. In a blink of an eye, after the rain cleared, the sun shone from the clouds above the cliff and reflected on the rocks and trees on both sides, making them clear, as if only rocks and trees were left.

As the ship keeps moving forward, I have a very clear impression: when reading "Walking on the Mountain" by Du Mu, I feel that the phrase "There are people in Bai Yunsheng" was just written by the poet for the sake of beauty. Now that the boat has crossed the Yuanjiang River, I believe that the poet is ignorant and strange because he sees Duan Yun hanging under the Jiangfeng River and hiding residents' houses. Not only that, in this picture of "There are people in Bai Yunsheng", if we look closely, sometimes there are one or two, and sometimes there are three or five, which also proves that it is true to hear the old man say that "three or two houses are a village" in the mountains when I was a child. Looking at the people in the misty place of Shan Lan Cliff by the Yuanjiang River, I vaguely seem to have a long-lost sense of closeness. This closeness makes me feel ready to move, and I have a desire to visit. I even think this mountain can be regarded as the last post station in my life. From then on, I will be with the people in this mountain, but I will live this life.

In 2009, I entered Xiangxi for the second time, from Zhangjiajie to furong town via Mengdong River, and then from furong town to Fenghuang via Jishou. Along the way, the bus has been winding through the depths of the mountains. This road is endless mountains, valleys and passes. The stream almost always flows out of the window. On the slightly gentle and open riverside, there must be a town: Luoyi Town, Guyang Town, Momo Town and Ma Jing Ao ... which are also a series of touching place names, and people can think of Wan Li just by their names. Looking at the village deep in this mountain, it is so quiet and peaceful in this mountain, and I can't help but miss the tragic course of the Chiyou tribe after the "deer war" in ancient times.

According to research, in the whole southwest, people in these mountains are descendants of Chiyou tribe. They originally lived in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, which is now Shandong and northern Jiangsu. After the defeat of the "Battle of Deer", the Chiyou tribe was first driven away by the Xuanyuan family and forced to go south. At this time, it is difficult to guess the situation of the Chiyou tribe: half of the able-bodied men may die in battle, and the rest are likely to be black and blue. They lead and guard women, children, the elderly and the weak, and groups of people help each other and trudge on the road of no return from their homes. What a tragic course this will be: hunger and cold, black and blue, throwing corpses everywhere, and deep attachment and yearning for the homeland of the Yellow River. Later, I went to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and was not allowed by the local residents. I don't know what kind of slaughter and expulsion I experienced. At this time, the' tribe' was already on the run, with no food, no clothes and no help; I don't know the geometry of the road ahead. I don't know what disaster will happen on the road. I don't know where to go. I had to give up the extravagant hope of staying in the south of the Yangtze River, and turned to the west, retrograde along the Yangtze River, fled to the depths of the inaccessible mountains, and once again set foot on a road of no return that was even more confused and far away from my hometown, scattered among the vast mountains of the Yangtze River and its tributaries.

Now, when I walk into the mountains, rivers and villages on this land, I suddenly feel that the road under my feet is the road that those Chiyou tribes have walked. This quiet and peaceful village is descended from the Chiyou tribe who left their homes. Even, I even thought that someone's predecessor in this mountain may be the folks of my ancestors. Because, I always feel that in the depths of my soul, I have an indescribable but true sense of closeness to this mountain. I love this mountain and I want to be close to its people. This feeling also reminds me once again of what I heard the old people say when I was a child: "Our ancestors did not move down from the big locust tree in Shanxi. If they had, their little toenails would be two flaps. Our ancestors are in Yunnan, and we are all descendants of ancestors who migrated from Yunnan. " If so, then the blood flowing in my body is the same as the people in this mountain; If that's the case, then I and the villagers in this village should be the same ancestor, that is, the Chiyou tribe. In this way, I can't help but feel my heart pounding, staring at the mountains, rivers and villages outside the window, feeling a little sad and moist in my heart. For a long time, I have been thinking, if this is the case, should I remain pious and silent about God and this mountain at present, and tell those tribal ancestors who have left their homes for generations faithfully with my limited experience and what I have seen and heard? To comfort the spirits of our ancestors in heaven. I just don't know where to start and what to say. Maybe, maybe we should tell our ancestors first, and then people always follow their teachings. Our branch has returned to the homeland of the lower reaches of the Yellow River, back to the homeland of the lower reaches of the Yellow River hundreds or thousands of years ago. Because people who have left their hometown, no matter how painful, their greatest wish may be not to forget to return to their homeland. After that, perhaps it should be comforted that this vast mountain scattered by the ancestors who left their homes in the past has now become a hot spot. People all over the world know and yearn for this mountain, yearning for its beauty and charm. People in this big mountain want to return to their hometown, which is already an extremely simple matter. They only need to take a ticket to get there. What should be more gratifying to our ancestors is that in today's world, the descendants of various tribes have long been a family, and everyone lives in harmony, collectively known as Huaxia. In the meantime, it created a world-famous Chinese culture, which continues to this day and becomes the only surviving civilization in the world. It has been five thousand years since our ancestors, and it has experienced Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties and the following dynasties: Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing and Republic of China. Today, it is the Republic of China. Under the leadership of the * * * Production Party in China, people of all ethnic groups are like one family, the world is at peace, the country is strong, ethnic groups are United and prosperous. ...

Yes, I love Xiangxi. I love Xiangxi because it is located in the mountains. In fact, I love all the mountains in the southwest and the people in them. I am willing to associate with Dashan and make blind dates with people from Dashan. This reason may be that there is always a seed in the depths of the soul, a seed close to the mountain. Maybe the blood in his bones is the same as that in this big mountain.

The world in my childhood is not a vast sea, nor a vast desert, but a vast mountain. At this moment, the reasons may have been found and implemented in Xiangxi and even the whole southwest region.