Things I encountered while traveling in Phoenix, Hunan

Don’t dare to ask for a heart-to-heart meeting just because you might be separated

There is always something

that will stay.

Leave it behind as an indelible mark

——Jie Zixi Murong’s "The Mark"

I don’t know if it’s my admiration for Mr. Shen Congwen or his writings The yearning for the world in western Hunan, or the fate of Cuicui in "Border Town", I went to Phoenix, I wanted to find "Cui Cui".

Phoenix is ??half modern and half ancient. The ancient half is called the ancient city. It is said to be an ancient city, but in fact it is more appropriately said to be antique. The restored ancient city wall is very tall and beautiful. Looking at it, I thought that maybe the original city wall was not grand or solemn, but I believe that the story that happened to it, even Mr. Shen Congwen could not write it to its fullest. Bar.

In the evening, I came to Tuojiang Pier, which was specially built for tourists to take boats. There are many local people working as boatmen here, both men and women. When I went there, a girl of about 20 years old happened to park the boat on the shore. Although she was not as beautiful as the "Cui Cui" I met on Hongqiao earlier, and she didn't have that graceful temperament, her face was beautiful in the afterglow of the sunset. The face under the light looked so charming, simple and innocent. I vaguely saw the true "Cuicui" figure in her. She asked me if I could take the boat and introduced it to me enthusiastically. It is said that taking a boat along the river is an indispensable pleasure of visiting Phoenix. You can enjoy the night scenery on both sides of the Tuojiang River, listen to the folk songs on both sides of the Tuojiang River, and see the "emerald green" on the stilted buildings. She introduced me so generously, without the shyness of "Cui Cui" at all, and a trace of disappointment passed through my mind. I finally didn’t go to Tuojiang River.

Another purpose of coming to Fenghuang County is to experience the customs of the Miao family, but I did not find the scenes described in the book. Their living habits are no different from those of the Han people. The hotel attendant told me that I could go to La'er Mountain, which is the core area where the Miao people live in western Hunan, and I might be able to find the answer there.

La'er Mountain is really a nice name. I went to explore La'er Mountain with the idea of ????exploring miracles.

Wuchao River Bridge is the only way to go to Laershan Town. From a distance, it looks like a line drawn between two mountains. When the car came to the bridge, I was stunned by the scene in the river. There was a group of people taking a bath in the river. The older one looked to be fifteen or sixteen years old, and the younger one looked to be seven or eight years old. There were boys and girls, all naked like fishes in the green river water. Swimming around without showing any shyness. Occasionally, one or two children would come ashore from the water, lie on the pebbled beach, bask in the sun, and enjoy the joy brought by nature. It was very pleasant. The primitive wildness and romance can only be found here. "Civilized people" from the city cannot understand this kind of behavior, and will even scold them in their hearts for their ignorance and backwardness.

The people in Laershan Town are actually no different from us. I am trying to find someone who is different from us, at least in terms of clothing. Next to a stilt building, I found a person wearing Miao costume, an old woman. Behind her is a background cloth for taking pictures. I don't know if she is playing here or taking pictures. I wanted to go up and take a photo with her as a souvenir. She was very happy to take a photo with me and let me take a few more photos with her. Looking at the kind and enthusiastic look of the old lady, I took five photos with her in one go. After the photo was taken, she asked me for 50 yuan. I was confused. Why did she need to pay for just a few photos? The photographer next to her said, "You are a foreigner and you don't know the rules of taking a photo with her here. One photo is ten yuan. If you take five photos, it is naturally fifty yuan." I didn't know if this was a scam or blackmail, but I still gave her the money honestly.

I saw many women processing and selling silver jewelry at the market. I didn’t know if what they were selling was genuine. They quickly understood what the outsider meant. They took out what was said to be a touchstone from their backpacks and scratched the jewelry on it to show that it was not fake. But I can no longer believe them. What made me even more frightened was that after I bought mineral water, a group of unscrupulous people followed behind me. A young man selling souvenirs signaled to me that they were pickpockets and told me to leave quickly.

On the way back, the driver told me that most of the scammers and thieves were not locals. The locals were generally trustworthy and very simple. Listening to the driver's words and looking at the green La'er Mountain outside the car window, I thought about how miraculous the power of the Creator is, allowing human beings to possess nature and simplicity, romance and wildness like the Book of Songs; and the energy of history is the same. It is astonishing that selfish desires continue to expand in the pace of human progress, eroding human innocence. In the face of material interests, I don’t know how many people can keep their spiritual home.

Compared with the Great Wall in the north, the ancient "Great Wall" in the south is much stingier.

In fact, what is really lucky and regretful is the ancient wall of Miao territory. Like a newborn, luck and regret have grown up with it since the moment it cried. Its birth is doomed to its fate and the beginning of its restless life, where tranquility and harmony accompany each other, and war and bloodshed accompany it.

I have no intention of distinguishing who is the hero and who is the hero. History will have its own commentary. The grand scenes of neighing war horses and billowing beacon smoke are no less colorful than the killings at the northern frontier with "the smell of corpses and the smell of grass and trees and bloody Kawahara pills". The smoke and dust of history are vividly before our eyes, the rebellion of the Miao people in the late Ming Dynasty, and the battle of the decline of the Qing Dynasty. Time seems to have never passed away here!

It is said that in the fourth year of Jiaqing, because "the seedling roads are like weaving, and there are no traces," the people were "frightened by the wind and cranes". In order to "strengthen our fence and prevent recurrence", the border wall was extended and built. The border defense system consists of forts, watchtowers, tunnels, sentries, forts, gates, and gates. It starts from Tingziguan at the junction of Fenghuang and Guizhou in the south, passes through Huangying, New Fenghuangying, Alaying, Quanshengying, Fenghuangting, Deshengying, Zhenxiying, and ends at Xiqueying in Guzhang County in the north, with a total length of 190 kilometer. Professor Luo Zhewen commented: "Compared with the Juyongguan, Badaling, Mutianyu, and Simatai Great Walls in the north, they are no less impressive."

The ancient walls of Miao territory, you are not the river, and the waves sweep away all the heroes. , you are lying on the green mountain, witnessing the success or failure of the influential people, turning their heads in vain. Your steel-like body records not only history, but also the desire for peace, the Miao people's tenacious will to survive and their spirit of infinite loyalty to their homeland. I think people come from far and wide to see the sights, not just for fun. Standing at your feet, what else can I say? I am so small. I only know that you will still write your own history. Farewell, the ancient wall of Miao territory; Farewell, the history of smoke and fire.

It has been a long time since I came back from Phoenix, but the chance encounter with the "Green Cui", the beautiful La'er Mountain, and the tragic ancient "Great Wall" in the south have been deeply engraved in my memory. It has become a permanent mark in my mind.

Text|He Haotian