Shen Nian: Gain strength in the flow of water

Gain strength in the flow of water

Wen 丨 Shen Nian

One day three years ago, I had the idea of writing about the Wetlands of Dongdongting Lake, and I knew that if I didn't write it, this idea would haunt me for the rest of my life. Following the successful approval of the project supported by the key works of the China Writers Association in 2019, Professor Zhang Li of the College of Literature of Beijing Normal University encouraged me to take root and write this literary "treasure" on the land of Huxiang. During this period, I was unable to finish the manuscript in one fell swoop, because I went back and forth to the countryside in the Shonan Mountains for two years, because of the thoughts about the fate of water and things on the water, what I saw and heard was constantly illusory, which made me confused from time to time.

One thing that I don't fear jokes about is that I grew up by the water's edge, but I learned to swim in a swimming pool in Beijing. That being the case, it didn't erase the water in my body. This feeling is innate and never dries up. Water is magical, encompassing endless wilderness and paths, hiding all the past and the soul. Water attracts water, the water in the same river is constantly changing, and rural ponds and rivers and lakes hundreds of miles away, as well as more distant oceans, are all ways of water. We are like watchmen of time, reminiscing about the good past with water and yearning for the future of enlightenment. With the return of fields to lakes in recent years, ecological restoration, ten years of fishing ban, and the protection of a river and clear water have become people's consciousness and self-examination. When people began to think about how to get along with water, the place where they stayed became an ideal place to enjoy the most beautiful water scenery.

I followed the current through some places. Every stream is filled with a rushing force that brings with it unwavering faith that is enough to soothe people's hearts. Clear, pure, deep, sleeping, violent, amorous, water has its language and expression, but also its vision and principles. When my mind is scattered, I will go to the lake for a walk and watch the water flow through endless time and from the vast space. More and more people walked around the lake, a glimmer of light fell from the deep night sky to our feet, and our footsteps followed the walking lake, but we could not catch up with her slight aftershocks. Only every distant sound felt rushed from all directions to the heart. At this moment, people's thoughts will fly, people's spirit will soar, like a bird of freedom, like a wind that shoots through history, like a dream of running, singing alone on the vast and endless waves... Water is magical. I think of a quote by anthropologist Loren Eisley that if there was magic in the world, it must be hidden in the water.

The shore is the boundary of water, but not the boundary of water. Birds flying high in the sky, fish swimming far away, lush vegetation, and people crossing the lake area will take the water away and take it to places they never wanted to reach. All these years have passed, and I have not interrupted the return, back to the side of the lake. I could see its waves, hear its waves, smell its breath, but I seemed to be passing by it all the time. I covered "I" to dodge and evacuate, and I also supported "I" to meet and go deeper. For a writer, there is no doubt that this is the most powerful and emotional piece of bliss. It grows all things, and it also grows desires. Maybe what I've felt all my life is that I've taken so much from this land and haven't paid anything in return. I want to "create" a future from the currents of water, where there is the most honest trust and dependence on this land.

When I left my hometown, I was even more attached to the place of birth and departure. I can't remember how many times I went deep into the hinterland of Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River integration island with local friends (wetland workers, media reporters, ecological protection volunteers, aquatic animal and plant researchers, writers, photographers, painters, etc.) to experience today's changes and past times. There are many small villages there, seven stars, red flags, spring wind, mulberry picking, six gate gates, just representatives of the place names; there are known or unknown grasses, trees, insects, fish, birds and beasts, are the guide to explore the wilderness; I meet many fishermen with different fates, ambitious conservation area workers, outsiders from the south of the sea, seeing themselves on the water; I live in the fishermen's homes, and I also spend the night on the empty lake in winter. In those days, I saw a lake that was different from what I had known in the past, and I saw a broader disposition and heart in people than the lake. Those who have experienced the wind and waves also get the life force in the current.

The connotation of water is far more complicated than what we see it. In the face of the water, I see people clearly, and I see myself clearly. With awe, compassion, and compassion, I followed the footsteps of the water. I chose to put my walking pen and ink on many ordinary and unusual people in the lake area, trying to save the time belonging to rivers and lakes when salvaging their life events, learning to endure hardships, obstacles and death, and trying to write the understanding of life, life and nature from a single human perspective that went from the city to the remote place. The people I met never hesitated to tell their past, their encounters with the water. There were stars twinkling in the heads, and sharp wind whispers in the side ears. These neglected, fading, and forgotten pasts were awakened by me one by one, like sowing the seeds of empathy and care for people's living conditions on me, making me more and more respectful of those who have gone through difficult pioneering and endless courage. Because there are those that are complicated and complicated, there is also a clear and solemn mirror image. My heart flows with sentimentality and sadness, but also with emotion and heroism. There will always be inexplicable moments, colliding above the rivers and lakes, in time and space, and the fate of the children of the rivers and lakes is also heard here.

Between heaven and earth, next to the water, in the light and shadow, I always see a group of people, who go forward and follow, and walk with nature and all things, with the wind and rain, foaming at each other, tenacious growth. I deserve to thank them for their heartfelt thanks!

After the great lakes news was published in the first issue of people's literature this year, a new book is also about to be published. Because I write about birds, many friends who like to write about natural ecology have communicated with me, and the most touching thing is that Xiao Huiyue, the "first female bird person of Sanxiang", who has never met before, carefully read the chapter on writing birds and discussed with me. I was amazed by her expertise. I learned that she had known and photographed more than 800 species of birds in recent years, and that she was squatting by the Jin River in her hometown just to write a "Wake Up River." Because of the acquaintance of literature, this may be the gift of time for the mountains and rivers to drift and nature to every writer who loves the earth and life.