Every time I think of going to a certain place to collect style, or to participate in a certain literary event, I will always have some characters in my mind in advance. It is their presence that brings to life many otherwise lackluster lives. This feeling is not unique to me, nor is it unique to people today.
"The drunken guests in the seat are waking up the guests, and the river is clear and cloudy." On the surface, the scene described by Li Shangyin in the poem "Du Gongbu Shuzhong Leaving the Table" is that he is pouring the blocks in his heart through Du Fu's cup of wine, but in fact, this kind of staggered life scene, although often overshadowed by the confusion of drunken memories, is a common trick used by literati to escape from the barrier of time. In the long and confusing history of the human psyche, wine, which has been mythologized or demonized, cursed and praised, has always played a very special and important role, acting on people's mouths and stomachs, but reaching the spiritual world of the drinker. Whether it is helping immortals or pouring sorrows, regardless of nobility, gender, or skin color, in this world, perhaps only wine can truly practice the concept of "equality of all beings", so that everyone can get the pleasure of rebirth in the illusion of "only the drinker leaves his name".
If there really is an endoscope that can identify and retrieve the alcohol content stored in the human body, and use it to identify a person's origin and origin, then it will definitely identify me as a Sichuan, because the alcohol content of my body water will obviously reveal my whereabouts. Over the years, I've drunk so much Sichuan sake that Irikawa has become synonymous with "drinking". In my life, I drank the most hearty wine in Sichuan, and the most embarrassed moment of drunkenness was also in Sichuan. The so-called "less into Sichuan", in my opinion, is not so much an ancient teaching, but a realistic call: "Come on, come on!" ——Whenever in the dead of night, when I think of my relatives and friends in Shuzhong, this kind voice is still in my ears.
"What kind of wheat / will fall in love with rice? What kind of / sorghum would like to be the / twin brother of corn? What kind of / glutinous rice unites mankind / The wind comes from the end of the day, what kind of / The sound of the wind comes to our ears / As heroic and weak as wine / When did you see me like this / Drunk? Holding on to the emptiness / The wall that does not exist, there are waves in my heart / Constantly lapping my middle-aged body...... "I once repeatedly asked about the charm and brute strength of Sichuan wine in a poem entitled "Questions and Answers after Drinking", and the emotional ripples produced by Sichuan wine acting on the body, to be honest, I can't answer. I have been to almost all the larger or famous wine-making workshops in Shuzhong, from Wuliangye Distillery to other wine-making companies, etc., wandering in the aroma of wine again and again, carefully observing their respective wine-making processes, tasting and blending various purees and new wines, however, I really can't understand that the same grain, koji, wine pool, wine jar, and even almost the same wine-making equipment have brewed different wine aromas and tastes. Time is fair to each type of wineware, but the brews that are hatched vary widely. What is really surprising is that these wines that have been labeled with different brands have all maintained the gentle and dense character and conduct of the Sichuan people without exception, exuding a strong sense of humanity, customs and worldliness.
The poet Xiao Yin once wrote in a poem: "Wine should be worthy of food", and everyone who drinks should feel the same way. Here, "food" does not just refer to wheat, rice or sorghum, but to all these crops combined, but also to the land and the people who grow and nurture them. The highest quality wine is always made by the people who love life the most, and in this process, all the good qualities of human beings, such as patience, meticulousness, diligence, and even the attitude of excellence, will be presented in a glass of wine. "Worthy" means "live up to it". Therefore, we can clearly glimpse a person's character at the wine table: you can drink wildly, you can drink heartily, you can drink lightly, and you can stop at a light taste, but you must not do anything greasy and waste even a drop of wine. I thought about it carefully, the reason why I like Irichuan is because the brothers in Shuzhong are all gentlemen at the table. "I'm drunk and sleepy, and the Ming Dynasty intends to hold the qin." Only with such an intoxicating sense of wine and such a lingering drinking game can it be regarded as drinking the original intention of the wine and can it be regarded as "worthy".
I have lived under the Yellow Crane Tower for nearly 40 years, and every time I look up at the "restaurant" or "poetry building" not far away, I will think of the legend of the "orange peel painting crane": according to legend, the original name of the Yellow Crane Tower was "Xin's Building", and Xin's opened a winery here, but the business has always been cool. There was an old man who often came to beg for wine, and Xin generously gave it to him. Many years later, the old man decided to repay Xin, so he picked up a piece of orange peel next to him and painted a dancing yellow crane on the wall, attracting a large number of visitors, and the winery was overcrowded for a while, and business also boomed. After many more years, the old man came again and rode away...... This is, of course, a legend about "giving grace" and "repaying gratitude", but behind it there are many hidden truths of life worth exploring, such as: there is no such thing as a "yellow crane" in this world, but why do people believe in it? For example, who is this "old man"? And where did that "yellow crane" go? If we delve deeper, we will be able to find many connections and entanglements between wine and human nature, between vanity and reality. Among the large number of folk versions, what we hear the most is that the old man's name is Lu Dongbin, and he flew into Sichuan on the "Yellow Crane", because the strange aroma of wine in Shu attracted him.
I was also attracted by this strange aroma of wine, and I entered Shu again and again. I still remember one time, I came to Yibin with a group of poetry brothers, and as soon as we entered the city, we were intoxicated by the rich aroma of wine that permeated the city. The magic of "Wuliangye" is that whenever you drink to a slight drunkenness, thinking that you can no longer drink, you can drink it again after a while, just like a mountain climber, there is always a desire to cross the mountains and mountains in your heart, and you are surging. Looking back at the road in the bright moon and breeze, it seems that you can see the wine intestines squirming. And this should be the charm of good wine, which can always bring the future and future back together into this moment: "A glass of wine in front of you, who will talk about the name behind you." ”
"Chengdu's fine wine can be sent to the old, and when it is still Zhuo Wenjun." Li Shangyin once believed so surely that this scholar, who had spent his whole life in the dark room and made a living by writing, although he was not good at drinking or drinking, he still spent an almost wonderful time in Shuzhong, and almost repaired the poet's pain of losing his wife: "The flowers and willows are scoundrels, and the purple butterflies and wasps are all lovely." This affectionate poet squinted at the infinite spring light, and the spring breeze blew the unique fragrance of flowers and intoxication in the basin, which lasted for a long time. That's pretty much all the good that the Creator can give people.
About the Author
Zhang Zhihao: Professional writer of Wuhan Federation of Literary and Art Circles, dean of Wuhan Academy of Literature, vice chairman of Hubei Writers Association. His main works include "Suffering in Praise", "Broad", "Wild Flowers on the Plateau", "Wing Chun Tune", "It's Better to Read Poetry", "Telling Future Generations" and so on. He has won the 7th Lu Xun Literature Award, the Poet of the Year Award at the Chinese Literature Media Awards, the Chen Ziang Poetry Award of the Year in Poetry Magazine, the People's Literature Award, the October Literature Award, and the Huacheng Literature Award.