At the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains, a river valley lies flat at the foot of the mountain. Taniguchi is piled with stones, and the river is very thin. This valley is an ancient meridian.
The ancient road was built in the Warring States period, and the word "meridian" originated from the Western Han Dynasty. The child is due north and due south in the afternoon. When the Western Han Dynasty was building Chang 'an, it started from the meridian valley at the southern end of the central axis. The ancient road starts from Woods Town, Chang 'an District, passes through Qinling Mountains and reaches Woods Town, Xixiang, Hanzhong, with a total length of more than 300 kilometers. It is one of the important roads leading to Hanzhong and Bashu.
In the Tang Dynasty, because Yang Guifei liked Bashu litchi, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty ordered someone to build a road from Fuling, Sichuan to Chang 'an. This is how the litchi from Fuling arrived in Chang 'an in seven days and seven nights. Countless people died along the way. As Du Mu wrote in his poem: "Chang 'an looks back at the embroidered pile, and the top of the mountain opens a thousand times. "Riding the world of mortals and laughing, who knows that it is litchi." So the ancient road is also called litchi road.
Up to now, many historical sites have been preserved on the ancient meridian road, such as plank road, cliff stone tablet in Tang Dynasty, Zuogong Bridge, Guaier Cliff and other ancient sites. Only from Woods town to Jiangkou town in Ningshan, there are more than ten sites left.
At this time, the ancient road is misty and rainy, and the dusk is deep, just like the ancient beacon smoke, like the sound of hooves. When you look at it, there is no one in front, only clouds are lingering on the side of the mountain, and the peaks are looming. Mei Ziqing and I walked slowly up the mountain, holding a flower umbrella and stepping on the cement road in the valley.
Two days ago, Mei Ziqing came to the ancient city from Nanchang. She is my literary friend, an elegant woman, who likes calligraphy and is interested in classical literature. She visited this ancient city a few years ago. This time, she mainly visited the forest of steles and Baoji Bronze Museum, and also wanted to climb Mount Zhongnan. She said that she always yearned for Zhong Nanshan.
Zhong Nanshan, also known as Nanshan Mountain and Taiyi Mountain, is one of the cradles of Taoism and a part of the Qinling Mountains, stretching 65,438+000 kilometers from Meixian County in Baoji to Lantian County in Xi. The peaks are green and the scenery is beautiful. It is more convenient to climb the Qinling Mountains from Ziwuling. Mei Ziqing said that the guests are at home and all listen to the arrangement of the elder sister. I invited her to the mountain on Sunday.
Who knows, the weather is not beautiful, it began to rain from the early morning of Sunday, and it was still dripping until the early morning. The drizzle is like a needle, falling rapidly from the air, and the ground is watery. Climbing a mountain is the most taboo to rain, because it is not safe. I can make an appointment with Mei Ziqing. Besides, she will train next week and can only go into the mountains today. I hope it doesn't rain in the mountains. After breakfast, I went out to meet Mei Ziqing.
two
More than two hours later, we arrived in Woods town. When we got off the bus, it was still raining, and we walked into Beidoujiao Village in the rain. The village in the rain is quiet and depressing, and no one can be seen. Only the Chinese rose at the door and the pomegranate flowers on the tree bloom in the rain, adding a touch of bright color to the village.
Out of the village, we took a concrete road. This road goes all the way to Ziwuyu. On the right side of the road are gardens and pavilions, and on the left are orchards. The orchard is full of fruits, and red and yellow Xinger and green peaches are swaying in the rain. Except cherries. When I came last week, red cherries were still covered with branches. Now, there is no trace.
Sister Rose, look at that! Ha ha! I followed her hand, and a red apricot happily leaned out of the wall, as if waiting for my lover to pick it. When I turned around, I saw a bunch of small peaches standing upright, lying like a row of pigs, so cute. Mei Ziqing, Xiao Maotao, look at Xiao Maotao! Sister Rose, let me take a picture! Two women in their 500 s, holding mobile phones, walked and photographed cheerfully.
After a while, we came to the meridian compound. The courtyard here is deep, the bamboo forest is swaying, quiet and beautiful. A few years ago, a row of three-story foreign small buildings stood out in a farm yard. That is a villa built privately by some powerful people. Not long ago, the government ordered the return of the pure land at the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains and forcibly demolished these villas.
Unconsciously, we came to Meiyukou. Woods Valley, known as Woods Valley and Woods Road in ancient times, is one of the 72 valleys in Qinling Mountains, which is more than 40 kilometers away from the urban area of Xi, with convenient transportation. I have been here many times, and every time I come, Meiyukou is as lively as a market. Cars come and go, the whistle, the noise of people, the shouts of food stalls and the cries of mountain products are integrated. Nowadays, it is sparsely populated and very depressed.
At that time, the traffic on the mountain road was heavy and difficult. We walked along a path to the mountain in front of Meiyukou, and it took only 40 minutes to climb the Manjusri Bodhisattva Temple in Xiaowutai Mountain. Standing on the platform of Manjusri Hall, looking up, the blue sky is close at hand and white clouds are floating overhead. Looking south, the Qinling Mountains meander; Overlooking the north, Chang 'an City is shrouded in clouds. Go out of Manjusri Hall, pass through the Five Bodhisattvas Hall, descend, enter Qiliping Village, and pass through Qiliping to Jin Xian Guanshan.
In late autumn, after climbing Xiaowutai Mountain, we left the Bodhisattva Hall and crossed Wudaoliang to the south. Climb to the mountain ridge, and look around, the forests of the peaks and hills are all dyed, like oil paintings hanging under the blue sky, enchanting and magnificent. But I haven't climbed Xiaowutai Mountain since my leg was injured, and crossing five beams has become a dream.
three
500 meters in front of Gukou, there is a double-deck arch bridge across the meridian valley, which is Zuogong Bridge. It is recorded on the stone tablet of the ancient road that when Zuo was the governor of Shaanxi in the Qing Dynasty, the buildings along the ancient road were repaired, including three bridges. This is called Toudao Bridge. Walking past the arch bridge, there is a temple beside the mountain. The temple is filled with smoke and is dedicated to the portrait of the old man Zuo.
Get off the left bridge and we will walk slowly on the road. Twenty minutes later, we came to Jin Xian to see the memorial archway. Jinxian concept was founded in the Western Han Dynasty, located on the main peak of Woods. At that time, it was called Xuandu Beach, and the site was on the top of the mountain next to it, which was used by the emperor to worship heaven and celebrate his birthday. Subsequently, the hermits in the mountains built some Taoist temples and scattered them around the altar. In the Tang Dynasty, Princess Xining, the daughter of Tang Ruizong, came to this temple, which was later renamed Princess Jin Xian, calling this scene Meridian Jin Xian. In Song Dynasty, it was renamed Meridian Jin Xian. Since then, Taoist incense has flourished until it reached its peak in the Ming Dynasty.
Jinxian Temple is a Taoist quanzhen Taoist view and the ancestral home of Taoism in South Korea. It is recorded in Continued Fairy Turn that Silla Ren Jin was able to study in Chang 'an during the prosperous Tang Dynasty. After he became a scholar of Bingong, he did not seek a career and lived in seclusion in the Meridian Valley of Zhong Nanshan. I only went back to China once during my life as a monk. After I came back, I went to Meridian Valley to concentrate on monasticism and eventually became an immortal. At the north gate of Meridian Valley, stands a Silla Gold Cliff Monument. The front of the inscription is engraved with Du Fu's poem, describing that Yuan Yi, a famous Taoist, made friends with Du Fu and Li Bai and once lived in seclusion in Zhong Nanshan. The second half of the inscription is mainly engraved with Jin Keji's biography. It also shows that Silla Jin Keji was the first person to spread Taoism to South Korea.
In 1950s, Xifeng Highway was built to the west of Ziwuling, and the exit of the ancient road was moved to Fengyukou. Coupled with years of mountain torrents, the meridian rain road is sparsely populated and deserted, and a large number of temples and Taoist temples built in the Tang Dynasty are abandoned. By the 1960s, the Jin Xian View and the Du Xuan Altar had disappeared. The present Jin Xian Temple was rebuilt by the local people and government in 2004.
Usually tourists shuttle in front of the gateway archway, with steep rocks on both sides and towering peaks. Today, there is no one here. In the misty rain, the mountain peaks are hazy, and the small Wutai Mountain in the east is like a castle in the clouds, ethereal and ethereal, as if entering a fairyland.
Walk past the Jin Xian archway, and then walk more than 200 meters, which is the Guaier Cliff. On the Guaier Cliff stands a big stone with three scarlet letters "Jin Xian Guan" written on it, and the small print next to it is Korean. On the back of the stone, it says "The land in the south will be blessed". This is Jinxian Mountain.
Going forward from Guail Cliff, the valley narrows. There is a winding dirt road above the valley. Go straight along this dirt road and you will arrive at Qiliping Village. Starting from Qiliping Mountain, you can cross Xiaowutai Mountain or Wudaoliang.
four
Near noon, the rain is still falling, the mountain peaks are steep, the water in the valley is fast, and the soil on the dirt road spreads. This weather is not suitable for mountain climbing, so Mei Ziqing and I have to go home. When I arrived at the Meiyukou of Woods, I turned my head. The valley is foggy and lifeless, like an old man who has experienced many vicissitudes, telling people about its past, its rise and fall, and it has experienced more than two thousand years of wind, frost, rain and snow.
Every time I go to the meridian rain, I always come and go in a hurry. I have to hurry up and down the mountain. I have never slowed down like today, observed it carefully, understood its past, and always regarded it as a leisure place. Until today, I didn't know that it not only has a long history, but also has a rich cultural background, which shocked me. I am also ashamed of my ignorance. As a Chang 'an person, I know too little. If you want to know it thoroughly, you must explore it carefully.
At that time, the meridian valley turned from prosperity to decline, which was the progress of society and the development of human civilization; Today, the meridian valley has turned from decline to prosperity, which is the result of reform and opening up and the embodiment of modern civilization. In recent years, the country has developed the Woods Valley, which not only makes the land rich, but also breaks its tranquility. Every holiday, on the way from Beidoujiao to Ziwuyu, cars are one after another, and people are one after another. All the way is a farmhouse and a parking lot. Three years ago, there was a wheat wave at the entrance of the village. Now, the wheat fields are almost extinct. Now, a cement road has been built from Ziwuyu to Jinxianguan. There are also parking lots and farmhouses along the road, and cars can always drive to Guaer Cliff.
In the end, this blessed land in the south is not only rich in cultural heritage, but also rich in products, including rare game, exotic flowers and herbs, and more than 200 kinds of Chinese herbal medicines. It really benefits people here. However, once the ecology of the blessed land is destroyed, I wonder if people can still enjoy its blessings.