However, due to the normal lock-down or small opening of the gate, the water speed in the canal is extremely slow. When an official ship passes by, the gate opens wide, the water rushes down, and the

However, due to the normal lock-down or small opening of the gate, the water speed in the canal is extremely slow. When an official ship passes by, the gate opens wide, the water rushes down, and the ship moves very fast. Ordinary people's private ships, empty ships can be driven by oars and rudders, and heavily loaded cargo ships can be pulled by fiberglass. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal intersects with the Wei River in the south of Linqing City. In the 15th year of Yonghe in the Ming Dynasty (1417 AD), the Huitong Henan Branch was excavated. The soil excavated and accumulated here formed the rudiment of the mountain and became the dragon. It is also called Earth Mountain. For hundreds of years, the soil was cleared once a year and once every three years. The cleared soil continued to accumulate on the mountain, forming a tall mountain ridge that winds up and down for more than a thousand meters. The locals call it Longshan. . The mountain is covered with eucalyptus, willows, flowers, pines and cypresses, and lush vegetation. It was one of the sixteen scenic spots in Linqing at that time, and it was called "View of Earth Mountain at Night". You can see far when you climb high. Linqing people often sit on the top of Longshan Mountain, eagerly awaiting the arrival of their own cargo ships. Because a heavy ship loaded with cargo has a deep draft and relies on people pulling fibers on the shore to help the ship move, the ship speed is very slow. When the shadow of the incoming ship is seen in the distance, it will take an hour or two to reach the shore. They waited impatiently and anxiously. They stood up and sat up without their usual demeanor, looking scratching their heads and ears. When the boat docked, they would shout loudly: "Why are the people in Liaocheng pulling fiberglasses as slow as an ox!" People on the boat I saw the people receiving goods in Linqing were anxious and restless on Longshan Mountain, looking very much like monkeys. I thought it was funny, so I opened my mouth and responded: "The slow-skinned cattle in Liaocheng are not as good as the monkeys in Linqing!" From then on, " The names of "Linqing Monkey" and "Liaocheng Slow Oxen" spread on both sides of the canal.

The second origin of the name Linqing monkey is that the following saying is quite popular among people in Linqing and near the canal. It is very similar to today's mobile phone jokes, and it is a classic for Linqing people to laugh at themselves.

Chinese people have a saying when meeting, which is "Have you eaten?" The different answers to this question reflect two different kinds of simplicity. Linqing people often tell a joke that satirizes city people. A Linqing city person met a country relative on the street and asked, "Have you eaten?" If the country relative said no, the city person would ask, "Why haven't you eaten yet?" If the country relative said he had eaten, the city person would ask. He said humbly, "Eat and eat some more!" These two different answers mean the same thing, that is, country people will not go to city people's homes to eat. This is not how the conversation would turn out if two country people met. Ask "Have you eaten?" If one person answers that he has eaten, the other person will say, "Go over there and drink some water!" (Usually, when you say you want to go home and drink water after eating, you mean to go home and sit down and drink some tea. , with the meaning of humility) If the answer is that you haven't eaten, then say "Let's go home to eat." City people are simple and a little clever, while country people are more down-to-earth. So in our area, people in Linqing City are nicknamed "Linqing Monkeys", which means they are very shrewd and can calculate.

The origin of the name Linqing Monkey is the "Xu Dan" in Linqing, which is a bit different. Linqing's food culture is very developed and its manifestations can be seen everywhere. A few kilograms of rice, heated in the stove for a while, expanded with a "bang" sound. Then, let it cool, and stick it together with sugar paste made from sweet potatoes, and form something the size of a table tennis ball, which is "Liaohua", which is a virtual egg (a virtual egg is about thirty grains of rice). This kind of food can be eaten by old men, old women, and people with no teeth. Because it is like a marshmallow. When you put it in your mouth, you move your tongue twice and then it is gone and goes into your stomach. It's a little sweet, and the original aroma of rice is gone. This is another version of Linqing Monkey. It is untrue to say that Linqing people are very vain.

Here, I end with a passage from the article "The Canal Mark of Liaocheng" written by Mr. Zuo Jianming, vice chairman of the Shandong Provincial Writers Association. He wrote, "Linqing people have a nickname called "Linqing Monkey", which makes people feel friendly, alert and lively. Any culture is bound to have its limitations. The inertia and viscosity of market culture are obvious. Blindly Being complacent will inadvertently block the vitality of creation, and easily miss opportunities for development. Therefore, with the advancement of globalization, any regional culture must be open to all rivers and absorb different colors. of other cultures.

It is conceivable that the ancient Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal will be reconnected in the next ten years, and its clear water will give birth to a new canal culture with a more modern flavor. ”