Furong Town Prose
Furong Town was previously called "Wangcun". According to legend, in the pre-Qin period, when the "heroes" fought under the banner of "He Zong" or "Lian Heng", the world was in flames and blood flowed. There was a person named Wang who went through many hardships in order to avoid the war. Despite the dangers, I traveled thousands of miles to Yunshan, took refuge here and settled down. From then on, deep in the mountains of western Hunan, fishing and farming in barren mountains, adhering to tranquility and indifference, settling down and cultivating one's family, "Wang Village" came from this.
In the 1980s, famous actors Liu Xiaoqing, Jiang Wen and others filmed a movie called "Furong Town" in this "Wang Village". For a time, "Furong Town" became popular all over the country and became famous. Spread throughout the country. As a result, Furong Town was born instead of "Wang Village".
I was lucky enough to be able to walk around Furong Town, but it was a complete accident, because there was no plan to visit Furong Town in the original travel plan. After traveling to Zhangjiajie, I felt reluctant to go directly to Fenghuang, so the tour guide suggested that we could float on the Mengdong River along the way, and then take Furong Town and then transfer to Fenghuang, which would be considered a side trip. Hearing this, he immediately clapped his hands and shouted: "Let's go floating on the Mengdong River!"
The rapid water of the Mengdong River seemed to come from outside the sky, and it seemed that it was destined to go to Furong Town. . Since then, the Mengdong River has turned hundreds of times in the mountains of western Hunan, determined and persistent to meet the Furong Town, and then changed its name to "Youjiang River", then merged with the Yuanjiang River, and then passed through Dongting, Enter the Yangtze River and run towards the sea.
Now that I think about it, if I just use words like "beautiful" or "refreshing" to describe the feeling of floating on the Mengdong River, I'm afraid it's far from enough. The drifting along the way was truly a thrilling, surging, and full of twists and turns. Not to mention the strings of dangerous shoals and thrilling rapids in the gorge; not to mention the high mountains and dangerous cliffs on both sides of the river; not to mention the shouts and screams caused by the high and sharp plunge of the raft. Just sitting on the raft and drifting in the depths of this mountain has made me have endless reveries to this day. It is the deep and mysterious feeling brought by the high mountains and long water in the deep mountains of western Hunan. It feels like it's drifting from the sky, but also seems to be drifting away from the sky. When we drifted to Furong Town, the Mengdong River turned a thousand times and experienced ups and downs. As if we knew that the world was approaching, we finally slowed down and calmed down.
Furong Town is really like a small town on the horizon. The water of Mengdong River has calmed down and the river is no longer turbulent. It happened to be renamed Youjiang River here, just like a mission to attend a meeting. Li Ren, who had finished and wanted to go on a long journey, continued to move forward from Furong Town. The small towns on the shore may have been influenced by the teachings of their ancestors, perhaps because of the gentle influence of the river, or perhaps the people in the mountains are naturally simple and honest. The people in Furong Town all have a quiet, calm, determined and desire-free character. If you take a casual walk on the street, you will find that most of the people in Furong Town have an attitude of living peacefully and calmly.
Furong Town also has old streets and stone roads. The wooden shops one after another are just like anywhere else. However, the owner sitting in the store seems to be very different from elsewhere. They generally don't accept customers, and the door of the store is open, allowing you to walk in and out. They don't shout loudly, they just sit in the store and let you walk in and out. When you come in, get up and greet the guests, and do your best to entertain the guests, but you are not obsessed with whether the transaction is completed or not. Just buy what you want, get the money you want, don't buy if you don't buy, and send guests off respectfully. Whether you want to buy or not, you are calm and calm, without saying a word; when you don't come in, everyone passing by looks at you and you see him sitting in the store, with a smiling face that clearly reveals an ordinary heart.
Of course Liu Xiaoqing is indispensable in Furong Town, which can be seen from the golden signs of "Liu Xiaoqing Rice Tofu" all over the streets. Of course you have to eat it. After eating it, apart from being sour and spicy, you can't really taste anything else. Although it is not famous, you still have to eat it one after another. Yinmi tofu is a local specialty snack. , and because of the filming of "Furong Town", this "rice tofu" became famous for a while, and in business, it is not difficult to understand that every store in the world is named Liu Xiaoqing. . So, every time I entered a store, I would first shout: "Boss, please have a bowl of rice and tofu!" After that, I would also ask, "Is it authentic?" The shop owner usually just smiles and serves it to you, and doesn't care about boasting. Then when it comes to eating, it's just sour and spicy. It's not clear which one is authentic and which one is not.
In fact, rice tofu has been made this way and tasted this way since ancient times, so what’s wrong with it being authentic?
Staying in Furong Town for three full days was something I never expected. The reason probably has little to do with rice tofu, but rather has something to do with the simple and calm people here and the scenery of this small town on the horizon. In a word, looking at the mountains and rivers that seem to be inside and outside the universe, and walking in this small town where people come and go but are simple, honest, quiet and indifferent, a feeling of closeness arises spontaneously, and that's all. . In addition, Furong Town is also an ancient town with rich historical heritage. In addition to the ancestors surnamed Wang who escaped from the war, Furong Town was also the seat of the Tusi Dynasty. The imposing "Tusi" building located on the riverside outside the town "The King's Palace" is the testimony.
In the south of Furong Town, there is a stream that comes from the east and merges into the Mengdong River. At the confluence, there are two steps of cliffs, both 20 to 30 meters high. When the stream falls here, it forms a waterfall, jumping into the Mengdong River in two impressive steps. According to locals, there was a lot of rain in the early years, the stream was deeper than today, covering the entire cliff, and the waterfall was also huge. Even so, the two waterfalls I saw when I went there were still quite spectacular. The water curtain was more than ten meters wide. When it jumped, it splashed up like snow, and the water was tumbling in clusters. Moving, the surging water vapor covered the bottom of the wall, and the cool air spread around. The roaring sound is endless and can be heard far away. In the hot summer season, the roaring sound of this waterfall alone can add a little coolness, which is particularly pleasant. Right next to these two waterfalls, almost immediately next to them, is the "Tuwang Palace".
According to legend, a long time ago, a child went up the mountain to chop firewood. One day, when he was passing by the waterfall here, he picked up a stone wall with a large word "luck" on it, so he took it home. From then on, things turned out really well for him, and within a few years he rose to prominence, established unparalleled feats, and finally achieved the status of King of Earth. When the hegemony was achieved, he remembered that it all started after that wall-breaking incident, so he built this "Earth King's Palace" on the side of the waterfall. For thousands of years, this palace has experienced many ups and downs, as well as many natural and man-made disasters, but it has always stood firm. An alchemist once said: The feng shui of this place is in harmony with the way of heaven and earth, and the location of the palace coincides with the green dragon on the left and the white tiger on the right, with the red bird in front and the Xuanwu in the back, which is the most imperial. Later, as his hegemony grew and the territory under his rule became wider and wider, he searched for a site in the upper reaches of the Mengdong River and started construction projects, building a more magnificent Laosi City. Nowadays, the magnificent old Sicheng in the upper reaches of Mengdong River has long been wiped out, but the "Tuwang Palace" in Furong Town still stands on the river bank in the south of the town.
Of course, the "Tuwang Palace" in Furong Town is far from as majestic as the Forbidden City in Beijing, but it still has some atmosphere. There are all kinds of pavilions, pavilions, waterside corridors, etc. Especially when walking on the winding and quiet flower paths in the palace, you can hear the roar of the waterfall and watch the river flowing slowly away. In your imagination, you can trace back the story of King Tu in this wild and wild mountain. In time and space, how people are able to conquer territories and achieve great supremacy in the midst of war and iron horses can make people wonder and sigh. In fact, this is not all imagination. In the mountains of western Hunan, there have been constant wars since ancient times, and not everything is as peaceful as it is today. It is said that the king of Chu and Peng Shichou, the governor of Xizhou, fought here for many years. During this period, it is difficult to describe how the soldiers, horses and food were transferred to the battle, how the mountains and rivers were fought over, and how the flags, swords and guns shone and they were killed. It is difficult to describe now, but The "Xizhou Bronze Pillar" placed in the "Folk Museum" of the town, regarded as a sacred object by the locals, is a witness to the war. It records Peng Shichou's defeat, peace, alliance, and border demarcation after many years of war. And the entire war process of governance and finally the bronze pillars erected in Huixi.
The dust of history has long since settled, and many historical facts have mostly disappeared without trace. However, the "Xizhou Bronze Pillar" is still there and is now enshrined in the town's folk museum. Unfortunately, it was late during the tour and the museum door was closed, so I couldn't get a closer look.
It was the day before leaving Furong Town, and I was having a hard time deciding whether to eat a plate of snails for dinner. I remember, when I first entered Furong Town, in addition to seeing the "Liu Xiaoqing Rice Tofu" sign all over the street, I also saw another big plaque: "The No. 1 Snail in the World" with several big gold characters. Of course I want to eat it, but my wife is afraid of spicy food (since entering Hunan, all meals have been spicy food from morning to night, which makes northerners quite uncomfortable, and over time, they are almost afraid of spicy food.) So I haven't eaten it yet. eat.
That night, because I was about to leave Furong Town, I was afraid that I would never have the opportunity to enjoy the "best snail" in the world, so I took a lot of trouble during dinner, just like a bird that "picks all the cold branches and refuses to rest", wandering around in the streets and alleys I turned around and worried about food. As I walked around, my mind began to spin. As I walked in a circle, I slowly asked my wife: "If I go to Shanhaiguan, do I want to see the first pass in the world?"
Wife: "Why do you want to see it?"
"Because it is the best in the world."
"Do you want to see Baotu Spring in Jinan?" she asked again.
Wife: “If you don’t want to see it, why should you?”
“Because it is the best spring in the world. ”
Finally asked: “Do you want to eat the ‘No. 1 snail in the world’ when you come to Furong Town?”
………
Of course, I still ate it in the end, still It was spicy, and it was already getting late when we finished eating. When we arrived at the folk museum, the door was closed, so I had to peek in through the crack of the door, but I could only see a vague outline. I had no choice but to reflect on what I had just said. After eating the spicy "World's Best Snail", I lingered on the stone road of the old street.
The old street has become a little darker, there are many fewer pedestrians, and most of the shops have closed, and it has been noisy for a day. Furong Town seemed to be quiet all of a sudden. In this remote and quiet town, my heart couldn't help but feel at peace. It seemed that the honor, disgrace, gains and losses, joys and sorrows that had been lingering in my heart all the time in the past, also followed the remoteness of this town. And as it goes away, the stone road in the old street has come to an end unknowingly, and the end is the Mengdong River or the Youjiang River, because after the Mengdong River reaches Furong Town, it is no longer called Mengdong. The river was renamed Youjiang River. The steps along the river are made of stones. On the east side of the steps is a newly built promenade along the river. When you walk up the promenade and look down at the stone steps, you can see the rhythmic flow of the river. As we slapped the river bank, two wooden boats were standing on the bank of the river in the twilight. Looking back, we could see that the river was flowing majestically.
The night in Furong Town was empty and quiet, and the bright mountain moon was just hanging on the peaks on the other side. Above, the moonlight shone down, reflecting in the river and swaying with the river current. A gust of river wind blew by, and I only felt the coolness. At this time, standing on the riverside promenade, facing the river wind and the moon, I couldn't say no. Does the coolness come from Jiang Feng? Or does it come from Jiang Yue? If I want to follow the example of "the best snail in the world", I want to rank Jiang Feng and Jiang Yue, but I don't know what Jiang Feng should be at this moment. Which month should Jiang Yue be ranked at this moment?
Furong Town, or Wangcun, is like a small town on the horizon. It is undoubtedly peaceful and quiet. The surging Mengdong River calmed down after flowing here, and was renamed Youjiang River, and continued to move forward. The people in the town all have the attributes of tranquility, calmness, desirelessness and simplicity, showing that they live a peaceful and stable life. The way it goes down. Because of its tranquility and simplicity, it is hidden deep in the mountains and is not known to outsiders; and because of its tranquility and simplicity, it is finally known to outsiders in the mountains. The vicissitudes of the period, the silence and prosperity of the period, are all in the past. The past is like smoke, I only hope that it will always remain true to its true nature and exist forever in the world!
Note: It is said that in Youjiang, in order to avoid burning books and trapping Confucians, Xianyang Confucian scholars led their generals to avoid the danger of killing nine tribes. More than two thousand scrolls of bamboo slips were secretly transported out of Xianyang to Eryou Mountain in Yuanling, Hunan, and hid in a cave on the mountainside until the death of Qin Dynasty. Confucian scholars presented the collected slips to the court, which shocked the court and the public. He is rich in learning and knowledgeable in writing. "From this, we can see how famous this mountain is. The Mengdong River flows through Furong Town and was renamed Youjiang River. It meets the Yuanjiang River in the south of Yuanling City and happens to pass by this mountain on the way. Therefore, thinking about it privately, the Mengdong River was renamed Youjiang River. Youjiang is probably related to Youshan.