Works by Zhu Guicheng
● The dragon gate in the Yellow River gorge 12 kilometers northwest of Hejin City, Shanxi Province, now known as Yumen Gate, is also the canonical source of "Carp Jumping Dragon Gate".
Ancient legend has it that the Yellow River carp jumped over the dragon gate (Yumen Gate in Hejin City, Shanxi Province) and would change into a dragon. "Pi Ya Shi Yu": "It is said that the fish jumps over the dragon gate and becomes a dragon, but the carp may be natural." Qing Liyuan's "Worm Fan Object": "Carp... The yellow one climbs Longmen Mountain against the current in the spring of each year, and the heavenly fire burns its tail from behind, and then turns into a dragon. Later, he used the metaphor of "carp jumping the dragon gate" to lift and promote officials. Later, it was used as a metaphor for going against the current; striving upwards. As the saying goes, "carp jumps the dragon gate", which is a metaphor for the carp's habit of diving. Carp and many other fish love diving. Different fish have different skills for diving. Some fish jump very high, such as a fish called "jumping fish", it can jump four to five meters from the surface of the water, can be said to be the "high jump champion" among the fish. Carp can sometimes jump more than a meter above the surface.
As the saying goes, "carp jumps the dragon gate", which is a metaphor for the carp's habit of diving. Carp and many other fish love diving. Different fish have different skills for diving. Some fish jump very high, such as a fish called "jumping fish", it can jump four to five meters from the surface of the water, can be said to be the "high jump champion" among the fish. Carp can sometimes jump more than a meter above the surface.
Why do fish dive? According to the analysis of scientists, it is generally believed that there are several reasons. Some are caused by changes in the surrounding environment, such as on the eve of an earthquake disaster, the earth's magnetic field changes, and the fish feel threatened; such as crossing obstacles on the way to avoid a surprise attack from predators; or being suddenly intimidated. The instinctive reaction of fish in order to survive.
Another reason is the physiological change, when the fish is about to reproduce, the body produces something that can stimulate the nerves, so that it is in a state of excitement, so it especially likes to jump.
Sturgeon do not go to the dragon gate to "leap into the dragon", but to reproduce. The book "Research on the Biology and Artificial Reproduction of Sturgeon Fish in the Yangtze River" by the Yangtze River Aquatic Resources Survey Group of Sichuan Province states that sturgeon spawn "mostly in the upper reaches of rivers, with low water temperature, large flow rate, complex flow state, wide and narrow river channels and gravel bottoms" in the rapid beach area." The Longmen area at the junction of Shanshan and Shaanxi provinces has the above geomorphological characteristics, so it has become an ideal place for sturgeon to gather and spawn.
The "Longmen Chihe" phenomenon is often jumped out of the water because the male and female chase before the sturgeon spawns. Every spring, large flocks of sturgeon swim back to the Longmen Cave and make frequent jumps during the two or three days before spawning. When it jumped out of the water, the sturgeon's blood-filled and redfins also appeared on the surface, and at a time thousands of large fish flipped on the river surface, looking at a red light in the distance, so the "Red River" scene appeared. Because of the large number of fish, it can last for several miles and can last for several days, that is, the special phenomenon of "three days of the Red River" and "three miles of the Red River" has been formed.
When the fish is caught from the water, it will also jump around, the reason is that when the fish swims in the water, the muscles of the whole body are always stretched and contracted, shaking their heads and tails, so that they can move forward in the water. When it has just left the water, it still does the same action as if it is in the water, but because it is not resisted by the water, the shaking action is particularly large, and if it encounters a relatively solid object such as the ground and the boat board, there is a phenomenon of jumping around. In fact, with modern science, we can solve the mystery of "carp leaping dragon gate": the "carp" mentioned here is actually "tuna", or "mandarin fish", also known as "sturgeon" or "yellow fish", that is, sturgeon. Sturgeon is a river and sea swim back to the fish, the body length is about two meters, the maximum length can be more than 5 meters. China's rare animals Chinese sturgeon, Northeast sturgeon, Yangtze River sturgeon are such fish. Because the ancient carp is also known as "crane", the ancients mixed "tuna" with the big carp and passed it on as "carp leaping dragon gate".
The Bamboo Book Chronicle is the work of the Wei historian at the end of the Warring States period, and the record of "Longmen Chihe" in the book indicates that the mythical story of "carp leaping dragon gate" at that time had not yet been formed. The records of "fish turning into dragons" are mostly from Han Dynasty classics, so the formation of myths and stories was in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, and may be related to the strengthening of the concept of dragon worship in the early Han Dynasty.
Zhu Guicheng, pen name A Gui, Jinling painter fish man, born in 1957 in Nanjing, is currently a member of the Jiangsu Provincial Artists Association, a director of the Jiangsu Provincial Flower and Bird Painting Research Association, and the secretary general of the Nanjing Yadong Calligraphy and Painting Institute. Since childhood, he has loved painting, studied his own, studied landscapes, flowers and birds, and is especially good at carp with a brush. In recent years, his works have often been printed as wall calendars, stamps or published in newspapers and magazines. Since 1991, he has held solo exhibitions at the Jiangsu Provincial Art Museum and Nanchang, Changzhou, Yangzhou, the United States and other places, and his works have participated in national, provincial and municipal exhibitions and won awards, and Jiangsu Television Station and Jinling Voice Radio Station have also made special introductions.