Gu Feng ancient rhyme Xijindu

In the history of China for thousands of years, the ancient ferry is like an increasingly heavy ancient book. Its title page is yellow, and it is carefully turned over, filled with the vicissitudes of time and the imprint of the wheel of history.

The ancient ferry that has been preserved now is very rare and hard to see. However, in Zhenjiang, at the throat of the Yangtze River, which was called Jingkou in ancient times, a thousand-year-old ferry named "Xijindu" was almost completely preserved. Although its function as a ferry has completely lost, Xijindu's ancient buildings with blue bricks and green tiles still remain in Zhenjiang, vividly showing people the past prosperity of Jingkou Town.

One early summer afternoon, I came down from Jiuhua Mountain in Jurong and walked into Xijindu. I walked up the slope on a flat stone ladder, only to see a ticket gate made of carved bricks standing at the top of the slope, which was simple and vigorous, with the words "Xijindu Street" written on it, and the handwriting was bold and sophisticated. Through this ticket door, what is displayed in front of us is the "Ancient Road of the Western Jin Dynasty" which has experienced thousands of vicissitudes.

Xijindu is the best preserved old street in Zhenjiang. It turned out to be a ferry, near the Yangtze River. Later, as the Yangtze River diverted northward, away from the river, it lost the actual function of the ferry, leaving only rows of ancient ferry buildings and ancient legends, but the business was as prosperous as in ancient times.

Xijindu Ancient Street is about one kilometer long. It is an open ancient street, which can be freely entered from the east and west ends, or directly inserted into it from any nearby roadway. We choose to enter the ancient street from the east end.

Before entering the ancient street, the first thing you see is a arcade building with European classical color. The walls are blue bricks and red bricks, and the roof is corrugated in Kurogane. This is the British Consulate established after the Second Opium War. Now, it has been transformed into Zhenjiang Museum. Looking closely at this building that has undergone tremendous changes, we can't help flying in front of us with touching memories of modern history.

Turning the gate of the museum, there is a slope with 53 steps. It is said that there is also a Buddhist story circulating in this slope: it is said that a young man who is good at money was educated by Manjusri Bodhisattva to visit the sages, went south all the way, consulted 53 wise men, and was finally enlightened by Guanyin Bodhisattva and became the left servant of Guanyin. This "Fifty-three Slope" was created in memory of this eminent monk with great wisdom and virtue. Now every time a tourist steps up a step, it's like paying homage to a saint. After walking step by step, it means that 53 experts gave directions.

After 53 slopes, it officially entered Xijindu Ancient Street. On both sides of the street are two-story buildings, pavilions, cornices, carved windows, mottled counters and Chinese fir wooden doors, all telling us the vicissitudes of the Millennium ancient crossing and the Millennium old street.

Through the faint scarlet on the carved window bar, I seem to see the era of crowing again. In the ancient street, the inscriptions on the foreheads of the four ticket gates, such as "Tongdengjue Road", "Ducihang", "Flying Pavilion and Flowing Dan" and "Hills and Hills", as well as the inscriptions on "Chang 'anli", "Jiruili" and "De 'anli" along the street, are silently telling the prosperity of the past.

On a hillside, there is a wide Yangtze River Road below. There is a small river in the distance of Changjiang Road. This river belongs to a tributary of the Yangtze River. As for the real main channel of the Yangtze River, where is it? It's still a long way. It seems that time can really change everything. Standing on the ancient ferry that can't see the Yangtze River, we have to feel: Where did the Yangtze River go?

Nowadays, Xijindu is more like an antique block of literature and art, and like other places, it is also covered with a commercial coat. Cafes, restaurants, art bars, everything. But Xijindu has more real ancient buildings and ancient cultural accumulation.

What impressed me the most was the "Millennium glimpse" of Ferry. Looking down through the glass cover, I saw that the steps of Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing overlapped, and the historical rings were condensed in this "Millennium glimpse" ... The ancient dust and my soul jumped for thousands of years with this long crossing.

Although the antique buildings in this street were later rebuilt, they still retain the ancient style, with gray brick wooden doors. The architectural style of a place also reflects the local culture. The old houses in Zhenjiang are different from those in Suzhou, but similar to those in Yangzhou and Nanjing.

Walking along the winding path paved by this bluestone slab, the mottled blue-gray brick walls on both sides of the road stretch for thousands of meters on this ancient street. I vaguely seem to see the traces of dynasties on this thousand-year-old wall.

The bluestone slab of the ancient road is deeply engraved with the rut marks of the years, and the gasps of the years come from time to time ... The faint and winding ancient road of the Western Jin Dynasty silently tells the prosperity and loneliness of the Millennium.

Xijindu, which is close to and connected with the street, has numerous historical sites and traces of time, showing Zhenjiang's generous and profound historical experience; The historical context and inheritance of the city have been loaded and displayed by Xijindu 1400 years.

The Ming and Qing wooden houses on both sides of the ancient street are lined with art shops such as calligraphy and painting, mounting, antiques, stone appreciation and root art, as well as teahouses and restaurants for tourists to rest. However, my family is cold and depressed, which makes me sigh.

After walking a kilometer-long street from east to west, a stupa crossing the street, as well as the Guanyin Cave, life-saving club and other historical sites next to it, presented a long scroll of ancient crossing with original features to tourists, making people feel that Xijindu was once a place where religion and secularism, humanity and nature blended harmoniously.

This Tibetan Buddhist-style stupa running through the street is called "Zhaoguan" stupa, which is a symbolic cultural relic of Xijindu. It has been circulated for more than 800 years since the Yuan Dynasty, and it is the only well-preserved stupa crossing the street in China.

The words "1890" can be seen vaguely on the antique west building lintel. This is the former site of the British Consulate in Zhenjiang, which has been converted into Zhenjiang Museum. This building is simple and unique. The traces of the years mercilessly show the historical trauma of the late Qing Dynasty, which deeply moved me!

Walk slowly through Xijindu Ancient Street. Xijindu Street is ancient and has a long history, but everything in front of it is young and modern. In the warm sunshine, the residents of the ancient street live leisurely.

Stroll into a "vinegar bar" and take a sip carefully, but it seems to have the taste of old marinated bean curd and maltose. The exquisite garlic hill is located in the garden like a bonsai, and the garlic pavilion at the top of the hill was overlooking the Yangtze River yesterday.

When I walked to the irresistible antique pavilion that once stood by the river, I felt as if I had become a stopover: the Yangtze River was flowing under my feet, the ferry was shaking from the other side, and the bustling crowd only heard the wheels rattle, and the hurried footsteps were mixed with the peddlers' cries.

A beam of sunshine passed through the pavilion on Yuntai Mountain behind the street and projected on the ancient blue brick wall, pulling me out of time and space and back to reality: this is Xijindu in history and Xijindu in reality.