Writer Biye Prose: Lugou Bridge Sentiments

From the 1920s to the 1970s, I walked a long and tortuous road of life. Now, I have finally returned to the Lugou Bridge that I came to when I was young forty years ago.

Forty years ago, we were in full bloom, burning with the heat of youth and full of the ideals of life. At that time, our group of boys and girls came to this world-famous Lugou Bridge and were most interested in counting the stone lions on the barricades of the bridge on both sides.

Forty years later, it's early autumn, and it's the season of nostalgia. I revisited the Lugou Bridge and looked out over the railing, the willow color at the head of the bridge was still green, and the yongding River was sparkling in the west mountain with smoke...

Looking back, the scene of us counting stone lions seems to be right in front of us. There are many stone lions on the stone pillars of the bridge railing, and there are many small stone lions hidden on and under the feet of the big lions, our young men slap the stone lions with their slaps, and the girls point at the stone lions with their fingers, but the number of each ten people is different. The number of stone lions in the Proverbial Lugou Bridge is uncountable. The bridge was wafting with our happy laughter, full of the sensuality of our youth.

Now, lugou bridge in the autumn sun under the sky and clouds, the land is clear and the river is clear, the mountains and rivers are beautiful, but in the past, I am a little sad. It is said that Lugou Bridge, like the Baqiao Bridge in Xi'an, was folded at the side of the bridge in ancient times to bid farewell. I looked at the willow branches at the head of the bridge, and I missed my friends when I was younger. Just like the ancient overseas Chinese in Lugou for eight hundred years, how many pedestrians, carriages and horses have passed through here in the past, and the willows on the sunset Lugou ditch have sent people out of Beijing several times. The path of life starts in one place, but the path taken is thousands of ways. Where are my many friends in the past now? I know that some of them died in the stormy Taihang Mountains, some died in dark and damp prisons, and there were very few who were alive...

I remember that when we left Peiping, it was after the Chinese people fired the first shot of resistance against the Japanese imperialist invading forces on the Lugou Bridge. Since the ancient Yan Zhao Duo generous and sad people showed the spirit of going to the country to suffer. The Yongding River under the Lugou Bridge was also known as the Heishui River and the Yongding River in ancient times. Yanshan Black Water has been a place of conquest since ancient times. At the beginning of the raging fire that ignited the National Liberation War, in the corner of the four souths of Beijing, we saw a large red silk knife floating on the back of a strong man. The light of the sword that condenses national hatred frightens the enemy and arouses our patriotic enthusiasm. We, the dusty servants and servants, sweating profusely, ran to collect donations and condolences for the anti-Japanese heroes in the Liuli Factory and on Luomashi Street. When the Chinese nation was in danger and the motherland called out, we rushed to all the battlefields of the national liberation war. The word Lugou Bridge has been engraved with a gold pen in the history of the Chinese revolution, and it will shine forever.

Now, forty years later, with sacred respect for the Chinese national liberation war and infinite affection for the deceased, I have returned to Lugou Bridge and lingered on the Lugou Bridge with a fierce beating heart.

Today, in front of the eyes, the stone lion is still varied and beautiful, some bow their heads and meditate, some look up to the sky and laugh, some lie down quietly, some are lively and playful, and each has a rich personality. Especially those small stone lions, naïve and naughty, some climbed onto the back of the big stone lion, some bit the neck collar of the big stone lion, and some teased the big stone lion's ying luo. The grand engineering and exquisite sculpture art of the Jin Dynasty eight hundred years ago have left a glorious page on Chinese culture, and we cannot but praise the diligence and wisdom of the working people of ancient China.

Not only is the stone lion an artistic creation from Huixin, but the stone bars of the long bridge are also skillfully built with one-color white jade. There are also four Chinese watches erected at both ends of the bridge, as well as two pairs of huge stone lion stone statues on both sides of the bridge, all of which are exquisitely carved and beautiful. It is said that this Lugou Bridge is the longest ancient stone arch bridge in North China, even after 800 years of military disasters and floods, it has been repaired and preserved for generations. This is enough to show that the Chinese people love and cherish this ancient bridge, and it glows with the magnificence and splendor of Chinese national culture.

In addition to the famous stone lions of the Lugou Bridge, there is also a large stone stele engraved with the Xiaoyue of Lugou in the Panlong Monument Pavilion at the head of the bridge, which makes people very noticeable. Lugou Xiaoyue is one of the eight scenic spots of Yanjing in the Jin Dynasty. The moonlight in the morning at Lugou Bridge is particularly charming. Standing on the Lugou Bridge at dawn, looking out from the railing, a few stars in the blue sky, a light moon, overlooking the Yongding River meandering from the hazy morning fog, the morning light reflects, the west mountain is like a shy girl, if the Yongding River is called the Hun River in ancient times, the ancient poet once described the Lugou Xiaoyue; the Hun River goes to the east of the Hun River, and the oblique moon is more suitable for early autumn. The dawn color is slightly wavy, and the residual light is like a wave flow...,

Now, it is the early autumn season, and I imagine being on the Lugou Bridge to watch the Yongding River with slightly shining waves at the foot of the Xiaoyue, the clear sky and full moon overhead, and the dawn shining on the vast earth. In this situation, I would like to transform into a stone man of white jade, dissolve with the Lugou Bridge, and forever stand on the bridge in the clear glow of the Lugou Xiaoyue, and miss my friends when I was young for generations.

But when I returned to reality from the confused illusion, I watched the afternoon sun sprinkle the earth, the clouds like silk, and the sky clear. In the upper reaches of the Yongding River of Lutao Bridge, the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway Bridge is bringing scientists and labor model representatives with excellent achievements from all over the country through the blue trains that have galloped thousands of miles; downstream, the highway bridge is constantly driving trucks, transporting the rich materials of the North China Great Plain.

Just when I was shaking my heart for the Lugou Bridge resort and praising the beautiful reality, the comrades who came with me suddenly told me: The cultural relics team has counted the stone lions of the Lugou Bridge, a total of 485! I was pleasantly surprised to remember that when we were young, the last two words of the stone lion counted, fifteen! I stood on the Lugou Bridge and looked out over the railing, the early autumn was picturesque, the willow-colored green river rushed, the vast wanping city wall was majestic, and the western mountains were heavy with smoke. I miss forty years of the past and today, and I miss it fondly.