There is a memory called "Wuding River"

The village of Wangsuli in northern Shaanxi where I live is in the mountains, with the Jiuqu Wuding River at the foot of the mountain. The sky is blue and distant, and the valleys gradually squeeze into ravines. The earth seems to have given all its peace and tranquility to this ravine, which can cause alarm in all directions. In the ravine, there is no Wuding River that rolls eastward and has rough waves. There are only dry river beds and small patches of river water in low-lying areas. Looking from a distance, the riverbed and river water are blue and beautiful, contrasting with the blue sky and white clouds.

There are two sand mounds at the foot of the mountain, and rows of beach jujube trees greedily sucking the sunshine. The river beach is already covered with wild grass, kudzu and Baicao, as well as three kinds of small flowers: white, yellow and blue. Most of the river bed has dried up. The surface of the river near the shore is covered with pieces of soil that have been cracked by the sun. They are so thin that they immediately break into pieces when you step on them, making a clicking sound. The river bed in the center of the river is exposed, not covered with soil, revealing a light blue stone bed. The river water is very clear, and the bottom is covered with a layer of yellow mud. Occasionally, there are one or two water polyps on the water surface. The thin water lines stirred by the wind shine like broken silver, and they sing softly on the winding cobblestones of the river. Even a little naughty.

The Wuding River is the main river in the Loess Plateau of northern Shaanxi. It twists and turns around one loess slope after another, flowing through eight counties in the Yulin area, and then slowly turns its head and flows northward, entering Ordos. plateau. There it passes through the southern edge of the desolate Mu Us Desert and finally flows into the roaring Yellow River. This river is 491 kilometers long and has a drainage area of ​​30,260 square kilometers. For the arid Loess Plateau and Ordos Plateau, it is not a small river.

However, I have always been interested in the origin of its name. Why is it called Wuding River? I guess that the course of this river must be very unstable and often changes its position, so people call it this. People like me who live in humid places may not understand that if a river is in good condition, how can it change? This is a characteristic of sandy rivers in dry areas.

In dry areas, especially in places with sparse vegetation, the ground it flows through is loose sand, which is easy to wash away and seep downward, so the sand content in the river water is very high. . In addition, the climate here is dry and evaporation is very strong. Some rivers are flowing, and the river water is reduced by evaporation, or seeps into the ground, turning into a trickle, or even completely drying up. The water in the river slowly decreased and its kinetic energy also decreased. Reduced to a certain level, the river water can no longer carry sediment, and the sediment will slowly accumulate, gradually blocking the river bed. The river bed is blocked, and the river water cannot continue to flow along the original river course, which will force the river to change its course. Such blockages and diversions caused the river to sway back and forth on the sand, forming an indefinite river with no fixed flow direction.

Swearing to sweep away the Xiongnu regardless of his own safety,

Five thousand mink and brocade mourned Hu Chen.

Poor bones by the Wuding River,

They are like people in a spring boudoir dream.

In the poem "Journey to Longxi" (also known as "Journey to the West"), Chen Tao, a poet not well-known in the Tang Dynasty, has become famous throughout the ages and has become a pearl in the poetry world. This seven-character song that has been passed down through the ages is a vivid picture of the blood and tears on the battlefield in ancient times. It is sad and decisive, leaving another masterpiece for future generations, "The poor bones by the Wuding River are like the people in the spring boudoir's dream." We don't I know where the "Spring Lady" is. Probably the warriors, generals and heroes who were born into bloody battles. The gentle and pleasant person who is in my heart must be in that distant hometown. However, Wuding River is located in the Tang Dynasty. The border has become a battlefield where soldiers shed blood. Entering recorded history, the Wuding River Basin has become a battlefield. Let us not talk about the "five thousand mink brocade mourning Hu Chen" described in a Tang poem. In the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, the Xiongnu in the north and the imperial court in the south. The bloody war started in the Wuding River Basin. Wuding River witnessed history. The Qin and Han Dynasties did not stop. The Sui and Tang Dynasties continued to fight. Until the Song and Ming Dynasties, this was a frontier and a battlefield. Look, the towering The beacon tower, as well as the broken earthen Great Wall, together with the flowing water of Wuding River, witness the history of Wuding River.

The Wuding River originates from Dingbian, Shaanxi Province, but flows through the Sarawusu River (Mongolian, meaning "yellow water") in the south of Wushen Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. According to records, in 1922, French geobiologist Sang Zhihua discovered an incisor of the "Hetao Man" here for the first time. A large number of excavated cultural relics prove that the "Hetao people" lived here as early as 35,000 years ago. Thinking back to 35,000 years ago, the whole Wuding River Basin was full of pink willows and green willows, the blue water reflected the sun, the forests were luxuriant, the food was abundant, and the fragrance drifted all year round. The tame cattle and sheep were scattered all over the green fields, and the "Hetao people" lived leisurely by the Wuding River. Probably, the Wuding River Basin at that time was like the beautiful Jiangnan water town today.

Uncle and the others were still chatting in the Zuotian Cave. I was lying quietly on the rocks on the river bed, next to a pool of Wuding River. My relatives in the south would not believe that I was lying in the middle of the river. The rolling Yellow River, especially the Wuding River with its nine twists and turns, has always been an inextricable knot in the hearts of southerners. They can only think about it, and even if they stand next to it, they still feel like a passerby. . Soon, shouts came from the mountainside to go back. The shouts echoed in the valley, and accompanied by a piece of my thoughts that kept drifting away. On the way back, I was still immersed in the back-to-back exchanges with Wudinghe and couldn’t extricate myself.

People in northern Shaanxi generally rarely bathe, and occasionally they only go to the nearby Wuding River to wash themselves. Although Uncle Liu's house where we stayed had a bathroom, the water was not easy to come by and it felt a bit luxurious to use it for bathing. Most uncles would not be willing to wash themselves at home, so we two boys unanimously chose to go to the river to try it. .

If you go straight ahead from the path below Uncle Liu's house, you can reach the Wuding River. The water in that section of the river has also stopped flowing, but there are still many strips of pools in the middle, which have not completely dried up. On one side of the river are fields planted with corn, sorghum, millet, potatoes, peanuts, sunflowers and other farm grains, while on the other side is a cliff more than twenty feet high, with gravel rolling down from time to time. I was a little shy at first and thought it was a bit uncivilized to bathe in the river in the park. But after thinking about the fact that there was no other bathhouse and there were almost no people around, I hid in the pool under the rocks and took a bath. It is said to be a water pool, but in fact the water is living water and flowing. I have never bathed in such an open and majestic place before. There are chaotic piles of rocks next to it and mottled cliffs behind me. When I call, I feel like the cries of apes on both sides of the river are unstoppable. The sound keeps echoing in the valley...

The setting sun coats the steep cliffs of the river beach with a layer of bronze, which can easily lead people to imagine a long smoke setting sun with a short pavilion in the west wind. The surrounding areas are quiet. The evening in the ravine is cool and tranquil, with a moist freshness at the same time. The Wuding River under the alkaline bank flashes with the colorful clouds of the sunset, and you can hear the slightest sound flowing quietly. The outline of the mountains in the distance is towering and abrupt, adding a quiet charm to the rough appearance.