The story of Yichang Yangtze River
As for the city shaped by the Yangtze River, it was born with a big opening and a big closing. The romantic collision of mountains and rivers left a magnificent scenery for Yichang, and also shaped the romantic and open character of Yichang people. Yichang, which has experienced war and is used to watching the wind and rain, can retain the most beautiful fireworks as the throat of the Yangtze River.
Yichang is one of the richest cities in Hubei.
High cliffs splash, rivers and streams, and various landforms alternate in Yichang, interweaving a beautiful and magnificent picture.
The mighty Yangtze River water rushes out from Tanggula Mountain, strides forward, passes through Sichuan and Chongqing, and crosses the continuous Wushan Mountain, forming "the most worth seeing landscape in China"-the Three Gorges at the junction of Chongqing and Hubei.
The so-called Three Gorges refers to Qutang Gorge, Wuxia Gorge and Xiling Gorge, of which the longest, steepest and most magnificent Xiling Gorge is located in Yichang, Hubei.
▲ Yichang geographical location. Cartography/Chili powder
Yichang is located in the southwest of Hubei Province, in the transition zone between the mountainous area in western Hubei and the Hanjiang Plain. There is a great difference in height, and the undulating lines decorate Yichang with a sense of rhythm.
The Yangtze River, which passes through the city, pours down in Yichang, leaving a magnificent landscape of "Wan Ren Mountain, thousands of feet Water" and giving Yichang a heroic momentum. Also in Yichang, the boundaries between the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have been clearly defined.
In addition, the majestic and steep valley, the Yangtze River flowing thousands of miles and the romantic encounter in Yichang have also collided with a new energy source for hydropower generation.
1970, in order to alleviate the shortage of industrial electricity in central China, the state organs turned their attention to Nanjinguan, the exit of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River with steep slope and large drop. Nanjinguan is located in the west of Yichang, where the gorge is long and the valley is deep. It is not only rich in water resources, but also a natural excellent dam site. Therefore, the construction of Gezhouba Water Control Project, the first dam of China Wanli Yangtze River, has been put on the agenda.
After 18 years and 1988 years, the whole Gezhouba water control project was completely completed. Two power plants, Erjiang Power Plant and Dajiang Power Plant, were built separately, with annual average power generation of 1 and 4 1 100 million kWh, which not only meets the electricity demand of Hubei Province, but also can transmit surplus current to Hunan, Henan and other places.
▲ Shiplock of Three Gorges Dam and transmission towers on both sides. Photography/Huang Xuefeng
As a part of the Three Gorges Water Conservancy Project, the construction of Gezhouba Water Conservancy Project has raised the water level in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River by more than 20 meters, effectively improving the sinister waterway of the Three Gorges, and since then, "the high gorge has turned into a flat lake". By 2006, the Three Gorges Hydropower Station, 38 kilometers away from Gezhouba, was also completed. From then on, "a thousand miles to Jiangling in one day" and "canoeing across Chung Shan Man" are no longer just Li Bai's romantic fantasies.
Li Bai is not the first person to have romantic fantasies about Yichang.
In Yichang, the collision of mountains and rivers not only created water conservancy energy, but also shaped the magnificent natural landscape. Faced with the extremely peculiar natural landscape, the ancients living in Yichang will inevitably have a beautiful imagination of this land under their feet.
Under the blessing of imagination, Xialaoxi, who lives in the depths of the canyon, is the father of Dayu, Longsuo Town; The natural picture of a god man holding a god cow on Huangniuyan is the mark of Huangniuyan helping Yukai Gorge. Goddess peak, on the east side of Wushan, is the incarnation of Yao Ji, the goddess after the Twelve Dragon Gods were destroyed.
The myths and legends handed down from generation to generation have endowed Yichang people with brilliant character. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Qu Yuan, a native of Danyang (now Yichang), Chu, initiated the romantic literature in China.
In his works, there are both heroic "Lapras falters and camels soar to the sky"; There is also the anguish of "the heart is depressed and worried, and it will never increase the injury with a sigh"; There is both the fearlessness of "Blue Clouds in White" and the firmness of "My heart is also good, although I have no regrets in my death". "
Qu Yuan, who has ideals and beliefs, did not have a smooth career path. Pursuing perfection and beauty, he became a different kind of "loneliness" and "loneliness" in officialdom, and finally threw himself into the Miluo River because of the disillusionment of idealism.
People in Yichang and even the whole country have associated Qu Yuan with the Dragon Boat Festival for thousands of years to commemorate this honest saint. Every year, on the fifth day of May, Qu Yuan died, with trumpets ringing and drums bursting. People swam across Jiang Lai to summon souls and spontaneously commemorated this lovely and respectable poet.
Perhaps inspired by Qu Yuan's spirit, the genes of patriotism and sacrifice are engraved in the blood of Yichang people. At the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, the regime of Dahan Dynasty was not stable, and the borders of the western regions were often invaded by Xiongnu. At that time, reconciliation was the most direct and effective way to maintain border peace.
However, in the stereotype of the Central Plains Dynasty at that time, Xiongnu was a symbol of eating animals and drinking blood. Therefore, in the face of the proposal of Uhaanyehe, a Hun, no one in the whole Western Han Palace answered. Mindful of the tragic ending that the people in the border areas suffered from the war and died in the palace, Wang Zhaojun, whose ancestral home was Zigui, Yichang and Quyuan, stepped forward and volunteered to go north to marry the Huns.
Sino-Hungarian relations have been stable for half a century since Zhaojun left the fortress. "Border towns are closed, cattle and horses are wild, there is no barking in the third world, and Li Shu forgets to fight." So many people think that Wang Zhaojun's contribution can be compared with that of Huo Qubing, a famous Han Dynasty.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, with the decline of the Central Plains dynasty, the center of political power gradually shifted to the south. As an important node city on the Yangtze River, the strategic importance of Yichang has gradually become prominent.
▲ Urban sculpture in Mingfeng Town, Yuan 'an County, Yichang. Photography/Leuven
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the central government had three pillars, Cao Wei was guarding the Central Plains, Soochow occupied Jiangdong, and Shu Han occupied Bashu. The wrestling of these three forces fell on Jingzhou on the east side of Yichang.
Among these three forces, the Shu-Han regime rose the latest and its strength was the weakest. Battle of Red Cliffs, winning more with less, reversed the decline of Shu Han. In its heyday, most of Jingzhou at the junction of the Three Kingdoms was guarded by Guan Yu of Shu Han. As the only water passage between Jingzhou and Shu Han, the importance of the Yangtze River to Shu State is self-evident, and Yichang, a river on the west side of Jingzhou, naturally becomes an important city in Shu State.
▲ Jingzhou. Figure/insect creativity
However, it was Lu Xun, a famous Soochow player, who brought Yichang's strategic position to the extreme.
When Guan Yu sent troops to attack Xiangyang and Fancheng, where Cao Cao was hiding, Lv Meng took off his military uniform and disguised himself as a businessman to attack the three counties of Jingzhou where Guan Yu was stationed. Before Shu could react, Lu Xun led his troops to capture Yidu (now Yidu, Yichang) on the west side of Jingzhou, cutting off contact with Jingzhou, which eventually led Guan Yu to lose Jingzhou and defeat Maicheng (now dangyang city, Yichang).
After losing Jingzhou, Shu was certainly unwilling. In order to recapture Jingzhou, in 22 1 year, Liu Bei "dumped 750,000 soldiers of the whole country" to crusade against Wu Dong. Lu Xun did the same thing, trapping Liu Bei's army in the long and narrow Yangtze River Gu Dao. The failure of the Yiling War made the restoration of the Han Dynasty an empty dream of Liu Bei.
However, Dongwu's occupation of Yichang was not long. "Wang Zhuolou disembarked from Yizhou, and the imperial ghost has languished in Nanjing." In 280 AD, after the fall of Yichang, Wu Dong was destroyed, and the era of hegemony among the three countries came to an end.
After more than a thousand years of stability, Yichang fell into chaos again in 1938.
1938 10 With the successive fall of Shanghai, Nanjing and Wuhan, the national provisional government moved from Wuhan to Chongqing, and a large number of ethnic industries and talents also moved in urgently.
At that time, the only way to enter Sichuan was the Yangtze River waterway. At this time, Wuhan has fallen, and the Japanese army is marching southwest along the Yangtze River. 90,000 tons of important strategic materials, 1 10,000 tons of scattered materials, and a large number of military and political dignitaries and countless refugees gathered in Yichang, the gateway of Sichuan.
▲ Yangtze River in Xiaoting District, Yichang. Photography/Fuding
In order to successfully complete this retreat, Lu Zuofu, then director of the Land and Water Transportation Management Committee of the Military Commission of the National Government, specifically requested the Ministry of Communications to collect 2,000 wooden boats in Chongqing. The fishermen in Yichang did not take it lightly, and they donated their wooden boats to serve as volunteers on the dock to help the evacuation.
Slide to the left
▲ Figure 1: The freighter Minsheng, which is full of materials and bound for Chongqing; Figure 2: Anti-Japanese War materials hoarded at Yichang Wharf; Figure 3: 1944 The terminal of Yichang retreat-Chongqing Chaotianmen Wharf. Graphics/network
In just over 40 days, hundreds of thousands of people stranded in Yichang have been transported out, and most of the strategic materials have been transported away. This "Yichang Retreat" has successfully saved the lifeline of China's national industry and a large number of talents. Mr. Yan Chuyang compared it to "Dunkirk retreat in the East".
When all the noise has passed, what remains in Yichang is still the rolling Yangtze River water and the flowers floating in the street in turn.
Perhaps in Yichang people's minds, everything in the past is not so important, and the present leisure life is the most worthy of attention.
Because it is close to the Yangtze River and undertakes all kinds of materials in and out of Sichuan, the dock is the most common workplace for Yichang people. Therefore, the eating habits of Yichang people also have some spicy features.
Similar to Sichuan and Chongqing, spicy food is also the background color of Yichang cuisine. In the early morning in Yichang, it tastes like red oil noodles. Early in the morning, a small noodle restaurant on Yichang Street set up a big pot at the door, and large bones floated up and down in the pot, emitting a strong fragrance. Soon, there was a long queue at the door, just waiting for a bowl of crispy red noodles.
Unlike the red oil noodles in Sichuan and Chongqing, there are only noodles in the bowl. When Yichang people cook noodles, they often sprinkle a handful of cooked soybeans, add a few slices of beef, or add a spoonful of fat sausage, and finally pour a spoonful of red oil to decorate a bowl of noodles.
If a bowl of hot red oil noodles warms Yichang people all winter, then in summer in Yichang, there is the coolness brought by cool shrimp.
Cold shrimp made of rice paste, translucent amber texture. Put it in brown sugar water, it will fly freely, causing slight fluctuations in the bowl. Add some bright fruit pieces to make the cool shrimp more lovely.
In summer in Yichang, drinking a bowl of cool shrimp is cool summer. The cool brown sugar water at the entrance takes the lead in clearing the heat in the intestine; Then the smooth shrimp bounced a few times between its teeth and cheeks, and then slipped into its stomach without looking back; Finally, the sweet fruit, taking advantage of the trend, filled the loneliness between teeth and cheeks in one fell swoop.
For Yichang people who are used to the situation, only life is the best footnote in Yichang.
-End-
When Wen Yi Ying Shi
Photo compilation | Tao Zi
Map Editor | Chili Powder