The Mystery of Dongting Lake

As long as Dongting Lake is mentioned, everyone will think of the magnificent Dongting Lake described in Yueyang Tower. I want to build Yueyang Tower, which will be rebuilt after it is built. I am reminded of Junshan, opposite Yueyang Tower, which was described by Li Daoyuan in Notes on Water Classics in the Northern Wei Dynasty: "Dongting Lake has mountains, called Dongting, and …… is the place where Hunan lives …". Think of China's most dazzling culture-"the culture of demoting officials" ...

These scenic spots are all near Yueyang City, East Dongting Lake, which is only a part of the 800-mile Dongting Lake. Who thought of Dream Water Town and West Dongting Lake, a paradise for fishing and hunting? Today, everyone will follow me there to find the deep, mysterious, vast and magical West Dongting Lake.

Town style

On Tuesday, 2003,165438+1October 25th, a friend and I took a luxury CMB in Changsha West Bus Station and arrived at Junshanpu Town, Hanshou County. Then we change trains and drive north along the flat and hard country road. 15 minutes later, we arrived at Jiangjiazui Town, and the fare was 3 yuan. It takes only two hours from Changsha to Jiangjiazui Town.

Jiangjiazui Town is a small town between the city and the countryside. There are many shops along the street. Besides most grocery stores, there are many beauty salons. In addition, there are many teahouses and family hotels. The town is surrounded by water on three sides and built on the mountain. She is near Muping Lake in the north and Longchi Lake in the east. Longchi Lake is as clear as blue, surrounded by mountains, shaped like a dragon claw, weeping willows by the lake, and the west is the outlet of Canglang River. The ancient Canglang River source flows from Cangshan Mountain and Langshan Mountain in Wuling Mountains, meanders through 99 bays and flows into Dongting. There are endless wonders along her coast, with mountains and green hills on one side and Ma Pingchuan on the other. Qu Yuan chanted on the river that "the clear water of the surging waves can hold my tassels, and the turbid water of the surging waves can hold my feet". Today's Canglang River is dripping with a noble spirit, a character that everyone in the world is drunk and I wake up alone.

People are used to calling the place where they reach into the water mouth or mouth. The earliest inhabitants of Jiangjiazui were fishermen in Dongting Lake. They live by fishing and hunting and rest in the mountains. It has become a natural fishing ground. When there are many fishermen, there are countless boats. Collect discarded broken oars and use them to build sheds. So it was named "the mouth of the paddle rack" and later changed to Jiang Jiazui.

The town is not noisy, nor is it as closed as the countryside. It is as rich and accessible as a city, and it has the elegance and tranquility of rural Shan Ye. It is the pearl of Dongting Lake and the emerald of Furong Country. Locals call it a paradise on earth.

West Dongting Lake International Wetland Protection Station is located at the end of this town. It's about one kilometer from the station to the protection point. If you have more luggage, swim slowly by car. If you are a foreign tourist, don't forget to negotiate the price before getting on the bus. The actual price is one in 2 yuan. If the price is not agreed, he may ask for 10 yuan when you get off the bus, although you only have the money from 8 yuan, which makes you feel cheated.

treasury of knowledge

Cross the street for nearly one kilometer, and the West Dongting Lake is just around the corner. At the end of the street near the lake, there are few shops and pedestrians. We came to the management office of the nature reserve. The architectural style of the management office is very international, with large lawns and small and tidy rooms. The grey tiles on the roof, the white outer wall and the dazzling blue and white watchtower make the management office look elegant and solemn. On the wall of the management office, there is a 100-meter scroll painted with spring scenery and celebrity poems of Dongting Lake, which is called Wetland Gallery. The task of West Dongting Lake Nature Reserve is to protect waterfowl and the whole aquatic ecosystem. The background of the whole building is a natural painting-Muping Lake.

"ah! Hello! " A young man in a red hat greeted him. This is one of the luckiest things about our trip. We met a knowledgeable, enthusiastic and talkative tour guide named Zhang Meifang. It turns out that he lives in the green hills by the lake. After returning from Tian to Hu, he spent two years wandering in the rivers and lakes in the north. After establishing a protected area in West Dongting Lake, he came back to establish a tourism service center in West Dongting Lake. Xiao Zhang is an amiable and easy-going person. His service center is next to the missionary hall in the reserve. He took us to the missionary hall and revealed a magical wetland world to us with a very standard Mandarin.

West Dongting Lake is located in the west of Dongting Lake basin, with a regional scope in Hanshou County, Hunan Province, 26 kilometers away from the county seat and 60 kilometers away from Changde City. Yuanjiang River and Lishui River meet here and enter Dongting Lake, which is an inseparable and important part of Dongting Lake wetland and a typical representative of subtropical inland wetland. Wetland is rich in biological resources and has important protection and scientific research value.

The wetland in West Dongting Lake has a special landform, which is mainly manifested in the fact that the water rises into a lake and the water becomes a continent. At low water level, there are not only open waters, but also reed swamps, Carex swamps, peat swamps and beaches, which provide a good place for a wide variety of wetland creatures to thrive.

According to the survey data, the wetland in this area is an important place for the migration of rare fish such as Chinese sturgeon and shad, and an important post station for cranes, storks and other endangered bird migration.

This area has vast waters, numerous lakes and continents, suitable climate and abundant aquatic plants, and is a good place for many kinds of birds to live and inhabit. According to the investigation records, there are 36 species of birds 136 in this area, belonging to 35 families of 15 orders, including 83 species of waterfowl, accounting for 6 1%, and 82% of migratory birds 1 12.

There are abundant fish resources in the area, including 12 orders, 23 families 1 14 species, of which 103 species belongs to local fish subspecies, species or families, accounting for 90%. Most of them belong to lake settlement type, and their reproduction, growth and development are all in the lake for life. There are also quite a few semi-migratory fish that grow and develop in lakes, but they must lay eggs and hatch in rivers such as the Yangtze River and Surabaya, and young fish enter lakes to seek bait and fatten up and migrate between rivers and lakes. It can not only stabilize the fish resources in this area, but also supplement and optimize the fish resources in the whole Dongting Lake area.

In the mission hall, we watched the specimens of fish and birds, which deepened our understanding of the West Dongting Lake wetland. After two hours of "wetland" science study, when we walked out of the exhibition hall and boarded the 30-meter-high observation deck, the wetland in front of us was so magical and great that we had an emotion from the bottom of our hearts-to love it and protect it.

The story of Qingshan Huan

At four o'clock in the afternoon, with what we have just learned, we used our third eye to look for photos that can reflect the beautiful scenery of the wetland. Come out of the reserve to the west and walk along the south embankment. Canglang River is in the south and is connected with Muping Lake through three sluices. Rows of neat cages outside the dike constitute the unique landscape of the boathouse in the water town. Those people originally lived in Yuan Qingshan. After emigrating, they had no land. WWF subsidizes them to raise fish in cages, and each cage subsidizes 400 yuan. Looking around, the Qingshan levee is long and winding, and the huge levee is like a dragon lying on the water. The gap washed by the flood divided the long dam into several sections. I exclaimed, this is the real water cut the dragon's waist. When we stand on the dragon's back, we can see those buildings, dead trees and abandoned houses standing there, telling people about history. Qingshan dike was reclaimed from Dongting Lake in 1976, covering an area of13,000 mu, mainly consisting of paddy fields, fish ponds and vegetable bases. After the completion of the levee, it struggled with floods every year, and finally burst in the catastrophic flood of 1998, and nearly 6,000 people in the levee became victims. The history of Yuan Qingshan has been staged in Dongting Lake for countless times. For thousands of years, the reclamation around Dongting Lake has never stopped. From the "reclamation photos" issued by the feudal regime to the reclamation in modern times, there is a folk saying that the lake bed with "old fields and low land" is rising year by year, which leads to easy collapse. In Dongting Lake, there are thousands of such abandoned dikes. Rushing out the tombstone of Guangxu period in Qing Dynasty at the mouth of Qingshan Dikou proves that Caoqinghu was reclaimed more than once. Tang Wenru, a famous Confucian in the Tang Dynasty, traveled to Dongting Lake and wrote a beautiful sentence in Caoqinghu Lake in Longyang County (Yuan Qingshan). "The west wind blows the waves of the old Dongting Lake, and the white hair of Xiang Jun is much at night. After drunkenness, I don't know that the sky is in the water, and the boat is full of dreams." Standing by the lake, I can't help feeling that things have changed.

At six o'clock in the afternoon, we stood on the Qingshan dike. In front of us was a wetland composed of several water surfaces, which was the original fish pond. At this time, the sun is getting closer and closer to the water, and the sun shines a golden band on the water. At this time, there happened to be a fisherman, leading a boat and driving a group of ducks through here. Ducks are out of date in the upper reaches of the golden water surface, and a picturesque fishing village scenery, various lake waters, and fascinating scrolls are presented in front of you. A few minutes later, the red sun approached the lake. At this time, the sun is already dark red and tender, and every water surface will have a corresponding sun. I have been to many famous mountains and beaches, but it is the first time to see so many suns when the sun rises and sets. At this time, this scene will make my blood boil. Watching the sunset and sunrise in West Dongting Lake is probably the most exciting thing for us.

After watching the sunset, Xiao Zhang contacted his friend, Brother Xu, and said he was a guest for dinner. Brother Xu and his wife live on the surface of the outer lake, which is Dongting Lake. Brother Xu is a real fisherman. There is a cage in his house, and the house floats beside it. The house area may be only 10 square meters. The bed inside basically occupies half of the whole house, and the living room is outside. Of course, this hall not only receives visitors and rests, but also cooks, eats and repairs fishing nets. In short, everything must be done in this hall. Brother Xu was glad to hear that we were coming. Because of the bad weather these days, we didn't go fishing, so there was no stock at home. He knew that we went to a fisherman's house for dinner and wanted to eat fish from Dongting Lake, so he went to a friend and asked for four-foot carp in the lake outside. Local fishermen like to eat fish from the outer river, because the water in the outer lake is flowing, while the water in the inner lake is relatively static.

Because Xu Ge's family suddenly added three people, the already tense living room couldn't turn around, but there were two wooden boats outside, so we were arranged to rest on the wooden boat outside. Although we are outside, it doesn't affect chatting with Xu Ge, who is helping his wife in the room. From his grandparents to his children, their life and entertainment, their survival and wetland protection, the contradiction between their fishing methods and policies, the period when the lake was closed and the source of life ... They talked for a long time, talked a lot and talked deeply. Brother Xu also told us a little-known history-a folklore about Dongting Lake:

A long time ago, Dongting Lake was not a lake, but a meadow. Miao people are the masters here. They grazed cattle and sheep, cultivated by themselves, and gradually formed a small Miao country. In an earthquake, due to the flooding of the Yangtze River, the Miao people decided to migrate. Move to where? Their wisdom believes that going to high places will not be flooded, so the Miao people move westward along the river that enters Dongting. The origin of the name Dongting Lake has never been known. Some local chronicles, such as Changde Fu Zhi, Hunan Zhi and Dongting Zhi, only mention Dongting Lake, also known as Jiujiang, Wuzhu and Baqiu. It turns out that Dongting is the ancient name of Miao nationality. In Miao language, Dongting sounds like "a beautiful depression with aquatic plants". When the Miao people entered the Yuanshui River, they saw the stars and called it Wangyan Lake, which means stars in Miao language. There is also Muping Lake, a large area of grass beach is like Hulunbeier grassland, which is the cattle ping and sheep ping of Miao people, and later flattened in the crowd. Miao people, an ancient nation, most of whom now live in the west of Hunan and China, so that's it. How did they cross the rivers and lakes? I remember that day: "Why did you cross the river and still hold on?" . Studies have confirmed that Dongting Lake was originally formed by a collapse. According to folklore, Princess Sancui of the Dragon King accidentally broke the water purification bowl in Wang Mu, and the water overflowed.

It's getting late. When we left the floating Xu family, we agreed to go fishing in the lake with some people tomorrow.

Dream water town

The morning in Mupinghu started like this. When the purple glow appeared in the east and the night had not completely disappeared, fishermen began to prepare for the day's activities. After cleaning up the fishing gear to be used, filling up the stern machine and starting the diesel engine, it was hard. The machine is frozen all night, so it is usually difficult to start it in the morning. Today, we got up at six o'clock and came to Xu's house. Master Xu tried his best. When the tail machine made a "plop" and "plop" sound, it was already over eight o'clock.

The fishing boat carried us into the Dongting. The boat is crossing the beach, and the oasis floats like a huge emerald on the clear water. Here and there, the wet tender grass is exposed, delicate and green, as clear as water. As long as I stretch out my hand, I can gently touch her, which is greasy. When the sun comes out at dawn, it will fall on these jadeites, big and small, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. If there is anything, it is like a dream, as if with colorful edges. It's winter now, but the West Dongting Lake is so full of spring. The turbulent clear current holds our boat, and the golden sunshine shines on the Dongting. There are layers of mist floating on the water, and egrets stand in the shallow mud. That graceful posture, with a noble, I can't help shivering. This is not a distant pool in the sky. Where is this? Have a rest on the shore, stand on the mud platform in the lake and look out at Muping Lake. The reeds are endless, and the dark Wu Peng boat is swaying in the soft waves under the blue sky. West Dongting Lake is so charming and beautiful. The breeze has passed, and the mature reed is dancing like a girl wrapped in white, and there is a whisper in her ear. Who is pouring out infinite feelings? There must be lovers hidden in the quiet reeds. Are they Heshi? At this time, I remembered an old love song: "The white dew is frost, and the so-called Iraqis are on the water side."

When boarding a ship, the ship always shuttles in the harbor, such as in a maze. If it weren't for the beacon lights, who could read the map? When we walked out of the maze, our eyes suddenly became clear, the ship drifted away, and we were all white and could see nothing. The ship seems to be sailing towards the sky. At this moment, I have never had a wonderful feeling. "Can you say that the sky is water? Can you say that water is the sky? No ",but I really felt in the lake:" The sky is water, and the water is the sky ". If it weren't for a towering lighthouse, I thought it would be close to the sky. The lighthouse stands proudly in the rapids. It is a stone foundation. Without it, we don't know where we got lost and climbed to the top of the tower along the stone steps. At present, I am so broad-minded, and I am the only one between heaven and earth!

The spell of migratory bird paradise

The boat floated in the branch of the lake again, and the rowers galloped at the bow, teasing us to chase. Sometimes, a large flock of geese fly over our heads, and there are geese singing on the empty lake. The spotted kingfisher is a black and white kingfisher. She stood in the air, dazzling like a helicopter, but disappeared in the blink of an eye. It turned out that she rushed into the water, pecked up a small fish and flew to the reeds to enjoy it.

At one o'clock at noon, Xiao Zhang took us to Wanglonghu, an inner lake hidden among reeds. Here we saw a large group of migratory birds, herons, spoonbills, snipes and cranes. They live in peace and enjoy themselves.

"Man struggles upwards, and birds fly upwards." Birds are spiritual, and cranes are often regarded as immortals in mythology. Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism all list cranes as things in the sky. West Dongting Lake has a curse of "poking the nest to drive away birds and being lonely for a lifetime". Since ancient times, China people have regarded their children and grandchildren as their greatest blessings. Those who curse birds have no children. Although vicious, they have the most primitive environmental protection thought of loving and protecting birds. Have a good habitat and sincere caring people. The spirits flying from the sky will regard West Dongting Lake as a paradise.

Picking up antiques on Fengchi Mountain

After shooting birds, we went to Fengchishan fishing village, where we were vegetarian and kowtowed to the Dragon King. Afterwards, the lay people took us to the fishing village, looking for the ancient secluded place and the long and mysterious legend. During the Spring and Autumn Period, after Wang Goujian proclaimed himself emperor, he didn't love power and beauty, so he lived here in seclusion with his teacher. Fan Li, the official to the prime minister, is a real hero, willing to be a fisherman and spend his life in Dongting Lake. He lives on a mountain in the lake and has a different name, Tao Zhugong. This mountain is now called Mount Li. Women are like water. Do women have anything to do with water? Stone is a woman among women. What attracted her to live here forever? After her death, she was buried by the Canglang River in Meixi. "My brother casts a net in the river and my sister washes clothes by the river." This simple and sweet life is the destination of their thrilling love. Between the secluded mountains and rivers, is there anything connected with their spirit and soul?

Phoenix Mountain reveals a yellow cliff under the lush forest, waiting to walk under the cliff, such as walking through the place just visited. The cliff section is very neat, and I am sure it was formed by the collapse of the ancient Dongting Lake. I saw the soil that was yellower than the Loess Plateau. No, it should be red soil. Isn't that red the pink of stone? ! It is so thick that it is the blood color of thrilling life.

Continue to the east, stroll on the solid river beach, across the river, Guli Mountain is in front of you, the collapsed road section vaguely shows the dusty history, and the torn monuments prove their existence. Further on, pottery was scattered on the retired lake bed, and there were many intact fragments. According to the layman, there are already stone tools made nearby. Was it left by the Miao people?

In Shan Ye, bells and drums can be heard in the forest. It turns out that the dragon is the totem of the people in the lake area, and a temple was built to worship it for the good weather. Fengchi Mountain is a treasure trove of geomantic omen. During the Three Kingdoms period, Liu Bei took the two rivers and lived in the mountains. South of Fengqi Mountain is Tuqiao Town, where Liu Bei once ordered Guan Yu to meet Mrs. Gan and Mrs. Mei. After Liu Bei took charge of the world, Guan Yu was named the director of Hanshou Pavilion and ate thousands of families.

Jiangnan shuihu

At five o'clock in the afternoon, we left the mysterious Fengchi Mountain and began to return to Jiangjiazui. There are many continents and beaches in the lake, as well as countless ports and tributaries. Xiao Zhang told many stories when our ship passed by here.

"The reeds are deep and suitable for hiding. Naturally attracted bandits and rebels together. It is not difficult to deal with small-scale riots. Every dynasty set up a jurisdiction in the lake. In the Qing Dynasty, there was a guerrilla camp in Dongting. The summer palace kiln in front of us is fresh and beautiful. In the old society, bandits once stopped the river here to rob passing merchant ships. There are nine places named after "kiln" in Dongting Lake area, and there is still a history of this matter. There was a big landlord who was dissatisfied with his family. When he wrote that "the wife is not virtuous, the son is unfilial, and there are 480,000 * * * nine kilns", he scattered all his belongings in the kiln. Maybe one day this wealth will be seen again. If you come often, maybe these things will be found by you. "

Xiao Zhang also said. "On the edge of the sofa, how can heterogeneous people sleep soundly ..." Yang Yao and Zhong Xiang of the Song Dynasty gathered in Dongting, holding high the banner of righteousness, and many responders formed a huge force against the imperial court in the Southern Song Dynasty. Yang Yao was disciplined and well-directed. He built a water village in the lake, built warships, trained a water army, and fished and hunted for food. Rebels quickly occupied most of the Dongting Plain and established the Dachu regime. After repeated encirclement and suppression in the Southern Song Dynasty, Yue Fei had to move from the anti-Jin front to Dongting Lake. "Heroes tend to be heroes. Whoever holds the spear point can destroy Yang in only eight days.

That section of the Golden Goma Iron Mine, a bloody history, has been dusty under this green beach in front of us. The green barrier of poplar hides the romantic wind. This picturesque beauty is quiet and peaceful, and there is no shadow of war here. Wangtazhou was the place where Yang Yao sat in the town. On the big lonely boat, the sound of gongs and drums in front of the front line can no longer be heard. The Sung River Uprising in Liangshan, Shandong Province ended in Zhao 'an. Who is more dominant when Yang Yao rebelled?

There has been another large-scale war in West Dongting Lake. Jin Wushu chased Yue Fei to Dongting Plain. He was defeated because he was not good at water warfare. He had to use gold to buy off the guidance of the local natives, enter the Yangtze River from the mouth of the coupling pool and flee back to the border.

We unconsciously returned to magic and the legendary Jiang family mouth. At this time, it was already eight o'clock in the evening. A one-day trip to West Dongting Lake makes us feel that it is a paradise for fishing and hunting. Fishing and hunting in West Dongting Lake is not only a production activity spread from ancient times to modern times, but also contains rich connotations, full of philosophy of life and forms a unique fishing and hunting culture.

We felt the charm of this culture in West Dongting Lake. Wu Peng boat is a wooden boat soaked in tung oil. It's dark and bright, weaving sheds to cover the boat. This is the fishermen's water home. It looks so soft and friendly. I really want to live on Wu Peng's boat, what kind of amorous feelings it will be!

Water from the Yangtze River, Yuanshui River, Lishui River and Canglang River flows into Dongting Lake, but the water is stuck in Lishan Mountain, which is 60 miles long from north to south, and can only be released slowly, like a rotating cage locked between Dongting Lake in the west, south and east, where rich substances accumulate and become a delicious meal for fish. This is a paradise for fish and fishing and hunting.

In West Dongting Lake, many fishermen still keep their original fishing methods. Partial, hemp cover, casting a net, seemingly stupid, which has great wisdom. "Ping Ping" fishing is full of magic. "Bian Bian" is a narrow wooden boat nearly 20 meters long, with Wu Peng in the stern warehouse for fishermen to live in and a radial rowing boat. Other than that, there is nothing else. The fisherman did nothing, waiting for the fish to jump on himself. It is strange enough that Jiang Ziya does not use bait for fishing, but who can solve the mystery of "partial fishing"?

Life is like hunting, but the life of a fisherman is not. "The old fisherman doesn't ask about human affairs, but he lies drunk in Dai Yue, Long song".

Our trip to Dongting West is like walking in a picture scroll, like walking through the long river of history. "Wetland" is the kidney of our earth, which breeds life and inherits human civilization.

Travel tips

When traveling in West Dongting Lake, attention should be paid to the prevention of schistosomiasis. Schistosoma japonicum sinks to the bottom of the lake with snails in winter, so it won't infect people. Don't worry. But be careful when you go to the lake in spring. The best way is not to get into the water. If you enter the water, you should apply ointment to prevent schistosomiasis, or wear waterproof clothes. As long as appropriate preventive measures are taken, there is no need to worry about this problem.

Rent a small motorboat for one day 120- 160 yuan. Stay in a family hotel in town. This kind of hotel is clean. Single and double rooms 50-60 yuan. A hotel basically has 4-9 rooms. The living room facing the street of about 40 square meters is the reception desk of the hotel, as well as the teahouse and nightclub of the hotel. Sitting in an armchair, drinking a cup of strong tea and chatting all night, you can get a plate of melon seeds for free for 5 yuan money. In the beauty salon on the street, it's only 5 yuan for a shampoo and massage. Needless to say, these prices are so cheap that it is difficult to find them all over the country.

The transportation here is convenient, and there is a direct bus to Changsha every morning. If you change trains in Junshanpu Town, it will be available all day, two hours away, and the fare is only 33 yuan. It is also convenient to Changde City and Hanshou County.

If you want to shoot migratory birds, you'd better bring a lens and tripod over 600MM, and don't wear bright clothes and hats.

It's best to invite an excellent local tour guide like Xiao Zhang to visit the lake, because Dongting Lake is too deep. If you don't explain, it's hard to see what's famous, or you'll be upset after a long boat ride. If you are not a local, you can call Xiao Zhang in advance to arrange a tour for you.