There are four main rivers related to my journey of life, they are Qingjiang, Jinhe, Zhanghe , and Yangtze River. These four rivers also roughly summarize the fate and direction of my life: West Hubei , Jiangxi, Shanxi, and western Hubei. Among them, Qingjiang is the origin and destination of my dream, and it occupies an important position in my career of wandering north and south. As the saying goes, the dream of the hometown is narrow, the water and the sky are wide, and the river is clear and the mountains are rich. I grew up drinking Qingjiang water and have a special liking for Qingjiang.
The Enshi county town where I was born is right by the Qingjiang River. Now, the county has been changed to a city, which is the capital of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. It is remote and poor, but the green mountains and beautiful waters are extremely beautiful. It is regarded by outsiders as the dream hometown like a peach blossom land. In the past, because of the mountains being closed and transportation inconvenient, history and culture were relatively fresh like canned food. People really didn’t know the situation of the Han Dynasty, regardless of the Wei and Jin Dynasties. After the 21st century, highways and railways were opened one after another, and three power stations rolling in the cascades on the Qingjiang River were also completed one after another. Enshi, the golden phoenix hidden in the mountains, finally had a vast space where birds could fly high.
But in my teenage years, people were not doing well. At that time, Enshi had no tap water yet, and all the water used at home was carried back from Qingjianghe by family members. There are also people who rely on carrying water to sell, which has become a difficult career to make a living. Every day when I go home from school, I have to go to Qingjiang River to fetch water until the water tank is filled. Walk down a slope on the Beimen River and line up on the river beach to wait for the springboard. Because the springboard looks like a slightly wider long bench, one end on the shore and the other end extends into the depths of the water, allowing only one person to walk back and forth. If you want to eat clean water, you must wait until the person in front of you gets down the springboard before going up.
Every time I go to the springboard, I have to reach the end. First put a bucket into the water, swing it left and right, and sink it down, like a cow drinking water, Gulugulu waiting for the bucket to be full, then lift it up, put it firmly on the springboard, and then cycle the other bucket according to this procedure. Then, put the shoulder pole on your shoulder, grit your teeth, and forcefully stand up with your waist, and walk down the springboard swayingly. You have to be quick to do this series of actions. If you slow down, the people behind will yell in a hurry. Moreover, be careful to maintain balance, if you don’t do it well, you will fall into the river. Not only did I carry water for my family, I often used the summer vacation to carry water for the collective canteen of the tea company where my father worked. Carry a load of water and save it for tuition. From the river beach to the canteen, the sprinkled water never drys out all day long, and it has become a winding wet road.
Qingjiang not only gave us food and drink, but also gave us something to play with. I have sifted sand by the Qing River, picked stones, and bought money from coolies, bought books, and bought glass pinballs. In summer, Qingjiang is a natural swimming pool. Swim to the other side, there is a cold spring at the foot of Wufeng . I filled the spring water with a small bucket, pushed it back with my hands, and then carried it home. The whole family soaked watermelon to eat, which was equivalent to the current iced watermelon, and it was also fun.
Mother works as a seasonal worker in a tea processing factory, selecting tea, sifting tea, rubs hemp ropes, washing sacks, and buns tea buns. A strong mother likes this kind of life and uses the money earned from labor to support her children. No matter how hard she is, her heart will be sweet. At that time, the water in Qingjiang was so clear that it was clear that it could be seen, and when standing on the bridge, you could see the pebbles at the bottom of the water. On sunny and cloudy days, in summer and winter, my mother always rolled up her sleeves and trousers, stood in the river to wash the linen bags that seemed to never be washed, and then dried on the wide river beach after washing. A large piece of white cloth bag, like a large piece of white snow. My mother's wooden stick rose and fell up and down, splashing bright water, splashing the infinitely beautiful hopes of a housewife from Ranjiawan, Tujiashan Village...
In the winter of 1968, I left Enshi and returned to my ancestral home in Qinghu Village, Gao'an, Jiangxi to work as a farmer, where I worked as an educated youth for five years. There is a Jinhe River in Gao'an, and Qinghu Village is located under the Jinhe River embankment. What I still remember is that from the river pier near Gao'an Tea Chai Opera Troupe, there is a floating bridge supported by the river from the river section leading to the city tower on the other side.It is said that the floating bridge has been built on the Jinhe River since the Tang Dynasty. More than a dozen small boats are covered with wooden boards, extending thousands of years of vicissitudes to the present without leaving any trace. I once drove a boat from the county town to transport fertilizers back to Qinghu with the villagers. I also built a reservoir for the commune and moved huge red mountain stones by the Jinhe River. I also dragged a cart to Gao'an City to pull cement telephone poles. When I was down the embankment, I overturned the cart and almost killed the telephone poles. I remember the first time I carried a load of more than 100 kilograms of coal back to the village. The sun was too poisonous and the sun made people dizzy. When I walked to Su Village (the legend said that Su Dongpo was here), sweating was like water, and his legs were as soft as cotton. Every winter, when strengthening the Jinhe embankment, we have to carry soil to climb up and down, climb up the embankment surface, and take a breath. Although the cold wind filled our clothes, our eyes were still staring at the beetle-like car across the river. When can I take a car to leave Qinghu Village and embark on the road back to my hometown?
As the saying goes, if the east is not bright, the west is bright, and if the south is dark, there will be the north. In the winter of 1973, when it was snowing heavily, I bid farewell to Jinhe, transferred from the rural areas of Jiangxi to the rural areas of Shanxi, and worked as an educated youth in Huajiazhuang, Changzhi City for another year. In the winter of the following year, I was hired as a collective enterprise worker by the Taihang Saw Blade Factory of Shanxi Province. The old saw blade mill is in Anju Village, Huangnian Town, and there is a Zhang River at the entrance. The rivers in the north are not as delicate and refreshing as those in the south, but the Zhang River in Changzhi is also very interesting. It is completely qi and has a desolate scenery. If it is frozen in winter, you can skate around in circles. The large-scale opera " Chiye River " and the long narrative poem "Zhanghe Water" created by modern poet Ruan Zhangjing are both characterized by poor peasants on the side of Zhanghe River in Taihang Mountains. They are unrestrained in imagination, bright in poetry and heroic in style. When I was a worker in the saw blade mill, I started writing articles to newspapers. At that time, the deputy literary and artistic officer of Changzhi Daily was called "Zhanghe Water". Later, the predecessor of "Shanxi Literature", sponsored by the Provincial Writers Association, published my novels and essays, and I embarked on a long and soul-filled literary journey. I can’t forget that year when I went to Taihang Mountain to collect wind and the road from Panlong to Wuxiang was like an inseparable sister from the Zhang River, continuing in a winding manner with the gurgling water. The cool mountain breeze, with the whimpering waves of the Zhang River, pounced into the car window and into my heart. As a literary youth, my dream is like the sour jujubes, persimmons, and hawthorn fruits on the cliff, dotted with red and yellow ground, shining with colorful autumn colors.
Finally, after 20 years of exploring the world, I returned to Enshi and the Qingjiang River. It was 1988, and the brother who had herded the sheep came back. Enshi Prefecture Literature and Culture Association accepted me, arranged for me to do editorial work, and carried out some activities of writers and entrepreneurs associations. In an article, I wrote about the scene of returning to my hometown from Shanxi. The first thing to do when putting down your luggage is to run to the old town and go to see the East Gate Ferry. A bay of green water, a ferry boat. The old shipwreck who was ferrying back then was already dead, and now the one who was ferrying back is his son - my elementary school classmate. I could no longer recognize him, and I could not call his name, but he could not recognize me at all. He just glanced at me, was busy holding the oars and rowing the oars. The clear river has become familiar and unfamiliar, close and distant, only the water is still as clear as a mirror, reflecting the joys and sorrows of the world, and the passing of spring and autumn.
Five years later, at the end of 1993, I left Enshi, the hometown of Longchuan, and settled in Yichang City, on the banks of Xilingxia of the Yangtze River. A big river has a wide wave, which really makes people look at life openly and broadly. Due to work, I visited all counties and cities under Yichang City countless times, and felt the beauty and magic of this land. The Hubei Writers Association has published a collection of prose about the theme of "Three Festivals" written by the Three Festivals, expressing my deep love and blessings for , the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River . The Changyang , Yidu , and the Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County, which flows through the Qing River, are the places I prefer to go to. As soon as I get to these places, I feel like I’m going home. Since I stood on the bridge in Yidu and saw the Qing River merge into the Yangtze River, I understood what posture I should enter this vast world.I write about the customs and customs of the Qingjiang River Basin, the legends and stories of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, and the various scenery of this city and the world. As I write, there is always a river of clear water swaying and flowing in my words.
Later, in order to write several collections of prose "Records of Western Hubei Style", "Reading Qingjiang" and "This Land and Water", I went back to Enshi and Changyang many times. I believe that with this clear river, I can nourish my life peacefully, teach me to love rather than hate, good rather than evil, truth and beauty without falsehood and ugliness, tolerant and kindness, indifferent and quiet. As long as I sit by the ancient river, love will rise, like a river of clear water flowing eastward. I think this is probably what life is. The almost transparent feelings contain the Bible and holy water that are far away from home and constantly searching for home.
The Bible: Psalm says: "He will plant it like a tree beside the stream, and bear fruit as soon as possible, and the leaves will not dry up. Everything he does goes smoothly." Of course I want to be such a tree, because so many rivers have nourished my life, and of course I have to bear some fruits to thank the mountains, rivers, even the wild fruits in the mountains. The four rivers related to my life are the rivers of life. In this way, they are integrated into my prose with their simple, tough, relaxed and graceful melody, and travel through the time and space of life from youth to old age.
This article is selected from Gan Maohua 's new work "Traveling through the Bashan and Shu River"
Gan Maohua took a photo with Du Fu statue in Chengdu
Gan Maohua, a member of the Chinese Writers Association, a well-known essayist, and a lyricist. He has served as a director of the Hubei Writers Association, a director of the Hubei Popular Music Arts Committee, and executive vice chairman of the Yichang Writers Association. He has published 15 literary works of various types and won important awards such as Hubei Literature Award, Hubei Minority Literature Award, Hubei Qu Yuan Literature Award, National Ministry of Culture Star Award, National Bingxin Prose Award, National Five One Project Award and other important awards. Representative works of the collection of prose: The Western Hubei Style Records, "Notes from the Three Gorges People", "This Place of Water and Earth", etc. The songs are representative works "Women in the Mountains Calling the Sun", Sister Yetan's Sister", "Hiangjiang Gallery Tujia Girl ", "Accusing the Piano and Pleasantly", etc.
