In the upper reaches of the Three Gorges reservoir area in the north of Fuling, Chongqing, there is a very famous landscape, that is, Baiheliang. Baiheliang is a natural giant Liang Shi with a length of about1.6m and a width of about1.6m.. It is also the only national key cultural relics protection unit in the Three Gorges cultural relics landscape, and is called "the only well-preserved ancient hydrological station in the world" by UNESCO.
Baiheliang has become one of the important tourist attractions. China has built an underwater Baiheliang Museum under the Yangtze River with Baiheliang as the center. Located at a depth of 40 meters underwater, the museum aims to protect the Baiheliang site, display its cultural characteristics and preserve the historical sites carved on Baiheliang.
But today we are going to talk about1997 165438+18. Before the closure of the Three Gorges, Baiheliang and Baiheliang * * inscriptions165, * * * more than 30,000 words, and Shiyu18.
As mentioned earlier, there are two stone fish on the White Crane Beam. Appraised by relevant experts, the stone fish is a masterpiece of ancient masons, with vivid image and full shape, and its production date should be Tang Dynasty. In addition, there are two stone fish on the other side of Baiheliang, but the modeling style is quite different from the former. Finally, experts found that these two stone fish were carved in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, which was hundreds of years different from the stone fish in the Tang Dynasty.
But interestingly, although the stone fish on both sides have different styles, they all have one thing in common, that is, their fish eyes are all on a horizontal line. Even more amazing, the local people also found that in the dry season of alternating spring and summer, once the water level of the Yangtze River is equal to that of the fish eye, that is, when the upper part of the fish emerges from the water, the crops in the coming year will grow well and get a bumper harvest. As a result, there are also proverbs and legends in the local area that "the stone fish comes out of the water to indicate a good year".
No one knows the origin of the phrase "Stone fish comes out of the water, and the local people pass it on by word of mouth, and only the elders know the truth". Archaeologists have specially studied and consulted a large number of ancient books to find the exact source of the proverb "Stone fish come out of water".
As the saying goes, "many good things grind", in the vast historical records, we did find relevant records. From the time axis, the earliest ancient book that records "Stone Fish Out of the Water" is an inscription by Xie Changyu, which reads: "According to Zuo Duya and Xie Changyu, there are two stone fish in the ancient book of Liang Shi, one in the middle of the river and the other in the water ... There is a salty cloud: the river recedes, and the stone fish sees it, that is, it is full of years." In other words, Xie Changyu and others happened to find that the stone fish was out of water and reported it to the local presiding judge. Through on-the-spot investigation and inquest, the presiding judge found that what he said was true, thus confirming the authenticity of the ancient record that "stone fish meet each other, and they are old enough."
Some readers will be curious at this time. Is the saying that "stone fish come out of water in good years" a superstition of the ancients or has some scientific truth? In fact, from a scientific point of view, "stone fish out of water" does have certain positive significance for agricultural production. As we all know, the growth of crops depends on hydrological conditions, and the amount of water used to irrigate crops should not be too much or too little. Therefore, in the event of drought and flood, it is possible to greatly reduce crop production.
The amount of water comes from the water level of the local river. The high water level leads to the great flood in the coming year, and the low water level leads to the great drought in the coming year. The position of the stone fish on Baiheliang is just above the "dividing line between drought and flood". Once the stone fish emerges from the water in the dry season, it means that there will be a good harvest in the coming year, which is the same principle as the "draft zero" marking method used by modern hydrological stations.
China has always been a big agricultural country. In this ancient land, our ancestors summed up many valuable experiences in the long process of production and life. These are the crystallization of the hard work and wisdom of the ancients, which are worth inheriting and carrying forward by future generations.