Cover news reporter Zhang Jie Intern Jiang Ruiyao
People who have watched the TV series "Mountains and Seas" are no strangers to the name "Xihaigu". But perhaps many people do not know that there are more stories behind the name "Xihaigu". First of all, "Xihaigu" is no longer the name of a certain administrative division, but a summary of a vast area. However, because of its long history of "bitter barren world", Xihaigu has become the customary name for this area.
Today's "Xihaigu" area, located at the foot of Liupan Mountain, involves Yuanzhou District, Xiji County, Longde County, Pengyang County, Jingyuan County, Pengyang County, Jingyuan County, Ningxia Guyuan City, as well as Haiyuan County of Zhongwei City and Tongxin County, Yanchi County, and Hongsibao District of Wuzhong City.
"Xihaigu" is located in the collision and fusion zone of ancient Chinese farming culture and nomadic culture, and is a must for the Silk Road and Xiaoguan Ancient Road. The Terrain of Liupan Mountain is steep, the military fortress that must be contested by successive generations of soldiers, the dynasties have never given up the management of Xihaigu, during the Warring States period, Wushi, Chaona County, Western Han Dynasty and Anding County, Northern Wei placed Gaoping Town, Northern Zhou placed Yuanzhou, Ming placed Guyuan Wei, Qingsheng Zhili Prefecture ... Throughout the ages, endless personnel metabolism, rise and fall, and rise and fall have been repeated here. Warring States Qin Great Wall, Xiao Guan, Tang Dynasty Seven Passes, Anxi Wangfu, Jiubian Town... In this land, cities, forts, camps, passes, and historical sites are everywhere.
The other side of the colorful vicissitudes of history is the bitter life of the dawn people. The harsh natural ecology (thousands of mountains and valleys, nine droughts in ten years), the closed geographical pattern, the ecological extinct reclamation, coupled with the military disasters brought about by the war, led to the appearance of "looking around at the yellow sand, not producing five grains" and "thousands of miles of red land, ten rooms and nine empty spaces" in the late Qing Dynasty. In the late Qing Dynasty, when Zuo Zongtang crossed the West Sea, he saw the tragic scene of "thousands of miles in the red land, ten rooms and nine empty spaces", and issued an exclamation of "bitter armor under the heavens". In 1972, the United Nations Food and Development Programme entered Xihaigu for an expedition, which was identified as one of the 22 "least suitable areas for human existence" in the world.
▲ Former Xihaigu (Photo: Ji Zheng)
Since 1982, the state has implemented the "Three Wests" poverty alleviation and development plan, and Xihaigu has pioneered planned, organized, and large-scale "development-style" poverty alleviation. In April 1997, the strategic decision of "Fujian-Nanjing Counterpart Poverty Alleviation Cooperation" was launched. In the past forty years, Xihaigu has been reborn and changed the human world. In 2020, we will get rid of poverty simultaneously with all provinces and provinces across the country, enter a moderately prosperous society, and end the history of poverty for thousands of years.
▲ Now Xihaigu (Photo: Ji Zheng)
Poverty alleviation brings not only economic improvement, but also changes in mental outlook, as well as a specific person, a story, and a rich spiritual world. These are the materials and objects that literary and art workers are most concerned about and the easiest to show. In recent years, in addition to the "out of the circle" film and television drama "Mountains and Seas" to let the outside world know more about the stories of that land, there have also been many powerful writers and excellent works in the field of literature. Such a barren land has become a hot land for nourishing literature.
In 2018, Ma Jinlian, a female writer born and raised in Xihaigu, won the Short Story Award of the 7th Lu Xun Literature Award for her short story "Pulp water and sauerkraut in 1987", becoming the first "post-80s" writer to win the Lu Xun Literature Award. Shi Shuqing, the winner of the Fifth National Ethnic Minority Literature Award "Horse Award", exudes a unique aesthetic taste in his short stories and becomes a unique style in Xihaigu literature. The feature film "Knife in Clear Water", written by Shi Shuqing, was shortlisted for the 8th China Film Directors Association Annual Screenwriting Award. So that the titles of papers such as "A Brief Analysis of Xihaigu Literature" and "Xihaigu Literature as a Phenomenon - On the Novel Creation of Shi Shuqing and Ma Jinlian" can be easily searched on the Internet. In 2011, the China Literature Foundation awarded Xiji County, xihaigu region, the title of "Hometown of Chinese Literature", which is the first county in the history of contemporary Chinese literature to be named "Hometown of Literature".
After the 60s, Ji Dongliang is also a native of "The Son of Xihai Gu". He grew up in Magaozhuang Village, Tongxin County, "Xihai Gu", and after being admitted to Guyuan Teacher's College, he worked as a middle school teacher, worked in Ningxia Daily for many years, and was transferred to the counselor's office of the autonomous regional government. Ji Dongliang began to publish literary works in 1985, most of which are related to Ningxia Xihaigu, such as "Shangzhuang Ji", "Splendid Embroidery", "Haiyuan Book", "Spring Good of Wild Wheat Stacks" and so on. In March 2022, the non-fiction work "Notes on Xihaigu" was published by Beijing October Literature and Art Publishing House, which has a good response in the literary circle. Ji Dongliang said that "Notes on Xihaigu" is the one he has paid the most patience and respect, and it is also the warmest and most comforting homesickness.
How "poor" was Xihaigu once? Why is Xihaigu so poor? In "Notes on Xihaigu", Ji Dongliang uses a family-like, storytelling tone to lead readers into the depths of history, revealing the shocking poverty and suffering of Xihaigu with rich details of life. Many of them are Ji Dongliang's own childhood memories. In the memory, as long as you spend money to buy, Xihaigu people are too expensive, a box of two-cent matches are not used, rely on fire grass to continue the fire. Some families have only one bowl; it is a blessing to be able to cover a quilt for two people, but more than one old sheepskin jacket, worn during the day, covered at night... After combing through history, Ji Dongliang turned from history to culture, from the Great Wall Museum to the Silk Road Ancient Road, from the Anxi Wangfu to the Nine-Sided Town, from the Red Army's Long March to Liupan Mountain to the Victorious Huishi of Jiangtai Fort, telling everyone that in the barren land of the West Sea, there is a long and rich cultural heritage. In chapters such as "Millions of Immigrants" and "Rebirth", Ji Dongliang selects representative major events and describes the great changes in all aspects after the farmers in Xihaigu were economically lifted out of poverty.
In "Notes on Xihaigu", Ji Dongliang spends a lot of space to record the past in his memory, where he has the deepest feelings for Xihaigu, and it is precisely because of the indelible mark. The suffering in Xihaigu is the suffering that no matter how industrious you are, you may not be able to eat a full meal, and you always feel that there is no end to this kind of hard life. When the child is young, he has to herd sheep, find grass, collect manure, feed donkeys, carry water, push and grind every day, and some heavy work does not even match his age, but he also has to do it, just to live.
▲ Now Xihaigu (Photo: Ji Zheng)
It is precisely because the poverty of the past is unforgettable, but also let Ji Dongliang feel sincere joy and pride in Xihaigu, which has undergone great changes after poverty alleviation, "Walking to the depths of Liupan Mountain, its beauty is no less than Jiuzhaigou." "The details of the change are more reflected in people's daily lives and mental outlook. In order to write these details in the "Notes on Xihaigu", starting in April 2018, Ji Dongliang asked his son to drive him to re-walk Xihaigu, from Yinchuan to Xihaigu County, there are more than 400 kilometers, round trip 30 or 40 times, walk slowly, look carefully. A person, a house, a story, and even a conversation with a friend on the way to the visit are also recorded.
In Xihaigu, the biggest problem was water shortage. So much so that place names such as "shouting water" appeared. In previous years, Ji Dongliang visited the farmhouse as a guest, and the warm greetings of each family were "drink water". In some mountain villages, the drink is "chicken calling water", that is, every morning when the chicken calls people, they will go to the ravine with the livestock to grab water. Today, the construction of the reservoir has solved the problem of draft water in Xihaigu. In the Zhongzhuang Reservoir, Ji Dongliang met an old man, he squinted his eyes at the edge of the reservoir, his home is more than twenty miles away, has been walking along the water, "specifically look at the water," the old man sighed: "Oh, before ah, the backwater was afraid of a spoon and spoon, to stretch the water for a long time, I have never seen so much water, I have never seen such clear water, I have seen it for a long time, my eyes are clear." ”
▲ Now Xihaigu (Photo: Ji Zheng)
Dialogue Ji Dongliang: Details not found in "Mountains and Seas" Can be seen in "Notes on Xihaigu"
Cover News: Xihaigu was once so poor, in your opinion, what is the main direct reason?
Ji Dongliang: This is the hilly area of the Loess Plateau, with deep mountains and deep ravines. Nine droughts in ten years. Poverty is mainly caused by water scarcity. For a long time, the rainy season here was six, seven or eighty-three months, all of which were rainy, strong convective weather, water not only could not be retained, but also caused soil erosion, and those ravines were formed in this way. As soon as there was a torrential rain, the mountain began to slide. The ditch becomes larger and wider. The annual rainfall is during this rainy season, and then there is no rain. The evaporation volume is large. So it was very dry for many years. In winter, some places will snow, but people can't eat water, and the ground is full of brackish water, and there is almost no water underground.
Cover News: In response to this problem, how are the relevant national poverty alleviation projects specifically targeted to solve?
Ji Dongliang: Ecological restoration plays a very crucial role. Returning farmland to forests, returning grasslands, diverting yellow irrigation, sealing mountains and prohibiting grazing, ecological migration, and water management in small watersheds. To control water in a small watershed is to treat a ravine. For example, the gully will be soil erosion as soon as it rains, and the wider the ditch, the more the road will be broken. Now harden the water channels, do drainage, build reservoirs and dams, flow water into the library, and store the water. Since then, the natural ecology of Xihaigu has been greatly improved, and it has also had a benign impact on the climate, and the rainfall has increased from an average of 200 to 300 mm per year to 700 to 800 mm.
Cover News: What is the current situation in Xihaigu? Please tell us a little bit about it.
Ji Dongliang: In the past, people in Xihaigu went out to work, but now the people of Xihaigu have basically gone back, because there are various preferential policies in Xihaigu. The land was changed to flat land by repairing terraces, and now the yield is very high, coupled with the fact that water is also connected, yellow irrigation is introduced, and agriculture is becoming more and more modern. Several of the county seats around Xihaigu have become very beautiful.
Cover news: At present, Xihai has produced many good writers, such as Ma Jinlian and Shi Shuqing, who are very popular in the literary circle. Xihaigu has also become a literary phenomenon and attracted attention. It was unexpected. Why do you think that is?
Ji Dongliang: Indeed. The writers of Xihaigu are basically from poor families and have experienced a poor life. And I also found that many writers in Xihaigu were teachers for a while. You think Xihaigu this mountain ditch is deep, he may go home once a week after going to school, some places have convenient transportation, may go home this morning after teaching and going home at night, this place is basically a residential school at the beginning. Of course, now you can, the transportation is convenient. In the past, there was a school in a village and a middle school in a township, and in this case, they had enough time to observe and think about life here.
Cover news: The "Mountains and Seas" TV series is popular, which also allows many people to know more about this place in Xihaigu. Don't you think that people's impression of Xihaigu is updated, and the pace is slower than the change of Xihaigu?
Ji Dongliang: A big poverty alleviation direction in Xihaigu is ecological migration: moving the people of Xihaigu to a place along the yellow belt, where there is water. "Mountains and Seas" mainly talks about the migration of Xihaigu and the cooperation between Fujian and Nanjing. Fujian and Ningxia built Minning Village at the same time. At present, more than 100 Minning villages have been built in Ningxia, near the foot of the Yellow River and Helan Mountain. "Mountains and Seas" is mainly based on this as a background. Indeed, this TV series has played a great role in publicizing the outside world to learn more about Xihaigu. However, it has to be said that people's impression of Xihaigu has changed, and it is still a bit lagging behind compared with the progress of poverty alleviation with Xihaigu. To this day, many people still think that this is the poorest place in the country. I believe that as more and more people come to Xihaigu to understand, their impressions will definitely change greatly.
Cover News: As far as I feel, although xihaigu has been poor for a long time and is very poor, I can still feel the life there, especially the people, in the literary works written by local writers, there is still a very simple and clean side.
Ji Dongliang: Someone asked me, your place is so bitter, you must not be happy at all. I said, if there is no little happiness, the people in that place must have run out long ago, where are so many people living there? Hard life, there are definitely some bright colors. For example, people there are generally relatively simple, although the level of education is not high, but they can entertain themselves and do not have too much desire. Such a bitter place, in addition to hard work, in fact, there are more kinds of small songs in Xihaigu, such as long minor key, xintianyou, flowers and so on.
Cover News: Your "Notes on Xihaigu" is considered to be a literary writing on the theme of poverty alleviation, and it is not easy to write well.
Ji Dongliang: Yes. The concrete story of poverty alleviation must be told. Just by talking about some data, the reader may not feel much. I avoid stylizing and stereotyping, but writing details for the reader to experience for themselves. For example, I mentioned in the book that there is a beekeeper family in the West Sea. There had never been a bee in the West Sea for many years. Because the vegetation is not good, there are fewer flowers. I have been beekeeping in Sichuan for more than 20 years. But in the past few years, he has returned to Xihaigu to keep bees. It's good to be here. These nine counties in the Xihaigu area are basically at the foot of Liupan Mountain, and there are many flowers of all kinds. Another detail is that the people in this place of Xihaigu, because of the poverty inside the home, people from outside will hide far away. Now that you're gone, they'll invite you to be a guest at his house. It is a change in the mental state of mind. The ultimate change that poverty alleviation should bring to people is the change of spiritual outlook and inner world.