Chapter 17 Section 6 Dian Tour and Qing Rong Tour ①

① Lao She once wrote a travel note "Short Records of a Journey to Dian", which recorded this trip in detail. 1. Dian travel In the summer of thirty years, Mr. Luo Xintian came to Chongqing.Because of his introduction, I got to know Mr. Mei Yiqi, the president of Tsinghua University. After hearing about my illness and living conditions, Mr. Mei decided to invite me to live in Kunming for a while.The weather in Kunming is good, and I have many old friends, so I would like to go there.In late August, I took a plane with Xintian and arrived in Kunming in three hours. I like Chengdu very much, because it has many places like Peiping.However, in terms of weather, scenery and architecture, Kunming is better than Chengdu.I like the emerald lake which is more beautiful than Shichahai, and I like Kunming Lake even more—it is a real lake, not a small puddle of water, like the man-made one under the Longevity Mountain in Beiping.The soil is red, the pine trees are green, and the sky is blue. Everywhere outside Kunming looks like an oil painting.

What makes me even more happy is meeting so many old friends.Brother Yang Jinfu's back is a bit bent, but he is still so elegant and elegant.He couldn't afford to invite me to dinner, but he still baked a few pots of local tea, surrounded the charcoal basin, and talked with me about the time when he talked.Brother Luo Yingzhong was also obviously old and extremely poor, but he also made dumplings for me and cooked Russian vegetable soup for me.Zheng Yisheng, Chen Xueping, Feng Youlan, Feng Zhi, Chen Mengjia, Shen Congwen, Zhang Chuandao, Duan Zheren, Wen Yiduo, Xiao Difei, Peng Xiaoxian, Cha Liangzhao, Xu Xusheng, and Qian Duansheng all met me, or invited me to dinner, or Accompany me on a mountain tour.What a happy day.In the city, I gave six lectures; although there was nothing very interesting, there were quite a few audiences.Tired of living in the city, he went to the countryside with Xintian.Carrying a small bag, walking slowly along the embankment, the scenery is like Jiangnan, but not Jiangnan; a bit like the north, but not completely like the north; it makes people happy, as if they are in a sunny dream, Jiangnan and the north are mixed together Together and very harmonious, a realm that can only be seen occasionally in dreams.

In the country, I finished writing the script.This was commissioned by the Oriental Culture Association, but it has never been performed, and it is a not-so-brilliant play. Meet a new friend——Mr. Zha Fuxi.This is the coolest, warm, versatile friend.He heard that I wanted to see Dali, so he immediately decided to accompany me.After a few days, he negotiated that we will be the high-grade yellow croakers for two trucks to deliver the goods to Wanding.The so-called high-class yellow croakers mean that firstly they don’t pay, secondly they take the driver’s seat, and thirdly the driver even invites us to drink and smoke—this is of course not part of the agreement, but they do this automatically on the road.Both drivers are from the north.They treated us to a table before driving!Later, one fell to his death on the Lancang River, and I wrote a small article to mourn him. ①

-------- ①That is, "Mourning Zhao Yushan Driver". When we arrived in Dali, we didn't stop, and immediately went to Xizhou Town.There is nothing to see in Dali, but there is a long street and many shops selling marble.Outside the city, there are Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake, which are the places worth seeing.On the way to Xizhou Town, there are mountains on the left and Erhai Lake on the right. It is really in the picture.Although Xizhou Town is a small town, there are palace-like buildings, and clear running water flows from the left and right sides of the small streets.Huazhong University moved here from Wuchang, and I found Professor You Zecheng again.He, Professor Bao Mozhuang, and Professor Li Helin accompanied us on a tour.This is really a beautiful place, and when going to the market, you can see many barbarians.

We played happily for a few days, ate countless fish, drank a lot of wine, saw some historical sites, and gave lectures to the students two or three times. We reluctantly thanked and left.On the way back, we lived in Xiaguan and waited for the bus.While waiting for the bus, several Muslim friends came to see me because they had acted in "National Supreme".Mr. Zha Fuxi showed his skills this time, and he even borrowed a car, so he could go to Kunming in one day. After the August Festival in Kunming, I flew back to Chongqing. 2. Qingrong Line At the beginning of August 1942, the earthen wells in the Chenjiaqiao area were completely dry.If you want water, you have to "dig" in the creek.It was extremely hot and there was no water to drink, so I was a little panicked.I really want to go to Jinyun Mountain to "refuge", but it is said that the mountain is also short of water.At such a time when there was no way to figure it out, Mr. Feng Huanzhang came to make an appointment to go to Guan County and Qingcheng together.What a blessing!

Departed on the morning of August 9th.Lai Yali and Mr. Wang Yeqiuer were also traveling with him, they were old friends, and they were not lonely on the road.There was a heavy rain at Laifeng Station, which made the luggage a little wet, so I temporarily bought a mat to cover the car.After hitting the tip, the rain cleared up, and I arrived in Neijiang safely all the way.Neijiang is much more lively than two or three years ago, and there are many new banks and restaurants.In the evening, the streets were crowded with people and cars.Set off again at 7 o'clock the next morning and have lunch in Jianyang.We arrived in Chengdu at four o'clock in the afternoon.It was hot, and because I was going to Guan County tomorrow morning, I didn't go out to play.It rained a little during the night.

On the 11th, we set off for Guan County at 6:00 a.m., and the traffic was very slow because there were many small canals on the road.There are shallow canals on both sides of the road, flowing with clear water; beside the canals are rice fields: barley is often planted on the ridges of the fields, and green pearls hang down in ears.Looking west, you can see snow-capped mountains.The nearby peaks are green, while the distant ones are snow-white. Under the morning light, the green ones turn into emerald green, and the white ones are slightly rosy, making one want to fly to that high and far place all at once.It was less than eight o'clock and we arrived at Guan County.The city is not big, but there is water everywhere, like a small but milky mother, nourishing more than ten counties in Bazi, western Sichuan.Live in the home of Mr. Ren Juewu.A lonely small bungalow, surrounded by snowy and torrential rivers on both sides, there is hardly a pedestrian in front of the door all day long, and there is no other sound except the sound of water.There are some quiet rice fields outside the door, and the rice is raised by one person.Looking from a distance, you can see the big snow-capped mountains of Qingcheng, all of which are green.There is a small pot of orchids in the courtyard, which emits fragrance from time to time.

The Youth League is holding a summer camp here. There are more than a thousand male and female students, so the street is particularly beautiful.Students and staff all wear sweaters and shorts (women wear short skirts), straw sandals on bare feet, and big straw hats on their backs. They are very energetic.General Zhang Wenbai and Mr. Yi Junzuo both came to see us, and they were both in "short attire", which made them look much younger.The headquarters of the summer camp is in the park, with a newly built auditorium and a newly built swimming pool; there was a large empty field, which was used as a place for sports and horse riding.The schoolgirls also practiced horsemanship, making the residents stick out their tongues as they trooped through the market.

Guan County's water conservancy is world-renowned.On a bridge behind the park, you can see billowing snow flowing in from Lidui.In ancient times, a large amount of snow and water flowed down from the mountains, which could not be accommodated by the river body, so there were floods from time to time.Later, Li Bing and his son carved out a piece of the hill, and the water was diverted - Lidui was next to the crack.Since then, the two rivers have been divided into irrigation and canals have been drawn everywhere, making the 14th and 5th counties in the western Sichuan Plain the most affluent areas-as long as the Dujiangyan in Guanxian County releases water, these ten counties will have endless water without rain.There is a temple of Erwang on the hill outside the city, where Li Bing and his son are enshrined.You can see the panorama of Dujiangyan from the high place in the temple.In the place where the two rivers are not divided, there is a famous bamboo cable bridge.Not far from the bridge, there is a fish mouth to separate the water from the water, and then one river goes out, and the other goes into Lidui, which is the inner and outer rivers.In winter, set up obstacles under the mouth of the fish to stop the water, and the inner river will dry up, allowing you to wash the beaches.When spring comes, the obstacles are removed, and the river becomes a river again.It is said that every spring when the water is boiling, tens of thousands of people come to watch the excitement.On the wall of Erwang Temple, there are engraved mottos of water control in ancient times, such as digging deep into the beach, and making a low weir...etc.After carefully pondering these adages and looking at the actual facilities on the river weir, we can see that the key to water control is only one word - "soft".The water itself is powerful, and when it encounters resistance, it will burst violently and collapse. Therefore, we should make a weir low so that it can flow over gently so as not to escape danger.The water flows down quickly and the waves are turbulent, so a fish mouth is set in the middle to divide it into two parts to reduce its force;The weir is only made of bamboo baskets filled with large stone eggs.Bamboo is elastic, while pebbles are movable, and they can both deal with the turbulent waves with the strength of "breaking a thousand catties in four or two".Using differentiation and softening to deal with the relentless torrent, the water will become calm and obediently irrigate the fields for people.

The bamboo rope bridge is the most interesting.Two rows of wooden pillars, with four or five bamboo ropes on the pillars, form a narrow alley.Next, weave the boards together with bamboo cables, and it becomes a suspended bridge that shakes with the wind.I walked on the bridge, although the bridge body was a little shaken, although the wooden planks were not tightly braided, and I could still see the rapids below—of course I would get dizzy after watching for a long time—but there was no danger at all, and it was not very difficult to walk. The method of water control and construction of bamboo cable bridges, I think, may have gone through many years of trials and failures before they succeeded.And the so-called civilized people, I think, are nothing more than those who can use their minds to solve immediate problems.If we don't work hard, but let the water flood, or allow some natural force to cause disasters, human beings will always live in caves, fend for themselves, and even perish.Seeing the water conservancy and the bamboo cable bridge in Dujiangyan, we know that our ancestors really had the spirit of overcoming difficulties with painstaking efforts and anxiety.However, today, we often hear that there are droughts and floods everywhere, and even some locusts can teach us to eat bark and grass roots.Poor and shameful!If we don't even try to solve our immediate food and clothing problems, how can we talk about civilization and culture?

Guan County is not big, but there are many things.On the street, you can see all kinds of fruits everywhere, all of which are beautiful and delicious.Here I see the largest chicken eggs with garlic soybeans.Although the eggs have been sold for 1 yuan and 20 cents each, this one is actually twice the size of other places.The soybeans in Xueshan are bigger than the soybeans.Snow-white and shiny, it looks cute!There are a lot of medicinal materials. In any small pharmacy, you can find Lei Zhenzi, Fritillaria, Cordyceps, bear bile, musk, and many other drugs that cannot be named.Seeing these things reminds me of the mountains and grasslands to the west.Ah, how mighty and interesting it is to be able to go to the mountains to cut navel musk and shoot a few big bears! Although there are many products, the prices here are also very high.Only tea is cheap, five cents a bowl in the city, three cents outside the city, and twenty cents a little further away.Qingcheng Mountain produces tea, but water is everywhere, so it should be so.When I have mastered bigu skills, I will definitely move to this area to live. I don’t eat anything, only drink two bowls of tea, or only write two hundred characters a day. I lived in Guan County for ten days.Only then went to Mount Qingcheng.The mountain is about forty miles southwest of the county seat.Along the way, there are many canals and streams, some are yellowish, some are clear and green: the yellowish ones are probably because it has just rained heavily upstream.There are often some wild flowers on the banks of the stream, blooming leisurely under the shade of trees.Outside the mountain pass is the Temple of Longevity, which is now the school building of Yintang Middle School; after autumn, Mr. Huang Biye taught here.After entering the mountain, the first temple is Jianfu Palace, there is nothing to see.From here, we climb up the steps and go forward for five miles, which is Tianshi Cave——we live here.Going up from Tianshi Cave, about three or four miles, you will arrive at Shangqing Palace.Shangqing Palace in Tianshi Cave is the two largest monasteries in the mountain, both of which entertain tourists, and all meals and lodging are priced, and they are very fair. From my own little travel experience, I got a trick for traveling in mountains and rivers: "Places with good scenery, even if there are ancient monuments, are worth visiting, and places with bad scenery, even if there are ancient monuments, you don't have to go." , Nine times out of ten, it will disappoint people.Let’s take the Qing Palace and Tianshi Cave as an example. They both have some historic sites, but nothing to be seen.There is a mandarin duck well in the Shangqing palace, but it is just one well with two wells, one is round, one is dry and the other is wet; it doesn't matter whether you look at it or not.There is also Magu Pond, which is just a small square pool with muddy water.There are also such things in the Tianshi Cave, such as the Xixin Pool, which is just a small pool; the Subduing Demon Stone was originally a stone split by a cliff, but it is said that it was split by Zhang Tianshi with a sword.Without these monuments, the beauty of these two temples would not be diminished at all.The Shangqing Palace is on the top of the mountain, and you can look east to the plain, which is a thousand hectares of green; the mountain is green, and the ground is also green, as if the green on the mountain is slowly flowing into the world.Here, you can watch the sunrise in the morning and the holy lamp in the evening; even when there is nothing special to see during the day, climbing a height and looking far away is enough to make you feel refreshed.Tianshi Cave, contrary to Shangqing Palace, is hidden in the mountainside, surrounded by green hills and protected on all sides. I want to call it "Baocui Cave", which may be better than the original name. However, no matter how the temple is, if the mountains and forests are not impressive, it will not be very interesting, because the temple is mainly solemn and orderly, and it cannot form any good scenery.The reason why Qingcheng is worth visiting is because of the mountain itself; even if it has no historical sites or great temples, it is still a famous mountain worth seeing.The east side of the mountain is sloping, so it is covered with trees, which accounts for the word "green".The west side of the mountain is full of cliffs, like a city wall, which occupies the word "city".The mountain is not thick, and it only takes a few miles to go from the "green" side to the "city" side.The mountain is not too high.It is only ten miles from the foot of the mountain to the top.It is neither thick nor high, so it is supposed to be mediocre.But no.It is "green", which is surprisingly green. It is not like the dark green of old pines in the deep mountains and old valleys, nor is it like the patchy green of the northern mountains. Its cyan color envelops the whole mountain. There is no place where the mountain bone is exposed; moreover, the blue color covering the whole mountain is the tender green of bamboo leaves and nan leaves, which is a kind of light green that is about to drip, somewhat shiny, and about to float.This cyan color makes people feel light, but they dare not call out loudly, as if they are afraid of frightening the green green that has not yet dripped and is about to move.This cyan color is what attracts people to their hearts, rather than just looking at it and complimenting it.When this blue color is around you, you will feel a kind of tranquility, a kind of comfort that cannot be expressed and need not be expressed.If you have to describe it, you will naturally only find one word - secluded.So Mr. Wu Zhihui said: "Qingcheng is a secluded place in the world".If it is too secluded, it will make people afraid; Qingcheng Mountain is just not too high, not too deep, but just not too big or small, so that people are neither afraid of its spaciousness nor too narrow; it makes people feel "" The "leisurely" of seeing Nanshan leisurely. There is a robin in the mountain. Every night, it calls bang bang, which is very similar to the sound of a watchman. According to the Taoist, there are not many of this bird, and it will never come out of the mountain.That day, a group of people came to the temple with several shotguns. I was very worried about the little birds that could shoot watchdogs. This kind of bird has a defect, that is, it can only play three shifts—bang, bang, bang ——Whether it's evening or late at night, they always call this three times.If you can give them a little training and teach them to report from the first watch to the fifth watch, how much fun it would be! Touring the mountains during the day and listening to the robins at night, it took more than ten days for the "yo-yo".The sweet-scented osmanthus in the temple began to emit fragrance, and we reluctantly bid farewell to the Taoists. Go back to Guan County, stay only one night, and return to Chengdu.After passing through Pi County, we went to see Cong Temple; there was nothing to see, but the place was very quiet, and Committee Member Wang Faqin was buried here. Chengdu is a big place with a lot of people, so it would be too troublesome to write down all the travel diaries for more than half a month.Pick a few and talk about them casually. (1) Chengdu "Cultural Association" Branch: Since the relocation of Sichuan University, the Chengdu "Cultural Association" branch was short of many members, and there was a period of time when the conference was not very prosperous.This time in Rongcheng, all the members of the branch held a tea party, and there were more than forty people present, not too few.The magazine—"Pen Zhen"—has also expanded from a few small pages to a monthly magazine with dozens of pages, although the monthly budget is only a hundred yuan.Such efforts cannot but be admirable!Unfortunately, I did not see Mr. Li Jieren during the meeting. He went to Leshan. It is said that Mr. Li tried to donate the paper used for "Pen Zhen"; everyone is very grateful to him; with paper, other things will be much easier.At the meeting, I did not see Mr. Sheng Tao, but two days later, I saw him at the Kaiming branch.He is in good spirits, but his hair is full of gray hair.His young masters, he told me, have already written many short essays and are planning to publish a collection, and they want me to write a preface, what an interesting thing!Mr. Guo Zijie and Mr. Tao Xiong all invited me to dinner, Mr. Muye accompanied me to visit places, and Mr. Chen Xianghe and Mr. Che Shouzhou invited me to dinner—of course I was not allowed to pay for it—all of which I would like to thank.Mr. Qu Bingsen and colleagues from Central Daily invited me to have a real Chengdu-style banquet, and I am very grateful. (2) Watching operas: Mr. Wu Xianyou invited me to watch Sichuan opera, as well as Jia Xiazi's bamboo qin and Dewazi's dulcimer.The Sichuan opera in Chengdu is much better than that in Chongqing, and we are watching Jia Peizhi, Xiao Kaicheng, Zhou Mulian, Zhou Qihe and other famous players, so we feel that it is even more excellent.However, what satisfies me the most is Jia Xiazi's bamboo qin.The instrument has only one drum and one board, and the tone is so simple, but he sings as if every word has some magic power. The more he restrains, the more the listeners pay attention to listening. When he plays the sound, the audience can't help but applaud .Each of his words is like a raindrop lightly hitting a pear blossom, mellow and gentle; each sentence is a small unit of vividness; the words are really powerful and the sentences are full of emotion.How many people are there in the story, and how many people does he have to learn from? He has a loud voice and a soft voice, and not only changes his voice, but also pronounces the words according to his own mood; this is really a bit of skill!Hope to have another chance to go to Chengdu.Listen to him more times! (3) Reading: In Rong, I live at the home of my old friend, Dr. Hou Baozhang.Although he is a doctor, he loves calligraphy and painting very much. If he has some spare money, he buys old calligraphy and painting. In this way, he has gradually collected many handwritings of Sichuan sages.In this way, he became acquainted with the antique shops and second-hand bookstores along West Yulong Street.He took me to play, always to these old paper piles.This is why Chengdu is more interesting than Chongqing—there are old bookstalls to visit.Don't care if you buy it or not, it's a pleasure to touch more old papers and old papers.Really, I didn't buy anything, the book prices are too high.However, it is worthwhile to feast your eyes.Generally speaking, daily necessities in Chengdu are cheaper than those in Chongqing, because Chengdu has a well-developed handicraft industry with a large number of products, and most of the same industry sells goods on the same street, so the prices are of course more stable.Shoes, socks, toothbrushes, paper, etc., I can see that they are much better than those in Chongqing.Although used books are expensive, they are probably cheaper than those in Chongqing. If they can be sold back and forth, it may be a profitable business.However, since I have no desire to make a fortune, it is inconvenient for me to do so, although the act of selling used books may be vulgar. (4) Return: Due to the rain, I did not leave for Chongqing until the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival.We arrived at Chenjiaqiao at 5:00 pm on Mid-Autumn Festival, and the sky was still cloudy.There is no moonlight at night, and those who are so-so will forget to celebrate the festival.This is also good, so as not to look at the moon and be homesick, it will be sad again!