Nostalgia, nostalgia, nostalgia
——Reading Zhang Yingshi's essay "Remote Reflection on Dung Fragrance" has a feeling
Text/Li Xiaoqiang
Longzhong writer Zhang Yingshi insisted on adhering to his spiritual homeland and insisted on writing in the countryside for many years, and his best works were often reported in the news. His works are natural and fresh, simple and thick, and there is a strong earthy atmosphere and life charm between the lines.
Before, I had just walked past his poetic "North Hillside", but there was already a long history of "dung incense" full of mountains and full of Zhuangzi - the essay "Yaosi DungXiang" published in the "Hualing" edition of Dingxi Daily on October 21, 2014 can be called a good composition of local prose. In the text, the author uses the natural and authentic vernacular language to construct the rural picture and its life story, which is vivid and vivid, sincere and sincere, and it is endlessly evocative to read.
Just seeing this title, "Remote Reflection on the Fragrance of Dung", makes people's eyes light up. As the saying goes: Flowers are planted on cow dung, Dung soil was ten thousand households, xx stinks like, belly accompanies incense officers, etc., the contempt for dung soil is fully revealed, and the beauty and ugliness are not self-explanatory. Is it that the "dung soil" that is despised by the world and feared to be avoided, but which is inseparable in daily life, will still be fragrant and stretch for thousands of miles? Or even to arouse the author's deep thoughts and enthusiastic praise?
This is indeed the case. At the beginning of the article, Zhang Yingshi naturally introduced the lyrics and verses of the classical masterpiece "Peony Pavilion" that "the night rain sprinkles hemp, the sky clears out of the dung residue, and the incense wind is dying": "Burning incense is the king of the county, and the jade cooking gold is full." Until the smell of food when hungry, the dragon saliva is not as good as the smell of dung residue" as evidence. And "even praised the great dramatist Tang Xianzu for his deep understanding of agricultural affairs and agricultural conditions", touching the touch of others. And with the poem of the great Russian poet Pasternak, "The most lively and restless dung heap / emitting a fresh spring breath", the text is not only cleverly echoed from beginning to end, elegant and popular, good beginning and end, but more importantly, the ordinary thing and this typical image of his "dung soil" are suddenly elevated to the height of art. During this period, he naturally spoke in the tone and language of a "real mountain man" ("The Shadow Of The Soil"), and unfolded his affectionate narrative about "Dung Soil" like a family treasure.
Similarly, if the author did not have the true understanding of agricultural affairs and agricultural conditions as Tang Xianzu did, could he still feel, write and deeply miss this fragrant "smell of dung"?
So, let us gently swing the swing of the author's "leisurely dream" back to the memory of the past - that ten years and nine droughts, sometimes even no grain harvest, but "regard the dung as a treasure" in the northwest village of Longzhong countryside, in the dung fragrance of the ancestors about the "dung" and so on: "dung is a farmer's treasure, the bookmaker can not be separated", "the bookmaker a flower, all rely on the dung to be the home", "June's doll's face, change will change" and other folk proverbs can be said to be handy. The "grandfather" in the text is not only the image of the family affection level, but also seems to be a symbol of the ancestors who have endured the wind and rain for a long time. Although he is "illiterate, his words contain poetry" – in fact, language, as the flower bud of life, is not poetic, but life itself is full of infinite poetry. In the daily life of ordinary people, such language is everywhere. And many times we hear and turn a blind eye to the rush of footsteps. Writer Zhang Yingshi has listened carefully and carefully captured, and the emotional stories behind it have been embellished one by one, poetically displayed in front of us, gripping.
At first glance, the scene of "holding feces" is really breathtaking, but this happens to be the reality of life - the truth is frightening: because it is not only the marketer, I have a similar experience with many people in the village. It was only at that time that it was a sprint of three miles, and according to the parents' earnest instructions, I went straight from school to the silky land at the entrance of the village at noon, and it was fast to "go" as soon as I "went". "The sky is still black", "carrying a dung basket and holding a shovel" The dung pickers who walk around the alleys at the head of the village are not typical representatives of the diligent people in the countryside more than twenty years ago? There are also exaggerated scenes of two strong-tempered dung pickers who are angry, scolding and grinning, and almost wanting to fight for a bubble of dung, so that people have to sigh what is called "the truth of art" while laughing at each other - picking up dung, earning dung, smashing dung, it is really a set of clever close-ups, which are full of strong dramatic colors. In order to maintain the strength of the ground, the manure was sent to the field in time to prepare for the autumn sowing, watching "the manure in the cattle circle accumulate to a surplus of measuring scales", the women "swept the manure outside the circle door one by one, and some other women with planers smashed the knotted dung" ; the production captain Fukuzumi punched the second sloth because the second sloth was lazy to sneak dung into the soil hole on the edge of the cliff, so that the "swollen second sloth hurriedly sneaked into the soil hole, grabbed the dung with both hands, and picked it up little by little" and so on, and the details of the dung, the dumping of dung, and the details of the feces were even more meticulous. penetrating. There is also a scene depiction of the miller holding a fence and even picking up the feces under the butt of the animal with his hand and then "rubbing his hands with the fine cotton soil on the side of the field", which makes people beat the knot.
Reading this, it has long been "things I forget twice". Whether it is the scenes of the farmers talking about dung, holding dung, picking up dung and smashing dung, women out of dung to scatter dung and pile up dung, men sending dung and dung and receiving dung from the miller, just like a childhood movie, they all appeared in my mind, and they were immersive and intimate. As the saying goes, "Life is the source of art". What kind of life there is, what kind of art there is – but everyone who has experienced life does not necessarily have such an artistic expression. Zhang Yingshi is such a "countryman" with rich life experience and strong artistic feelings - in this barren land, the good memories of childhood are deeply burned into the soul, and every person, thing and thing in life is affectionate, even a close relative. Just like his irony in "Grain Road", bathing under "Spring Sun", stopping and staring at "North Hillside"... The author is the "'shadow' that sows into the dirt" ("The Shadow Sown into the Dirt"). Yes, Zhang Yingshi has deeply sown this childhood memory, the love of his relatives and the attachment to his homeland into the soil of his soul, deeply rooted - just like the earth-red blood flowing in the veins, deep into the bone marrow, endlessly.
……
"Unforgettable the fragrance of the village grass seedlings, the strong fragrance of the blossoms, the fragrant smell of cooking smoke, and even more unforgettable the dung fragrance of 'dragon saliva is not as good as the dung residue incense'" - is this not the author's affectionate praise for the homeland? Isn't it a poetic examination of the artistic representation of rural life and the "beauty of ugliness"?
If Liu Liangcheng in his "One Man's Village" is more about condensing local philosophies in his flowing and free tone, then Zhang Yingshi is meticulously crafting each scene in his own text, and everywhere is full of carved nostalgia and affectionate praise for the homeland.
"Yaosi Dung Fragrance" - distant memories haunt the faint hometown sound of relatives, leisurely thoughts are full of nostalgia, and the wisps of dung incense stir up the light poetry and fresh charm of life between the vast rural natural world.
——March 29, 2015 Dingxi Daily Western Weekend