Han jichen
The old friend said goodbye to the west and hugged the yellow crane.
Fireworks fell in Yangzhou in March.
Lonely sails, distant shadows, blue sky,
Only the Yangtze River flows in the sky.
This poem, which has been sung through the ages, is the true feelings of Li Bai, a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty, when he bid farewell to his friend Meng Haoran at the Yellow Crane Tower. Now people still feel deeply when singing it.
Yellow Crane Tower, Yueyang Tower in Yueyang and Wangtengting Pavilion in Nanchang are also called the three famous buildings in the south of the Yangtze River. The original site is the nose of Huang Qi, Sheshan, Wuchang, and it is said that it was built in the second year of the Three Kingdoms (AD 223). In fact, the three countries built buildings on this river for military needs, and later it gradually evolved into a human landscape. After 1700 years of repeated construction and destruction, it was finally destroyed by a fire in the tenth year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (1884). It can be said that the Yellow Crane Tower is a landmark building in Wuhan. Celebrities of past dynasties, such as Cui Hao, Li Bai, Bai Juyi, Jia Dao, Su Dongpo, Lu You, Fan Chengda, Huang Zunxian, etc., all came here to chant and left many bold and exciting poems.
One of the most famous poets is Cui Hao, a poet in the Tang Dynasty: "In ancient times, there was a yellow crane to carry saints to heaven, but now there is no yellow crane tower. The yellow crane never revisited earth, there have been no long white clouds for thousands of years. Every tree in Hanyang has become clear due to sunlight, and Nautilus Island is covered with sweet grass. But I looked home, the twilight was getting thicker, and the river waves were filled with sad mist. " The poem breaks through time and space, exerts imagination, and profoundly expresses the author's melancholy and nostalgia for the "Yellow Crane" in this Millennium building. It is said that Li Bai, who was later called "Poet Fairy", also boarded the Yellow Crane Tower. He treats Chutian with an open mind and is full of poetry. When he was about to write a poem about "Yellow Crane Tower", he saw Cui Hao's poem "Yellow Crane Tower" inscribed on the wall. He was deeply moved and ashamed after reading it, so he had to say helplessly, "There is a scene in front of him, and Cui Hao's poems are on it." This wonderful legend that "Cui Hao wrote a poem and Li Bai stopped writing" made the Yellow Crane Tower famous all over the world, from a natural landscape to a famous historical and cultural landscape.
So, where did the "Yellow Crane" that people sang heartily come from? Is there really such a magical yellow crane in nature? There is still a lot of profound knowledge in it!
Where did the "Yellow Crane" come from?
Scholars have conducted long-term and in-depth textual research, and as a result, two theories have been put forward. Some scholars believe that "Yellow Crane" should be a misinformation of "Huanggu", and the ancient Yellow Crane Tower should be renamed as "Huangque Tower".
Scholars who advocate this "misinformation" theory mainly have two reasons. One reason is that there is no species of yellow crane in nature. We know that there are many kinds of cranes, including 15 species in the world, most of which belong to rare birds, and 9 species in Asia. These nine species are distributed in China, such as white-headed crane, red-crowned crane, white-naped crane, gray crane, black-necked crane, white crane, red-necked crane and white feather crane. Most of them belong to a kind of protected birds, especially the red-necked crane, which is a rare bird on the verge of extinction, with only 10 in nature. Among cranes in the world, zoologists have never found "yellow crane", but in Jianghan area, only "gray crane" is common.
So how did the name of the Yellow Crane Tower come from? These scholars believe that the original "yellow crane" came from "yellow stork". At the beginning of the article, it is said that there is a place called "Huanghuangji" on Wuchang Snake Mountain, and the building above should naturally be called "Huanghuanglou", just like Yueyang Tower is located in Yueyang. People ask curiously: What kind of bird is the yellow magpie? The answer is: it is a beautiful swan. Ding Sheng in the Qing Dynasty said: "Storks are like cranes, yellow and white, and fly very high-famous swans." "Ci Yuan" introduced: "The stork, the name of waterfowl, is as big as a wild goose, with a white body, a long neck and a tumor at the root of its mouth, which is red and yellow, so it is also called the yellow stork. Commonly known as swans. " The Fauna of China also pointed out: "The ancient mandarin fish is the swan of today."
It turns out that "oriole" is an ordinary swan! In the ancient literature of China, crane and stork are two common words. "Yuan He Zhi" pointed out: "The Yellow Crane Tower is located at the head of Huangli, Sheshan, Wuhan, and is named Yellow Crane Tower because it is a building." Qing Gu Zuyu's Minutes of Reading Historical Records also recorded: "Yellow Heshan, a Huanggu Mountain." These historical materials can prove that ancient cranes and mandarin fish are examples of mutual universality. Therefore, the "Yellow Tiger Tower" gradually evolved into the "Yellow Crane Tower", which has been passed down to this day. This is the second main reason for advocating "misinformation" by scholars.
The mysterious legend of "crane"
However, most scholars do not agree with the statement of "misinformation". They think that "Yellow Crane" is a crane on which immortals ride, and nothing in the world adds mystery. Ancient emperors used yellow as the color of wealth and dignity, which was the honor of five colors. A beautiful legend is recorded in the history book Cosmic Tale: During the Three Kingdoms period, there was a fairy named Fei Mian who often "traveled here by yellow crane, hence the name Yellow Crane Tower." There is also a beautiful legend. According to Lu, the original site of the Yellow Crane Tower was a small hotel in Xinkai, and Xin was a hardworking and kind person. Once, before leaving, an old Taoist drew a "Yellow Crane" on the wall to thank her for a thousand cups, and told this magical yellow crane that it could come down and dance for fun. Whenever the hotel opens, the graceful yellow crane comes down to sing loudly and dance gracefully. Since then, the hotel has been full of guests and the business is very prosperous. 10 years later, the old monk came back and played with a flute. Under the eyes of the public, the Taoist priest boarded the yellow crane and went straight to the sky. Xin is hardworking and kind. In memory of the immortal who helped her get rich, she built a building on her land, named Yellow Crane Tower.
According to historical records, China began to domesticate cranes as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, and the name of "Yellow Crane Tower" was recorded in the Three Kingdoms period, which shows that the history of the Yellow Crane Tower is very long. Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, Taoism has prevailed, and cranes have accompanied immortals to become cranes, named "Penglai Feather", which is of great value and has become valuable gifts given by rulers. The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of cranes, which was worth a hundred times. Literati and writers compete for praise, so that "domestic cranes crow at home". At that time, it was really possible to have a scene of "standing out from the crowd". At this time, the graceful crane is second only to the legendary phoenix. China has a vast territory, diverse climate, dotted rivers and lakes, and a large area of swamps and wetlands, which are all conditions that cranes like to see and hear, so China has become the country with the largest number of cranes in the world. Many scholars formally put forward the rare bird red-crowned crane as China's "national bird".
Indeed, in nature, cranes have a natural posture, light steps and long life. They are the oldest birds and can live over 80 years old! It is a symbol of longevity and good luck. People often name it "Happy Birthday", "Happy Age" and "Happy New Year", which means wishing health and longevity. Crane is a migratory bird with strong flying ability. In spring and autumn, you can migrate thousands of miles from north to south and jump over the highest mountain in the world. Some climbers witnessed the spectacular sight of cranes flying over the Himalayas. Crane is also a symbol of "love and loyalty", because cranes are monogamous birds. Once spouses live together, they live in pairs, dance together, and their spouses die and live alone. In addition, because the Tang poem "Yellow Crane will never come to the soil again" has a wide spread and profound meaning, people later extended "No Yellow Crane", which will never reappear.
In addition, some zoologists pointed out that there were more than 30 kinds of cranes on the ancient earth after archaeological discoveries. Later, due to environmental changes, more than half of crane species became extinct. This extinct crane species has only left skeleton fossils, and no one can tell whether there is a yellow crane in it. Moreover, there will be species variation in ancient times, and it is very likely that a yellow feather "yellow crane" will occasionally appear. Ancient literati saw or heard the rare yellow crane, and thought it was not a bird on earth, plus rich imagination. It is also naturally associated with the God of Heaven, and is called a crane. Of course, this statement is only a scientific hypothesis, because no one can prove it at present.
Reproduce "Crane Around the Yellow Crane Tower"
In the past, the yellow crane carried saints to heaven, but now only the yellow crane tower is left. The yellow crane does not return to the world, and the white clouds will never fly. The ancient Yellow Crane Tower has been restored, welcoming Chinese and foreign tourists with its beautiful legends and magnificent buildings. The reconstructed Yellow Crane Tower is located in Sheshanfengling, about 1 km away from the former site. * * * Five floors, 50.4 meters high, pyramid-shaped roof, layers of cornices, shaped like a whole. The main building is surrounded by victory tower, stele gallery, mountain gate and other buildings. The whole building has a unique national style. There is a statue of a yellow crane in front of the building, with its neck stretched out and its head held high, which aroused the imagination of tourists!
The Yellow Crane Tower has five floors and different styles. The ground floor is a large and spacious hall, with caissons as high as 10 meters in the middle. There is a huge ceramic mural of "White Clouds and Yellow Crane" on the front wall, and 7-meter-long couplets are hung on the columns on both sides: "The western heaven is refreshing, and the clouds sweep away the world; The river of no return, the waves wash away all the ancient and modern worries. " . On the front wall of the lobby on the second floor, the Yellow Crane Tower written by Yan in the Tang Dynasty is engraved, which describes the rise and fall of the Yellow Crane Tower and anecdotes of celebrities. There are two murals on both sides of Lou Ji, one is "Sun Quan built a city", which vividly illustrates the birth history of the Yellow Crane Tower and Wuchang City; The other is Zhou Yu's Banquet, which reflects the activities of celebrities from the Three Kingdoms in the Yellow Crane Tower. The murals in the lobby on the third floor are "Xiu Xiang paintings" by celebrities in Tang and Song Dynasties and their famous sentences chanting the Yellow Crane Tower. The hall on the fourth floor is divided into several small halls with screens, and contemporary celebrity calligraphy and painting are built in. On the top floor, there are exquisite long scrolls of murals, such as the Map of the Yangtze River.
Recently, it was reported that the beautiful legend of cranes circling the "Yellow Crane Tower" will soon come true in Sheshan, Wuchang! The relevant departments are implementing a "Millennium Crane Return" plan to attract 30 red-crowned cranes to add color to this famous building. The "Millennium Crane Return" project will introduce the national first-class protected animal red-crowned crane from Heilongjiang to replace the legendary yellow crane (because no one can find the "yellow crane"). After years of domestication, these rare red-crowned cranes can understand the instructions of bird trainers and dance. Every morning and afternoon, the red-crowned crane will be arranged to take off from the archway in the north of the Yellow Crane Tower and fly around it.