Playing in the Water at Lingxi
The ancients said: "The benevolent love mountains, the wise love water." Water has a spirit of its own. Those who are not good at swimming should be cautious about playing in water. Even those who can swim must understand the nature of water and go along with it; they must not exhaust their strength playing in water, nor venture into dangerous pools or whirlpools, or danger may occur. This is a lesson I have summed up from growing up by the water since childhood. Although I am wary of playing in water, whenever I see beautiful water, I cannot help but experience the joy of playing in it firsthand.…
The ancients said: "The benevolent love mountains, the wise love water." Water has a spirit of its own. Those who are not good at swimming should be cautious about playing in water. Even those who can swim must understand the nature of water and go along with it; they must not exhaust their strength playing in water, nor venture into dangerous pools or whirlpools, or danger may occur. This is a lesson I have summed up from growing up by the water since childhood. Although I am wary of playing in water, whenever I see beautiful water, I cannot help but experience the joy of playing in it firsthand.
One summer day several years ago, I visited the Old Tusi City in Yongshun for the first time. Suddenly seeing the clear, bright waters of the Lingxi River, my eyes lit up, and I especially wanted to take a boat down the river for a drift. After touring the ruins of the Old Tusi City, I came to the willow pool by the Lingxi River, paid 10 yuan to a villager to rent a small rowboat, and rowed back and forth in the pool. As I rowed, because I was standing unsteadily, I accidentally shifted my center of gravity, and the boat suddenly capsized. My whole body fell into the water. Fortunately, I could swim, so I hurriedly righted the boat in the water and then dragged it to the shore. The villager laughed and said, "Your rowing skills aren't up to much. How about this—I'll row for you, and we'll drift down for a bit?"
"Fine, you row. Let's drift down and have some fun!" I said, then climbed into the small boat. With the villager rowing, we drifted straight downstream.
The Lingxi River is not wide, and its current is not strong, but upstream it connects to Diaojing Rock, and downstream it flows into the Mengdong River and then into the Youshui River. In the past, it was an important waterway into and out of the Tusi City. Drifting on this river, gazing at the verdant green mountains on both banks, my thoughts couldn't help but fly back to distant history. According to Ming and Qing historical records, the Yongshun Tusi repeatedly presented nanmu (phoebe) timber to the imperial court. Each delivery amounted to as many as several hundred logs. The nanmu trees of that time were very large, each trunk so thick that several people with outstretched arms could barely encircle it. Most of these nanmu logs must have been felled from the high mountains on both sides of the Lingxi River, then loaded onto boats and transported along this river, into the Youshui, past Changde, into Wuchang, and then overland by post road to the capital. The many palace buildings of the Ming and Qing dynasties gathered famous tribute timber from all over the country, and many of these must have come from Yongshun's tribute! To transport so many thick, large nanmu logs to the capital thousands of miles away must have required enormous manpower and resources. The cruel rule of the Tusi era, which wasted both money and lives, can be seen from this alone. Moreover, from the large nanmu produced at that time, one can also see how primitive and ancient the ecology of the mountain villages around Lingxi must have been several hundred years ago. Such thick, large nanmu is now hard to find here again.
After drifting several li along the Lingxi, I paid the villager a little extra for his trouble and had him row the boat back upstream. I then climbed up the mountain path from downstream and visited the Tusi Hall, which sits halfway up the mountain. This hall was built at the end of the Song dynasty, more than eight hundred years ago. The nanmu building materials in the hall once again left me marveling. The former prosperity of the Old Tusi City in Yongshun can also be confirmed from this building.
On the way back, I couldn't help but think again: why did the Yongshun Tusi, which lasted for eight hundred years, ultimately fall? I think the answer, besides the inevitable trend of the Qing dynasty's policy of replacing hereditary local rulers with centrally appointed officials, is also related to the incompetence of the last Tusi and his loss of the support of the local people. In fact, I have already described the fall of the Yongshun Tusi in detail in my humble work, "The Tusi of Greater Xiangxi." The ancients said: "Water can carry a boat, and it can also capsize it." After studying the rise and fall of the Yongshun Tusi, I believe this saying even more.