One

  An elderly ancestor who has not become a painting on the wall, nor a memory written in books, but is still giving water and sending food to future generations until today. Do you believe such a strange thing?

  A thousand-year-old fine horse, not becoming a fossil in the mud, nor a sculpture in an ancient tomb, but still wandering around the high slopes of its home to this day, guarding every dawn and night, do you believe such a strange thing?

  Of course it's unbelievable. But then a third question which is extremely similar appeared ——

  A water conservancy project over two thousand years ago, has not become a ruin under the setting sun in the west, nor has it become a puzzle for archaeologists, but is still in charge of the livelihoods of tens of millions of people to this day. Do you believe such a miracle?

  Still can't believe it, but it really happened.

  It is Dujiangyan.

  This is not a big project, but I dare say that putting it in the first line of human civilization's wonders would be completely justified.

  Everyone knows the Great Wall, but in fact, it is more exciting than the Great Wall. The Great Wall is also very great, showing a nation's shocking willpower. However, the actual function of the Great Wall has never been too large, and it has long been abandoned. Dujiangyan is different, with it, the drought-prone Sichuan Plain became a land of abundance, every time the Chinese nation had a major disaster, the land of abundance always provided shelter and nourishment. With it, there were the settlement and longing of wise ministers and generals throughout history, and the ancient poetry of Tang and Song poets entering and leaving Sichuan. To put it closer, with it, China during the Anti-Japanese War had a relatively stable rear.

  It seeps in quietly, extending section by section, and the distance it extends is no shorter than the Great Wall. Or, it has built another Great Wall. And upon checking its history, that famous Great Wall is actually its junior.

  Two

  I went to Dujiangyan before, thinking it was just a water conservancy project and wouldn't have much tourist value. I only wanted to go to Qingcheng Mountain for fun, but had to pass through the county town of Guanxian, so I took the opportunity to take a look. Therefore, when getting off at Guanxian, my heart was lazy and my footsteps were scattered, wandering around on the street, with my mind only thinking about visiting Qingcheng Mountain.

  Seven turns and eight bends, from a simple street to a lush place. The face gradually feels moist, the eyes are clearer, and no one points the way, just instinctively going to a more moist and clearer place.

  Suddenly, the world began to feel somewhat unusual, a faint commotion, a sound that was not yet loud but was certainly going to be extremely loud, filled the air. Like the precursor to an earthquake, like a tsunami about to arrive, like a landslide imminent, a nameless tension suddenly arose throughout the body, and this tension made one hasten to take cover.

  Whether I walked there myself or was drawn in by it, I suddenly found myself standing in front of the Fulong Temple - before my eyes, a torrent surged forward, and the earth trembled.

  Even standing on the rocky beach, I have never felt the charm of water as strongly as here. The sea is a majestic and vast gathering, gathered too much and too deep, endless, making people forget that it is real water, water that can be scooped up and grasped. But the water here is different, not too much to say, but layer upon layer, all spirited and radiant, combined together to compete in rushing power, dancing with the noise of life.

  This competition is extremely regular, running and running, encountering the dividing dike in the middle of the river, brushing aside and cutting into two, rushing out, two stocks of water respectively hitting a strong dam, immediately turning around and changing direction, then hitting another strong dam again, and then adjusting according to the instructions of the dam builders...

  Perhaps the water flow was a bit annoyed at its own gentleness, suddenly becoming wild and violent, rolling and roaring loudly. But the more it did so, the more it revealed an even more magnificent gentleness. Even as it roared to the point of taking one's breath away, not a single drop of water splashed out of place.

  Water is here, having suffered enough hardships and also made a big splash, just like a large group of marathon runners who have overcome various obstacles, dedicating the strongest life to order, to expectation, and to public gaze.

  Watching clouds, watching fog, and watching sunrise each has its own advantages. When it comes to water, one must not forget Dujiangyan.

  Three

  All this is due to Li Bing in the distance.

  Sichuan was fortunate, China was fortunate, in the 3rd century BC, an unremarkable appointment appeared: Li Bing served as the governor of Shu Prefecture.

  As far as I know, this appointment is related to Qin's grand plan for unifying China. I thought that only by making Sichuan a rich and prosperous base and starting point could we contend for the Yangtze River Basin from the south line. However, when this appointment reached Li Bing, it changed from a political plan to an ecological plan.

  What he wants to do is to purify, to eliminate, to nourish and to moisten.

  He is a county guard, holding a long-handled ladle in his hand, standing by the rolling river, completing an original shape of the character "guard".

  There is no data to illustrate his talent in other aspects as a governor, but because of him, China also has a clear and elegant administrative outline.

  Later Chinese bureaucratic tradition was to select batches of outstanding scholars as generalist bureaucrats, but Li Bing became a practical scientist due to his official position.

  He certainly didn't learn about water conservancy anywhere. However, with the mission of the school, he worked hard to study for several years and summarized the three-character classic of water control ("Deep dredging, low weir construction")

  "When encountering a curve, cut off the corner; when meeting a straight line, extract the essence."

  It remained the model for hydraulic engineering until the 20th century.

  His learning is forever damp and moldy. In contrast, many classics that are much older than him have long since dried out and become brittle to the point of being difficult to turn the pages.

  He did not expect that his strategy for water control would soon be replaced by a strategy for controlling people. He did not expect that the fertile land he wanted to irrigate would become a battlefield. All he knew was that this species could only survive if it had clear springs and rice.

  He is extremely foolish, yet extremely wise. He is clumsy, yet ingenious. With the mindset of an old farmer in the fields, he entered into the most lucid humanistic thinking.

  He left no life story behind, only a hard and stubborn dam, leaving people to guess.

  People come here time and again, puzzled: Who is this? Died two thousand years ago, but still directing the flow of water. Standing in front of the pavilion in the middle of the river, the shouts of "You go this way, he goes that way", the voices of exhortation, consolation, and comfort, all enter one's ears.

  Li Bing had considered the continuation of his career during his lifetime, and ordered his son to make three stone men, stationed in the river, to measure the water level. Four hundred years after Li Bing's death, perhaps the three stone men were already damaged, and the Han Dynasty water official rebuilt the "Three Divine Stone Men" with a height of over 3 meters to measure the water level. One of the "Three Divine Stone Men" was actually a statue of Li Bing.

  This Han Dynasty water official must have inherited the great spirit of Li Bing, and dared to put his revered ancestor in the river for water measurement. He understood Li Bing's intention, only there is the most suitable position for him.

  The stone statue was finally buried by the silt of the years. When it was unearthed in the 1970s, one of the stone statues had a damaged head and still held a long awl in its hand. Some say this is Li Bing's son.

  Even if not, I still regard him as Li Bing's son. A modern female writer saw this statue and was deeply moved - "No mud but with a smile, broken neck but holding a long flute", she asked the officials of the modern officialdom: whether alive or dead, where should they stand?

  The unearthed stone statue is now on display at Fulongguan. People silently pay their respects to them amidst the thunderous sound of water. Here, I suddenly felt a certain optimism about Chinese history: as long as Li Bing's spirit does not disperse, Li Bing's sons will flourish generation after generation. The thunderous river water is the sacred and benevolent legacy.

  Four

  I saw a suspension bridge spanning the river. The bridge was very high, and its cables were made of hemp ropes and bamboo strips. As I stepped onto it, the bridge body began to swing violently. The more hesitant I was to move forward or backward, the greater the swing became.

  At such a high place, peeping at the bridge below will surely make one's mind dizzy. But this is Suo Bridge, with holes everywhere, you can't help but look. At first glance, it's frightening, then astonishing.

  The river under my feet, from such a distant place, rushes forward with an unstoppable momentum, carrying the cold wind and spitting out white foam, sharp and piercing. I stand so high and can still feel its icy chill, probably from the snowy mountains. But looking at the other side of the bridge, it suddenly transforms into many sparkling river channels, a benevolent and kind face. Human beings' regulation of nature's forces is surprisingly effortless. If humans did everything with such ease, the earth would have been a different picture long ago.

  Dujiangyan's skill in harnessing natural forces has been philosophically summarized by the nearby Qingcheng Mountain.

  Qingcheng Mountain is a sacred place of Taoism, and Taoism is the only indigenous major religion in China. Taoism draws on the philosophies of Laozi and Zhuangzi, using water as a symbol of its teachings. Water appears soft and boneless, yet it can become mighty and powerful, with waves surging and rolling; it appears colorless and tasteless, yet it can bring forth vast green fields, lush fruits, and a kaleidoscope of colors; it appears humble and lowly, yet it can rise to the heavens, becoming clouds, rain, rainbows, and halos.

  It seems that man is controlling the water; in reality, however, it is man who has come to understand the water, comply with the water and listen to the water. Only then can there be unity between heaven and man, no self-interest, eternal life without aging.

  This is the Way.

  The way of the Tao is also the way of water, the way of heaven, and the way of life. Therefore, it is also the way of Li Bing and the way of Dujiangyan. The Tao is everywhere, but it made a concentrated appearance in Dujiangyan.

  Dujiangyan and Qingcheng Mountain are adjacent to each other, complementing and verifying each other, forming the most condensed classroom for studying Chinese philosophy.

  That day, I carried the misty air of Dujiangyan and slowly climbed up the mountain road of Qingcheng Mountain. Suddenly, I saw a Taoist temple, and I went in to rest for a while. The Taoist priest recognized me, spread out paper and ink, and asked me to leave some words. I immediately wrote down a simple couplet:

  Worshiping at Dujiangyan

  Ask about the Green City Mountain.

  I think that if we can treat "worshiping water" and "inquiring about the Tao" as one thing, then we will also have grasped a major secret of Chinese culture.