Shao Fafu: Youyou Zhulong River

A mile north of our village, there is an ancient river called Zhulong River. This river is not wide but deep, and the water quality is good all year round. The river is clear, cool and pure. If it is very hot in summer, it is most pleasant to jump into the river and take a bath. On both sides of the river, miscellaneous trees grow and overlap with each other, vines crawl like snakes, and dense green leaves cover the whole river, such as building a refreshing pavilion. The river winds from the west and then winds to the east.

According to records, Zhulong River is the source section of Jishui River, one of the four famous blasphemies in the world. The source of Jishui River is actually two spring eye groups: one is the spring eye group of Longtan Temple in the west of Jiyuan City. It is said that the spring gushes day and night, the accumulated water becomes a lake, and then flows eastward into a river, so it is called Longjiang. The second is Wanquan Village, namely Jidu Temple, which is located in East Erli of Longtan. There are many springs here. According to the records of Jiyuan County in Qing Dynasty, there are 79 springs. In the past, there was a spring that gushed as high as two meters and was scattered like pearls, so it was called Pearl Spring. After that, the Beihai pond flows eastward into a river, which is called the Pearl River. After the two rivers meet, they are collectively called Zhulong River. Nowadays, with the changes of geography and climate, the landscape of fountains and blue waves in the past is no longer seen because of the exhaustion of water sources. As for the water-saving project, which is only formed by the gushing of spring water, even Emperor Taizong doesn't understand how it ranks as the first of the four blasphemies with the mighty rivers, rivers and Huaihe River, and we don't need to delve into it.

In summer and autumn when I was a child, I often followed my brothers to mow the grass by the Zhu Long River. Shrubbery on both sides of the river is lush and overgrown with weeds, and sometimes red fruits and green melons will surprise us. Birds' nests are hung on high trees. You can often hear the sobbing and whispering of young birds, and you can also see big birds flying around the trees to show your vigilance. In the clear river, we can see fish such as loach and eel swimming under the water, which always teases our curiosity. The third brother, known as the "Monkey King", was twelve or thirteen years old at that time, but catching birds and catching fish was really powerful. Although he is thin, he is very agile and proficient in the habits of birds and fish. We all admire him, and even people older than him often feel ashamed of themselves. Digging up young birds or eggs is a matter of hunting, but the third brother said that there is a kind of bird's nest that can't be dug up and can only be "stolen". Before digging it out, watch the big bird fly away from the nest, otherwise it will be attacked, pecked or fanned and hunted by the big bird. Besides, this bird bears a grudge and will hit you once when it sees you. This kind of bird is called barbecued chicken. The third brother is active by nature, and sometimes he delays his studies because of his fun, so that his father's shoes can serve him, but he has also been praised by his father's sentence "Men don't eat idle meals for ten years".

When the ancient Zhulong River draws a curved green on the vast small plain, it slowly winds eastward with crystal clear water and the bright shadow of our childhood happiness.

Five miles east of our village is Niushe Village. To the south of Niushe Village is a large lush reed garden, which is as big as 1,000 mu. In summer and autumn, the reed garden is lush and endless. When the wind blows, reeds bend in the same direction, one after another, and the waves behind push the waves in front like green water, making loose waves. When it is quiet, countless reeds are hidden in the depths of reeds, singing heartily, accompanied by the loud lead singer of the cuckoo in the tree, just like a large band. At this time, the boundless reed garden is deeper and wider.

Although this reed garden is near Niushe village, it is not unique to Niushe village. There are more than a dozen villages around it, and our village is naturally among them.

According to the old people, the time to kill reeds is usually set after beginning of winter. At this moment, reed stems and leaves turn yellow, and reed flowers are flying all over the sky. According to the agreement, all the villages arrived and opened their sickles at the same time. Killing reeds was a big event before, with great momentum and great momentum. The crowing of birds, the neighing of animals and the noise of people's talking are the loudest sounds made by speakers when people kill reeds. The cry of "two companies, three companies" will make the whole sky noisy. The reed man stepped on the cold shallow water and asked the people behind him to pass the cut reeds to the waterless place one by one, and then smashed them into pieces and loaded them into the car.

Just like saying "cutting reeds" is like saying "killing reeds", adults like to say "the reed garden is a beautiful place". When I was a child, my mother always scared me: "I picked you up from the puddle in the reed garden, and now I don't want you!" " Of course, other mothers sometimes say the same thing, so the first time I followed the adults to the reed garden, I noticed whether there were babies on the ground in the reed garden. As a result, let alone no baby, I have never seen a small puddle.

As for why there was water in the reed garden before but not today, Mr. Zheng Lao's explanation made me suddenly enlightened. He said that before the end of 1950s, there was always water in the reed garden, which came from the Zhulong River. It is said that a long time ago, the Zhulong River started from the source and went all the way to the east. When it reached the depression south of Niushe Village, it stopped. As the water surface expands day by day, a huge mirror-like shallow lake is born. Subsequently, Shallow Water Lake married a bamboo-shaped reed, and the two thrived. It became a reed garden. As for the reason why the water reed garden became a dry reed garden, it was also because of the Zhulong River, because the Zhulong River was diverted. 1958, at the east end of our village, a big river from west to east was dug up by tens of thousands of migrant workers, commonly known as the "Grand Canal". The Grand Canal is wide and deep, and the Zhulong River flows into it at this time. At this time, Zhulonghe finally woke up in the gentle village, picked up the surge of his ancestors' past and ran to the ideal sea. His gentle and virtuous wife, Luyuan, was also designated as agricultural land during the land acquisition of Xiaolangdi immigrants in 1993, and died from then on.

Uncover the dusty history and open the floodgate of memories. Although all the happiness and happiness gush out, it will never dilute my melancholy and sadness. Saving water, a magnificent river thousands of years ago, has evolved into a trickle today thousands of years later, and we can't help but feel the cruelty of the great changes in nature to a river. Therefore, in order to keep the trickle like the Pearl River flowing, what we humans have to do is to care for the environment and cherish every drop of water.

Brief introduction of the author

Shao Fafu, a retired teacher in Jiyuan, Henan Province, is at home now, teasing his grandson. I have been engaged in cultural and sports education for a long time, and I also dabble in literature and art, so whenever I feel something, I resort to writing, especially prose and essays.