Martin: The ancient rhyme of the Pig Dragon River

When I was a child, the anecdotes, allusions, and slang of my hometown that my father told me were deeply rooted in my mind and will never be erased, and a vague attachment and desire to trace the roots, with the passage of time, the wind and clouds changed, not only did not fade, but more intense. In his old age, his mental strength is getting weaker and weaker, and he has a sense of urgency that urgently needs to be carried forward and revealed. Therefore, I am anxious to dictate, hear and witness my childhood father, and connect it with the poems of the sages for posterity. Only this fang feels worthy of that flexible homeland.

My childhood hometown originally belonged to the northeast township of Laozichuan County. My father once told me a rather interesting slang allusion. It is said that in ancient Times, there was a person in Zichuan County who was an official in the capital, and because of his outspoken and daring advice, he angered the imperial court and wanted to charge the army and distribute it. Another fellow who was also a high official in the capital, the two were in love with each other, and because of their grievances, they tried to help him get rid of it. Therefore, the fellow villagers conceived a slang song and described to the imperial court a "desolate and dangerous" place as a distribution place. The slang generally says:

Copper gang iron bottom pig dragon river, ten thousand feet high shadowless mountain.

The Great Wall (Changcheng) wind blows (Fengshui) no soldiers to go (Wu Bingxu), Zhang Zhao (Zhang Zhao) fried rice, paste the sky (Hutian).

Double hook (double ditch) suspension bridge (窎桥) spit bone pile (soil lonely pile), in front of the (Qianyu) wellbore evil leopard river (Wang Baoshan).

Big red dog (big honggou), little red dog (small honggou), eat very sparsely.

This slang song sounded thrilling and creepy, and the imperial court decided to exile the "criminal courtiers" here. In fact, the Pig Dragon River, Wuying Mountain, Changcheng, Fengshui, Wubingxu, Zhang Zhao, Fried Rice, Hutian, Shuanggou, Shuqiao (now using the word "suspension bridge"), Tugudui, Qianyu, Wellbore, Wang Baoshan, Dahonggou and Xiaohonggou mentioned in the slang are some of the place names and zhuang names of the northeastern townships of the former Zichuan County, and they are all good places for Wufu Minfeng and the spirit of the people. However, the clever use of exaggeration, harmonic and other rhetorical techniques sounded so sinister and frightening, and as a result, the "criminal minister" was sent back to His hometown in Zichuan. Fellow villagers help fellow villagers, and the deep friendship is longer, which also shows the wisdom of Zichuan compatriots.

Speaking of these place-name villages, many of them are familiar to me in my childhood. I can say that I lived in the embrace of the Pig Dragon River, stepped on the foundation of the Shadowless Mountain, and grew up listening to the mysterious stories of the Pig Dragon River and the Shadowless Mountain. I have studied in Fengshui, walked to Changcheng, Zhang Zhao, fried rice, And Honggou to walk through relatives, and also went to Gaojia Bingxu to escape from ghosts------ so the attachment to that homeland is inseparable, and I have always had a strong desire to trace the roots. Time has passed, the wind and clouds have changed, and everything has changed its old appearance - some are already unrecognizable, some have long been gone, and if they are not retained, I am afraid that future generations will not be able to know.

In order to keep that homeland, I wrote "Pig Dragon River in Childhood Memories" and "Shadowless Mountain Tracking". After the rest of the excitement, I was fortunate to see some of the poems of the predecessors, which felt kind and cherished even more, so I picked them up and threw them into a piece, with a long-cherished wish, and also prepared for the needs of future generations to trace back to the roots.

Pig Dragon River, Zichuan County Chronicle, ancient name "Fengshui", the original name of Dehui Water, also known as Fengshui, Zhulong River, Zhulong River, Pig Dragon River and so on. According to the "Zichuan County Chronicle of Mountains and Rivers" during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, "Fengshui, in Fengquan Township, thirty miles northeast of the county, flows with canals, irrigates good fields, and the old water alkali (wei is a stone mill), the people are very profitable." From this, it can be seen that the Pig Dragon River originates from Fengshui and flows north through the "Grinder" (Zhai Jiazhuang) in our village. Until my childhood, the Pig Dragon River was still a "flowing canal", and along the river it was watered and irrigated with good land, and the people were deeply benefited. "Shui Jiao", the common people call "water polishing", the pig dragon river through the village has been there, until the 1950s pig dragon river through Zhangdian through the Jiaoji railway bridge hole there is a water polishing. Later, the water polishing was gone, but this place is still called "water polishing" (now at the railway bridge of Liuquan Road in the central city of Zibo). Zhangdian people over the age of fifty probably still remember it. From this, I learned that the Pig Dragon River can be said to be the mother river of my hometown.

The source of the Pig Dragon River is in Fengshui, known as Fengyuan in ancient times, also known as Quanhetou, and locally known as Longwan. Although it has long been difficult to find traces, but the predecessors have many poetic records, because it was once one of the famous eight scenic spots in Zichuan County during the Ming and Qing dynasties, so many literati and eunuchs sang for this purpose, and recorded several brief poems as follows:

Fengyuan Pastoral Ming Chen Shiwan

Lin Lu is rich and moist, and Jiangnan is not different.

Rain pours red lotus flowers (han dan lotus), sunny green turnip (ti wu tender grass).

Purple calves (e singing) green water, yellow children singing (teasing) chicks.

Zichuan is full of abundant water, and the recurrence (worry) rent is urged.

Obviously, this is a beautiful and idyllic pastoral song. The author Chen Shiwan, a native of QinXian County, Zhejiang, was the Commander of Zichuan County during the Ming Jiajing period, and naturally sang the historical background of Fu Minfeng, a rich water in the south of the Meiruo River. "Zichuan is full of abundant water", in fact, it is a praise for the wealth and beauty of the entire Zichuan County.

You Fengquan Ming Shen Yuan

The knotted donkey (four horses riding side by side) towards the mountain dock, chasing after the wandering intentions.

Fireworks are wild bamboo, and the color of the trees is hidden.

Birds are startled in the early spring, and the creek is deep enough for fishing.

Pity the victory, want to go to the double heel (wandering).

The author, Shen Yuan, was a eunuch of Xincheng County (present-day Huantai County) at that time. When he travels, he sees mountains and rivers, fish and birds swimming, the beautiful scenery is picturesque, and the beauty of the abundant springs is fascinating, so he has long been "hidden and pitiful, and wants to go to the double hesitation", it is precisely to come and linger.

Feng Shui Mu sang Ming Wu Feng

Beiguan (yi li meandering) around the river bay, rich water (tiao yuan far away) between the han.

Before the sunset, the river looks clear, and the shepherd boy's voice brings the sunset back.

This is one of the eight poems of the author Wu Feng's "Eight Views of Zichuan". The "Eight Views of Zichuan" are: "Zhenggong Academy", "Jizi Stone Bridge", "Wanshan Qiao Song", "Fengshui Pastoral Singing", "Fancha Floating Tu", "Ancient Juniper of the Temple of Literature", "Bangyang Xiaozhong", "Kunlun Mountain Color". Wu Feng, a native of Huangyan, Zhejiang, was a scholar of Zichuan in the late Ming Dynasty (equivalent to the head of the education section). This person is "poetic and subtle, the language is particularly ancient, the humor is elegant, and the three springs are gentle." This poem is an example of an idyllic pastoral depicting abundant water. Fengshui's "迤逦" and "迢遥", the pastoral song is melodious, which can be called the scenic spot in the northeast corner of Zichuan, so it is one of the "Eight Views of Zichuan". Although the "Eight Views of Zichuan" vary from time to time, there are still different meanings, but none of them exclude the "Fengshui Pastoral Singing".

Fengshui Qing Wang

Flat domain (field) Kaiyuanpu, rain through the Mao (wash) waves.

The bottom of the gull (aquatic vegetable, i.e. russet white) is swept up, and the reed root is elongated.

Spray beads are thousands of acres of blue, gargle jade hundred springs cool.

Who asked, Xianzhou illuminated the sunset.

The author, Wang Yuan (塼), a native of Zichuan Suspension Bridge, was a Kusheng (Xiucai) during the Kangxi Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty. This poem writes the beauty of the abundant water from different angles, which is beautiful. Therefore, the author lamented that "who asks"! He also specially pointed out "Xianzhou illuminating the sunset". This "Xianzhou" metaphor refers to the place where the immortals live, and it actually refers to the three or four miles of fengshui, a famous private garden garden built by the water in the Ming and Qing dynasties - "Xianzhou Garden", and Xianzhou Village, which sets off the beauty of Fengshui.

The "Zichuan County Chronicle and Landscape" during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty also contains: "Geographical Zhiyun: 'Dehui Water, out of the west of Changguo. 'According to the virtue of the water, that is, the present abundance of water also. The source is from the north of the county thirty-five miles fan wang zhuang south, the famous spring hetou. The source can be more than three acres, and the pearl spring bursts like a string of beads. The Yi people often build pavilions and are inferior, and the Fengyuan Garden and xianzhou garden are in Yan. The two banks of the north stream are only two or three feet, the rain rises and the waves rise, and there has been no danger of collapse (breaking the embankment) since the past. The natives call it the copper gang iron bottom, and also call it the Zhulong River. The waters of Zi all enter the Xiaoshui (孝女河), which enters the Wu River alone. ”

This historical record conveys us a lot of information about the Pig Dragon River:

1, Fengshui, ancient called Dehui Water, also known as Zhulong River, that is, the present-day Pig Dragon River. It originates from the spring head of Fanwangzhuang in the north of Zicheng and flows through the west of Guchangguo City.

2, "since the past there is no plague of collapse", is a major feature of Fengshui (Pig Dragon River), that is, since ancient times, the river bank has a carpet-like "sheepskin" implicated the berm, the black soil texture of the riverbed, even if the flood is flooded, it will not collapse the embankment, so since ancient times, there is a "copper gang iron bottom of the Pig Dragon River" is called.

3. There are two famous scenic spots down the river - "Fengqi Garden" and "Xianzhou Garden". This is where Wang Yuan's poem "Feng Shui" says that "Xianzhou shines on the sunset". Unfortunately, the landscape of Xianzhou Garden and Fengyuan Garden has long been difficult to find. However, fortunately, there are poems left by predecessors for future generations to taste and appreciate.

June 27, 2013 Grass

Revised on December 15, 2021

Note: The information in this article is mostly found in Jiang Yanping's (Zibo City Librarian) "Commentary on the Poetry of Famous People in Zibo", about the ancient poems on the pig dragon river, as well as some online inquiries. Concatenated into pieces for the benefit of inheritance.

About author:Ma Ting, born in October 1933, is a native of Zhangdian District, Zibo City. Graduated from the Chinese Department of Shandong Normal University (now Shandong Normal University). Since 1960, he has served as a Chinese teacher in Zibo No. 6 Middle School and No. 11 Middle School. The first batch of teachers in Zibo City to obtain the title of senior teacher of middle school. He has published more than 200 teaching papers, essays, poems, etc., and has published essay collections such as "Miscellaneous Notes and Long Talks", "Polishing Anecdotes", "Farmer Yang Yukuan", "Sunset Collection", "Holding Hands Collection", "Harvest in Winter" and so on.

Yanagiizumi Financial Literature