Xie Li "Listen to the Sound of the Yellow River"

Many people born in the plains do not like water, and I am one of them. The movement of water often reminds me of the passing time and makes me feel the fragility and impermanence of life. Similarly, I also have inexplicable worries and feelings about the endless vastness of the water of the Yellow River: The world is sketched out in one stroke, and the Chinese civilization is written in one stroke. Is it really that the source of our culture lies in In the endless water of the Yellow River?

Water is endless water. Water benefits all things and is rich in long-lasting wisdom. I think of an old man who attained enlightenment by the water. Like this water, he has energy that flows thousands of miles, but uses his inward wisdom to unify himself and communicate his own life with nature, social phenomena, and various moving objects. The world is confused in the confusion, but the old man strokes his long beard and tells the world with a smile: There is a way for everything. Lao Dan achieved enlightenment by the water. The softness, flow, and endlessness of the water inspired a wise man's great wisdom, thorough understanding, and understanding. I think people who were born by the Yellow River seem to have more reasons to tell me some stories about Lao Tzu and water. However, along the way, we covered the yellow sand and looked at the water features, but no one ever mentioned Lao Dan. Is it possible that Lao Tzu, who is well versed in the ways of the world, and even the later Zhuang Zi, on the banks of the Yellow River that has been surging for thousands of years, has such a "light" weight in the hearts of Dongying people?

An old river worker in his 80s told us about his experience in controlling Huangfan in 1952. "That year, the Yellow River flooded seriously, and the Communist Party of China recruited local people to assist the working group in controlling the Yellow River. Three of our brothers from the same ethnic group all participated in the work of assisting in controlling the Yellow River... The floods in the Yellow River swept away our food and livestock. *** Organize and control the Yellow Disaster. If we don’t take action to control and prevent it, who can we people count on? Besides, who is *** for?” The old man rolled up his sleeves, revealing his thin arms and veins on the back of his hands. protuberance. This makes me wonder how much heavy physical labor he has undertaken in the past years. "Hey, these are all the consequences of heavy physical labor such as hooking canals, digging sand, and solidifying embankments." Recalling those years, the old man was filled with sadness when he spoke, but his eyes were still clear, firm and powerful. Is this the pride after resisting a disaster, or is it a support of strength and belief? Looking at this area where the Yellow River flooded and ravaged 50 years ago, and the "eternal memorial" it left to this old man, suddenly, I felt that another image was slowly becoming clear before my eyes. They come from the grassroots, wearing straw sandals and black ink clothes. They hold up the hope of universal love in the wind and rain, and spend their whole lives to build a stable home for generations without stopping. At this moment, Laozi and Zhuangzi made me feel for the first time a kind of weakness that lacked the heat of life. People living in this area obviously need another dimension of life to protect the warmth and hope in their hearts, to bear the vicissitudes of time, to ignite the poetry of life, and to build the future of life!

Subsequently, the transcendence of Laozi and Zhuangzi gradually faded away. Suddenly, the figures of Mozi and Confucius slowly merged into my sight. In the rich and splendid Dongying, in the dense and thick mouth of the Yellow River, in the poetic island, where is the light and heat that they have shed over the years?

Nowadays, there is still a folk song circulating among the local people at the mouth of the Yellow River: "Jizi Liu and Wangjiayuan opened their mouths and asked for food." After the flood, all the Yellow River Flood Area became desertified. "You have to close the doors and windows, and still have to drink the Yaju soup." The miserable scene of environmental deterioration in the disaster area requires the administration to assemble multiple forces, including the private sector, for unified management, in line with the prehistoric times. Water counterbalances. As a result, the people have the expectation of centralized and unified power, the fascination with education and the admiration for official career. Similarly, in the recitation of an old folk song about Phoenix City (today's Lijin County), the hard-working and simple people express their desire to seek protection from administrative power: Lijin County is like a Phoenix, with its head on the water of the Tianhe River and its feet on the road to Beijing. There are high-ranking officials on the two wings, and princes behind the back... Lijin County's long-standing tradition of emphasizing education and promoting official career is closely related to this. This is a cultural lineage nourished by regional ecology, and it is the fruit of civilization born from an established cultural lineage.

The painful feeling brought by the prehistoric water makes the people who grow in this disaster-ridden "soil" have no time to get close to the harmonious and restrained life of the water. Lao and Zhuang; they have moved towards another dimension of life, solid and powerful, brave and witty, using every touchpoint of life to point to the effort to adapt and change the world. Then, those disasters over the passing years gradually evolved into stories with life pain points, quietly sneaking into their souls, making their spirits more loyal and loyal, and their hearts and experiences richer, tougher, broader and more open. As a result, there is a military reclamation culture that is loyal and rich in plot, a diversity of immigrant culture, a poetry that bursts out and persists in an isolated island, and a sincere longing for the distant place and unswerving progress.

In front of you, large tracts of land that are lying bare to the ground are glowing with the light of white salt. It is broad-minded and vast, as if heaven and earth meet here, as if this is the clothes of Mother Earth, this is a piece of "breathing soil" that continues to grow. After thousands of years of vicissitudes, we have seen the barrenness and desolation. Today, the mouth of the Yellow River flows quietly, like a calm river of time, peacefully accepting us - a group of people who have temporarily forgotten the burden of their spirits and the poetry in their hearts. The writer in the distance is like a child playing by the water, looking up at the yellow border between the sky and the earth with a relaxed and happy posture. The breeze from the mouth of the Yellow River blew coolly on my body, which calmed my heart and began to look for more identity and belonging in the Yellow River culture: under the vast historical time and space, this group of children nurtured by the water of the Yellow River, For example, where do we come from? Where will it go?

Now, when I stand on this beautiful and wealthy land, I still feel the sense of emptiness as far as hundreds of miles away. Perhaps, in the future time and space, it will still be with this land. But I have clearly felt the hope and excitement blooming in that vast space. A beautiful city, with the hopes of countless people gathered together, spreads its beautiful wings like a bird and flies in this spring. We were sitting in the car, which was as small as a bean, and was bumping along the way with the wind from the Yellow River blowing up, and sand being blown up from time to time. In the vast sky of history and the thousands of miles of culture along the Yellow River, we are just a small one, and the earth under our feet is our fulcrum. Without the inheritance and understanding of civilization, transcendence and integration, how can a city open its broad embrace, strengthen the dreams and innocent hearts of every wanderer, and warm the hearts of the world. This is a warm history, and the story contains the voice of spiritual harmony. Today, this sound has gradually become a more powerful group chorus.

The heart is a huge object that guides the path and draws the power to move forward. I suddenly understood that this power that surges thousands of miles is in the water of the Yellow River and flowing in everyone's heart. The mouth of the Yellow River, an isolated island, is a place where poetry can burst out, protect and harvest while marching with determination. You guard the beautiful dream of the wanderer, guard the vicissitudes of life of the poet, give warmth to the innocent, and firmness to the traveler. You are protecting the soul of culture and the roots of history.

The endless flowing water of the Yellow River, the isolated island with cascading light and shadow, I don’t want to say goodbye! One day in the future, I hope we can meet in a better way. Now, I listen to the sound of the Yellow River flowing quietly. It seems to be telling a story of eternal time, like the footsteps of the years passing by leisurely, and more like the pious and exciting beating heartbeat of a wanderer - in our exploration and inquiry with the Yellow River, the Yellow River also makes the Yellow River Come and witness this joint growth of life!