That piece of phoenix feather

Autumn rain, swift and vigorous, just like the old family's autumn beans, densely pulled out of the Tuo River water thousands of lumps, steaming out of the curling light smoke, adding to the mysterious mood and out-of-this-world beauty of Phoenix on a rainy night, so that my first visit to the Tuo River had a good feeling beyond expectations.

A painting boat quietly flowing through, two red lanterns on the stern of the boat increased the quietness of the night, no boatmen's trumpet sound, no long Penny scraping the surface of the river sound of running water, no motor roar, only the clattering of rain in soothing my hungry mood. Since reading "Border Town", I have been hungry for Shen Congwen's ancient city of Phoenix, always revisiting the story there again and again, always longing for the scenery there, and always expecting to be able to create the same vernacular literature. Today, I came to the place where the story of "Border Town" took place, and like a hungry beast, I wanted to swallow everything I saw and heard. I want to swallow the Hanging Foot Tower, I want to swallow Nanhua Mountain, I want to swallow the Wanming Pagoda, I want to swallow the Wishing Pavilion, I want to swallow the rain and wind rainbow bridge ......

"Am I really hungry?" Looking at the still autumn soybean-sized night rain in front of me, I opened my mouth and rolled a few into my belly with my tongue, and suddenly I felt warm and full. It turned out that what I lacked was water! My hometown is in western Ganxi, surrounded by mountains, but only lacking a large river. Looking at the Tuojiang River, with its wide surface, soothing water, long course and lively banks, I seemed to understand the talent and strength of the text. Fiddling with the vibrant Tuo water, I clearly felt the Tuo River's deep thousand-year cultural lineage, and felt the power of from the text.

We stepped on the rain-washed green slabs, crossed the Rainbow Bridge, and traced the north bank of the Tuo River from east to west. In front of us was an ancient Tian Ancestral Hall, not very tall, but radiating a strong cultural atmosphere. The couplet at the main entrance, "Eunuchs flowing in the Qi country, and the family of the prime minister of the Tuo River", is said to have been given by the emperor of the Song Dynasty in honor of the Tian ancestors.

"This is Tuojiang Jumping Rock." My companion's words made me pull my eyes from the Tian ancestral shrine back to the river, only to see two rows of stone piers standing from the north bank to the south bank, one tall and one short, two rows of jumping rocks about a foot apart. We chose to cross the river at the old jumping rock plank bridge a few dozen meters upstream. The planks are made of 7 pieces of wood, each about 2 inches wide, thick and sturdy, just like the people here, in every way to show sincerity and simplicity. This is the reason why "Border Town" shows the goodness and beauty of human nature against the backdrop of the war-ridden and misery-ridden times. Cui Cui has lost her only family member, but she has gained the care of so many people. I stepped over the bridge and seemed to be standing on the ferry of Cui Cui, who sometimes sang Miao songs and sometimes smiled without speaking. After the rain, the Tuojiang River water excited for no reason, with water splashes from the bridge tumbling away, from time to time to pedestrians threw a few bunches of angry lilies; and like a small uninhibited lion, dancing the whole body of the waves to make a dangerous power, so that the timid tourists deterred.

The small town in the night rain makes people think of Brasenia, and my thoughts go back to the situation when I went to school in a neighboring village as a child. To go to school to cross a small river, no stone piers no wooden bridges and no stone arch bridge. In spring, the water is wide on both sides of the river, people can only go over the mountain road between the two villages; in winter, the water falls out of the stone, the size of the green stone blocks and pebbles become the way for people to jump forward. Children are flying generals, carrying school bags and deliberately planted crooked forward, but with a balance of power and the stream to keep as if away. The proud smiling faces of the children made the mountain springs inexorable and went away in the cries of the green magpies. Of course, it's not uncommon to lose your foot in the water on a cold winter's day when you're always walking along the river. It often happens when you are late for school, when you jump over the rocks in a hurry, and your confidence is broken by the tilted rocks. Cloth shoes with water will be wet, you have to endure the bone chilling wet cold, in the classroom through a long day of torment. When the bride is married in two villages, this place is also a wonderful place for the bridesmaids to tease the bride and groom, the young men who beat the gongs and drums must be tortured by the girls. I remember when my elder sister got married, the eldest son of the sash was asked to dance the stone twenty times within the time limit because he could not sing. He was really good at it, steadily going nineteen times, however, he was late and finally stepped into the water during the last jump, which drew a lot of satisfaction and laughter ......

The Tuojiang jumping rock is square and square, much more real than the jumping rock in my hometown. However, pedestrians still have more fear, after the rain, slippery added to the challenge of the wooden bridge, the rapid current makes people have a sense of vertigo. From a distance, some pedestrians stopped, meaning that you go first. This does not mean that people are modest, not moving is stable, but the action is in danger of falling into the water. I laughed, deliberately walked the bridge a little trembling, bluffing the other side of the alarm. When I walked across, found waiting in place to cross the bridge people, without exception is the back to the river face towards the pedestrian, the pedestrian face to the rendezvous people, sideways to face and cross. People are afraid to turn their backs to others when they are accidentally touched and fall into the water, instead of the uncontrollable back to the Tuo River water, which is a trust in the Tuo River strike.

However, hundreds of years ago, the officers and soldiers of the ancient city were not all so understanding of the Tuo River. They built walls on the south bank of the Tuo River, with battlements for shooting and lookout, to guard against the dangers from the vast river. Long-term military presence made the local martial culture strong, Shen Congwen's grandfather, father, brother and himself were all from the military, which shows the deep influence of the military on the city of Phoenix. The north gate of Phoenix City is written with the marks of beacon fire and smoke, those red-brown stone gates, above the inscription "Bihui Gate" three words, the years have smoothed out the sharpness and sharpness of the square stone, with the vicissitudes of the old man and the lofty and stern weather to welcome all kinds of people.

After entering the city gate, along the green stone streets, and the Temple of Literature, the Chen Ancestral Hall, Xiong Xiling's former residence one by one to communicate. The night rain came again, and it was a guest rain, inviting us into an old house adjacent to Xiong Xiling's former residence, where the local literary union is located. The two hosts, who were dancing with ink and writing, received our uninvited guests. We talked about the precise poverty alleviation in the Eighteenth Cave Village, the model village of rural revitalization in Phoenix, the current situation of Chinese calligraphy, the historical celebrities in Phoenix, the beauty of the hanging foot tower and the mystery of western Hunan, and before we knew it, it was late at night.

We went back to Hongqiao, our starting point. The night rain is hazy, looking back at South China Mountain, the mountainside and the night of the black blend into one, the lights of the mountain is just like that mirage, reflecting the dancing Phoenix. Mountain breeze, night rain, the river shadow swaying. In a flash, the phoenix feathers wantonly instigated, the mountain wind and night rain trail obliterated, the sky is blue, a phoenix feather straight into my arms. That is a gift from the text, I gently waved, she is the Tuojiang River clouds.