Sleep in Qinhuai River at night.
Author/Xu Zhenxia
I first learned about Qinhuai River when I was reading Bo Qinhuai by Du Mu. Du Mu wrote in his poem: "The smoke cage is full of sand in the cold moon, and the night is near Qinhuai Restaurant. Strong women in business do not know how to hate the country, but also sing backyard flowers across the river. " "backyard flower" is a piece of music, which is said to have been written by Chen Houzhu in the Southern Dynasties, and is called "the voice of national subjugation" by later generations.
After reading this poem, I feel that Qinhuai River is an unusual place. It must have many unusual stories, so I am deeply curious about this place. Curious for a long time, it becomes yearning.
What kind of river is Qinhuai River? What kind of story does it have? What does it have to do with women? What kind of women are they? What kind of love and hate do women related to this river have? All these make my thoughts fluctuate and wander.
Qinhuai River, Qinhuai River!
Later, I learned some stories about Qinhuai River in books. Li, Liu, Koubaimen, Chen Yuanyuan, etc. The eight beauties of Qinhuai were called "Eight Beauties of Qinhuai" in 1920. Their life stories include love and hate, sadness and joy. This river is famous for women, but these women have been devastated and tortured in their lives. They are all talented women, but their fate is very bitter and bumpy. People often say, "Beauty is unlucky." Is beauty really wrong? It is not a crime for a woman to be talented, nor is it a crime for a woman to be beautiful. However, in a society where male power rules everything, women seem to have no other value except to amuse and entertain men. Everything they have is attached to men, and only men can reflect their value. Men love them, and their lives are meaningful. Without men who dominate and rule society, women are nothing and have no dependence. This is their life. They don't have the power to dominate their own destiny, and they don't have the opportunity and platform to display their talents. They are like a weak willow, a duckweed, a leaf floating in the wind, blown away by the wind and rain.
These women are proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, poetry and painting, and all of them are talented in vocal music. However, they can only stay in brothels and make a living by laughing for men to entertain themselves. They also have feelings and love, but in the competition of men, they often fall victim to money and power.
Ma Xianglan is good at painting and proficient in melody. She is a very clever and witty woman. Her love with Wang has gone through many hardships. For a time, she wanted to entrust herself to Master Qin, who made lanterns, but when she was about to entrust herself to the other party, Master Qin refused her. She pitied the talented woman, lived alone all her life, and finally collapsed.
Chen Yuanyuan, a generation of Kunqu geisha, is outstanding in talent and appearance, but her fate is even more fierce. She has experienced many hardships in her life and has been enjoyed by one man after another. In the end, she became a femme fatale, bearing the eternal stigma.
My daughter Koubaimen is chivalrous and gentle, but she doesn't want a man. Unfortunately, my daughter has the ambition to help the world, but she has no way to serve the country. In troubled times, she can still stick to her noble conduct and integrity and make men feel ashamed.
Li, an infatuated woman, sprinkled a peach blossom fan and a peach blossom fan to protect her faithful love, which condensed a sad love story between a brothel woman and a scholar.
……
In fact, there are far more women in Qinhuai than those listed in "Eight Colours in Qinhuai" painted by a painter in Qing Dynasty, which makes them popular. At that time, Jinling was full of celebrities and beautiful women, and there were more than 20 women famous for Qinhuai River, which was recorded in Banqiao Miscellanies.
When those women came from history one by one and went away in the world of mortals, they left us with sad memories. They are fragile, but they are strong and full of blood. Although they were sent to brothels, they have noble qualities and personality. At that time, they had no social status, but they lived as sonorous as before. They finally won people's admiration and respect for their integrity and talent.
History is far away, but these women have jumped out. She and they touched one person after another with their miserable lives, and let them cross Qian Shan to Qinhuai River, looking for their traces and sighing for staying.
As a woman, I respect them more than admiration, a heartfelt respect. Therefore, I hope to have the opportunity to visit Qinhuai River and pay tribute to these women who have gone away in the world of mortals. These prostitutes deserve my respect and admiration.
I'm from the north, in the Qinling Mountains surrounded by mountains, so the south is far away from me.
It's a long way and a long psychological distance.
Of course, the most important thing is that I am not a person with a superior life. There are few opportunities to fly, and there is not enough money in hand. I hope to run aground again and again.
So Qinhuai has always been a dream for me, a distant dream that I have never been to personally.
This time, I was invited to a prose pen meeting in Jiangsu, and the idea began to sprout.
Although I was not invited to Nanjing, my trip to Nanjing was facilitated by Qinhuai River.
It takes one hour by train from Changzhou to Nanjing. By the time we arrived in Nanjing, it was already afternoon. I found a place to put down my luggage and went straight to Qinhuai River.
Zhu Ziqing wrote an article "Qinhuai River in the Shadow of Paddle Lights". Out of curiosity about Qinhuai River, I read this article again and again. In that article, Qinhuai River is silent and sad. In Zhu Ziqing's eyes, I also saw the women in Qinhuai River, but they are singers who are entertainers and prostitutes forced by life. They are just begging for a life, which has nothing to do with elegance and beauty, but also with their families. At that time, the prosperity of Qinhuai River was no longer, the elegance of Qinhuai River was no longer, and the woman who still hid half her face in front of us behind her guitar in Qinhuai River was no longer there, leaving a clear river in Leng Yue. It was a night in August of 1923.
Standing on Wende Bridge, I overlook Qinhuai River. The Qinhuai River is brightly lit, neon-lit, and bustling. Those primitive boats and paddles lined up, waiting for tourists to visit. On the other side of the river, two huge golden dragons are inlaid on the zhaobi, and the two dragons are playing in the pearl state. The light shines golden through the dragon body, and the two dragons play on the auspicious clouds, which means good luck.
At this time, I was thinking, why is the water in Qinhuai River so abundant? Are they all related to the women in Qinhuai River?
Li Qinhuai, so long; Shili Qinhuai, mighty; Qinhuai Shili, how many people have reached the level; Ten Li Qinhuai, how many tears have you seen; Qinhuai Shili, how much love did you say goodbye to?
My heart also fell with the boat in the undulating river. Li Qinhuai's prosperity, those prostitutes' rouge is red, but their blood and tears are red? How many women's bitterness, sadness and bitterness are soaked in this colorful Qinhuai River? These passionate women are eager for the truth and for a lifetime with Bai, but love is short-lived, such as a flash in the pan and endless worries. They have died in the annual rings again and again, and even their hair has been boiled into white hair. These absolutely beautiful women have tasted the warmth and hardships of the world.
Qinhuai's daughter is happy, looking forward to her husband's heart; Qinhuai daughter sorrow, this situation may be * * * white head; Qinhuai's daughter is sad and dreams are broken. Their true feelings were finally exchanged for tears and blood.
There are many oleanders on both sides of Qinhuai River, all of which are lush, pink and white. They are everywhere on both sides of the river. This is the characteristic of Jinling and Qinhuai River. As far as I can remember, "Oleander" is all about women. I remember watching a TV play many years ago. The protagonist in the play is a woman with both talent and beauty. Her mouth is slightly beautiful, and there are a pair of lovely dimples on her face. She often wears cheongsam, which impressed me deeply. In front of her window, there is a cluster of luxuriant oleanders. Many plots in the play are related to oleander, but the woman was finally abandoned by the man she loved deeply. On a stormy night, the woman swallowed many oleander leaves and passed away.
The oleander by Qinhuai River reminds me of the women in TV series and the women in Qinhuai Old Home. Can so many oleanders be raised by women in Qinhuai River with tears? Why else do they grow so lush and green? Qinhuai River, a river watered with tears, a river full of rouge and gouache, a river full of love and hate, has been flowing from the Ming Dynasty to today.
In these oleanders, the peach leaves must be crossed. I didn't invite a tour guide, but I just wanted to feel the Qinhuai River quietly at night, because I am familiar with the past of Qinhuai River. This time, I just want to use this river to pay tribute to these Qinhuai women, meet them in the birthplace of the story, quietly feel their joys and sorrows, their dusty lives, and pay tribute to those lost souls. A woman's life is not in vain!
Now, on this river, there are no other women, no red light district, no musical strings, only the oleander flowers on the shore open gracefully, telling people the sad past scene after scene. In the reminiscence of the past, those women's tears merged into a gurgling Qinhuai River, which flowed freely in the track of years and whitewashed peace. This Qinhuai River, once a talented scholar of the descendants of dignitaries, goes in and out here. No more laughing prostitutes and entertainers. They have become the epitome of history. Now, it is an open tourist attraction. You see, tourists are weaving on both sides of the river, guests are gathering, and neon lights are one after another, which is a splendid and prosperous time. Today's Qinhuai River has such a strong popularity, thanks to those Qinhuai women who forged legends with their lives and even blood, adding enduring artistic and humanistic charm to Qinhuai River.
In the sound of the oars, it seems that the ear rings again: "The fire is raging, the rivers and mountains are half broken, and Qinhuai Wan Li is scattered." Brothel is dark, why sigh? When a man gallops on horseback, he will be jealous of beauty! Drinking horses by the river, please listen to the bursts and play the pipa lightly. "This is a tune played and sung by Koubaimen Pipa, which shows the helplessness and meditation of Koubaimen in serving the country.
Qinhuai's daughter, whose lofty sentiments are not lost to men, has tears in her eyes, just to sigh and send her feelings to the pen. It has been many years since it was in its prime.
(Note: This article published "Prose Headlines" in the No.2016 issue of City, and won the "8th Bing Xin Prose Award". )
? Literary works published in Xu Zhenxia?
Brief introduction of the author
? Xu Zhenxia, female, pen name Xu,No. "Honglian Jushi", born in Zhashui County, Shaanxi Province, holds a bachelor's degree in Chinese language and literature. He is a member of Chinese Writers Association, a student of the 29th National Advanced Research Class for Young and Middle-aged Writers of Lu Xun College of Literature, a winner of the 8th Bingxin Prose Award, a hundred outstanding cultural and artistic talents of Shaanxi Provincial Department of Culture, and a creative writer of key literary and artistic works of Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee Propaganda Department. Director of Shaanxi Prose Society, Deputy Director of Shaanxi Prose Local Literature Committee, Deputy Secretary General of Shaanxi Prose Review Committee, Vice Chairman of Shangluo Writers Association (and Director of Prose Essay Committee), Vice Chairman of Shangluo Young Writers Association and Vice Chairman of Shangluo Prose Society. He used to be the deputy director of the Cultural Center in Gaochun District, Nanjing. Executive Vice President of Yao Lu Reading Club of Shaanxi Province, Honorary President of Zhenyuan Literature Society of Shaanxi Province, and Consultant of Shangluo Women's Poetry Society. Editor-in-chief of Shaanxi Literature and Shangluo Literature. He began to write literature in 2008, and has successively written in People's Literature, China Writers, Poetry Publications, Selected Prose Publications, Jinghua Literature, Hundred Proses, American Literature, Yanhe Literature, Sichuan Literature, Shandong Literature, Tianjin Literature, Shanxi Literature and Shanxi Literature. Middle School Students' Digest, Second Classroom, Language Newspaper, Thinking and Wisdom, Hundred Flowers Garden, Companion, Sanlian Life Weekly, China Youth Daily, China Discipline Inspection and Supervision Newspaper, China Culture Newspaper, Literature Newspaper, China Art Newspaper, People's Daily, People's Daily Overseas Edition, Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao and Macau Daily. The published works "Beauty in misty rain" and "Life is a blooming lotus" were awarded the 10th China Children's Literature Award and the 7th Lu Xun Literature Award respectively, and went to Nanjing and Xi 'an in China to attend the National Book Fair. Among them, Beauty in Misty Rain was included in Hundred Books of Extracurricular Reading for Teenagers, and Moonlight River was published in 2020 with the title inscribed by Jia Pingwa, a famous writer, and prefaced by Qiu Huadong, secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Writers Association.
The first work is Beauty in Misty Rain, and the representative work is Looking at Chang 'an with the Cattle on the Back. The famous works are Sleeping at Qinhuai River and Dihua Lotus.