Selected essays: essays on the ancient city

Selected essays: essays on the ancient city

Over the years, I have been working in a beautiful coastal city in the south. I spent a long time in the beautiful south of the Yangtze River. When I first arrived, I was shocked by the majestic atmosphere of the ancient capital.

The magnificent ancient city walls are well preserved, and the magnificent royal style bears witness to history, reminding people of the dynasties that fought against each other.

Tourism data prove that tens of thousands of descendants of the Yellow Emperor come to Xuanyuan Mausoleum from all over the world every year, and the world-renowned worship ceremony makes many people in China excited.

Qin Shihuang's tyranny went down in history, and his atrocities of burning books and burying Confucianism killed many theories of pre-Qin philosophers. Look at his Terracotta Warriors and Horses Mausoleum, the ancient Great Wall stretching across Wan Li. His achievements are impressive, unifying the six countries, China's writing and currency, leaving a vivid history.

Standing in front of master Xuanzang's sculpture, people admire him infinitely. Behind it is the majestic Wild Goose Pagoda, which is more solemn and solemn against the background of modern buildings around, reflecting the brilliance of Buddhism.

This monk in the Tang Dynasty put aside life and death, learned wisdom from the outside world and gained spiritual classics. There is also Fa Xian, a monk who wrote Buddhist scriptures, who embarked on a difficult journey to ancient India 200 years before Xuanzang. The feats of Fa Xian and Xuan Zang enabled the introverted Chinese civilization to have the earliest international exchanges.

Outside the Western Wall, at the beginning of the Silk Road, I was lost in thought ... An ancient caravan set off from Chang 'an, crossed the Hexi Corridor and the Gobi Desert in Xinjiang, crossed the Pamirs, continued westward, and entered Iran, Persia and Daqin, shedding mysterious and crisp camel bells all the way, leaving many stories of desert bandits.

The tall and handsome bell tower was built during the Zhenguan period of Tang Dynasty, which witnessed the vicissitudes of this ancient city for more than 1000 years.

A huge clock hangs solemnly, and the drum tower diagonally opposite is magnificent, with several drums lined up. Suffer from hell ... Suffer from hell ... Suffer from hell ... At dawn, the deep crash from the bell tower awakens the sleeping city: bang ... play ... play ... play ... at dusk, the deafening drums make the busy city quiet again.

In order to see the magnificent momentum of the morning bell and the evening drum, I deliberately belong to the bell tower and drum tower from morning till night. Unfortunately, I didn't see what I expected. According to the local people, as early as ten years ago, the drums stopped ringing in the morning and evening, and only performed on grand festivals. Obviously, this is to save trouble and convenience.

Solemn bells and huge drums may be ancient, resting like an old man. A scholar said that the highest principle of today's civilization is convenience, which makes everything in the world easy to master and understand. This principle of convenience goes against the great principle everywhere. It is impossible for mankind to give up convenience for greatness, so the charm of these monuments will never be replaced by new things. It is precisely because of this that human beings and historical sites will encounter two-way sorrow. Humans are shallow because they have no admiration, and monuments are lonely because they are empty behind them.

A boy from other places told me that he came to Xi 'an for many years, studied and worked here, and was deeply fascinated by the prosperous Tang culture once possessed by the ancient capital and world civilization. He told me that he had visited Banpo site and Hancheng site. Do you know what is the best rock music in China? He suddenly asked, I guessed it all wrong: it was a dream back to the Tang Dynasty, he said in a proud tone. Tang style's rhyme in the lyrics is vividly interpreted, which is not only an organic combination of poetry and modern rock, but also a Beijing opera aria and a classic of the Tang Dynasty band. When I heard him perform this rock song, I not only remembered two of them, but also recalled the heyday of Kaiyuan, where there were thousands of luxury houses. This is not only a portrayal of that famous dynasty, but also the enduring charm of the ancient city Guo and the modernity of the new city, which indicates the revival of Chinese civilization again.

The cradle of Chinese civilization, the birthplace of the Chinese nation, has been concentrated in this city for 5,000 years, from the era of the Yellow Emperor, which coincided with the ancient Egyptian civilization, to the unification of China by Qin Shihuang, to the unprecedented prosperity in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, and to the development of the western regions today.

Ancient and beautiful Xi 'an, may your tomorrow be more brilliant!