Chapter 21 Luxi.Pu City.box rock

From Yuanling up the Yuanshui River, it is 140 miles to Chenxi County, a famous place for coal production in western Hunan.It should pass through Luxi County, with a total distance of 60 li. It is a stop for the boat going up from Yuanling that day, and it is also the confluence of Donghe (Luxi) and Yuanshui. Sixty miles further on, it is called Pu City, which is under the jurisdiction of Luxi County. It is a water wharf whose heyday has passed for forty years.Go up another twenty miles to Chenxi County, where Chenxi flows into Yuanshui.The road from Yuanling to Chenxi mostly circles in the mountains, without passing through Luxi or Pu City.

In many travel notes, there are many records of the middle section of the Yuanshui River Basin, the relics of ancient cave dwellers' residences, ocher red wooden houses or warehouses along the cliffs and cliffs along the river, which are very moving.If the traveler thinks it worth seeing, he should go by boat.Like many riverside cliffs in the Yuanshui River Basin, this cliff is made of limestone.This particularly famous cliff is between Luxi Pu City and is called Box Rock.The ocher wooden cabinets are square wooden utensils, and there are still three or five of them placed in the cracks and cracks in the mid-air of freshly cut rocks.It is not known whether this is the real remains of the original people's residence, or the wooden cabinet where the ancient barbarians stored their bones.For the meaning of its existence, there should be some older records or legends, which have been lost for a long time.

The following passages are excerpted from a travel note I wrote a few years ago: Luxi County is surrounded by mountains, and the river flows through the gorge.The county seat is located at the confluence of the Donghe River and the Yuanshui River. The boats on the small river are close to the city, and the boats on the big river are about one-third of the way to the city. (Donghe River is commonly called Xiaohe, and Yuanshui is commonly called Dahe River.) The source of Donghe River is far away from Miao Township, and about 50 small black Donghe boats are moored at the mouth of the river all the year round.The boatmen have short and dainty flower handkerchief seedlings, flower handkerchiefs on their heads, and skirts around their waists.There are fair-faced and elegant people in the institute, who are gentle and elegant when speaking, and good at singing when they open their mouths.The Donghe River is fast-flowing and the mountains are high, and the river has many twists and turns. It is no longer suitable for sailing boats to use the wind to sail up here. All boats entering the Donghe River will bundle their sails into a bundle and make a special mark when they arrive here. Store it in a store in the city, and wait for the goods to go down, and then pick it up.For Yuanshui merchant ships sailing from Chenzhou, sixty miles is a long stop, and it is inevitable to stop at Luxi.If the boat going down from Pu City does not make it to Chenzhou on the same day, they will usually spend the night here.However, the upper and lower two large piers have snatched all the business. Although there are several ships berthing here every day, the business in the small town is very light.Along the big river, there is not a bluestone wharf, and ships have to berth under the mud ferry and mud embankment.

On rainy days, braved the light rain, walked into the county town street from the mud.In the cloth shop run by people from Jiangxi on the main street, an old woman with white hair sat in the shop cabinet, solemn and silent like an ancient Buddha.The big boss had nothing to do, but he was shy, with his hands crossed, his feet stretched into a figure of eight, and he stood by the threshold and slipped away from the eaves of the street.On the sidewalk made of stone slabs in the narrow alley, children carry big and simple umbrellas, and there is a very lonely sound of spikes.If the weather is clear, Stone City is on the sunset side, and the battlements and towers all set off a clear outline against the yellow sky where the setting sun sets.Every hilltop is plated with gold, and the river is full of oars singing and floating.In such a small town, there is a Mr. Gong Debo who wrote "Nothing to Fear in Japan".

□□□This is a wharf that has decayed after the prosperity of the past.Thirty years ago was the pinnacle of this place's prosperity, one of the reasons is that every three months the province went to the province to ask for the 140,000 taels of silver for the Phoenix Hall Town case and the Chenyuan Yongjing Army Guards, and there were so many ships in the province here So far, the silver will be transported by the dry road station.Hiring rate officers and escorts was a rich job at that time, and if you have money to spend, you will spend money.At that time, there are often three to two thousand new oil baskets drying in the sun in the oil mills along the long street along the river.Half of the seven piers made of bluestone along the river are often berthed with sturdy and tall oil tankers with four sculls and five cabins.In addition, most of the ships brought Huai salt, cloth, flower yarn, and foreign and general goods needed in Sichuan and Guizhou from downstream.The cinnabar, mercury, ramie, gallnut, and raw and cooked medicinal materials from the Sichuan-Guizhou border by dry road are all delivered and reprinted here.When timber floats down the river, half of the river is often covered with that kind of raft.

In the local market, there are firecrackers, paper, fat people, and fat pigs.The river surface is unusually wide and flat, and the pier is clean and tidy.At the end of the market is a long pond, and at the upper reaches of the river is a small beach. Whenever the evening sun sinks into the earth, and the clouds in the sky are baked by the afterglow of the setting sun, leaving a deep purple, a large group of cargo boats come down from top to bottom, and the people who rock the boat Before mooring the boat near the shore, on the river surface full of mist, the song of urging oars floating in the dusk scenery is just such a magnificent, rare and joyful song!

After 1911, the newly formed army was often mobilized years ago, and the salary of the Central Association of some provinces was also adjusted by the lijin of the counties.In a short period of time, most of the tobacco and earth transits that have been replaced in place have also been diverted to Guangxi exits on the South Road.All consumer stores are shrinking day by day, and only some raw material goods ships pass by.When such a large amount of financial activities stopped, the city's consumer business was hit and the scope was reduced, which also affected a series of small businesses.

Now that's all in the past, and the piers along the river are in dilapidated condition.A pier where the boats are moored, a total of twelve boats.Except for one ship carrying square pillar-shaped wool iron and one carrying Chenxi bituminous coal, which is being signed for loading there, the other ships seem to have been moored for many days, with no cargo to load, and they all seem very lonely and tightly crowded. one place.A few boats also hung a circle made of bamboo cables on the small mast or penny, as a sign of "this boat is sold" waiting for the owner to change. □□□□It was the fifteenth day of the fifth lunar month, and the country people celebrated the Duanyang Festival.The three most beautiful dragon boats in the box rock cave were all dragged out by the countrymen and floated on the water.The boat is narrow and long, with scarlet lines drawn on the side of the boat. The whole boat is full of young men with red cloth wrapped around their heads and waists.At the sound of the drum, the boat is like a featherless arrow, flying back and forth in the calm and waveless Changtan.The river was about a mile wide, and people on both banks watched the boats and yelled loudly to add to the fun.And some good people climbed to the top of the hanging rock from the back mountain, and threw the "Pudijin" Baizi side cannon from the high rock, and the side cannon burst in mid-air, forming a cloud of multicolored shredded paper.

The sound of Pengpeng Pengpeng's side cannons echoes with the sound of gongs and drums in the boats on the water, which arouses people's fantasy and emotion about history. Two thousand years ago, the state of Chu expelled Qu Yuan, if he himself had not been exiled, he would have come to such a place full of strange brilliance and witnessed these thrilling scenes. "Song", the history of Chinese literature will not be what it is now.During this long period of time, many nations in the world have degenerated, aged, and perished.Even a piece of land known as a great country in East Asia has been trampled and trampled by barbarians from the desert many times, riding fat horses, holding strong bows and crossbows, spears and halberds!However, everything in this place, although it has been in the history, there are continuous killings and scrambles, and when the dynasty changes, the people are assigned to bear all kinds of unfortunate fates. Subject to various restrictions and domination.However, if you think about it carefully, these people seem to have nothing to do with the progress of history.Judging from the way they cope with survival and the way they entertain their emotions, it seems that the past and present are the same, regardless of each other.

When the sun sets, the clouds and shadows fade away, and the two banks gradually disappear in the gentle twilight.There were fewer and fewer shouts from boat watchers on both sides of the strait. The river surface was shrouded in a purple mist, and apart from the sound of gongs and drums, the direction of the dragon boats could still be discerned, and there was nothing else to be seen.However, there are noisy voices at the gap in the rock wall, and there are children crying and women screaming sharply, which gives people a sense of leisure and endlessness. ...After a long time, the sound of gongs and drums was still floating on the river, indicating that a group of people were still unwilling to leave the boat and return home.After dinner, climb out of the cabin and take a look, ah, what a full moon!Under the moonlight, the stone walls and the river surface are all plated with silver, which has completely changed their tone.On the edge of the water pier at the gap in the rock wall, someone was lighting a fire with waste bamboo cables or oil firewood. Under the light of the fire, only the shadows of many people in white clothes moved.Those people were moving the food and drink onto the boat, ready to distribute it to the people on the dragon boat.It turned out that these young people had been rowing all day, and all the boat watchers had dispersed, but the boaters were not enjoying themselves enough, and the three boats still had to play under the moonlight for half the night.

Mentioning this incident makes people feel again the poverty of human written language, that kind of voice, that kind of sentiment, which cannot be fully described in words. Every time these people come to the Duanyang Festival, they have to go down the river to play dragon boats for a whole day, but their daily lives are divided according to one kind, and they live their lives very simply.Every day, I watch the passing boats swaying and sailing, watching the sunset and water birds.Although there are also small gains and losses in personnel affairs, when grievances and disputes become a ball, celebrations or vendettas will occur one after another.However, on the whole, these people's lives seem to have been integrated with "nature", and they are there to perform their own life in a very calm manner. Like other inanimate substances, they only radiate and decompose in the alternation of sun and moon, cold and heat.Moreover, in this process, these people seem to know a little more about how small people are than any philosophers in the world. These people who live up to nature, compromise with nature, have no responsibility for history, and live in this unknown place.In addition, there are still a group of people who do not compromise with nature and devise various methods to control nature, which violates the habits of nature, and also spends the alternation of cold and heat, watching the sun and moon rise and fall.Yet the latter is changing history and making history.A new sun and moon will soon destroy all the old ones.What method should we use to make these people feel a kind of "fear" in their hearts, give up their attitude towards nature and peace, regain their energy, and live with the spirit of rowing a dragon boat?The zeal of these men for their pleasures proves that it deserves them to occupy a place in the world, and to live a little more pleasantly and longer.But who is going to transform these people's fanaticism into a new competition? (Quoted from "Xiang Xing San Ji") It is hoped that the people of Yupu City themselves have no conclusions. The fat people and fat pigs in Pushi Town have almost been "lost" due to the changes of the times, and the locals don't quite understand them.Keep its name, so that the people in the Yuanshui River Basin still know that there is a "Pu City" place, where all the cannons and actors are left behind.People in the Yuanshui River Basin like to use side cannons in case of emergency. They use them in weddings and funerals, they use them when sailing boats, relatives use them when welcoming guests, and they also use them when selling pigs and buying cattle.Almost nothing doesn't need it.Nitrate and paper are needed to make side cannons. Pu City produces good nitrate and bamboo paper.The side cannons in Pu City are cheap and loud.Therefore, most of the supply of side cannons in the Yuanshui River Basin was arranged by shops in Pu City.People in Pu City love and understand opera.When farming starts or ends in February and August, the country people need rewards for the land, and they also need public entertainment.Therefore, there are often leaders who come forward to collect money and recruit members, and invite the big wooden puppet troupe to perform.The roles of this kind of troupe are both neat and beautiful, and the most famous ones are in Pu City.There are three pagodas in the lower reaches of the river in Pushi Town. There are local legends that there are goblins living in the pagodas. The legends are too old, because there is a story about flooding the Jinshan Temple, but because the legends are popular, the pagodas seem to be very new.There is a big temple across the river from the town, named Jiangdong Temple.The ancient pine tree in the temple can only be hugged by five people joining hands.The old plum tree is three feet high. When it blooms, it is like a tree of crimson snow, and when the flowers fall, it is an inch thick.In the side courtyard of the temple, there is a runner Tibetan, made of wood, three or four feet high, supported by big iron shafts with buckets up and down.When three or five people hold the wooden handle with the carved dragon head and turn it hard, the sound is like a dragon's cry, shrill and long, very moving.According to records, it was made to imitate the sound of a dragon. When it is turned in the middle of the night, it can be heard clearly ten miles away.According to local legend, there are three and a half runners in the world, and Pu City occupies one of them.The temple was built by Yuchi Jingde, a black warrior of the Tang Dynasty.As far as the architectural style is concerned, it belongs to the Ming Dynasty and was rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty.The local people are good at wooden puppet play, and there are many stories in the play where the black face goes in and the red face goes out. Yuchi Jingde is a hero in the play, so it is very natural to attach it to this temple.The wharf in Pu City has been in decline. Thirty years ago, the very popular merchants moved and went bankrupt. The temple has repeatedly stationed troops. In recent years, all the flowers and trees have been destroyed, and the temple has also been reduced to a pile of rubble.There are only three or five opera masters who are well-known in the Yuanshui River Basin.Most of the puppet operas are sung in a high tone, accompanied by suona, and sung in the field, the mood is quite tragic.When the cauliflower is yellow and the crops are ripe, these people take their theater boxes and walk around. When the performance is held in front of the small earth temples in the fields, women, old and young, who are ten miles away, put on new clothes, and the young women wear heavy silverware. , Some even carried their own benches and lunch boxes, ran to the theater, and ate something while watching the theater.Actors who have a good voice and are good at making puppets look lively are often favored by local young women.In the twelfth lunar month of winter, these opera singers took another piece of family business and rushed to Fenghuang County to perform wish operas to pay Nuo God.This kind of drama of rewarding the gods is completely different from the ordinary situation. All Miao witches are the main body, each dressed as a countryman, and they follow behind the Miao wizards and sing in the courtyard in front of the gods. Or ask and answer each other, or sing together in a classical way.The play is held under the burning fire in many nights, and the singing will not stop until dawn.Participating in the nature of multiple tasks for fun, as usual, does not require monetary rewards, just eat and drink a few meals, and then transfer to another family after the ceremony is over.In all ways, it is reminiscent of the rural opera scene in "A Midsummer Night's Dream", carpenters, plasterers, butchers, and tailors all participated.Most of the plays are based on local scenery, humorous and satirical, healthy and happy, and have the taste of Greek "Imitation".No strings or suonas are used, only small gongs and drums are used. At the end, everyone must sing in chorus, and the audience can also sing in chorus.As usual, the word "Xie" or "Hehexie" is used at the end, so that we can know the purpose of the last word in "Chu Ci".After the play sang at midnight, the weather was cold, the gongs and drums were desolate, and most of the children had already taken a nap in front of the altar, so the witch ordered the deacons to light the big wax again and add new offerings, and the witch also changed into scarlet embroidered satin robes, Holding a bronze sword and brocade whisk in hand, beating the big drum like thunder, singing loudly, dancing solo to entertain the gods and excite the audience.At the end, the offerings of wine and food were removed, and everyone ate and drank.Once everyone regained their spirits, the new play resumed. At the end of the new year, these opera singers brought the pork and mutton they got (mutton must be taken from the hind legs, and the little tail), rice cakes of different sizes, happiness and fatigue, and went home to celebrate the New Year. Looking west from the top of Pushi Town, you can see a white pagoda on a distant mountain, pointing toward the blue sky.The White Pagoda belongs to the feng shui of Chenxi County, and its location is a little below Chenxi County.The tower is on the mountain beside the river, and the name of the river is "jinsitan". It is said that the fisherman needs to put a catty of raw silk to reach the bottom.On one side of Jinsitan is a row of cliffs, mottled in five colors, like brocade and embroidery.Hundreds of small fishing boats are often moored under the cliff, and each boat keeps five or seven black ospreys as usual.When the waterfowl has nothing to do, it often squats on the side of the boat and flaps its wings, or dozes off silently.It is a spectacle when hundreds of thousands of people go fishing together in Pingtan. It can be seen that human beings cooperate with other creatures and compete for survival in nature. Although fighting is necessary everywhere, there is harmony everywhere. and.The box rock is also a row of colorful mottled stone walls, about three or four miles long, which are also limestone in nature.The side of the stone wall facing the river is as sharp as cutting.The water of the river is deep and blue, and big fish come out, so there are many fishing boats.There are many caves under the rock, which can store the long and narrow dragon boats used by the local people for the May Festival.There are houses in the gaps of the rock walls, as if to add a sense of painting to the creator, these large and small houses are decorated with care or inadvertence.The most noticeable thing is the huge ochre-colored wooden cabinet suspended in the mid-air hole in the stone wall.The sky does not touch the sky, and the spring does not reach the bottom. It is said that the remains of ancient cave dwellers.The spectacular water surface during the Dragon Boat Festival is not easy for ordinary people to get such a feast of eyes, and it is difficult to imagine its moving scene.When the weather is clear and bright, the sun sets in the west, and the thin clouds in the sky turn from silver red to gray purple. The small fishing boats moored at the bottom of the cliff burn wet firewood for cooking, and the smoke from the cooking is wet, flat against the water surface, like a white curtain.Green-headed water mallards, three or five, flew in formation and skimmed the water, disappearing in the mist.Everything is quiet and beautiful.Randomly cut out a piece of outline on the paper, and it will become an excellent Song Dynasty painting book.Eyes full of poetry, a pure poetry.The expression of another form of life, that is, the harmony between man and nature, and the indivisibility of each other, can be in contact with the senses here.If a person can hold his breath, in this situation, he will feel that if he cannot melt his whole personality, he is at least willing to temporarily forget all the troubles of the floating world.Reality does not make people intoxicated, but it makes people think deeply.Over time, it is as if a strong man with an animal skin around his waist and a stone ax in hand five thousand years ago, how to carefully design, paint and dye the wood with red stone powder, and set up a scene on the cliff high above the sky.And think of Qu Yuan two thousand years ago, loyal and untrustworthy, drifting on a small boat on the river after being exiled, hopeless and helpless.It is easier to care about the future fate of the people in this place. Although they live in harmony with nature, if they do not try to transform, they will inevitably have the same fate as nature, conquered and controlled by another kind of strong and trained outsider, and eventually die out.It is painful to talk about it, because it is a kind of helpless pain to understand that human beings live in a certain way and are influenced by the times.Compassion and responsibility will arise spontaneously at the same time, and I will feel the shame of hiding and the necessity of cheering up.Witnessing such beautiful mountains and rivers, "love" and "unbearable" will make people dare not fall, and cannot fall.Therefore, a serious traveler might as well put aside the convenience of traveling by car and take a boat from Yuanling up the Yuanshui River to reach Chenxi in two days.Although it takes a little more time, the ears and eyes will definitely gain a little more.