鎮江：靜水流深

鎮江：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：鎮江市旅游發展委員會 & 鎮江市創業精英聯合會

橫貫東西的中華母親河——長江，帶動南北經濟流通的人工奇跡——京杭大運河，它們的交匯處就在——鎮江。

特殊的地理位置，賦予了鎮江特別的聲名和地位。無論是在多個朝代的歷史進程中，還是在典籍經典、詩詞書畫、民間傳說里，要找到鎮江，都不是件難事。然而，即使聲名遠播，它卻始終像一位低調謙和的大家閨秀，帶著江南的典雅秀氣，藏著北方的質樸大方，安靜地站立在千年江山之間，恬然地生長于人間煙火之中。

Maoshan Mountain (photos by Wang Zhenrong)茅山風光（王鎮容 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.西津渡是鎮江港口經濟發展的實物見證，有近兩千年的積淀，體現著鎮江地處要塞，商旅繁榮的風貌。

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.鎮江的宗教文化在全國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，鎮江一直是長江流域久負盛名的旅游勝地，被北宋書畫家米芾稱為“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)鎮江藝術作品風格多恬靜自然，充滿生活雅趣。（《富貴九魚圖》，亂針繡非遺傳承人方美瓏作品）

如果不親身來到鎮江，很難理解，這座不大的城市，何以能裝得下那么多歷史，引來那么多名流，發生那么多聞名遐邇的故事。

漫步在西津古渡，踩著唐宋以來多個朝代鋪成的青石路，你可能在某一個轉角遇到元明的石塔，又在下一個拐彎看到晚清時期的樓閣。沿坡而建的門楣上有歷代名人的題字，西邊的小碼頭街保持著唐宋風韻。而當你還沉浸在歷史的印跡中，遙想當年西津渡人來貨往的繁盛景象時，一轉角，可能看到兩個阿姨在老街唱著揚劇。而不遠的另一家鋪子里，一個留著胡子、穿著長褂的男人正在閉目養神，他門口的招牌上寫著：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。

這就是鎮江的迷人之處。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時世界最高水平的科學人物（祖沖之）和科學成果，它有豐富的文學底蘊，中國四大名著都提到過鎮江，唐宋詩詞里關于此地詩篇數以千計，也有豐富發達的市井商業百年商鋪；它曾經誕生過代表“十一世紀科技坐標”的《夢溪筆談》、文學理論著作《文心雕龍》，也有代代相傳的民間傳說——白娘子與許仙，七仙女與董永，梁山伯與祝英臺等。以上幾乎每一個方面，都能讓鎮江在中國文化史上占有一席之地。

它還是一座地道的山水園林城市。鎮江人說，他們的城市有“真山真水”，有如畫的風景，便利的交通，于是吸引著一代代文學巨匠、達官貴人來此定居。蘇東坡曾十一次來此游歷，諾貝爾文學獎獲得者賽珍珠稱它為“第二故鄉”，星云大師稱“沒有鎮江就沒有我”，宋美齡也對當年的鎮江之旅念念不忘……

不可否認，南北要沖的地理條件，提供各方文化匯聚的機遇，而讓它們就此扎根的，卻是這座城市包容并蓄的胸懷，低調謙和、悠然自得的性格。