在磧口古鎮，感受黃河文化

郭曉娟

由于黃河水流急、落差大、險灘多，行船有局限性，只有小部分條件較好的河段可以勉強走船。古代黃河漕運，“談磧色變”，沒人輕易敢在磧中行船。但是，大同磧的天險卻造就了磧口鎮的繁榮。

磧口鎮，因大同磧得名，位于山西省呂梁市臨縣城南50公里處，依呂梁山，臨黃河水，是中國歷史文化名鎮。明清至民國時期，磧口鎮憑借黃河水運一躍成為北方商貿重鎮，享有“九曲黃河第一鎮”之美譽，是晉商發祥地之一。

磧口鎮是黃河北干流上水運航道的中轉站，再有雄心的商販，到了這里也只能“望磧興嘆”，極不情愿地將滿船的貨物卸下，再雇駝隊經陸路轉運到其他地方。日復一日，磧口鎮以“水旱碼頭小都會”的美名傳遍南北。鼎盛時期，磧口碼頭每天來往的船只有150艘之多，由此而生的貨棧、票號、當鋪等各類店肆多達300家。“駝不完的磧口，裝不滿的吳城。”當地流傳的諺語生動描繪了磧口作為黃河水路樞紐的場景。有學者考證，從清乾隆至民國時期，以磧口鎮為中心的商貿網絡，東抵京津，南及邯鄲，西至蘭州，北達包頭，可見小鎮當時商業之繁盛。

上世紀60年代，隨著鐵路的開通，磧口碼頭逐漸失去它曾經的功用，淡出人們的視線，退隱在深遠的歷史背后。沒了舊時的人來人往，更沒有了往日的喧嘩，這種淡出反而成就了今天的磧口古鎮。鎮子沒有遭到人為破壞，至今仍然保存著豐富的古建筑和文物。尚可辨認的商鋪古匾中，清乾隆年間的匾額就至少有5塊。

雖歷經歲月洗禮，鎮子卻依然保持原有的樣貌。不太寬敞的街道古色古香，兩邊是高圪臺，房檐連著房檐，店鋪挨著店鋪，明清時期的磚雕、木雕、石刻，風格多樣、細膩生動，就連各家門前掛著的燈籠，其穗兒都是用紅棗綴就，別有一番風情。

有句話說得好：“世界面食在中國，中國面食在山西。”來到磧口鎮，怎能不嘗嘗地道的山西面。在各種風味的山西傳統面食中，碗脫是特別的存在。碗脫是將蕎麥面打成糊狀，用小碗蒸，因其熟后晾涼可從碗中脫下而得名。食用時，澆上醋、蒜泥、秘制辣椒油，再用小刀劃開，吃起來筋軟耐嚼、香醇可口。

呂梁一帶有一句俗語：“一口莜面一口酒，香得人們口水流。”游客總是分不清蕎麥和莜麥，兩者雖顏色相近，卻是不同的糧食。晉西北人民在長期的生活實踐中摸索出了花樣繁多的莜面吃法，當地巧婦在搓、推、搟、卷、蒸、煮中，造就了莜面魚魚、莜面栲栳栳等美食，而游人也可從中品嘗當地濃郁的鄉土風味。

古老的石板路，原汁原味的民居，古色古香的店鋪，還有頭扎白羊肚手巾的老人……原始質樸的生活形態讓遠來的游客回歸內心最真實的寧靜。側耳傾聽，仿若轉身又遇見了一場繁華：老艄公、貨運商猜拳行令聲，酒肆、客棧小二招呼客人歇腳聲，算盤珠相互碰撞聲，駝鈴、馬蹄聲聲入耳，一切都顯得那么悠遠、深沉和厚重。

編輯/刁艷杰

Feel Yellow River Culture in Ancient Town Qikou

The Yellow River has nine curves and eighteen bends. After entering the Jinshan Grand Canyon， you can see two famous natural barriers， i.e. “Hukou Falls and Datongqi”. Datongqi is the second sandbar of the Yellow River， the dangerousness of which has contributed to the prosperity of Qikou Town.

Qikou Town， located 50 kilometers to the south of the seat of Lin County， Lyuliang City， Shanxi， nestling under the Lyuliang Mountain and near the Yellow River， is a famous historic and cultural town of China. From the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the Republic of China， Qikou became a key town of commerce and trade in North China in reliance upon the water transport of the Yellow River. Known as the “First Town by the Yellow River”， it is one of the cradles of Shanxi merchants. In its heyday， there were over 150 ships using the wharf of Qikou every day， which gave birth to 300 shops， including warehouses， exchange shops， and pawnshops. From the Qianlong Period of Qing to the Republic of China， the commerce and trade network centered at Qikou extended eastward to Beijing and Tianjin， southward to Handan， westward to Lanzhou， and northward to Baotou， which demonstrated the flourishing business of the town.

In the 1960s， with the open- ing of railways， the wharf of Qikou gradually lost its function， faded away from the public sight， and became history.

Today， there are still some ancient buildings in Qikou Town. Among the discernible ancient shop signboards， there are at least five from the Qianlong Period.

After undergoing the baptism of time， the town still maintains its original look. Its narrow street is quaint， and lined with high platforms， where houses are connected with one another， and shops are next to one another； the brick carvings， woodcarvings and stone carvings of the Ming and Qing Dynasties have diverse styles， and appear simple and vivid.

Old flagstone paths， original dwellings， quaint shops， elders wearing a white towel tied around their heads... Such a primitive and rustic lifestyle enables tourists from afar to regain true peace of mind.