The Three Gorges: Qutang Gorge, Wu Gorge, and Xiling Gorge, starting from Baidi City in Fengjie, Sichuan in the west, to Nanjinguan in Yichang, Hubei in the east, with a total length of 192 kilometers. When I entered Sichuan and left Chu, I rested on the waves of the Three Gorges more than once. The mountains on both sides of the strait are so beautiful that you will be fascinated by them; the swift waves of the river rush towards you, and you open your arms to embrace it, like a moth embracing a flame. It is so exciting that we forget both things! Now, I am sailing eastward from the Land of Abundance, and once again experience this journey of lightning, thunder, and rainbows. The immense beauty relaxes my body and mind, and relaxes me some more. I have no friends by my side. Tao Yuanming left and left me a cluster of chrysanthemums; Li Bai left and left me a wine flask; Li He left and left me a donkey to listen to ghosts crying and chirping in the night rain in the countryside. Son; Qu Yuan is gone, and what is left to me is his hometown, the Three Gorges where he was born and raised. Sailing in it is actually reliving the dream of an old friend.
Qutang Gorge
Although the river suddenly surged several feet high as soon as it reached this point, the cliff inserted in the raging waves was still quiet and breathing deeply. Standing on the shaking deck, I stared at the cliff with my binoculars and saw that it was covered with inscriptions. Seal script, Li script, Kai script, and Xing script are all solemn. Those words seemed not to be chiseled with a knife, but to be chopped with a big axe. There was also the word "Kuimen" that was bigger than the rising sun above the head. The strength of the wealthy guests of all ages is condensed!
I think that among so many famous mountains and rivers, there is no more symbolic name than Kuimen. Kui is a kind of dragon in ancient legends. It has one leg and is extremely fierce. It is perfect to use it to describe the Yangtze River here. The Yangtze River flows from Sichuan to the sea. The narrowest section is from Kuimen to Fanziqi at the upper entrance of Wu Gorge. It is no more than two hundred meters wide when the water rises, and only fifty meters when it falls. It is a miracle that such a narrow passage can squeeze through the third largest river in the world.
In the third base of 200 million years ago, my country's topography was high in the east and low in the west. The western area of the Yangtze River Basin was a very vast sea at that time, connected to the ancient Mediterranean Sea. A strong orogeny occurred in the Indosinian zone of the earth 200 million years ago. The ancient Mediterranean Sea retreated westward on a large scale, and the Qinling Mountains in my country rose, forming a terrain that rises in the east and falls in the west. After that, about 70 million years ago, another Yanshan movement occurred, and the Sichuan Basin and the Three Gorges area rose. Later, during the Himalayan movement about 30 million years ago, the ground in the Yangtze River Basin generally rose intermittently, and the upper reaches rose. It is the most violent, rising slightly in the middle and lower reaches, or continuing to subside. As a result, the ancient Yangtze River could no longer flow westward into the Mediterranean Sea, but could only find a new outlet eastward. For tens of millions of years, the rivers in the west have persevered against the mountains in the Three Gorges region. The rocks that were squeezed and curved during the orogeny formed three rock layers in the Three Gorges area, which are called "folds" in geology. Year after year, day after day, the Yangtze River, looking for a way out, launched a strong impact on these folds. Finally, it struggled to open Kuimen and cut through the mountain gorges. In the geological time that humans cannot participate in, it not only completed The heroic song of the great river going eastward, and it also left us this section of strange landscape with collapsed clouds and cracked banks.
Facing Kuimen, how can I not marvel at the power of the Yangtze River. This reminds me of the three triumphal arches in Rome and the large and small triumphal arches in Paris. These buildings, which are built to highlight the conquerors' civil and military achievements, stand in the history of human beings killing each other. Although these triumphal arches have become famous places admired by people today, this is a human tragedy. Every triumph after massacre is actually a destruction of human kind nature. But this Kui Gate is different. Although it is also a triumphal arch, it does not inspire people with the desire to conquer in a barbaric state. Although there is mist above your head here, you will never feel that the sky is cloudy mentally.
There are too many words written by predecessors to describe the ruggedness of Qutang Gorge. The Yanlidui not far from Kuimen has been regarded as a signpost leading to hell for thousands of years. How many boats and oars turned into foam here, and how many creatures turned into water ghosts here. Forty years ago, Yanlidui was blown up. When we cross the Qutang Gorge today, we no longer need to be as frightened as our predecessors, who were always afraid that our green-haired heads would hit the strange rocks in the middle of the river. However, as soon as the river entered Kuimen, it was indeed unusual. Guo Pu's "Jiang Fu" of the Jin Dynasty once had such a passage: "The round deep nine times are suspended, the turbulent currents are thunderous and electric, and the waves are violent and shocking. Thin, quickly replenishing water, surging and leaping." Next are thirty-two strange characters next to water (because these characters are no longer used today, so they are not recorded). Used to describe the sound and momentum of water, it makes you feel as if your soul is shattered after reading it. I thought this section of Fu was the old Qutang Gorge.
Kui is a perfect match for the river, and the gate is also very vivid for the terrain here. Entering Qutang Gorge, where the Yangtze River cuts through the Mesozoic limestone of the Qijishan anticline, forming a steep canyon. There are two rock cliffs, the south bank is called Baiyan Mountain and the north bank is called Chijia Mountain. They were so smooth, as if Lu Ban had come here and used a plane to scratch them. One white and one red, yin and yang attract each other. They look like they will quickly close together and close the door as soon as the Yangtze River becomes tired. Du Fu's poem: "Many waters meet thousands of rivers, and Qutang competes for one gorge." This word "competition" is really vivid. In the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the river surface is wide, and it is forty kilometers wide at the mouth of the sea. It is really majestic. On the other hand, the Yangtze River here is a hundred meters wide and is simply a small ravine. When Lu You came here, he "looked up at the sky like a piece of steel." Isn't this river like a piece of steel that is about to split but not yet cracked?
I think this cliff is really heroic. It is entangled with a horse that looks like ten thousand giant pythons twisted together, but it is still able to guard its Dantian, sink into eternity, and do its own health-preserving exercises. This kind of meditation In terms of kung fu, I don’t know if Old Toutuo Sakyamuni has ever achieved it.
The movement of the river is better than that of a stray rabbit; the stillness of a rock is better than that of a virgin. One movement and one stillness, two living philosophies of life, both reaching the extreme. "The green mountains cannot cover it, but it flows eastward after all." This is a praising river; "The river flows and the stone does not turn." This is a praising rock. People always look for natural correspondences based on their own aesthetic orientation. If the river is not at its extreme, it will not be able to cross Kuimen; if the rock is not at its extreme, the place will have been razed to the ground. A benevolent person enjoys mountains, and a wise person enjoys water. According to the ancients' view, a benevolent person is firm, generous, and as wise as a fool, like this cliff; while a wise person is romantic, astute, and righteous while retaining benevolence, like this river. Benevolence and wisdom complement each other, complement each other's integrity, and rely on each other to sublimate themselves. As a middle-aged person, I prefer quiet places. When facing the stone wall in front of me, I can't help but ponder: Life is like a surging river. Can I live with this dull cliff?
The river turned a corner and Kuimen was no longer visible. However, more cliffs squeezed into my sight. The narrow and deep Qutang Gorge gave me an indescribable sense of three-dimensionality and weight. Some of those cliffs are like Beethoven's tragic heroic symphony, some are like the golden mushrooms in Andersen's fairy tales, some are like the warriors "wandering alone with their halberds", and some are like those sent by Zhuangzi to take a nap here. Big Kun. I stood on the deck - picking them. Collect it in my heart.
Wu Gorge
When the Wu Gorge is green and misty,
The clear ape cries on the highest branch.
I am so worried that my heart will break.
The reason is not this sad sound.
There are many things worth writing about in Wu Gorge, but for some reason, the first thing that jumped into my mind was this poem about bamboo branches by Liu Yuxi, a poet from the Tang Dynasty. "Zhuzhi Ci" was originally an ancient folk song from eastern Sichuan that was combined with music and dance, also known as Bayu folk song. When Liu Yuxi was the governor of Kuizhou, he wrote nine popular Zhuzhi Ci poems imitating this kind of folk song, and Shanglu is one of them.
Wu Gorge starts from the mouth of Daning River in Wushan County, Sichuan in the west and ends at Guandukou in Badong County, Hubei in the east. It is 45 kilometers long and is the neatest and most beautiful section of the Three Gorges. Probably because of the weathered ape sounds on the Twelve Peaks of Wushan Mountain, it reminded me of this poem about bamboo branches. The tourist boat departs from Wushan County, and you will immediately feel the scenery on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. These simplest beauties will make your eyes not enough. Among the twelve peaks of Wushan Mountain, the six peaks of Denglong, Shengquan, Chaoyun, Shennu, Songluan, and Juxian are in the north of the Yangtze River; the six peaks of Jingtan, Qiyun, Shengsheng, Feifeng, Cuiping, and Juhe are in the south of the Yangtze River, and the first three peaks are hidden. After Yuanshan, what tourists can see are the three latter peaks. Wushan is one of the famous rainstorm areas in my country. Abundant rainwater has eroded these limestone mountains for a long time, forming such majestic peaks. The beauty of the Twelve Hairpins in Jinling was created by Cao Xueqin alone. Appreciating this beauty will make a man lose his ambition and become a lover. However, the beauty of the Twelve Peaks of Wushan was given by heaven. This beauty is not only green and pleasant, but also beautiful. Make you feel angry. The tour guide said: If you leave your boat and go ashore, go to Qingshi Town on the south bank and climb to the abrupt rocks, you can have a thorough view of the twelve peaks. They are flying, squatting, dancing or lying down as they please, showing the sheer beauty of form and the wonderful combination. I thought they all contained the essence of heaven, the energy of earth, and the spirit of man. When Easter came, they would jump into the river, swim out of Nanjinguan and collect handfuls of red dust somewhere downstream. .
The most famous among the twelve peaks in Wushan Mountain is the Goddess Peak. As soon as the ship left Wushan County, many people crowded onto the deck, waiting to catch a glimpse of the goddess. This is all because Song Yu, the talkative poet and poet during the Warring States Period, wrote an article "Ode to Gaotang", which said that King Huai of Chu visited Gaotang and dreamed of a woman while taking a nap, saying: "I am a daughter of Wushan, and I am a guest of Gaotang." When I heard that you were visiting Gaotang, I would like to recommend you a pillow mat." When she was leaving, she said to the old emperor: "I live in the sun of Wushan Mountain, on the high hills, where the morning clouds appear in the morning and the rain falls in the evening. Come down." Now, with the morning glow shining brightly and the rare good weather in the gorge, the goddess under the balcony has not yet come out, but the goddesses in the tourists' hearts are already dancing. I think that if this goddess who recommended herself as a pillow was not trying to curry favor with the emperor, she must be the instigator of sexual liberation. In today's world of materialistic desires, the young tourists around me don't have to have hills and valleys in their hearts, but they definitely have goddesses in their hearts. "Once upon a time, the sea was difficult to overcome, except for Wushan, it was not cloud." Li Shangyin's poem expresses the feelings of love between men and women, which can be regarded as an extreme.
"Look, goddess!"
What an exciting shout. But at the entrance of the mountains and valleys on the north bank, under the morning clouds, there was indeed a woman with a slender waist, offering her love to her admirers.
"What, is this the goddess? I think she looks like a monkey!"
A bald middle-aged man suddenly shouted loudly. His original intention was not to publish shocking insights, but to invite ridicule from others. But things went against the grain, and he attracted some eye-rolls and ridicules because of this. His bald head made him walk to the other side of the deck angrily, not looking at the goddess anymore. The infatuated tourists are still immersed in their spirits, looking at the goddess under the blue sky. Some even compare themselves with King Huai of Chu, daydreaming about all their preparations.
Among this group, I am not a dreamer, nor am I bald. I'm not excited and I don't want to spoil anyone else's excitement. However, I, who was a little nervous, saw the Qingyuan crying on the highest branch from the eyes cast by the goddess.
Why is this happening?
I'm not used to playing roles in romantic dramas, but when faced with this picture of a lady made in heaven, I felt nostalgic for the past.
The sound of monkeys in Wuxia Gorge, in a Chinese thread-bound book, is a history of human relationships surrounded by clouds and mist. All travelers who passed through the Three Gorges in ancient times heard the strong nostalgia, the sadness of the exiled road, and even the opening of the gate of hell from the howling of the apes in the strong wind and the sky. The ancient poems about the sound of the apes in the Three Gorges talk a lot about it. sorrow. Liu Yuxi noticed this, so he said: "He is so sad that his heart is broken, and the reason is not the sound of sadness." This view is very reasonable. In 1898, the "Lichuan" sailed from Yichang to Chongqing and was the first ship to make its maiden voyage to the Three Gorges. Previously, only wooden boats with cloth sails were used to enter and leave the Three Gorges. The Three Gorges has overlapping dangerous shoals and crisscrossed reefs. The accumulation of sunken ships in the gorge over the ages would probably fill the entire Three Gorges. Just imagine, you are sitting on a boat, facing the reef facing the bull-headed horse, listening to the sound of the clouds collapsing on the shore, your heart is in your throat, and then you hear the shrill sound of apes thrown from the cliffs on both sides of the bank, Of course, he became even more distraught.
Guo Pu's "Jiang Fu" wrote about the monsters in Badong Gorge, including the one-horned dragon, the three-legged turtle, the six-eyed turtle, and the nine-headed robin, but he never wrote about the four-legged monkey. The first person to write about the sound of apes in the Three Gorges was Li Daoyuan during the Northern Wei Dynasty. He quoted a local fishermen's song in "Shui Jing Zhu": "The Badong Three Gorges and the Wu Gorge are long, and the apes cry three times and shed tears on their clothes." From then on, the apes and the Three Gorges, especially the Wu Gorge, formed some kind of inner connection. Spiritual connection. In the ancient poems describing the Three Gorges, Li Bai, Du Fu, Li Duan, Lu You and others all wrote about the sound of apes but did not mention the goddess. Li He, who combines the spirit of immortality and ghost, although he mentioned the sound of ape in his poem "Wushan High" The goddess and the old ape are mentioned together, which means that they are far away from Yao Ji and close to the ape language. There is a record in Shishuoxinyu written by Liu Yiqing, a native of the Southern and Northern Dynasties: "When Duke Heng entered Shu and reached the Three Gorges, there was an ape son among his troops. His mother wailed along the shore and could not go for more than a hundred miles, so she jumped on it. The boat will die as soon as it reaches the boat. If you look into its belly, your intestines will be broken." I think that the ancient poets who used ape to write about the gorge were probably influenced by this story. It should be noted that sorrow and sorrow, like maladies, are contagious. The military men who captured the ape probably wanted to take this clever little creature into Tianfu and sell it to a monkey performer in exchange for a few jugs of wine. Little did they know that the female ape's intestines were broken due to this. Whether the military men repented of this is unknown. However, the most sympathetic poets of all ages would die once in their hearts once they entered the Three Gorges, heard the sound of apes, and experienced the pain of the female ape's liver and intestines being severed. The goddess's love may be too romantic and even frivolous, but the old ape's maternal love is so absolutely sublime that you have to muster all your personality to listen to her wail.
Unfortunately, the sound of apes can no longer be heard in the Three Gorges today. Although the story of the female ape is rooted in the true essence of human customs, it has long since sunk into the winds of history. Today, the new generation of tourists will feel bored if they mention the heartbreak. The goddess and the female ape are both allusions to Wu Gorge. Those who enter the gorge to think about apes are following the principle of morality; those who enter the gorge to kiss the goddess are following the principle of happiness. Live happily and be happier is the slogan of the new generation. I have no right to criticize this wrong attitude towards life, but I wonder, will a person or a nation's internal driving force for progress be dissipated as a result? The source of old morality has dried up, and the crisis of emotions and beliefs is like clouds in the gorge, casting a shadow on everyone. But when I think about it more carefully, my worries are unnecessary. The rapid development of material civilization has exhausted modern people. To avoid the oppression of material desires, people have to find new ways and do their own things, so order turns into disorder, and the human spirit enters an unprecedented transformation. Just like the Yangtze River during the orogeny, it had to re-choose its flow direction. Flow is the nature of water, and it is also the nature of the human spirit: once siltation occurs, there is no need to panic. Didn’t it take 70 million years for the Yangtze River to carve out the Three Gorges?
The tourist boat moves slowly. Wushan on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, one turns around and the other draws a screen. There was a mountain aunt walking on the shore, and someone on the boat waved to her and shouted, "Goddess!" The vine trees on the river cliffs were shaded. I looked at them and imagined where the female ape jumped onto the river boat.
Xiling Gorge
After the boat passed Badong, the river widened. This is the Xiangxi wide valley sandwiched between Wu Gorge and Xiling Gorge, which is 47 kilometers long. It is the most important farming area in the Three Gorges region. Zigui County, Qu Yuan's hometown, is located in this wide valley. Qu Yuan's poems are magnificent and changeable, which is due to the influence of the strange scenery of the Three Gorges on him. Wang Zhaojun, known as one of the four beauties in ancient China, was from the same hometown as Qu Yuan. A great poet and a stunning beauty, both yin and yang, came from the same place. This should be the pride of Zigui.
I have been to Zigui several times and visited Xiangluping, the birthplace of Qu Yuan, and Xiangxi, the hometown of Zhaojun. I deeply feel that although the local old farmers do not know a word, they are very poetic; they do not participate in a verse, but they are very Zen. Perhaps it is the nourishment of this folk custom that answers the old saying of "outstanding people in the world". However, in In the wide valley of Xiangxi River, there are two other things worth mentioning, one is the peach fish and the other is the orange tree.
I remember that time when I visited Xiangxi River, I saw peach fish. The fish were white, brown, and pink, and they were floating in groups on the water. When they shrink, they look like colorful little mushrooms, and when they open, they look like parachutes rippling in the wind, which is very beautiful. The peach blossom fish is a jellyfish coelenterate, and its scientific name is the peach blossom jellyfish. When it grows up, it will only be as big as a baby's hand. At present, there are only five types found in the world: Soxhide in Britain, Yishi in Japan, Daduhe in Sichuan, Guanxian and Zigui. Only specimens of the first four categories remain. The only ones left that can truly feast the eyes of tourists are those in Zigui. This beautiful little elf can only live in the trickles of rock crevices or the shallow water of the beach. The peach fish likes to eat tadpoles, algae and duckweed. How could it not be a piece of duckweed itself? However, it is not willing to associate with dragons and carps and add fuel to the flames in the rivers and seas. Instead, it is willing to play a quiet and contented role in the artistic conception of the moonlight in the lotus pond. Compared with the ape sounds in Wu Gorge, the peach blossom fish in Xiling Gorge is more in line with the taste of modern people's life. Having lived in the city for a long time, in my spare time, I often think about my destination in my old age. Three thatched cottages were built at the base of a hill with lush green trees, with a clear stream flowing in front of the door. In the clear stream, peach fish swim everywhere in spring. However, there is one thing you need to discuss with the peach fish, which is to ask it to change its habit of eating tadpoles. The jet black tadpoles were my favorite too. After eating them all, I no longer have the frog drum to listen to in the morning when the little lotus is just showing its tip.
Of course, tourists on the boat cannot enjoy the peach blossom fish. I was sipping a few drops of sorghum on the deck, but I saw orange trees on both sides of the bank. It is midsummer, and the orange trees, from leaves to fruits, are all green, right in front of you, as if you can grab them by the hand. The beauty seems to be comparable only to the sketches of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The oranges from the Three Gorges were once tribute to the imperial dynasty. The orange trees in the Three Gorges, from ancient times to the present, have a bit of a pampering feel.
To use an inappropriate analogy, if Wang Zhaojun is compared to a peach fish, then Qu Yuan is the orange tree that is so entrenched that it is difficult to move. Among the thousands of rocks and ravines on the mountain, Wang Xizhi singled out the Orchid Pavilion. Among the many flowers and trees in the Three Gorges, Qu Yuan only praised the orange trees, which shows his deep love. Seeing trees and missing people, the mood that had relaxed after leaving Wu Gorge became solemn again. At this time, the blue sky gradually narrowed again, and the green mountains on both sides of the bank rose steeply again, with bronzed muscles bulging angrily. The boat has passed the mouth of Xiangxi and entered Xiling Gorge.
Xiling Gorge is famous for its many beaches and rapid water. When you pass through Bingshu Baojian Gorge, Niugan Mafei Gorge, Dengying Gorge, and Huangmao Gorge in sequence, you can appreciate the water potential of this section of the voyage. Drifting on it, you will think of many issues from the violent turbulence, from society to family, from life to nature. The water in Xiling Gorge has many whirlpools. Bubbles and whirlpools are two different water flow states. When the water rushes upward, like a boil, it is called a bubble; when the water turns from outside to inside, and there is a vortex in the center, it is called a whirlpool. The water flow generally soaks first and then swirls. The place where the whirlpools gather is called the beach. Xiling and Shaanxi are connected to the beach. The most breathtaking ones are Xintan, Konglingtan and Yaochahetan. The bubble vortex here is as big as a mountain and as small as a fist, forming a ghost gate for the boatman. Moreover, the mountains in this area are still active. A few years ago, a massive landslide in Xintan engulfed Xintan Town, a town of nearly 10,000 people, overnight. The rocks that rolled down into the middle of the river formed new whirlpools. At this moment, the tourists enjoying themselves leisurely on the boat cannot experience the tragedy of the wooden boat capsizing.
I remember that the last time I visited Xiling Gorge, a friend was with me. It was the flood season in May. Facing the mountains of whirlpools, my friend said: "No matter how dangerous the water is, I still like the water. You can go into the water and become one with it. The mountains are indeed different. Look at them from a distance. , majestic and majestic, once you walk in, your eyes will be blocked everywhere, causing you to lose the sense of the whole and unable to communicate with it." My friend is a very passionate person. I don't agree with it, but I appreciate his point of view. Qu Yuan also held this view. This stubborn doctor Sanlu not only did not avoid the whirlpool of fate, but instead jumped and let the whirlpool get tighter and tighter, bringing his magnificent life to a complete end. In doing so, according to today's point of view, what he pursues is the beauty of personality rather than the beauty of humanity. Personality is solidified, but human nature, like the river in front of you, is flowing and unstoppable. Once you are involved, you are destined to live in the center of the whirlpool. The peach blossom fish refused to do this, so it became a relic of ancient times. When I think of this, I not only think of Qu Yuan, but also of Wang Zhaojun. Isn’t the Qing family in the wilderness outside the Great Wall where she was buried also a whirlpool left in history?
The setting sun paints red the voyage we have taken. The last gateway to the Three Gorges is Nanjinguan. Once you pass this pass and arrive at Yichang, the Yangtze River becomes as Du Fu described it, "the Chu land is vast and boundless, and the vast expanse stretches across the vast expanse of land." When passing Nanjinguan, the tourist boat blew its whistle to bid farewell to the Three Gorges. As for me, I was still listening to the sound of the waves getting farther and farther away, until dusk fell.
