The Jialu River is the Spirit River in the Dream of the Red Chamber

2016-07-14 Henan Prose Literature Society

Author: Lou Jizhou

When I was a child, I listened to the broadcast of the Zhongmu County People's Radio Station and was deeply impressed by the poem "The land of Zhongmu is red and the river is full of chaohui" that I don't know who came from. Later, I heard many legends of the Jialu River, such as Zhu Yuanzhang leading the Red Turban Army to fight in the Jialu River Valley, his parents once begged for food in a village on the banks of the Zhongmu Jialu River to give birth to Zhu Yuanzhang, occupied the feng shui of the Jialu Mu Mountain, and eventually became the founding emperor, etc., and felt that the Jialu River had a lot of aura. It is also known that the Jaru River was named after a historical figure, but little is known about the Jaru people. After participating in the work and settling in the county, I often saw the Jalu River, and after looking at it for decades, I had a deeper affection for this ancient river.

The river that flows through Zhongmu in Zhengzhou is the oldest and most massive, followed by Jialu. But the Yellow River here is a "hanging river", high hanging in the north of the country, thousands of years to bring here is the scourge of the opening, the people "poor in the river, died in the river, migrated to the river", leaving countless sad memories of ancestors. It was not until after the founding of New China that the people really tied up this yellow dragon. The Jialu River runs through the prefecture and around the county, flows underground, and gives most of the people along the coast the benefits of irrigation boats, the fun of fishing and bathing, and other memories, and the temperament is much more docile. The poet Ai Qing has a famous masterpiece --- "Dayan River, My Nanny", which expresses his feelings for a river in his hometown. If the Yellow River is our mother river, then the Jialu River, which crosses the border and surrounds the county town to give the people along the coast to drink and swim for pleasure, then with her meek and kind feelings, it should be called our "Nanny River".

However, how much do we know about this nanny, this nanny river?

The Jialu River is a famous river in Henan Province, originating in the mountainous area west of Zhengzhou, turning east in the north of the city, passing through Zhongmu, entering Kaifeng, passing through Weishi, turning south to Zhoukou into the Shaying River, and finally flowing into the Huai River, with a total length of more than 500 miles. The Jinshui River, Suosu River, Bears Ears River, Qili River, Dongfeng Canal, Shigou River, Xiaoqing River, etc., which we are familiar with today, are all tributaries of her. In ancient times, the amount of water was abundant and could be passed through, and it was the longest river with the widest basin area in Henan except for the Yellow River.

The Jialu River is an ancient river, its predecessor was the "chasm", the dividing line between the Chu and Han Dynasties, which was later called the Cai River after the Wei and Jin Dynasties, which was the main water transport route from the north to the south, and the river channel to the Tang and Song Dynasties was silted. Five generations later, during the Zhou Taizu Xiande period, Tokyo Kaifeng relied on the Cai River to transport materials, because the river was shallow and narrow, the power was insufficient, so it was re-dredged and diverted into the Cai (Huimin) River, so that the Cai River had sufficient water sources, the amount of water increased greatly, and the water transportation was greatly smooth, and there was a prosperous scene of "boats one after another, ShangJia Bi arrived".

From the Yuan Dynasty to the First Century, the ancient canal that had been silted up several times was rejuvenated, thanks to a historical figure: Jia Lu. Jia Lu, zi youheng, a native of Gaoping, Shanxi, in the Yuan Dynasty, was intelligent and studious at an early age, ambitious, and erudite and strategic. After entering the shi, he served as a professor of Confucianism, Yin of Lucheng County, the head of the household department, participated in the compilation and revision of the "History of Song", and later served as the inspector of imperial history, the work department Langzhong, and the superintendent of Xingshui. During this period, he presided over the treatment of the Yellow River many times, accumulated rich experience in river management, and became the most famous water conservancy expert in the Yuan Dynasty. In April of the eleventh year of Zhengzheng, the 55-year-old Jia Lu was appointed as the Minister of Works Shangshu and the general envoy of the River Defense Envoy at the time of crisis, requisitioning 150,000 migrant workers and 20,000 soldiers in Shandong, Henan Province, adopting the method of dredging and blocking at the same time, using the shipwreck method for the first time, and finally blocking the breach, forcing the water into the old road, and calming the flood for many years. The people along the coast were deeply benefited by him and felt his merits, so they named the river he governed after him.

Since the Ming Dynasty, the Jialu River has surrounded the county seat of Zhongmu County, because it was once called Beishui, and the scenery on the shore is pleasant, and the Mou people describe her beauty as "Bishui around the belt". The Ming and Qing Dynasty Chronicles are known as one of the "Eight Views of Zhongmu" and record many poems that chant her. Yiren Ming Dynasty scholar Zhang Qiyou's poem "Beishui Belt Flow" Cloud: Sui Causeway is self-sinking and floating, surrounding The Mu Mountain flows all night. The farmer leads the canal to nourish the soil, and the fisherman sweeps the flat boat. A bay of su practice through the heavens, thousands of miles clear waves to the head of the earth. Since the overthrow of the single husband, yangzhou has not been restored. In the poem, Dufu refers to the Sui Emperor, because the ancient Jialu River (汴水) was once a section of the Grand Canal dug by the Sui Emperor, so it is called this chant.

Before the Republic of China, Zhongmu County's Hanlin Zhang Hongyun Zhang Dao's whole family Chinese New Year's Eve paste couplets, and the ones posted on the gate were: North of Mushan Mountain to listen to the deer song, south of Jia Shui guanyu jump. It is very expressive of the lofty status of the Jialu River in the minds of the people of Zhongmu Shizi.

The first time in the opening chapter of the literary masterpiece "Dream of the Red Chamber", "Zhen Shiyin Dream Psychic Jia Yu Village Wind and Dust Huai Xiu" said: On the bank of the Western Spirit River, there is a daisy grass, and at that time, this stone was not used because of the emperor to make up for the sky, but it also fell at ease and went to play everywhere. One day, he came to the fairy of the police illusion, and the fairy knew that he had some origins, and because he stayed in the Chixia Palace, he named him the attendant of the god Ying. But he grew up walking on the bank of the Spirit River and saw a lovely fairy grass, irrigated with manna day by day. This pearl grass has to last a long time. Later, he was nourished by the essence of heaven and earth, restored to manna, so he shed the birth of grass and trees, changed into a human form, only cultivated into a female body, and spent all his days outside the hated heavens, hungry for secret love fruits, thirsty for drinking water. ...... According to the book, this daisy grass is transformed into a human being Lin Daiyu, and the attendant of the god Ying who irrigates her and protects her and nourishes her is Jia Baoyu. A "Dream of the Red Chamber" is the love story of Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu, that is, the tragic and tragic love of a stone and a fairy grass, which is really wonderful.

But where is the prototype of this spirit river that gave birth to the Daizhu Immortal Grass and the Divine Attendant, and who thinks about it and studies it? It is the Jialu River, which flows through the Central Plains to join the Huai River. People only know that the Jalu River is named after the sense of the People of Jalu governance, but little attention is paid to its upstream and source. Her upstream source is the Holy Monk Spring, also known as the Lingquan Spring, which originated in Xingyang, and the second is the Sacred Water Yu that originated at the junction of Mixian (present-day Xinmi City) and Zhengzhou, and its source is also called the Holy Water Spring or Sacred Pool, which is in harmony with the Spirit River (Holy Water) of Indian Buddhism. I have researched and verified that the author of "Dream of the Red Chamber" is Zhang Linzong, a Zhongmu man living in the Jialu River Valley, who is one of the "Three Gentlemen of Zhongzhou" and "Four Gentlemen of Heaven" in the late Ming Dynasty, and a generation of celebrities. The prototype of Jia Fu in the book is the Ming Dynasty Xiangfu people, the early Ming Dynasty Yan King Ming Chengzu Zhu Di's meritorious general Rong Guo Gong Zhang Yu family.

With this feeling, my feelings for the Jalu River are even more unusual. When commuting to work, when I have the opportunity, I have to follow the newly built corridor of the Jalu River, slowly, twisting and turning. While looking at the flowers and trees on the shore, the flowing water swirls on the wide river, the water gulls that rise and fall, the water ducks that float and sink, while thinking about the relationship between the sage Zhang Minbiao and the Jialu River, how he conceived and wrote "Dream of the Red Chamber" on the banks of the Jialu River, the book wrote about what personnel of his family from the Yuan Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, what kind of feelings he pinned on, whether there is his shadow in it, Jia Baoyu in the book may have his temperament and experience, and so on.

I also know that the predecessor of the Jialu River was once called The Water of The Dragon River, which is also the predecessor of the Bian River. Zhang Linzong has a name called Xuanran Yuyin, isn't that Jialu Yuyin and Linghe Yuyin? Doesn't such a nickname have his deep feelings and special meaning for the river in his hometown?

If one day, my research results are recognized by the society, I have more right to speak, I will definitely make a suggestion, let the name of the Jialu River be changed to the LingHe River in Zhongmu, let the iconic bridge across the Jialu River be called the Linghe Bridge, and let the sage Zhang Linzong write the story of "Dream of the Red Chamber" and "Dream of the Red Chamber" from the concept of the Jialu River, which has become the confidence and pride of the people of Zhongmu. I said this to my wife and daughter, and I always remember it.

Author Profile

Lou Jizhou, a native of Zhongmu, Henan, is a member of the Henan Writers Association and vice chairman of the Henan Provincial Court System Writers Association. He has published more than 600 essays, poems, essays, essays, and biographies of historical celebrities in newspapers and periodicals at all levels, with nearly 2 million words. He has published the prose collections "Fig", "Wind and Wind", "Wenxin Carving Worm", "Mu Dongtang Essay", published the poetry collection "Selected Ancient Poems of Zhongmu", published the monograph "Shenbi Zhang Linzong" of historical figures, and won the 15th "Five One Project" Literary Award of Zhengzhou City.