Travel to Jinling Sanji
Text/Zhu Kejian
Nanjing, this is the second time to arrive. From the first time, spanning more than twenty years.
I want to be creative and write a piece of "The Taste of Beijing in Nanjing". However, the last time the perception has been forgotten, this time what is seen is incomplete; Moreover, in order to write the special "taste of Beijing" in Nanjing, it must be compared with Beijing, as well as the western capital Chang'an and Tokyo Luoyang. I have more than enough to write.
I wanted to focus on the presidential palace and write a "back of the Republic of China". I am afraid that there is a suspicion of mourning.
You can only write loose impressions, which are called scattered notes.
Such as no thematic variations, or the chants of the ugly.
(1) The most cattle emperor mausoleum
Call it the most cattle, to me, somewhat dazzling ancestors.
When the plum blossom season comes to Nanjing, it is originally to appreciate the plum. Driving on the Meihua Mountain, I learned: near the Ming Xiaoling Tomb, still the end of ming taizu Zhu Yuanzhang.
After The Gate of Jumen, how dare you not worship?
So, through Merlin, I found the Lower Horse Fang and slowly walked along the Thousand Meter Shinto Path.
All the way to the pine and cypress road.
The iron bones of the ancient pine are strong, and the ancient cypress tendons are vigorous.
Under the cover of pine and cypress, there are a pair of stone carved divine beasts and Weng Zhong every dozen steps. Lions, elephants, camels, and horses are all made of dozens of tons of whole stone, simple and rugged, which makes people think of the distant desert and Liaoning Province, and then an anbang after the conquest.
Civilian and military generals, more than three meters high, standing solemnly for centuries, with eyebrows on the shoulders of the stone, rain and snow, and moss marks. It is said that Weng Zhong is the biggest, and this is the most.
Looking at the eyes, it is the silence that travels through time and space.
To the Monument Hall. In front of him, the divine turtle carried a huge stele with four big characters inscribed with "Zhilong Tang Song". Up close, it is the imperial inscription of the Kangxi Emperor.
After passing through the Hall of Enjoyment, you can see the tall Fangcheng Ming Tower.
Up and down. The square city below is the original, quite majestic, stone wall carved bricks, full of walls and vicissitudes; The upper Ming Tower, rebuilt after the destruction of the war, the eaves of the Liu tiles, look like new.
Passing through the Square City, it is the treasure top of the underground palace. The Yuanling is like a mountain, and the vegetation is like a dense forest. On a wall tile at the bottom, a row of unsigned skinny characters is carved horizontally:
"This mountain is the tomb of Ming Taizu"
The mountain is a mausoleum, in order to look up.
It is said that after the detection of modern science and technology, the underground palace, which lasted for more than 600 years, was intact.
Facing Lingshan, I was silent for a long time.
Then, turn around and ascend to the Ming Tower, looking back.
Ancient trees, clouds and mist, even if there are ruins and broken walls, dry vines and moss, still do not lose their magnificent momentum.
My mind filled the mountain fog...
Taizu, what kind of person is he?
Why, a cowherd, a monk who sweeps temples for a living, and a beggar who starves away from home will become the founding emperor who has taken back the country from a foreign race and changed the dynasty? Where did his brilliance come from?
Why, looking down on the king of the world, there are two completely different portraits? A bizarre picture, like a donkey and a horse; A handsome eyebrow, majestic.
Is it like when he came out of the funeral, the thirteen city gates were opened together, and the thirteen coffins came out together? Or does it reflect history's bipolar judgment of him?
Why say it: When he conquers the world, he wins the hearts of the people with generosity; When ruling the world, do you kill heroes because of suspicion?
It is rumored that he once showed his son with a thorny staff and wielded a sword to sharpen his sword, which was convenient for him to hold the authority.
This is because the succession to the throne has never been as good as the founding of the country, and the founders have always mutated? Or is it the corrupt man who has taken credit for smearing him with an iron fist?
Otherwise, why is there a loyal mausoleum next to it?
Why is it that such a controversial emperor is worshipped by different contenders for the world?
Zhu Di, the King of Yan, needless to say, although he ascended the throne in a coup, he was his parent after all.
The strange thing is that Kangqian's prosperous life, foreign dynasties and foreign races, actually have several generations of each other, and the southern tour will worship. Shi Zai: Three kneels and nine kowtows, the ceremony is long, more than the usual ceremony. Tens of thousands of fathers and elders followed, and all of them wept.
So that later, there were those who wept in the past, and there was no place to cry.
Ming Dynasty Worship; The worship of the Extinction of the Ming Dynasty; The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom worship that almost destroyed the Qing Dynasty; Zeng Guofan worship who destroyed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom; Even Sun Yat-sen, who ended thousands of years of imperial system and founded the Republic of China, also led the crowd to worship.
And why, known as the "Zhilong Tang Song", its final tomb does not use its own name? But named after the queen who was buried with it?
Is it because in the depths of his heart, he thinks that he dares to help him in distress, dares to save him in distress, dares to advise him in case of anger, and that the empress still advocates diligence and frugality, and is more entitled to enjoy the respect of his people?
Don't think he's humble.
According to legend, the master of the construction of the Xiaoling Tomb once asked him whether to remove the Sun Tomb next to him. Sun Ling, the tomb of Emperor Sun Quan during the Three Kingdoms period. Cao Cao said that "when a child is born, it should be like Sun Zhongmou"; Xin abandons the word cloud "through the ages, heroes are not found, Sun Zhong plots". Ming Taizu knew: Sun Quan is a good man, leave him to guard the door for me!
What a bullish spirit!
I don't know how he felt about the towering Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in the tomb?
This three tombs and one mountain are unparalleled in the world.
And yet -
When I came down from the renovated Ming Building, I thought:
In the underground palace that no one has been able to enter for six hundred years, under the perspective of modern science and technology, what is the secret?
Thousands of years later, presumably, the more difficult it is for those who seek stability, the more difficult it is to sleep.
The greatest monument, is it in the hills?!
(2) The strongest city walls
Nanjing shape wins, the tiger is on the dragon plate. The dragon is purple mountain; The tiger is the stone city.
Stone City, the predecessor of Nanjing, is the city wall of Jinling County.
Pre-Qin, Chu destroyed Yue after the construction of the first; To the Three Kingdoms, Sun Quan rebuilt; Sheng Tang, the city decadence.
Liu Yuxi has a poem:
The mountain is surrounded by the homeland, the tide emptys the city and returns to loneliness, the old time and moon on the east side of Huaishui, late at night, the female wall comes.
The Southern Song Dynasty was in danger, and Xin abandoned the disease to report to the country without a door, and climbed next to it to the Pavilion of Appreciation:
Qianhe ren, evoking the red scarf green sleeves, and carrying the tears of the hero.
In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang fixed the capital in Nanjing, and expanded the remnants of the stone city and lion mountain to create the strongest Ming city wall.
To date, it is the largest and most complete preservation of the ancient city wall heritage on the scale of the world.
It's a sunny day. We came down from Meihua Mountain and boarded the city near Xuanwu Gate.
Ascending to the far horizon, the willow shadow of Xuanwu Lake, and the blue sky and white clouds on the Purple Mountain, can be seen in full view.
Nearby, the glass curtain wall of the tall building and the glass-roofed ancient temple tower, in stark contrast to the green bricks of the foot.
The wall is so thick that it can accommodate at least eight horses to ride side by side. Antique military flags fluttered on the arrow stacks, and dozens of cast iron cannons of different sizes were set up on the ground.
I always feel that the heavy artillery on the wall may be turned at any time.
It is said that when the Ming City Wall was built, Taizu led the crowd to inspect it, and the fourth son, Zhu Di, raised the hidden concern of "setting up cannons on the Purple Mountain and aiming the cannons at the Forbidden City." Taizu then ordered the construction of an outer city and the Purple Mountain, forming a four-fold pattern of miyagi, imperial city, capital city and outer city.
By coincidence of history, the first test of this city was the attack of Zhu Di, the later King of Yan.
Walking south along the city wall, you can see the poetic Qinhuai River; To the north, you may still be able to see the mighty Yangtze River.
But tens of kilometers away, non-foot force can reach.
In a recent city tower, there are historical pictures displayed. I went into the doorway and replaced my foot with my eyesight.
This is a huge project that took more than twenty years to mobilize one department, three guards, five provinces, twenty-eight provinces, and one hundred and fifty-two prefectures and counties across the country.
What shocked me the most was that every brick burned for this purpose was inscribed with a specific source; How good the quality is, you can hunt down the responsibility of the head.
I found a mouthful of bricks from my distant hometown.
One by one, the heads of insignificant people have formed a foundation that has been passed down for a hundred years.
Inside a city wall, there is a strict system of rule.
When you go out the cave, the sun is glaring.
Touching the inscription on the wall tile, I suddenly felt: The light of the armor opens to the golden scales of the sun...
The city wall is the most powerful defensive weapon in the era of cold weapons.
In the era of the transition from cold weapons to guns, the more solid the walls, the more tragic.
This city wall, except for Zhu Di when attacking, there are guards who will open the door to avoid a disaster; It was breached at least three times, witnessing a large-scale slaughter that was even more unbearable than the last.
Once was the Taiping Army with the dream of heaven. By digging tunnels to bury explosives, the Fengyi Gate was broken. Then a street fight ensues and kills demons. Under Tianjing, the population of the city was halved.
This was followed by the Suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom by the Xiang Army. After the destruction of the city, a large number of killing rings were launched. Zeng Guofan reported success to the imperial court: kill 100,000 thieves. At that time, after several internal disturbances by the Taiping Army, the defenders were only a few thousand. Therefore, indiscriminate killing of many innocents.
The most recent one was the horrific massacre of the Japanese army. Burned and plundered, buried alive with knives, corpses all over the field, blood stained rivers. The number of dead, including the elderly, weak, women and children, amounted to more than 300,000.
The attack and defense of the city, the wall tiles are innocent; The war is won or lost, and the people suffer.
However, if the warriors leave the battlefield, why are they not the people? When a soldier takes off his uniform, how can he not be a civilian? Every time the city was slaughtered, there were defeated soldiers who abandoned their weapons and mixed with civilians; As everyone knows, once they return to the unarmed people, they will enter the ranks of the slaughtered.
What is it that dehumanizes a person?
Is it revenge after a bitter war? Is it the winner's madness? It is said that since ancient times, there has often been a reward for the winner to indulge for three days. What an inhuman reward!
However, since ancient times, how many wins and losses have been converted? How many city-slaughterers have been counter-slaughtered? What kind of foolish human self-harm is this?
Offensive guns may be turned at any time, and defensive walls block bullets from either side.
The ancient city walls, to modern times, have almost no practical value for war, only for tourists to see and hang.
The remaining walls of the city, please do not rebuild, let them be like ancient carvings, to tell the cruelty of war, to the future.
(3) The most stable stone ship
I vaguely remember, more than twenty years ago, seeing the presidential palace. At that time, the back garden had not yet opened.
All the impressions I have seen are no match for an oil painting, which is Chen Yifei's famous work: "Occupying the Presidential Palace.". A group of people's liberation army after a fierce battle rushed to the top of the presidential palace gate and raised a five-star red flag with their heads held high. Smoke is raging in the distance.
Looking up, the gate tower looks very tall, lining the heroic posture of the flag-raising warriors.
But, this is the truth of art.
The gatehouse of the Presidential Palace, not tall at all; Nanjing, in fact, was peacefully liberated and there was no smoke of gunfire.
After getting started, see a new painting that is closer to historical reality. The underground party members and various hidden people who participated in the peaceful liberation in those years and later experienced twists and turns have seen the light of day again.
In contrast, it seems that the reality of art is more moving.
This is symbolic power.
In fact, the presidential palace itself is mostly symbolic.
President Sun Da has hardly performed much of his presidential duties except for his oath; After pacing here for a while, he reluctantly rushed to Beijing and went around with Yuan Shikai.
The power of the old Chiang Kai-shek is not mainly in the presidency. Since the Northern Expedition laid the foundation for its position of real power, it has always been commensurate with Chiang Kai-shek, commander-in-chief and Chairman Chiang Kai-shek, and used the military to intervene in the administration and the party to replace the government. Even if you go to the field, you still have military power.
In the meantime, Presidents such as Tan Yanmin and Lin Sen have no vain names.
It was not until the Victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in the World Anti-Fascist Trend that Chiang Kai-shek's prestige was as great as ever, that he internally controlled the convening of the National Congress, presided over and participated in the presidential election, and simply combined the power of the party, government, and army.
Li Zongren was elected vice president, not his internal candidate, and entered the cold palace in the presidential palace.
Perhaps, it is difficult to blame the individual. The Republic of China, where warlords compete for supremacy, is far from the iron law of political power out of the barrel of a gun.
Thinking that the general election would eventually become a constitutional government, as a result, within three years, the so-called president fled to the isolated island and added the word "pseudo".
In this sense, even the word "Republic of China" is symbolic, almost phantom.
The purest symbol is the stone ship in the back garden.
The back garden was once unopened and is said to have been destroyed by the war and difficult to repair. One said it was burned by the Taiping Army; One said that it was burned by Zeng Guofan's Xiang Army. Exactly, there is no consensus. All in all, the park has been destroyed more than once.
And no matter how many times it is destroyed, the stone ship in the center of the lake in the garden is always there.
Originally built in the Ming Dynasty Han Dynasty, the Xu Garden, a typical Jiangnan garden. Exquisite and elegant, with a wad of blue lake as the center, there are small bridges and curved corridors, pine bamboo meilan, openwork doors and windows, hidden dew. Qing, belonging to the Governor's Palace of Liangjiang; During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it belonged to the Heavenly King's Palace; During the Republic of China, it belonged to the Presidential Palace.
According to legend, during the Qianlong period, the viceroy of Liangjiang built a stone boat in the lake to welcome the emperor's southern tour: the stone was built from the bottom of the lake, and there were two cabins on the front and back, and the front cabin was arranged with a set of carved furniture into a living room, which was magnificent and could be drunk and feasted. Qianlong was very happy to see it, that is, the inscription "Do not tie the boat" was his plaque.
It is said that after Qianlong, Hong Xiuquan, Sun Yat-sen, and Chiang Kai-shek all did not like to rest here.
Historians believe that the Qianlong inscription "Not tying a boat" should be derived from the allusion of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Taizong of Tang warned the crown prince, "It is the water that the king is compared to the water, and the king is likened to the boat." Water also carries boats, and water also covers boats. ”
Qianlong hoped that the holy one would unify the country and the mountains and be as stable as a rock.
However, this stable stone was not covered, but the boat of the Great Qing was overturned; The ship of heaven has fallen; The boat of the Republic of China was also overturned.
I checked the earlier sources of "don't tie a boat." Zhuang Ziyun: "... If the boat is not tied, the vain and the Ao wanderer is also. ”
Obviously, its original intention is the pursuit of a free spirit.
From the curved bridge to the stone boat, from the stone boat down the curved bridge, I thought all the way: Is it not absurd to use the stubborn stones fixed at the bottom of the lake to symbolize the regime that rises and falls in the will of the people?
What a self-deception!
That night, back at home, I had a dream.
Dreaming of the back garden of the Presidential Palace, a bright moon and the sound of frogs, Hong Xiuquan, Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, all turned into fireworks and passed through the carved window pillars of the stone ship...
Suddenly, Mr. Zhongshan shouted: The plaque written by Qianlong means ——
Not a boat!
Does this absurd dream also belong to the truth of art?
(4) The most beautiful sycamore
While driving, my son-in-law asked me:
Dad, the last time I came to Nanjing, what impressed you the most, what was it?
I pondered for a moment and said:
Trees, sycamore trees in the middle of the road.
So this time, let's take another trip through the sycamore tree path that runs through the city?
Good!
Sycamore, since ancient times, has been regarded as an ideal tree.
In ancient times, the wind phoenix is not a sycamore and does not inhabit.
But for some reason, the sycamore I read in ancient poems is mostly with parting from sorrow and loneliness:
Lonely sycamore deep courtyard, lock Qingqiu, cut constantly and chaotically, is away from sorrow, do not have a taste, in the heart.
Sycamore and drizzle, to dusk, bit by bit, this time, how a sad word.
The sycamores in Nanjing, on the other hand, are rarely tall, tall, neat, and sunny; Even if the leaves are full of leaves and the sunset is reflected, the sky and the earth are brilliant.
I have not seen him for more than twenty years, and in the meantime, I have heard two rumors about it.
First, urban transformation, Nanjing sidewalk trees need to be torn down and restarted. At first glance, it seems strange, but it is not surprising to think about it. How many monuments in Beijing, preserved by the peaceful liberation, demolished? What are trees, how many cities have trees, cut down, planted and cut down?
The second is the romantic legend. It is said that the origin of the plane tree in Nanjing is that Chiang Kai-shek showed love to Song Meiling's fall. Some people also posted aerial photos from multiple angles on the Internet: from Nanjing City to Purple Mountain, golden yellow street trees pass through the green forest, like a necklace, and in the center of the top of the necklace is a sapphire-like building.
That gem is the Meiling Palace on the side of Plum Blossom Mountain; The golden necklace is composed of more than 20,000 plane trees.
Worry and curiosity, double attraction.
Goodbye more than twenty years later, the sycamore in front of me did not make people sad: still so tall, tall, neat, sunny.
One by one. All trunks are stout; All branches above three meters are unfolded; All under the blue sky and white clouds, they will intertwine their branches and leaves, swaying the wind posture, and sprinkle light and shadow; Follow the wide road and stretch out into the distance.
It is said that this is a victory for the citizens.
The son-in-law grew up in Nanjing, behind the plane tree, where he flew a kite. Without any surprise, he briefly described the efforts of the citizens to keep the sycamore street trees.
The personality of Nanjing people, calm and persistent, is the same as the plane tree.
Compared with similar trees, perhaps, it does not have aspen straight, no birch curved strength, no ginkgo biloba straight hard; But its nature, stretching, and the breadth of shade are all these beautiful trees, and it is difficult to compare.
The camphor in my hometown is also wide in shade, but it does not have its head-to-toe, full of bronze rust-like colorful and vibrant magnificence.
Unfortunately, the light and shadow that pass through the face cannot appreciate the wonders of the gemstone necklace photographed by the aerial. Che is close to the Meiling Palace, still regretful: only because I am in this mountain.
In fact, there are many theories about the origin of the Nanjing plane tree: one said that it was first introduced by French missionaries; One said that it was planted to welcome Sun Yat-sen's return to bed; It is mainly the result of the construction of the new Chinese city.
I would rather believe any of these statements than dare to believe that this is a testimony of Jiang Song's love.
Very young, "Jinling Spring Dream" told me that Jiang was a deflated third; The story of Jiang risking death to collect Chen Qimei's body makes people think that he may be a righteous soldier; Old, having seen part of his diary in the public historical archives, I thought that maybe this was a tough guy who had been wrestling with evil thoughts in his heart.
Although, historical upheaval, beyond imagination.
I still don't believe that the iron-blooded people can have such fun and romance.
But many more believe.
It's not so much faith as hope. The people most hope that any person with high power will have the most human emotions.
In any case, the former planted trees, and the later people cooled off. The ultimate benefit may not be consistent with the original intention.
The car drove back to the accommodation.
I looked out the glass window from my guest room: not far away were a few very tall plane trees with very tall sycamore tips, and several bird nests on the branches. A flock of swallows skimmed the sky and stopped in pairs.
I know that it is near the gem in the aerial photograph, and when I just passed by, there were many tourists.
I suddenly remembered two Tang poems: In the old days, Wang Xie Tang Qianyan flew into the homes of ordinary people. Unconsciously, he changed his mind:
Ordinary people Liang Shangyan flew into the old Wang Xie family.
When I left Nanjing, my wife asked me, what do you think in silence in front of Taizu's tomb?
I said --
There, buried is a legend from beggar to emperor. I hope that in the future, all similar legends, all changes in dignity and inferiority, will no longer go through war, and there will be no need for you to die or live!