Panoramic view

Author: Chinese Worker
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1996-01-01
Features: Excerpt: A white wave in the green peak, three years later, are the Three Gorges still there? Thinking about it, one feels lost, yet cannot help but think about the Yanyu Stack at the starting point of the Three Gorges. On both sides, sheer cliffs rise abruptly, and the vast river surface suddenly narrows. "Above are ten thousand peaks, below are a thousand feet of water; between the vast cliffs, a narrow gorge can accommodate a single reed," the Yanyu Stack stands in the heart of the rushing water. The mountain is steep, the water is fierce, and the sun and moon pass in a flash. This central pillar placed by the hands of creation in the vast Yangtze River has never revealed its true form: "The Yanyu is as large as a horse, the Qutang cannot pass. The Yanyu is as large as a cow, the Qutang cannot flow. The Yanyu is as large as a banner, the Qutang cannot touch. The Yanyu is as large as a turtle, the Qutang cannot see. The Yanyu is as large as a tortoise, the Qutang's boats are blocked." Several mysterious images appear in the flood: horses and cattle grazing in the wild, suddenly appearing on the water alone; warriors marching far away, engaging in battles, now invisible underwater, leaving only a banner behind; turtles and tortoises, the muddy tribe of the water, suddenly swim upside down on the surface. This is not the discovery of a philosopher, but the blood and tears of the "Longnian Sanlao" (the Sichuanese term for oarsmen and boatmen) who have been active on the water for generations. Su Shi once wrote a special essay, calling it a "watermark seeking safety in danger." The Yanyu Stack, with its changing forms and boundless transformations, is a magical object, even the great Yu, holding a giant axe, dared not move it when he dredged the Three Gorges. On a cold day in winter in 1958, the Yanyu Stack extending across the river rose high above the water, 40 meters long, 15 meters wide, and 30 meters above the water. A team of well-dressed navigation workers filled 7,000 pounds of explosives into its abdomen. With a flash of light and a deafening explosion, the-style Yanyu Stack vanished in an instant! The 280 rivers of Shu converging at the Three Gorges were no longer blocked. Someone wrote an article praising it: "The Three Gorges have entered an era of ease and heroism!" Before, it was "dark cliffs before nightfall, white waves rising without wind," but now it is a rolling, synchronized flow, like a thousand soldiers marching in formation passing beneath the White Emperor City, who can say it is not heroic? Unfortunately, in 1958, I was just a foolish young man in the northern village, of course, unable to appreciate the charm of the Yanyu Stack. Now,,, "Remembering the child, the monkeys cry around the tree in sorrow, the rain follows the lone boat past the." The monkeys of the Three Gorges are typical of the saddest animals in the world. Their initial sorrow is not innate but: When Duke Huan entered Shu and reached the Three Gorges, one of his troops captured a monkey cub. Its mother cried along the shore for over a hundred miles and jumped onto the boat, where it soon died. Breaking open its belly, they found its intestines all cut into pieces. — Record of the Strange Sayings of the World The old monkey cried for over a hundred miles out of grief for its children, its liver and intestines torn apart, and anyone who saw it would be heartbroken. In the Three Gorges, a more common scene is: "Steep cliffs support the blue sky, old pines hanging like old dragons." The monkeys living in the forests drink from the river water one by one, holding hands and hanging down from the sloping branches, reaching the green waves of the, taking turns to drink, then roaring and returning to the forest. This is a joyful and free cry, with no sadness or sorrow.