Chapter 19 third quarter

The feelings of childhood are almost gone, and the only thing left seems to be the sensitivity to birdsong.I was born and grew up by the Ru River, and I have been very sensitive to the singing of birds flying across the Ru River since I was a child.Just now I heard the crowing of a flying bird, and I wondered what kind of bird it was, so I was immersed in the sound of the huge wings beating.In fact, the birds have not yet flown over Rushui, but are about to fly over Rushui. This illusion may be a manifestation of my old age.Now continue to talk about my crossing Rushui. On the morning of the fourth day after entering Xincai, merchants from Chu State hired several large boats.After we got on the boat at Rushui Ferry, we went down the river.In the downstream, the river is wide, turning eastward, and the ferry arrives on the other side.

After landing, the merchants moved the goods to several carriages, piled them up high, and headed all the way to the negative letter.We sometimes rode horses and sometimes walked, and walked westward on the rugged fields and grasslands, and started a four-day and three-night trip. In the evening, we arrived at a village, and several young people who looked like Cai people took care of our board and lodging.These young people only know that their parents are from Cai, but they don't know anything about Cai, and they don't care about them. They seem to be lazy and world-weary youths from Chu who can't get excited about anything.

Looking at these young men and women, I couldn't help but sigh with emotion. Not only did I feel that Cai Guo had completely disappeared from the earth, but also that the fact that this country once existed in the Rushui River Basin was completely forgotten by people.What can be done about this?Maybe it won't be long before Cai Guo in my heart will disappear without a trace. With such complicated feelings, I revisited the old places in the fertile and rich fields and villages surrounded by green trees.On the day of the journey, no migratory birds were seen either in Xincai or in the Rushui River Basin, but in Zhengyang Village where we spent the night on the first day, we saw large groups of migratory birds flying across the sky in groups.Later, I stayed overnight in Xin'andian, Minggang and other villages, and saw migratory birds go north again.

The route I took this time was different from the one I took more than 40 years ago. The last time I went south along the Hejian area, there were many water villages along the way; , There was an endless stream of carriages full of military supplies, which was very conspicuous. On the third night, we spent the night in Minggang. From Minggang to Neghan, there is a plain beyond the horizon. As we walked south, we watched the migratory birds above us flying north. Probably the migratory birds were also looking down on us in amazement. This group of convoys going south. When I entered the negative letter on the fourth day, it was already dark at night.Arranging accommodation this time is not as easy as it was a few days ago. I can watch the birds while unpacking my luggage.The ground was pitch black, the sky was hazy, and the villages in the distance were shining brightly with the lights of stars.It's time to light up the streets and roadsides.

"Heh, Shihan, the village of Shihan is about to be brightly lit!" I couldn't help but look around.Naturally, there were no Confucius, Zilu, Zigong, or Yanhui around.I really hope they can also take a look at the current negative letter.But they are long gone, making me feel extremely lonely. Zhenghan, this magical city, is the hometown of Confucius' soul and the place where Confucius' spirit rests.Recalling it now, I still love it deeply.I stood alone in the dark field, staring affectionately at the flickering negative letter, my heart was surging. The long motorcade slowly entered the negative letter. I left everyone and moved alone. The locals arranged to live in a small hotel. At this time, the waiters were all from Cai, and they spoke Cai dialect, which made me feel very cordial.

The next day, I was surprised to find that the current negative letter had completely lost its former appearance and turned into another look.A wall surrounded the city, and another wall was built inside the city, dividing the city into an inner city and an outer city.More than forty years ago, negative letter was surrounded by ruins, and it was located alone on the great plain.More than forty years later, Negative Han became an impregnable city of Chu State surrounded by high walls. It took me two or three days to walk through the streets and alleys of the New City of Chenghan.This is no longer the young political town that Confucius praised Ye Gong as "those who are near are happy, and those who are far away come".At that time, our houses still remained in the outer city.Back then, Ye Gong’s mansion was still majestic and majestic. It was located in the inner city and guarded by guards, but it didn’t have the leisurely and relaxed atmosphere that Ye Gong loved dragons at all. Soldiers with swords.

The negative letter gave me the impression of a city fully armed with armor.No matter where you go, there are barracks everywhere, and heavily armed soldiers come and go, becoming a veritable military base. I also went outside the city to look around carefully.People from many countries conquered by Chu lived here in fragments, and opened markets along the wall closest to the residential area.The market outside the city is several times larger than the one inside the city. Although it is chaotic, it is lively and lively. Seeing this, I can't help but think: isn't it good that the negatives of the past have the characteristics of the past, and the negatives of today have the style of today?

Back then Confucius had no chance to meet King Zhao of Chu, and the final outcome was to bid farewell to King Zhao's coffin in the desolate night.Now King Chu Hui inherits the legacy of King Zhao and is coveting the Central Plains.It was originally a new town built to accommodate the survivors of the Cai Kingdom, but now it has become a military base. For the state of Chu, the negative letter is the most ideal stronghold and main route to invade the Central Plains, and it is the most important strategic location with the three dangers of the Huai River. In this sense, the nature of the current negative function is completely different from that of Ye Gong's era.

The bustling crowd on the street included descendants of Cai Guoren and Chen Guoren, and some of them couldn’t tell which country they were from. They spoke impure Chu dialect. This kind of Chu dialect with a special accent can be said to be negative letter.However, when I walked in the wilderness outside the city in the dead of night, I recalled the quiet feeling of more than forty years ago.I look up at the sky, the sky is full of stars, shining with beautiful cold light, sometimes galloping past, brilliant and dazzling. Sometimes I would walk out of the city gates, wander around the markets outside the city like the city that never sleeps, and walk from one market to another through dark roads with few pedestrians.At this time, I always feel that the night sky of the vast plain is above my head, very close, so I stop involuntarily, and relive the unique feeling left by me more than 40 years ago.

The night of the negative letter is still exactly the same as it was more than forty years ago, without any change.I really want to walk and think alone in this huge darkness.This night makes people have to think. Confucius may have thought about the destiny, and Zilu, Zigong, and Yan Hui may have thought about the meaning of life.It was in the darkness of night that Zilu made up his mind to sacrifice his life for righteousness in times of crisis. Where I walked during the day, I always want to walk again at night.The market area outside the city is almost a foreigner's quarter, and no matter where I go, I will not arouse suspicion.Negative letter has actually become the residence of the survivors of the country destroyed by Chu. They do business and live here.There is no distinction between high and low, and there is no need to be proud or humble. Even if you want to show off the prestige of the country, it is impossible to talk about it. The motherland no longer exists.

It was only when I arrived at the negative letter that I found out that for the survivors of the subjugated country, this place can provide some kind of spiritual comfort.Take myself as an example. During this trip, from leaving the capital of Lu to entering the capital, I always felt inferior. It is precisely because my motherland, Cai State, was a dignified vassal state, that made me feel the sadness of subjugation everywhere.Even if I set foot on the land of Cai State where I was born and raised, although I have a sense of intimacy, I will never feel comfortable.It was only when I entered the negative letter that I realized that it was filled with a free and relaxed atmosphere that I had never experienced before.The state of Chu adopted a wise ruling policy towards the people of the conquered country.It goes without saying that the officials and soldiers of Chu State are managing and guarding the new city, but there is no such feeling.This is a paradise of freedom for the survivors of the subjugated country. The starry sky in the negative letter is extremely beautiful. It is said that since ancient times, the starry sky in the Yellow River Basin has been the most beautiful, but it is far less beautiful than the starry sky in the negative letter. When I was walking outside the city of Neghan, I always thought of Confucius’s words, “When the Tao is about to go, it is fate! If the Tao is about to abolish, it is also about fate!” I carefully chewed on the meaning of this sentence. Sometimes at roadside shops, locals give me water to drink.I was also calm and didn't say a word. After drinking, I nodded my thanks and left. The atmosphere was natural and harmonious.There are tung trees, cypress trees, and ginkgo trees growing in the field between the market and the towering old trees. People sit and rest in the shade of the trees in twos and threes.At night, the melting moonlight sifts through the leaves and falls on the ground. The people are sparse and the night is warm. It is a good place for a walk. However, I like the dark night without the moon. On the narrow road between the market and the market, you can hear the noise from the front and back in the distance.There is no better place for my evening walks and thoughts than here.It was dark all around, and in the darkness, a beautiful starry sky hung overhead.And the darkness was a hazy gray.I don't know what words to use to accurately express this white darkness. This kind of darkness is not melancholy, but hearty. Every night I racked my brains outside the city of Chenghan, constantly thinking about a sentence that Confucius said in his later years in the Lecture Hall of the State of Lu: "The way that Tao will go is the fate! The way that the Tao will be abolished is fate!" This sentence is magnificent, profound and incisive, and should not be taken lightly. It can be regarded as Confucius' overall thinking about human beings. It surpasses the individual and partial outlook on life such as "death and life have fate, wealth and honor depend on heaven", and has infinite grandeur. Theme of.It tells us that no matter how correct efforts people make, it is difficult to guarantee a happy life style. During the ten days of negative letter, I thought over and over every day and night.As Confucius said: It is the destiny of the society to go on the right path; it is also the destiny of the society to be morally decadent and chaotic.People have no power to recover.Therefore, people can only do their best to walk the correct path that they firmly believe in.It is nonsense to think that people can change society by relying on their own strength.Man can only obey or resist under the domination of the great destiny.That's how people are.Either you firmly believe in the destiny and dedicate your life to it; or you don’t believe in the destiny and fight against it until you die in battle. "Honest to the sky with an open mind" - this is the conclusion I came to after several nights of thinking outside the city of Chenghan. In addition, I also pondered over several Confucius remarks that have not been clearly explained for a long time, and finally came to my own opinion: "Innate virtue is born with me, so what should I do?" God endowed me with morality and the quality of teaching me, what can you do to me? "Since the king of Wen is gone, it doesn't matter if we don't care about it. The heaven will lose its gentleness, and the deceased will not be able to share it with it. If the sky has not lost its gentleness, what will the people of Kuang give to them?" King Wen has passed away, so isn't it me who spreads and promotes culture?If Heaven wanted to destroy culture, culture wouldn't come to me.If heaven does not want to destroy culture, what can people like Kuang people do to me, the heir of culture? What a joy! How to understand these two sentences of Confucius.There are different opinions and no consensus.Some think that such arrogant words would never come from the mouth of Confucius; some think that even if Confucius has such thoughts, he will restrain himself and not blurt out. Confucius should have such self-control. I firmly believe that these two sentences came from the mouth of Confucius.How could a person like Confucius not even have such self-confidence?When writing that night, I realized that Confucius, who was determined to save the troubled times, firmly believed that he was the cultural standard-bearer of this era.But he is cautious, and will not show it to others in words and deeds.In my heart, I am convinced that I am the only cultural master in this troubled world. When I revisited Negative Letter, I thought of another thing: what would have happened if Confucius had met King Zhao back then? Confucius lived in Chen Guoguo for four years. His purpose was to wait for an opportunity to meet King Zhao. Due to the domestic turmoil in Chen, he failed to do so, so he had to go far away.At that time, I didn't understand the real purpose of Confucius' running around, but I was so happy that I set foot on the land of my hometown Cai.Confucius was thinking.At that time, to what extent did disciples such as Zilu, Zigong, and Yan Hui understand Confucius?Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing now.However, it is really shocking to imagine that they already knew what Confucius was thinking at that time.Such shocks have occurred only once or twice in my long career. I stood upright under a cypress tree outside the city of Chenghan, when I suddenly had this idea in the dark.I was shaking.I look at Zilu, Zigong, and Yanhui with completely different eyes from the past.I thought a lot, and thought about many issues that I had never thought about with a serious attitude that I had never thought about before. I used to think that the purpose of Confucius’ meeting with King Zhao was to try to rule the troubled times with his own ideas; now I know that maybe Confucius introduced Zilu, Yanhui, and Zigong to this outstanding leader of the Central Plains.I was so fascinated by the thought that my whole body was shaking and I couldn't control myself.Zilu, Yanhui, and Zigong served as King Zhao and became the right-hand man of King Zhao—maybe this is my greatest ideal.