[Tongren four-day tour route] I crossed Qian Shan Wanshui just to see you washing clothes in the river.

Author: Ying Zhigang

In Shiqian County in eastern Guizhou, there is a high mountain called Foding Mountain, which was once a Buddhist holy place in eastern Guizhou, with the same name as Fan Jingshan.

There is an ancient village called Yaoshang at the foot of the mountain. There is a cliff stone in the middle of the village. Two big trees are intertwined and have grown in the gap for hundreds of years.

Because of an ancient and beautiful legend, this landscape is called the seas run dry and the rocks crumble.

It is said that men and women who really love each other come to pray under the tree, they will be blessed by the gods and will hold hands with their sons to grow old together.

There is an ancient and romantic people living here, called the Gelao people.

The folk song "Sister Ai Washing Clothes in the River", which once swept the country, originated from this.

Sister went down to the river to wash clothes, and the water splashed on Lang.

All love will not come easily.

There was a beautiful girl named Zhu Jin at that time. Although she is a rich girl, she often changes into a maid's clothes and goes to the river to wash clothes because she falls in love with the woodcutter.

/kloc-at the age of 0/6, Zhu Jin was betrothed by his family to the son of a judge. In desperation, she agreed with Chai Lang to escape, but was caught by officers and men halfway.

The county magistrate ordered the woodcutter to be tied to a stone, pushed into the water and drowned, and finally became a big tree on the river bank.

The aggrieved Zhu Jin came to the river every day, singing poems and love songs to the tree while washing clothes, and pouring out the suffering of lovesickness.

God thinks that these two lovers, after Kim's death, also turned her into a tree and stayed with her lover forever.

Gelao people can sing and dance, but they don't have their own writing. Those beautiful legends are passed down from generation to generation through singing.

They sing songs about history, heroes and love.

Like a person, the Gelao people never bury it in their hearts. They express their love with straightforward and rough songs.

Sitting in the flower window of the diaojiao building, a girl in love, watching the lovers pass by downstairs, will sing: Ma Sangshu's hair is moss, and the arrival of Lang will reduce her sister's bad or bad (gelao language, probably corn). My sister hid the soles of Xiulou and gave them to Lang after receiving low or bad shoes.

If the lover is interested, pick it up and sing: "Mulberry is covered with moss and low yellow." Put on your shoes, and Qiu Lai will plant low-cut shoes for my sister.

The gene of yearning for and pursuing beautiful love has been deeply rooted in the blood of the Gelao people.

In the depths of the stockade, I met an aunt who was wrapping the yellow dam. She used to work in the city, so she has seen the world.

She said that women in their fifties will not avoid love. You city people hesitate to talk about anyone, and your elders have to date each other. Young people, girls and boys here all have a pair of eyes. Just sing a song.

I asked my aunt to sing a song, and she cleared her throat and opened her mouth. Three fir trees are as long as each other. Cut a fir, set up a wing, set up a flower window, and look at Lang.

Does it taste good? After singing, the aunt continued to bow her head with a smile, with a shy cloud on her face, perhaps remembering her heart jumping deer at that time.

I just stood for a while. Whisper, aunt, you are so funny.

The Gelao people respect bamboo, and bamboo is planted in every yard.

It is not easy to make a living in the mountains, but the Gelao people have never left the mountains for generations, because they are convinced that they are descendants of the bamboo king and have an indomitable character like bamboo.

They sing when they are happy, sing when they are unhappy, sing and dance when they have a good harvest, and express their dissatisfaction with songs when they are oppressed.

However, for thousands of years, this nation has never bowed in the face of suffering.

Simple and sincere feelings have shaped a sentient and righteous nation.

The most solemn activity of the Gelao people at the foot of Foding Mountain every year is the Bird Worship Festival on the first day of February.

According to legend, a long time ago, the local Gelao people suffered a plague, and all the people in the stockade were infected and died one after another.

Seeing that the village was about to fall into disaster, on the first day of February, a vulture brought a fairy grass and saved it.

Entering the village entrance, there is an eagle carved with Ganoderma lucidum with a gourd in its mouth. I think this is the eagle that saved the whole stockade.

The ganoderma lucidum in my mouth must be the fairy grass that saved my life, but where is the gourd?

The old man in the stockade said that every time the village was in danger, the condor would appear.

Legend has it that after the plague, a flash flood almost destroyed the stockade, or vultures caught a gourd and threw it into the monstrous flood to help villagers escape the disaster.

Gelao people fear the gods and know how to be grateful to the world.

On the first day of February, clansmen will clean ancestral halls and open-air places, and invite Buddhists, Taoist groups or troupes to worship and entertain gods and hold a bird worship festival.

On the day of the sacrifice, people will scramble to put Bazin and other foods on the trees on the mountain for the birds to eat, in order to repay God's bird for saving his life.

Foding Mountain and Yaogu Village at the foot of the mountain are now famous tourist attractions.

The Gelao people, relying on mountains to eat, also began to buy and sell tourism, opening restaurants, homestays and rehabilitation centers.

That day, when I arrived, it was lunch time. I bought some yellow rice cakes from outside and strolled to a nearby restaurant to have a rest.

The proprietress came to say hello. Seeing that I didn't need to eat, she cheerfully pointed to the water cooler next to me. There was ice water in it, so she drank it backwards and turned to go to work.

This is a nation that knows how to be grateful and has emotional feelings about life.

From Pagoda of Six Harmonies in the village to Liuhe Gate in the activity square, the harmony of this nation is reflected everywhere.

Gelao people advocate harmony, eating Liuhe banquet, stepping on Liuhe Bridge, singing and dancing, drinking tea and tasting wine, all of which show the word harmony.

Local folklore experts told me that Liuhe means harmony between husband and wife, kindness from parents, harmony in the neighborhood, harmony in the family, beautiful environment and social harmony.

Gelao people never speak ill of others and are not greedy for nature. Liuhe has penetrated into their bone marrow and incorporated their blood genes in harmony with the world.

Foding Mountain and Yaogu Village

Foding Mountain, located on the southwest edge of Shiqian County, is the second highest peak in eastern Guizhou after Fan Jingshan. Like Fanjing Mountain, it used to be a Buddhist holy land in eastern Guizhou, and Foding Mountain Nature Reserve is a well-preserved evergreen broad-leaved forest in the middle subtropical zone except Fanjing Mountain National Nature Reserve. On 20 14 12 19, Foding Mountain was promoted to a national nature reserve.

Yaogu Village at the foot of the mountain is home to more than 2,000 Gelao people, and it is a village with strong Gelao national culture. The village is surrounded by lush virgin forests, quiet and elegant, green mountains and green waters, birds and flowers. Baoxi River passes through the village, and the stream is cool. The folk customs on both sides of the strait are simple and the pastoral scenery is beautiful.

Unique diaojiao building, lattice window, lotus pond and stone alley are unforgettable. Every autumn harvest season, the eaves of every household are covered with golden corn and red pepper, and the scene of harvest is fascinating.

Recommended food

Immortal tofu

Immortal tofu is made by kneading the juice of Pterocarya stenoptera leaves and freezing it. Its shape is like jelly, its color is like jade, and its entrance has a faint tea fragrance. It has the effects of annealing, cooling and detoxification. It is suitable for eating in summer, and can prevent and treat various diseases caused by hepatitis and lung heat.

Ying Zhigang: Ningbo, Zhejiang.

He has worked in the media for 20 years. He used to be a reporter of China Economic Weekly, director of the news center of People's Daily Sunan Channel, and editor-in-chief of China Daily Jiangsu Channel. Suzhou Cai Bo Zhongchuang Media Co., Ltd. was established on 20 15.

Travelers: Le Tu inspired travelers (the annual image spokesperson of CCTV), fellow travelers, donkey mom travelers, Tuniu players, chinese national geography network columnists, etc.

Travelers: published in Days of Beauty as Clouds, Supreme Mission, Sudden Nostalgia, Tender Scattered, etc.