On the first day of today's new year, climb Hangzhou Gem Mountain, go to the balcony of the beginning of the year, enjoy the panoramic view of the West Lake, and have a bird's-eye view of the whole city of Hangzhou. Climb high and look far, the sun is shining, see how hard Hangzhou city is, how hard to forge ahead, how much has Hangzhou changed after the G20 and Asian Games, how proud can you be?
Many years ago, when I came to Hangzhou, the office was by the West Lake. At that time, Hangzhou belonged to what US President Richard Nixon called "beautiful Hangzhou, a dilapidated city", especially on the side of the West Lake, full of low-rise old houses, Xueyuan Road and rice fields. We are the first generation of witnesses of reform and opening up, and we are also creators, witnessing the vicissitudes of Hangzhou, progress and glory.
When I was a teenager, in my hometown of Songyang, every year on the first day of the Spring Festival, my friends and I had to climb Dushan once to see the changes in the town. Dushan is in the south of the city, separated by Songyin Creek, a tributary of the upper reaches of the Oujiang River. Shen Hui, the champion of the Northern Song Dynasty, said: "A lone branch across the Jiangyin, the reflection of the green forest is a thousand feet deep." Dushan is the only independent mountain on the Songgu Plain in southwest Zhejiang, such as the golden toad sitting, surrounded by 10,000 acres of fertile fields, reading the spring alone, enjoying the vicissitudes and prosperity of the world. Mountaineering is a casual way to see the changes of all your cities in a year, and it is also a prospect for the new year.
Baobao Mountain is in the city of Hangzhou, on the north side of West Lake, the mountain is only 78 meters high, the first balcony is in the center, and the Baochu Pagoda stands proudly at the east end like a dragon's head. The morning glow is dewed, the sunset is afterglow, the first balcony and the Baochu Pagoda and the purple-brown mountain rock present colorful scenery, which is one of the ten views of the West Lake.
There are two towers in the south and north of the West Lake, and the north and south are facing each other. Baochu Pagoda on the north side, Leifeng Pagoda on the south side. It is said that "Bao Yu is like a beauty, and Lei Feng is like an old man". In retrospect, this metaphor does not correspond to the status quo.
Baochu Tower, the tower body is slender and exquisite, the spire of the tower is like a needle, pointing directly to the sky, thin and weak can't help the wind. If you have the heart, walk into the bottom of the tower, in fact, you will find that the tower is very strong, upright and solemn. The Baochu Pagoda is 45 meters high, and the gem mountain is set against it, accounting for 2/3 of the height, making it more slender and tall.
Zhang Dai, a historian and writer in the Ming Dynasty, wrote the poem "Leifeng Tower":
Smell the thunder peak, the old monk hangs the bias.
Looking at the West Lake every day, I can't see enough in my life.
Leifeng Pagoda is described as an old man, which should be derived from Zhang Dai.
In history, Leifeng Pagoda has been repeatedly abandoned and built due to wars and natural collapses, so the shape of the tower is completely different. The last time the Leifeng Pagoda collapsed was on September 25, 1924. At noon that day, Yu Pingbo, a famous writer and expert in red studies, was playing with celebrities on a boat on the West Lake and saw the collapse of Leifeng Pagoda with his own eyes.
The fall of Leifeng Pagoda aroused Lu Xun's interest. Two months later, Lu Xun published the article "On the Fall of Leifeng Tower", which caused a sensation throughout the country. Lu Xun believes that under the Leifeng Pagoda is the white lady who pursues the freedom of love, and Fahai is a symbol of feudalism and evil. The fall of Leifeng Pagoda symbolizes the liberation of Chinese women and the progress of civilization in Chinese society. Leifeng Pagoda finally collapsed, and Lu Xun shouted heartily at the end of the article: "You deserve it."
This article was first published in the first issue of the weekly Silk Magazine in Beijing on November 17, 1924. Due to the great impact of the response, Lu Xun continued to write "On the Fall of Leifeng Pagoda Again". Later, this article was introduced into middle school and university textbooks, and became a model text, which was inadvertently disseminated.
Interestingly, Lu Xun, a great writer and university scholar, also had a moment of losing the chain, and he actually confused Leifeng Pagoda with Baochu Pagoda. The original text is:
(Leifeng Tower) it looks, charming and solemn, upright and full of style, like a peerless beauty standing on the shore of the West Lake, becoming the symbol of the West Lake that attracts the attention of the world. The Baochu Pagoda was on the north side of the West Lake, and my only hope at that time was the fall of the Leifeng Pagoda. Later, when I grew up, I went to Hangzhou and felt uncomfortable when I saw this dilapidated tower. Later, I read the book and said that the people of Hangzhou also called this tower "Baoshu Tower", but in fact, it should be written as "Baochu Tower", which was built by the son of King Qian. Well, of course, there is no White Snake Lady in it, but I still feel uncomfortable in my heart, and I still hope that he will fall.
Above, you take a closer look and read carefully, how wrong Lu Xun is: first, Leifeng Pagoda is wrong in the north or south, Lu Xun thinks it is in the north; second, Baochu Pagoda is Leifeng Pagoda, Lu Xun also made a small research, it was built by Qian Biao's son; Sanlu Xun is a native of Shaoxing, and he is forgiven for not understanding the terrain of Hangzhou. But when he was studying in Hangzhou, he must have visited the West Lake, but he didn't understand the two towers in the north and south of the West Lake, and he didn't think so; fourth, he reminded us that no matter how great the scholars were, they were not superstitious, and they were occasionally wrong.
Leifeng Pagoda was rebuilt in 2002, it is a flat octagonal body imitating the pavilion style tower of the Tang and Song dynasties, each layer is covered with copper tiles, and the corners are set up with copper bucket arches, and the eaves are warped. The newly built Leifeng Pagoda is definitely not the legendary old man, but a slim plump Xizi girl, standing confidently on the south shore of the warm and jade West Lake.
At the G20 summit, leaders of 20 countries, including Obama and Merkel, took a group photo at the Xizi State Guesthouse, with Leifeng Pagoda as the background, which was really beautiful. Yes, thinking back to the most beautiful era that has ever been, the true beauty of Hangzhou that has integrated into the world, and the true beauty of Hangzhou that has prospered and grown together with the world.
February 10, 2024 is the first day of the first month of the Year of the Dragon in Hangzhou