For an appreciation, see Baidu Encyclopedia

"Jiangnan Town" (two excerpts)

1

I have always wanted to write about it The title "Jiangnan Town" is difficult to write about. There are too many small towns in Jiangnan. Which ones are really worth writing about? Taking it apart one by one, none of them constitutes an independent historical attraction, and there is not much that can be said about them; however, if we avoid them all, we are avoiding a very intimate humanistic culture. It is really inappropriate to create an ecological environment that combines nature and human relationships with ingenuity, avoiding the longings and hopes of countless Chinese people, and avoiding the starting point and end point of life's journey. I have been to many small towns in the south of the Yangtze River. I can imagine it with my eyes closed. The narrow rivers passing through the town, the exquisitely carved stone bridges, and the houses built beside the river. There is water under the floors of the houses, and the stone steps lead from the floor to the pier. The lower level stretched out, and a woman was washing her hands on the pier, while a wisp of white smoke was rising from the awning boat only a few feet away from them. The smoke floated through the bridge hole to the other side. On the other side of the river, there was a low and wide river. There are stone railings where you can sit or lie down. A few old people sit there with calm faces and watch the passing ships. Compared with the small town composed of stilted buildings by the Xiangxi River written by Shen Congwen, the small town in the south of the Yangtze River lacks the simplicity and strangeness. Risky, a little more smooth and stable. There are no dangerous shoals in front of them and no desert behind them, so although they are secluded, they are not very impressive; most of them are quite old, but their relatively moist lifestyle has not allowed them to retain many ruins and relics, so I can't hear much history. Of course, they have experienced ups and downs, but they have never been too grand. Therefore, it is not easy to have a feeling of vicissitudes similar to that of Zhuque Bridge and Wuyi Lane. In short, their historical journey and realistic appearance are plain and durable, narrow and long, just like the stone streets that connect them. The grandeur fades away in an instant, and the bustle is another name for a short life. After much deliberation, there is nothing more representative of an indifferent and stable life than the small town in Jiangnan. A large number of Chinese literati fled to Buddhism and Taoism after being frustrated in joining the world, but not many actually devoted themselves to temples and Taoism. After all, living in a barren mountain and fishing alone in a cold river would bring about a series of troubles in basic life. "Hidden in the city", the best way to hide is to hide in a small town in the south of the Yangtze River. What confronts the prominent is normality, and what confronts the officialdom is common people. What is more hidden than the lush grass and trees in the mountains and forests is the normal life of ordinary people who disappear into a small town. The seclusion in the mountains and forests still retains and flaunts a kind of aloofness, and the aloof concealment is insincere after all; the seclusion in the small towns and markets not only does not have to deliberately torture and destroy life, but can make life very comfortable and iron out life. Sticking it in a quiet and convenient corner can almost dissolve itself from the outside to the inside, so it becomes the highest form of concealment. To say hidden may be too narrow. Anyway, in my mind, the small bridges, flowing water, people, and the thoughts of water shield and perch are all ecological images of a religious philosophy of life. It is easy to forget this philosophy of life in the ordinary busyness, but under certain special circumstances, it will produce an inexplicable temptation that makes people yearn for it. I remember that during the climax of the Cultural Revolution, my father was imprisoned without reason, and my unmarried uncle committed suicide in Anhui. As the eldest son, in my 20s, how could I run a family of eight? My university was also in turmoil day and night, and I couldn't live in peace and escape. I had no choice but to let my eldest brother, who had just graduated from junior high school, go fishing at sea to supplement the family income. My eldest brother would contact me every few days when he came ashore, timidly asking if the situation at home was getting worse before returning home. Home and family are still there, and the four walls of the home are still there, but in those days it seemed that they were completely exposed to the open air, always ready to be attacked by wind and rain and driven away by passers-by. Under this circumstance, we college graduates were ordered to go to the military reclamation farm to continue the transformation. When we went there, we first trained in Songling Town, Wujiang County for a period of time. In those days, we queued up for roll call every day, received long lectures, and all slept on the floor and the food was extremely poor. Everyone knew in their hearts that after the training, we would be thrown into a world where mud, swamps and the smell of sweat mix, and There is no time to return.

Our floor was built in an abandoned warehouse. If you peeked through the cracks in the wall panels on the west side, you could see a quiet courtyard there. A small room faced the river. The people who entered the room were obviously a newlywed couple. , about the same age as us. They are the most ordinary residents of this town. They are probably salespersons or accountants in some small store. They are very leisurely. As long as you look over, they are always there, doing the necessary things in a day's life unhurriedly, but in a pure way. Things that belong to oneself, there are a few conversations that are neither cold nor hot, and smiles from time to time. The couple both had clean heads and faces and were in a peaceful state of mind. At that time, my companions and I were really shocked by this most normal small town life. Of course, the Cultural Revolution also happened here, but it was a small town after all, and the people had gentle folk customs, so it didn't cause much trouble. After a while, it disappeared and returned to normal ecology. Maybe there is someone like "Li Guoxiang" in this town, but anyway, this newlywed couple is not, and they are not people who attract the attention of Li Guoxiang and others. Hey, it’s great to live like this! This group of exhausted and uncertain college graduates cast their most ardent admiration at the cracks in the wall. I was alarmed at that time, where had my strength and vigor gone? Why did I have such an old-fashioned desire to retire in my 20s? Yes, that year, when I took a peek at the life in a small town in the south of the Yangtze River in the fierce wind and waves, I took a step toward adulthood in my realization of life. I lay on the floor covered with straw and meditated on a famous essay written by the British scholar Thomas De Quincey more than 100 years ago: "On the Knock in Macbeth." Quincey said that in Shakespeare's works, Macbeth and his wife used the darkness of night to kill people and usurp power in the castle. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door in the castle. This knock on the door made Macbeth and his wife panic, and it has always made all audiences feel thrilling. Why? Quincy thought about it for many years and concluded that knocking on the door in the early morning is a symbol of normal life. It is enough to reflect the horror of demonic and animalistic nature in the night. It also announces that a normal life in line with human nature is to be rebuilt, and It is this contrast that is truly shocking. In those dark nights, I lay on the floor and heard the knocking on the door in the small town in the south of the Yangtze River. It was soft, faint, but the sound reached my ears and filled my whole body. Many years have passed, and it should be said that life has changed a lot, but this knock on the door still sounds in the heart from time to time. For this reason, I often like to find a small town in the south of the Yangtze River and walk around, but once I leave, the knocking on the door becomes clearer and more annoying. Busy people in contemporary metropolises occasionally come to Jiangnan small towns during holidays or other opportunities, which will immediately purify the daily administrative bustle, personnel noise, fame and fortune, and intrigues. They can listen to the clear sound of their boots on the street stones. When your heart beats, you will soon enter a state of empty enlightenment and never want to leave. It's a pity that I have to return eventually, to the hustle and bustle. As if my eyes suddenly lit up, I suddenly saw the famous overseas painting "Memories of Hometown" painted by the famous American painter Mr. Chen Yifei. The peeling blue-gray color is like a lingering dream in the morning, and the intertwined twin bridges are firm and old. There is no image that can summarize the small town in Jiangnan better than this image, and nothing can better symbolize the hometown than this small town in Jiangnan. I inquired and learned that the prototype of Chen Yifei's portrait was Zhouzhuang, Kunshan County, Jiangsu Province. Chen Yifei is the same age as me but has a different nationality, but the Taiwanese writer Sanmao, who is of the same nationality as me, was said to have burst into tears after arriving in Zhouzhuang, saying that he had visited many places like this when he was a child. It seems that I must go to this place too.

二

Like most small towns in the south of the Yangtze River, Zhouzhuang has to be taken by boat to get the flavor. I asked two friends to hire a boat and set off from the southeastern shore of Dianshan Lake in Qingpu, crossing across to the west. After walking across the lake, we entered a criss-crossing river network. In other places, although rivers can also serve as transportation channels, they are mostly obstacles to ordinary people's daily travels. But here it is completely different. Rivers have become streets and alleys for people to wander around. There is a family in a boat, walking leisurely and leisurely. The husband is rocking the boat, the wife is cooking, and the daughter is reading. Everyone is familiar with everything around them and no longer wants to look around. They just let the clear river water float them. Take it to where you want to go.

We passed by a boat, and there were two well-dressed old ladies sitting on the bow. It seemed that they were visiting relatives. Our boat was sailing too fast, and the water spray splashed on the old lady’s new clothes. The old lady was flirting. He lifted the hem of his clothes and pointed at us angrily. We quickly handed over our hands and apologized, and the old lady immediately smiled kindly. This scene is as natural as saying "I'm sorry" when you accidentally bump into someone in the market. The houses on both sides of the river are getting denser and denser, the river is getting narrower and narrower, and the bridge passing overhead is getting shorter and shorter, which means the arrival of a small town. There is a children's song like this that has been popular in many places in China for a long time: "Shake, shake, shake to Grandma's Bridge." I don't know how many people have swayed into the world in this children's song. Life always begins in the cradle, and the cradle is a boat. Its first voyage must be the mysterious bridge, and the kind grandmother lives by the bridge. As early as the years when we were lying in the cradle, the bridge we imagined seemed to be in a small town. Therefore, no matter how old you are now, every time you take a boat into a small town in the south of the Yangtze River, there will always be a few strange memories in your heart, and there is some familiar feeling lurking in the unfamiliar sight. When Zhouzhuang arrived, no one told us, but we knew. The street market here is very quiet, but the river is very lively. Many boats come and go, and there are also many barges loading and unloading goods on the shore. Some people jump from this boat to that boat, jumping several times to one place. Going there is like borrowing someone else's aisle to walk between markets. Our boat squeezed into this bustle and moved forward slowly and comfortably. It is completely different from the frustrating "traffic jam" in the city. When we find a boat parked in front of us on the river, we only need to stretch out our hands when we get close and support the boat's hull, and the boat will Swing out a little so we can walk. The ship was probably loading cargo, and other ships were coming and going, so you supported and pushed it, causing its hull to sway, but its bow was tied to the shore pole, so it wouldn't cause any trouble. , the boatman loading the cargo was busy happily, paying no attention to anything. There are already many tourists like us in the town. Most of them came by land. As soon as they entered the town, they immediately realized the charm of water. They all wanted to stand on a boat and take a photo. They squatted on the river bank. I beg the boat people. I didn’t expect that the boat people here are so happy. Isn’t it easy to take a boat? Not only did I take photos, but I also let them sit and drive for a while without taking any money. They rely on water for food, are richer, and have far greater financial strength than these travelers. In recent years, film studios have often come to the town to shoot some historical-themed films. The town is quaint, and later it simply avoided all modern architectural methods. This satisfied the film directors, but where did it come from with so many extras? The residents of the town and the boat people were very helpful. One of them took a costume and put it on himself, and continued to work. You can take pictures. On the day I went there, I didn’t know that a film studio was filming a movie about the late Qing Dynasty at the bridge. Many of the townspeople by the bridge and the boat people under the bridge were wearing Qing Dynasty peasant costumes and going about their business. There was nothing unnatural about it. , but our boat approached and became a barbarian barbarian who invaded the villages of Qing Dynasty. Looking from the boat towards the river bank, it seems that every decent residence has its own dock at the door. This is not surprising. The river is the thoroughfare and the dock is the gate. How can a wealthy family use someone else's door to welcome and send guests? I recall that back then, when a family was in trouble, the most obvious sign was that the dock at his home was full of boats of all sizes, and the owner would stand on the dock to greet them. Our boat stopped at a large private pier, which belonged to a quite famous residence, now called "Shen Hall". It was originally the residence of Shen Wanshan, the richest man in Jiangnan in the early Ming Dynasty. A small town in the south of the Yangtze River has always had the ability to hide dragons and crouching tigers. Look, just these small rivers and bridges have housed a God of Wealth who is extremely wealthy! Shen Wanshan's path to wealth is worthy of careful study by economic historians. In any case, he can be regarded as an economic and trade practitioner of that era who was proficient in land management and good at developing commercial capital. Some people say that he mainly benefited from trade, including trade with overseas countries. Although there is no sufficient evidence to support this, I believe it.

Although Zhouzhuang is small, it is close to the canal, the Yangtze River and the Huangpu River. Ships starting from here can use the canal to connect north and south, and use the Yangtze River to connect east and west. They can also reach the prosperous Hangjiahu area and Suxi area nearby, and then From the Yangtze River Estuary or Hangzhou Bay, it leads directly to Southeast Asia or further places. Liuhekou, the starting point of Zheng He's voyage to the West, is very close to it. In such a superior geographical location, it is reasonable for Shen Wanshan to appear. This is generally the nature of the small town in Jiangnan. Its history does not lie in its pomp, but in making full use of its conveniences to quietly respect itself. Even if it respects itself, it does not show its face. As a result, we still cannot find out the details of Shen Wanshan today. . After tying the boat cable and climbing the steps ashore, I raised my head and saw that I had already entered the main entrance of the sinking hall. Walking from floor to floor, the etiquette of living at home more than 600 years ago is still the same as it is today. Here is the foyer, here is the place where guests and entourage stay, here is the living room, here is the inner room, here is the private dining room... The whole building is in the shape of a deep advancement. As a result, a rather narrow market entrance actually extends into a long The depth of field not only reveals the foolish and clumsy caution of Jiangnan merchants, but also exaggerates the spatial rules of family etiquette. However, as far as the overall residence is concerned, it is still considered modest and frugal. I think the residence of a retired official of the imperial court whose assets are only a fraction of Shen Wanshan's may be more impressive than it. The calculations of businessmen are completely different from the thoughts of bureaucrats, especially the businessmen during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties who sought development in the cracks of the feudal bureaucratic machine. They hid in a small courtyard in a small town in the south of the Yangtze River and did big business all over the world. It is their "big threshold". It can be imagined that in those days, ships of all sizes came and went in front of Shen Mansion very frequently. All kinds of information, reports, decisions, orders, contracts, and banknotes came in and out from here. However, most of the people who came and went were secretive and silent. , Traveling in a hurry. You may not see trade goods here. Real big traders will not use their houses as warehouses and transfer stations. It is difficult to find out where the goods are stored and delivered. No matter how rich you are, you are just a businessman without soldiers to protect you. Without the protection of the government, how can we promote our work in large numbers? I have not carefully studied Shen Wanshan's psychological journey. I only know that this big businessman who was like a fish in water in a small town in the south of the Yangtze River later suffered a big setback in Nanjing, the capital. After all, his shrewd thinking ability only belongs to the economic personality and has nothing to do with the official personality of the feudal court. There are contradictions everywhere, and everything falls apart when they collide. Can you not hit it? But no, a businessman who is operating miserably without a normal business environment always wants to establish some kind of friendly relationship with the court, but he doesn't know that establishing such a relationship depends on money, and it can't all rely on money. There are other things far beyond him. A more complex and sinister side imagined by the businessman's mind. This shows that after Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang established his capital in Nanjing (i.e. Yingtianfu), he wanted to build a city wall in a decent manner. Shen Wanshan, who was recognized by public opinion as the richest man in Jiangnan, naturally bore the brunt of the funds raised. Shen Wanshan walked out of the gate of his house with full of thoughts and got on the boat. The boat crossed the small bridge and river in Zhouzhuang and sailed towards Nanjing. In Nanjing, he readily agreed to the entire cost of building one-third of the capital's city wall (from Hongwu Gate to Shuixi Gate). This was of course an astonishing sum of money, which shocked both the government and the public. Things were already a bit dangerous at this point, because he was facing Zhu Yuanzhang, but he never realized it. He only knew to strike while the iron was hot like in business operations, and he spent a huge sum of money to reward the army in a daze and joy. Now Zhu Yuanzhang was furious. Who do you think you are? You came to my capital to show off your power just because you have money? Is the army something you can reward? So he ordered his beheading, but later, for unknown reasons, the order was changed to exile in Yunnan. The house in Jiangnan Town was in a state of panic for a while and then fell into a long period of loneliness. Shen Wanshan, China's outstanding financial master in the 14th century, could not come back. He traveled thousands of miles south in shackles and eventually died in the garrison. Of course he would dream of the flowing water and stone bridges of Zhouzhuang every night in a strange and smoky place, but his scarred life boat was stranded in such a remote place, and he could never sail into a familiar harbor. Shen Wanshan may not be able to figure out until his death what kind of logic made him suffer. The people of Zhouzhuang couldn't figure it out. Instead, they thought Shen Wanshan was strange and made up some more bizarre stories that have been passed down for hundreds of years.

As a result, the painting style of Kyushu became gloomy. In Yangguan, it is no longer difficult to enjoy warm poetry. There are still some scholars who left Yangguan in the west, but most of them became officials and ministers. Even the mound and the stone city cannot withstand the blowing of so many sighs. The sun has collapsed, and it has collapsed in the spiritual territory of a nation. It will eventually become ruins and a wasteland. Behind you, the sand graves are like the tide, and in front of you, the cold peaks are like the waves. No one can imagine that here, more than a thousand years ago, the magnificence of life and the spread of artistic sentiments were verified. There should be a few sounds of Hujia and Qiang flute here. The sound is extremely beautiful, harmonious with nature, and breathtaking. It is a pity that they later became the lamentations in the hearts of the soldiers. Since no nation could bear to hear it, they disappeared into the wind. Go back, it's already getting late. I'm afraid it will snow again