Boating on the Youshui
"Chug chug chug..." The motorized sailboat went full speed ahead, roaring joyfully as it pushed forward on the Youshui River. On board sat more than a dozen passengers, most of them young people from Xiangxi Prefecture and various counties attending the Liye Literature Workshop, and another was the famous writer Han Shaogong, invited from Changsha. That morning, the organizers had us take a boat from Liye to tour along the Youshui River. Everyone boarded the boat cheerfully, chatting and laughing all the way. This happened on a spring day twenty years ago...
"Chug chug chug..." The motorized sailboat went full speed ahead, roaring joyfully as it pushed forward on the Youshui River.
On board sat more than a dozen passengers, most of them young people from Xiangxi Prefecture and various counties attending the Liye Literature Workshop, and another was the famous writer Han Shaogong, invited from Changsha. That morning, the organizers had us take a boat from Liye to tour along the Youshui River. Everyone boarded the boat cheerfully, chatting and laughing all the way. This happened on a spring day twenty years ago, and it is still clearly preserved in my memory.
The Youshui is the largest river flowing through Xiangxi. It originates in Xuan'en, Hubei, passes through Laifeng, Youyang, Xiushan, enters Longshan at Liye and Longtou, then reaches Baojing, Yongshun, Guzhang and Yuanling where it joins the Yuan River. Around Liye, the Youshui appears very wide, generally over one hundred meters across. This time we rode a motorized boat upstream. The boatman, Old Qu, wearing a Tujia blue cloth garment and a bamboo hat, was an "old hand" who had run boat gangs on the Youshui before Liberation. Steering the engine with one hand, he said to us: "I've spent my whole life sailing the Youshui. If you want to understand this river, just ask me."
"Great, Master, tell us, were there many boats on the Youshui in the past?" someone asked.
"Many! Much more than now!" the old hand replied at once: "Before there were highways, shipping on this river was very developed! Just our Liye boat gang had over 150 boats. These boats were divided into the Long-Water Gang, Short-Water Gang and Up-Water Gang. The Long-Water Gang went from Liye to Changde and Wuhan, with over 80 boats. The Short-Water Gang went between Baojing, Wangcun, Guzhang and Yuanling, with 25 boats. The Up-Water Gang went between Longtan, Youchou, Houxi in Youyang and Miaoquan, Songlong, Shidi and other market towns in Xiushan, with over 40 boats. I used to run the Up-Water Gang back then."
"What goods did they carry?" someone asked again.
"All kinds of goods," the old man said: "Downstream boats mainly carried tung oil, gallnuts, cowhide, pig bristles, raw lacquer and other local products; upstream boats mainly carried cotton, cotton yarn, cloth, daily necessities and so on."
"Did you sing boat songs on your runs?" Han Shaogong suddenly asked.
"Yes, the one we sang most while sailing was the 'Youshui Ballad'."
"Sing it for us, I want to record your song." Han Shaogong said, extending a small recorder in his hand.
"Alright, I'll sing it for you."
Old Qu then opened his voice and sang:
Three elders, nine caves, eighteen qis,
Seventy-two rocks gather at Shidi.
Four dissolving fish, four dissolving caves,
Yellow pine shrimp are hard to handle;
The shrimp's head is all red;
Twin dissolving side strings wind around the chicken coop.
Huixi Ping, Tongzhu Xi;
Ma Tan must cross through the rock crevice.
Luoyi Sanxi give a shout;
Hua Tan drains to reveal the pond mouth.
Two-finger rock, naturally formed;
Wangcun women are prone to adultery;
The young ones steal with the boss;
The old ones steal with the workers.
Wangcun dock is high and high;
The boss weighs meat in a bowl of soup;
Four liang of meat, half a jin of wine;
Brother eats until drunk;
Eat half, save half;
Eat breakfast by Xiangshui Cave;
After breakfast, carry straw sandals;
Pray for sons and daughters at Laosi Rock.
Gaotou Fork, General Rock;
The boat must cross Wangxiang Terrace;
Jiaochang Ping, Jiaochang Tan;
Chant sutras and pray to Buddha at Shizi Nunnery.
Baojing sits in four directions;
Four big characters on the shore;
Baojing sits at Four Corners Flat,
"Heaven Opens Literary Fortune" is opposite.
This Youshui boat ballad has very long lyrics, covering almost every dock along the river, every rapid and dangerous shoal, and important scenic features and legends. Old Qu sang the ballad sometimes low, sometimes high, sometimes bitter, sometimes humorous and witty, with just the right cadence. Everyone who heard it clapped and cheered.
Thus chatting and singing all the way, the motorized boat soon passed Xiushan Shidi and arrived at the small town of Youchou in Youyang. In the town, everyone strolled and played for a while, then boarded the boat again and returned along the original route to Liye.
On this boat trip on the Youshui, I felt that besides personally experiencing the joy of boating on the Youshui, the greatest gain was hearing the authentic Youshui boat ballad. Because it was precisely by hearing this boat ballad sung by the old boatman that I gained a true understanding and appreciation of the Youshui.