鎮(zhèn)江：靜水流深

ZHENJIANG STILL WATER SURFACE WITH DEEP UNDERCURRENT

At the cross point of the Yangtze River: a major river runs all the way from the West to the East; and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal: a man-made miracle which made economic communication between the South and the North possible, you will fi nd Zhenjiang. The unique geographic location gave rise to this city more than 3000 years ago. It is not only a cross point of two signif i cant rivers, but also a city to help complementing the South and theNorth, the East and the West culturally and economically.

Text by Lan Xiaojiang Translation by Tao Wenjia Photos by ZengJian & CFP

采訪支持：鎮(zhèn)江市旅游發(fā)展委員會(huì) & 鎮(zhèn)江市創(chuàng)業(yè)精英聯(lián)合會(huì)

橫貫東西的中華母親河——長(zhǎng)江，帶動(dòng)南北經(jīng)濟(jì)流通的人工奇跡——京杭大運(yùn)河，它們的交匯處就在——鎮(zhèn)江。

特殊的地理位置，賦予了鎮(zhèn)江特別的聲名和地位。無(wú)論是在多個(gè)朝代的歷史進(jìn)程中，還是在典籍經(jīng)典、詩(shī)詞書(shū)畫(huà)、民間傳說(shuō)里，要找到鎮(zhèn)江，都不是件難事。然而，即使聲名遠(yuǎn)播，它卻始終像一位低調(diào)謙和的大家閨秀，帶著江南的典雅秀氣，藏著北方的質(zhì)樸大方，安靜地站立在千年江山之間，恬然地生長(zhǎng)于人間煙火之中。

Maoshan Mountain (photos by Wang Zhenrong)茅山風(fēng)光（王鎮(zhèn)容 攝）

1. Xijin Ferry, which has witnessed the development of harbor economy in Zhenjiang, has a lifespan of approximately 2000 years, representing the geographical importance of the city and the styles of the prosperous business culture.西津渡是鎮(zhèn)江港口經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展的實(shí)物見(jiàn)證，有近兩千年的積淀，體現(xiàn)著鎮(zhèn)江地處要塞，商旅繁榮的風(fēng)貌。

If you don't visit Zhenjiang personally, it will be very diff i cult to understand how such a small city can carry so much history, attract so many distingushed personages, and produce so many stories.

At night, when you walk in the Ancient Xijin Ferry Street, the famous Southern mist surrounds you after rain.

Under your feet, there is the green stone paved road that nobody knows when it was built. By chances, you see a stone tower from the Yuan Dynasties at a corner. And at the next corner, you will come across a Late Qing building. Several stone doors on a slope have inscriptions of famous people from different periods of time, while the small ferry street in the West still keeps its Tang-Song style. Just when you are so immersed in this historical scene, maybe imagining the once prosperous ferry, you take another turn, and two old ladies are singing Yangzhou opera when the street store owner is playing Erhu for them. In another store nearby, a man with long beard and long gown is taking a nap. The sign outside the store reads “plum temple ancient Zheng”. At the foot of the hill, there is an ancient stage surrounded by a colonial building. People drink coffee, tea, and wine there. Outside, on a lamp post, there is a Tang-Dynasty poem about the Xijin Ferry.

This is the charm of Zhenjiang. People live in history, and history is revitalized through life. This city has history, but it's not weighty; the city has culture but it is from the people. You can fi nd the best Buddhist and Daoist temples here. Books of science and arts such as "The Dream Creek Essays" and "The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons" were written here. Folklore has been passed down for generations: "The White Snake and Xu Xian", "Dong Yong and the 7th Goddess" and "The Butterf l y Lovers".

People in Zhenjiang say that their city has authentic mountains and rivers which attract poets, rich people and reputable elites. All of the four classical novels in China mention Zhenjiang. Hundreds of famous poems from Tang and Song Dynasties mentioned this city. Nobel Prize winner Pearl Buck call this city her "second hometown". Master Hsing Yun believes that "I wouldn't have become what I am now without Zhenjiang". Soong Mei-lin said that her trip to Zhenjiang was "hard to forget". History and Geography brought them to this city, but what made them stay, is the inclusiveness and humbleness of the city.

2. Zhenjiang embraces five Chinese religions . Its religious culture has an essential influence at home and abroad.鎮(zhèn)江的宗教文化在全國(guó)乃至世界都有較大影響。

3. Since the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Zhenjiang has been always a touristi destination with a good reputation and is entitled“ City Forest.從南北朝以來(lái)，鎮(zhèn)江一直是長(zhǎng)江流域久負(fù)盛名的旅游勝地，被北宋書(shū)畫(huà)家米芾稱(chēng)為“城市山林”。

4. The art of Zhenjiang is usually tranquil and natural, full of refined pleasure in daily life. (Disorder Embroidery, by Fang Meilong)鎮(zhèn)江藝術(shù)作品風(fēng)格多恬靜自然，充滿(mǎn)生活雅趣。（《富貴九魚(yú)圖》，亂針繡非遺傳承人方美瓏作品）

如果不親身來(lái)到鎮(zhèn)江，很難理解，這座不大的城市，何以能裝得下那么多歷史，引來(lái)那么多名流，發(fā)生那么多聞名遐邇的故事。

漫步在西津古渡，踩著唐宋以來(lái)多個(gè)朝代鋪成的青石路，你可能在某一個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)角遇到元明的石塔，又在下一個(gè)拐彎看到晚清時(shí)期的樓閣。沿坡而建的門(mén)楣上有歷代名人的題字，西邊的小碼頭街保持著唐宋風(fēng)韻。而當(dāng)你還沉浸在歷史的印跡中，遙想當(dāng)年西津渡人來(lái)貨往的繁盛景象時(shí)，一轉(zhuǎn)角，可能看到兩個(gè)阿姨在老街唱著揚(yáng)劇。而不遠(yuǎn)的另一家鋪?zhàn)永?，一個(gè)留著胡子、穿著長(zhǎng)褂的男人正在閉目養(yǎng)神，他門(mén)口的招牌上寫(xiě)著：梅庵古琴。在另一邊的英式建筑里，有人正在喝著咖啡、茶和酒。它外面的街道燈柱上，印著一首唐代的古詩(shī)。

這就是鎮(zhèn)江的迷人之處。多段歷史在此累積，各種文化得以交融。人活在歷史里，歷史活化于生活中。它有歷史但不沉重，它有文化但不脫離民間。它有代表佛教道教最高水平的寺廟，也誕生了可以代表當(dāng)時(shí)世界最高水平的科學(xué)人物（祖沖之）和科學(xué)成果，它有豐富的文學(xué)底蘊(yùn)，中國(guó)四大名著都提到過(guò)鎮(zhèn)江，唐宋詩(shī)詞里關(guān)于此地詩(shī)篇數(shù)以千計(jì)，也有豐富發(fā)達(dá)的市井商業(yè)百年商鋪；它曾經(jīng)誕生過(guò)代表“十一世紀(jì)科技坐標(biāo)”的《夢(mèng)溪筆談》、文學(xué)理論著作《文心雕龍》，也有代代相傳的民間傳說(shuō)——白娘子與許仙，七仙女與董永，梁山伯與祝英臺(tái)等。以上幾乎每一個(gè)方面，都能讓鎮(zhèn)江在中國(guó)文化史上占有一席之地。

它還是一座地道的山水園林城市。鎮(zhèn)江人說(shuō)，他們的城市有“真山真水”，有如畫(huà)的風(fēng)景，便利的交通，于是吸引著一代代文學(xué)巨匠、達(dá)官貴人來(lái)此定居。蘇東坡曾十一次來(lái)此游歷，諾貝爾文學(xué)獎(jiǎng)獲得者賽珍珠稱(chēng)它為“第二故鄉(xiāng)”，星云大師稱(chēng)“沒(méi)有鎮(zhèn)江就沒(méi)有我”，宋美齡也對(duì)當(dāng)年的鎮(zhèn)江之旅念念不忘……

不可否認(rèn)，南北要沖的地理?xiàng)l件，提供各方文化匯聚的機(jī)遇，而讓它們就此扎根的，卻是這座城市包容并蓄的胸懷，低調(diào)謙和、悠然自得的性格。