Chapter 16 Chapter Fourteen

What emerged before my eyes was a picture of former US President Bill Clinton setting foot on Chinese soil. I don't know if it was a diplomatic agreement between China and the United States, or because of other considerations, the ancient capital of Xi'an was chosen as the first stop of Clinton's visit to China.When the U.S. Air Force One presidential plane landed in Xianyang, the convoy drove through the historical tunnels of the Sui, Qin, Han and Tang Dynasties, and finally stopped abruptly in front of the Archery Tower in the ancient city of Xi’an. I don’t know what Clinton had to say.However, at least at the welcoming ceremony held under the thousand-year-old city, Clinton's expression was extremely dignified.

No matter who it is, when they arrive in Xi'an, they will be hit by the profound sense of history and culture emanating from it. It is said that when Kang Youwei came to Xi'an, he finally couldn't resist the provocative people of his homeland and competed as a book thief for a time.He once went to Wolong Temple. When the abbot saw a celebrity visiting, he showed him the treasure of the temple, Qisha.Kang Youwei had heard about it for a long time, but it was hard to see it. When he was suddenly moved, he went back to the library to study it carefully, and returned it tomorrow when he finished it.Unexpectedly, Kang Youwei took the scriptures to the east the next day, and after being discovered by the monks, he chased him to Tongguan and persuaded him for a long time before he kept the moraine sand.I don’t know if this legend is true or not, but there is a couplet in Xi’an: when a country is about to perish, there must be something;

The reason why Xi'an is called Xi'an is that it is really a cultural sustenance hidden by Chinese literati. These dusty things like fog, rain, and wind have been severely defeated in the course of thousands of years of history. Pass.At first they were cut in half, then hammered, then pulverized, and then they lost their shape and could only wander around like ghosts.Xi'an, which once created the culture of the Han and Tang Dynasties, has almost become a legend because of the fragments of Weiyang Palace, Qin bricks and Han tiles, and the rumored "Three Hundred Tang Poems".Because of these splendid cultural interpretations, the ancient city of Chang'an, which can never be recovered, becomes even more beautiful, poignant and beautiful like a drop of tears, dripping in the minds of literati every night.The literati said it was to commemorate the ancient city of Xi'an, but in fact it was to commemorate the literati ideas that can never be achieved.

It is not too much to say that the ancient city of Xi'an is the cultural Xi'an.Therefore, Jia Pingwa said this about Xi'an: ...I often go shopping alone at night, the crowds and caravans are gradually thinning out, and the neon lights are also dimming. In the windless and foggy night, there are squares and triangles of bungalows and buildings floating in the air. From the window of someone's house, there is a play of Qin Opera, and the alley A group of people were playing chess under the street lamppost, and an old man squatted alone on the safety island in the street, flickering the fireworks on his lips, I often thought: things in the world are really wonderful, we are living, but this world Who built the city?Who was the first to invent clothes, buttons, cooking pots, and bowls?We live in the creation of our predecessors and we don't know it at all!Everyone says that Xi'an is a city with a particularly profound cultural heritage, but how did it accumulate bit by bit?Cultural relics are the framework of history, folklore is the soul of history, and the characters interspersed in folklore should be called virtuous, right?There is a form of wind in the running water, and traces of virtuous virtues are left in the gentleness. Tonight, the ghosts of the great sages and virtuous men of the past and present must be in the air of this city...

Xi'an's ancient city culture is unique in the country, so who is carrying out the work of cultural accumulation?Taking culture as a part of managing the city is like cleaning the city with detergent, which is also a way of management. In the end, they each form the highlights of the city. Who is such a virtuous person? On the evening of July 23, 1997, CCTV's "Focus Interview" program was titled "The Ancient Capital Changed to a New Look", reporting that Xi'an City is implementing the strategy of the eight major projects of spiritual civilization, including the ancient culture, and the Xi'an Bell and Drum Tower. The morning bell and evening drum on the mountain sounded again, making the ancient sound that echoed in the legend for thousands of years reach the eardrums of modern people.It is this kind of sound, like a sudden pure river, flowing into the bottom of my heart, washing away the past consciousness of the abandoned capital and exhaustion, and re-condensing the consciousness of the famous city and the consciousness of struggle in the hearts of Xi'an people.

In this episode of the program, the author discovered Li Tianshun, director of Xi'an Cultural Relics and Gardens Bureau, who can be called a virtuous person. The so-called morning bell and evening drum were ringing again during his administration. It was the second year after I met Li Tianshun after "Focus Interview" was broadcast. Shaanxi is a province of cultural relics, and Xi'an Cultural Relics and Gardens Bureau is the leader of the province's cultural relics system.Since Xi'an is said to be Xi'an of history and Xi'an of culture, it plays an important role as the Bureau of Cultural Relics and Gardens.Xi'an has Terracotta Warriors and Horses, Huaqing Pool, Lishan Tomb, ancient city walls, and countless treasures such as bronze and ceramics.Some people say that what kind of seeds are buried will bear what kind of fruit. There are thirteen dynasties buried under the ground in Xi'an, so there is a lingering royal atmosphere in the sky of Xi'an.The Bureau of Cultural Relics and Gardens is probably the person in charge of the ancient culture of Xi'an.

To the outside world, Xi'an seems to be just a yellowed old photo, and Li Tianshun and his cultural relic gardeners seem to be the ones who keep the old photos.Looking at that old photo, one feels sad, but Li Tianshun and others don't want to tell people this in their interpretation of the significance of Xi'an cultural relics and gardens.What they want to tell the world is that Xi'an was once called Chang'an, and the land of Chang'an once had the Emperor Qin and Han Wu, and there was the rule of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.The so-called Han people and the so-called Tang people all come from this land, and they are still passed down through rivers and rivers, and they will surely last forever.This is really the pride of Xi'an. In this excuse, there is the spirit of the king of Qin sweeping Liuhe to see all the small mountains, the majesty of the strong wind and the flying clouds, and the fierce ambition of the king of all kings in the Tang Dynasty.This is actually the national spirit passed down through blood in China.

Use the past for the present, find a carrier to make the ancient capital active, become a kind of encouragement, a kind of encouragement, and a kind of reminder.When the Xi'an Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government proposed the eight major projects, the Municipal Party Committee hit it off and quickly found new ideas. This is the morning bell and evening drum project in Xi'an. In the Han and Tang Dynasties, the morning bells and evening drums in Chang'an City were famous all over the world. As the imperial capital of Chang'an, the role of the Bell and Drum Tower is not only to tell the time, it also means auspiciousness and peace to pray for God's blessing.This kind of percussion from morning to night is completely integrated into the ancient romance and has become the unique rhythm of Chang'an people.In the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, Wanfang paid tribute, and the Bell and Drum Tower not only had the meaning of the first two floors, but also the meaning of majesty and grandeur.Presumably it must be like the national flag raising ceremony in Tiananmen Square in Beijing now, except that now we use our eyes to watch, but then we used our ears to listen.When the ancient Persians, the ancient Hebrews, the Rongdi, the Huns, the Tatars, etc. came to Chang'an, the voice of the kingdom would be filled into their ears. In addition to being very impressed by the fiery trees, silver flowers, golden palaces and jade buildings of the Tang Empire Deep outside, it was the shock of the sound of bells and drums.

For Westerners and barbarians, the sound of bells and drums in Chang'an City will definitely shock them.For the Westerners and Yiren, the sound from the sounds of nature scares them. This is a kind of admiration for the highly developed culture of a big country by people lacking in culture. The sound of bells and drums is like a turbulent river, and the Westerners and barbarians have to stay away. Jia Pingwa wrote that when he was 13 years old, he first entered the city of Xi'an from remote Shangzhou and saw the scene of the Bell and Drum Tower: When I first came to Xi’an, I was 13 years old. I joined the ranks as a middle school student Red Guard. I carried a bedroll tied with thick hemp rope and wore a straw hat. When I saw the Bell and Drum Tower, I was horrified and immediately the straw hat fell off. Almost got run over by a roaring car.Since I am a citizen of Xi'an, the place where I go shopping the most in the city is still the Bell and Drum Tower.I am in awe of sound, and the earth-shattering metallic sound of the bell in particular terrifies me.

With the flames of the Tang Dynasty at that time, the cultural preparation of the surrounding Westerners and barbarians was not much higher than that of a 13-year-old child. Presumably they must have a deep and deep impression of the Bell and Drum Tower. The Bell and Drum Tower is one of the highlights of ancient Chang'an. Morning Bell and Evening Drum is a repertoire handed down from generation to generation in ancient Chang'an. However, since the appearance of clocks and watches, coupled with the fact that Xi'an has become a real abandoned capital, the morning bells and evening drums sighed and fell into the dust. Hundreds of years have passed in a blink of an eye.

Now, Xi'an city leaders once again focus on them. In the past, some people thought of rebuilding the Bell and Drum Towers, but the area of ​​the Bell and Drum Towers is surrounded by a large area of ​​shacks and bungalows. There are more than 400 stalls in the passage between the Bell and Drum Towers. Therefore, several mayors in the city have retreated. Secretary Cui Lintao believes that under the conditions of a market economy, civilization should be regarded as a resource.Resources are wealth.For example, the Middle East has oil, Brazil has gold mines, Egypt has pyramids, and Xi'an has culture.This is our advantage.Human beings need oil and gold, but they also need cultural nourishment.Where there is a need, there is a market, there are economic growth points, and there are considerable benefits.Our investment is not without paying attention to returns, but should be brought into the orbit of the market economy. This is Cui Lintao's development concept. With such an idea, Li Tianshun and the expert team carefully designed to enlarge the original idea of ​​only realizing the evening drum, and opened up the Bell and Drum Tower area into a square, with morning bell and evening drum as the theme song, and a series of cultural activities as the concerto .In just 10 and a half months, a square with strong ancient city characteristics appeared in front of the citizens. The total area of ​​the new square is 65,000 square meters. The surface of the square is a combined lawn, accompanied by novel floor lamps, street lamps, water lamps, and fountains. , there is also a large underground shopping mall imitating a pyramid, which can fully accommodate Xiyi guests who come for sightseeing. The whole design fully embodies the design concept of promoting culture with business, expanding business with culture, and cultural center. The morning bells and evening drums of Xi'an City resounded over the ancient city again. However, the thousand-year-old sound has a new meaning.Now, the morning bells and evening drums in Xi'an have been written into the book by writers. Jia Pingwa wrote in the book "Old Xi'an": Bell and Drum Towers are buildings in many cities, but the Bell and Drum Towers in any part of China are not as good as those in Xi'an. Majestic, morning bell and evening drum has become an idiom, and it is still a fact here. So far, many foreigners gather in the Bell and Drum Tower Square in the morning and evening to see a group of people dressed in ancient costumes solemnly going to the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower to ring the bell. Drum, trance to the ancient times. Since the completion of the Bell and Drum Tower Square, it has been integrated with the ancient city wall of Xi'an, forming a unique tourist route: If you want to visit the ancient city of Xi'an, you will drift your mind into ancient times.You are either a messenger, or a wealthy businessman with a camel caravan.Surrounded by bright-eyed ladies and golden-armored warriors, you come to the ancient city gate with awe and curiosity, take the golden key of the ancient city in the hands of an official, and receive the certificate of customs clearance. After putting on the commemorative red seal, you will enter the ancient city, and at this time you will be the most honored guest in Chang'an City.Then you will come to the Bell and Drum Tower along a specific route, and you will hear the famous morning bell and evening drum, and let the full sound of gold and stone fill your heart... However, you never imagined that you would be the President of the United States. Back then, US President Clinton and his wife were imprisoned according to such a plot. You can imagine that you are the president of the United States, it doesn't matter, because no matter who is in the world, they will be moved by this city when they come to the ancient Xi'an. This is Xi'an. As the saying goes, the rain is different in ten miles, and the wind is different in a hundred miles.China's urban management methods are becoming more and more diversified, and each city has its own unique ideas, just like the different land and cultural backgrounds behind them.This is undoubtedly a kind of progress, a kind of splendor and vividness.