Fate's Xi'an

Author: Xi Lingxue
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-03-01
Features: When you think of Xi'an, what comes to mind? The Big Wild Goose Pagoda, East Street, West Street, the city wall, or the Terracotta Army, the Xi'an Incident, and its two thousand years of wind and rain? Xi'an, an ancient city, is just as people know it—it’s so old that time seems to stand still there. The author of this book shares her legendary stories of Xi'an with us. Xi'an is an ancient city, just as we all know, so old that the houses within it don’t seem to notice the passage of time. I’ve been in Xi'an for three years, yet it always feels like I just arrived last month—or as if I’ve already lived here for a lifetime. Since the day I arrived in Xi'an, my time has stopped. My golden years have passed, but I’ll never grow old again. The days pass one after another, all the same, except that the calendar pages turn, giving no other meaning. I began to reminisce, longing for the sea of Dalian and the wind over the ocean. I also started to complain, about the sky of Xi'an and the heavy clouds above it. The old say: "Xi'an’s sky used to be clear and bright, just like the sea of Dalian—crystal clear. But later, too much killing spread gloom, gradually obscuring the brightness. Others say: "Women of Chang’an are full of tragedy. Women are inherently yin, and their yin spirits linger, making Xi'an lose its sunshine. Still, some say: "The yellow soil of Shaanxi buries the emperors—the emperors being the nine-five supreme ones. So many tombs, so much imperial sorrow surround the entire city of Xi'an. How can the sky above the city ever be clear? The Terracotta Army, Famen Temple, Qin Shi Huang, Yang Guifei, the An Lushan Rebellion, the of burying scholars, and the burning of the Palace of Heavenly Purity are all reasons why Xi'an rarely sees clear skies. I love Xi'an. But I still came here, quite by chance, as if it were just a game. Yet I settled down here too, also quite by chance, but with an inevitable force—fate."