A forest, a land and a blue sky, what a wonderful world it is. When human beings live in this world, great changes have taken place in the world: a hut, a village, a town … a pace, a bicycle, a car … I wonder if the world is progressing or deteriorating? I wonder if what people create is satisfied with their minds. What is the pursuit of the human heart? When you are poor, you pursue wealth; When you are in turmoil, you pursue stability. Nowadays, in this era, high-rise buildings have sprung up in busy towns, and people in busy streets are building social development. Such a scene should be in line with the pursuit of human beings, but urban people who have experienced rural life have begun to yearn for the rural environment. This seems a bit contradictory, from backward rural areas to developing towns, and from developing towns to backward rural areas.

"Border Town" shows us such a picture: "There is a small white tower beside a stream, and a family lives under it. There is only an old man, a girl and a yellow dog in this family. A small stream flows down the river, around the mountain, and flows into the tea cave river for about three miles. If people cross the stream and climb the hill, they will reach the edge of Tea Cave City within a mile. The stream is like a bow, and the mountain road is like a bowstring. There is a slight difference between distance and distance. This stream is about 20 feet wide, and the riverbed is made of big stones. Even if the quiet water is too deep to bottom, it is still clear and transparent, and the fish in the middle reaches of the river can be counted. " Nowadays, although the material construction of cities and towns seems to be developing rapidly, there is another kind of destruction behind the construction. Just like the natural environment, it is polluted like this: trees are cut down, the air is dry, the noise is constant and garbage is piled up. Such an environment has severely depressed people's body and mind. Therefore, people are so longing for the quiet and comfortable living space in the countryside. Perhaps this is also the thinking of the author of Border Town.

In today's era, the relationship between people seems so strange and utilitarian. For their own interests, everyone seems to be involved in the trend of fighting each other. While the architectural space is getting narrower and narrower, people's hearts are also narrow; In today's convenient transportation, the way of communication between people is so convenient, but the communication between people is so difficult. A wall not only isolates the living place between people, but also isolates the spiritual communication between people; A security door seems to avoid the intrusion of outsiders, but it also imprisons its contact with the outside world.

In Border Town, we can see people's simple, frugal, friendly and peaceful scenes. "The person who manages this ferry is an old man who lives under the tower. I lived for seventy years, and I have been staying by this stream since I was twenty. I don't know how many years have passed in these fifty years. Although he is so old, he should rest, but the sky doesn't allow him to rest. It seems that he can't live without this life. He never considered the significance of his position to himself, but lived there quietly and faithfully. " When writing about the hero Cui Cui, it is like this: "Nature has nurtured her and educated her, so it is innocent and lively, and looks like a small animal everywhere. People are so good, like deer on the mountain, never consider cruelty, never worry, never get angry. Usually, when strangers pay attention to her on the ferry, they look at strangers with bare eyes and make it look like they can escape into the mountains at any time, but after understanding people's inorganic heart, they play leisurely by the water. " When writing about the smooth operation of the water terminal, the article said: "This generous and free-spirited person, although his career is smooth, is generous and able to help others because he is willing to make friends, ... understands the hardships of outsiders and the feelings of frustrated people ... but he is so impartial and selfless ... both upright and peaceful, and does not love money." When it comes to these two young people, it is so popular: "strong as an ox ... bold and open-minded, unconventional ... be kind to relatives, not arrogant and lazy, flashy." What is even more amazing is that the puppy is very clever and sensible: "Sometimes I am on the boat with my grandfather's yellow dog, and I will work with my grandfather during the transition." When the boat is approaching the shore, my grandfather is greeting the guests:' Slow down, slow down', and the yellow dog will jump up first, as if he knows how to do his duty and hold the boat rope tightly to the shore. "

Beauty is always sad. The author of Border Town shows us a beautiful and harmonious picture of man and nature, but at the same time shows a helpless and confused face facing the tragic fate of life.

It was supposed to be a wonderful family. After her mother and father died together, Cui Cui lived with her grandfather since childhood, and their loneliness and sadness came to her mind from time to time. "When dusk came, Cui Cui sat under the white tower behind her house, watching the sky burn into pink clouds by sunset." "Listening to the messy voice of businessmen from the ferry, my heart was a little thin and desolate." When the sun rises, he feels the power of life. When the sun went down, he didn't think it was the girl who died with the sun. His only friends are the ferryman and the yellow dog, and his only family is the girl. Among them, we also see that, unfortunately, as a "water duck", the old man drowned in the water; Let Cui Cuixin run away from home with her singing parents; Grandpa, who lived with Cui Cui day and night, passed away quietly on that thunderous night ... All this depressed Cui Cui's young mind like a boulder. At the end of Border Town, the author wants to ignite Cui Cui's temporary hope through his parents' "maybe coming back tomorrow". But "this person may never come back" did not give her infinite confusion and confusion. A soul who has suffered the tragic fate of life since childhood wanted to find a home of love and redemption, but it never came true. Isn't this the portrayal of many people?

These thoughts revealed by Shen Congwen, the author of Border Town, inadvertently coincide with Taoist thoughts.

Having said that, it also reminds me of two sentences, as the end:

"If our hearts don't rest in your arms, there will be no peace." -Augustine

I tell you these things so that you may have peace in me. In this world, you have suffering; But don't worry, I won the world. "-Yes, the second novel, Border Town, is an excellent novella (the representative work of Shen Congwen's novels) in the history of China literature. Based on the tea cave in the border town of Sichuan and Hunan in the 1930s, it depicts the unique customs of the Xiangxi border region with beautiful strokes of lyric poetry and prose. The love tragedy of Cui Cui, a boatman girl, highlights the goodness and beauty of human nature and the clarity and purity of the soul. "Border Town" is set in the Chadian area of western Hunan in the late Qing Dynasty, with the "Xiaoxi" ferry as the starting point, and the stream flowing around the cave flows into the Chadian River, and begins a touching love story between Cui Cui, a girl at the wilderness ferry, and Tianbao and Nuosong brothers in Shancheng River Street. With extremely beautiful and fluent language and picturesque writing, Mr. Shen Congwen described the quiet and beautiful mountain village along the Baihe River and the rich customs of Xiangxi border town: "Those who are close to the water are mostly in peach blossoms and apricot blossoms. In spring, as long as you pay attention, there will be people where there are peach blossoms, and there will be wine where there are people. In summer, dazzling purple cloth and trousers are dried in the sun and can be used as flags of others. When autumn and winter come, houses near cliffs and watersides abound. Yellow walls, black tiles ... ". These descriptions are full of natural simplicity and vivid interest, giving people a very beautiful enjoyment. As the story unfolds, Border Town describes the prosperous and peaceful dock market in Hejie Street, the simple world and folk customs in western Hunan. Although there is an "old general yamen stationed in a battalion" and a local "Lijin Bureau (tax collection)" in Hejie Street, it does not seem to exist. Everywhere is the "Five Hundred Houses" with busy work, quaint shops and leisurely life scenes. "When the boat came, I looked at countless trackers from a distance on the beach ... I brought snacks and foreign sugar, but when I landed, I took it into the city to change money. Adults, brooding a nest of chickens, raising two pigs, telling the boatman to wear a pair of gold earrings, bringing back two zhangs of green cloth or an altar of good soy sauce and a double Mobil lampshade, take up more than half of the hearts of housewives. "On the river street, even prostitutes are impressed by the world." Always full of energy ... try to tie your heart tightly to a distant person. When dreaming, I always dream that the ship is approaching the shore, and a person staggered to the shore from the springboard and ran straight to this side. "These objective and vivid descriptions reflect the profound foundation of Mr. Shen's life in Fenghuang County. His delicate observation of the life of River Street, his familiarity with Xiangxi folk customs, and his close-up of intuition and reverie seized the wonderful moment and gave people vivid life scenes. " River Street is full of people living at the bottom, such as "trackers", "boatmen" and "prostitutes", but as an outstanding writer of the "new culture" of that year, it may be for the love theme, not to mention class opposition or social contradictions. Although we only understand the distant Xiangxi era from the text, we may not really understand what kind of social environment it is, but Border Town is described by Mr. Shen as a modern "Peach Blossom Garden" similar to that written by Tao Yuanming, isolated from the outside world at that time, from which it is not difficult to see Mr. Shen Congwen's yearning and pursuit for a harmonious and beautiful society. Cui Cui, the heroine ferry girl in Border Town, is the embodiment of purity and beauty and the beautiful soul of Border Town. Grandpa the old boatman is a simple but stubborn old man. He is confident and proud of the beauty of Cui Cui. In order to marry a good family for Cui Cui, he ignored the poverty of his position, and his inner worries and responsibilities were intertwined. Shunshun, a former exiled official of Qing Dynasty, managed wooden boats, had a certain savings, and his career was booming. Because of generosity and loyalty, he is known as a heroic gentleman on the side of "Zhangshui Wharf". His two sons "Da Lao" and "Raul" were educated by their father's Jianghu manners, and they were beaten and tempered in the waves, and they all became smart and handsome teenagers in the Jianghu "Yue Yun" style. After crossing the river or catching ducks, the two brothers fell in love with Cui Cui at first sight and fell in love with the beautiful Cui Cui. The "second old man" told Cui Cui that he would rather have a broken ferry than the "new mill" old man Tianbao never gave up his pursuit of beauty in the chaotic "road" and "car road" and refused to be with Cui Cui. After getting to know each other, the two persistent brothers resolutely stood on the cliff covered with moonlight and sang the song "Three Years and Six Months" for Cui Cui. Border Town is a love tragedy. It seems that the words are carefully chosen, but in fact the pen and ink are faint and dignified. Her touching is the beauty of love tragedy. Mr. Shen's delicate and youthful life vividly depicts a girl's shyness, trance and indifference, representing the hazy change of her mind. It is a tragedy that Cui Cui, who has never had a mother's love and has never been involved in the world as a woman, is at a loss in the face of infatuation, burying herself again and again, avoiding shirking, and finally waiting in depression. On the cliff, Tianbao and Nuonuo can no longer hear the folk songs that send their brothers to the moonlit night. Tianbao drowned in the whirlpool. In addition to his sadness, Nuo refused to accept the urging of the "new mill" at home and went to the distant "Taoyuan" land. At this heartbreaking moment, after Grandpa ate "a stuffy fist" at the water pier, the White Pagoda in Bixi Village finally collapsed on that night of heavy rain and thunder. The only relative of Cui Cui, an old boatman who worked hard all his life, died in his sleep in anxiety and expectation. In the narrative of Yang and others, I understand everything. She cried all night, but the years like songs flowed away like a white river. The end of Border Town is also very tragic and profound, with a deep artistic conception: "In winter, the collapsed white tower was repaired again. However, the young man who sang under the moon and made Cui Cui's soul float gently in his sleep did not return to the tea cave. "..............." This person may never come back, maybe "tomorrow"! "Mr. Shen's exquisite poetic embellishment has left a long regret and infinite anxiety and expectation. 2. Reading Shen Congwen's Border Town Random Thoughts After reading Shen Congwen's Border Town last night, I couldn't say how I felt, but my heart seemed a little blocked. I am glad that I live today-an era where I don't have to suppress my emotions and slow down. Of course, I was deeply attracted by the beautiful, quiet natural scenery and simple folk customs, as if I had become a member of the border town, breathing the pure air there. In fact, understanding the living conditions of a society is most clear from the marriage relationship between men and women. Although it shows the relationship between men and women, it can expose the economic, political, cultural and moral conditions of the whole society. The mysterious attraction between men and women from nature is separated by a whole history of human suffering. The beautiful border town, because of its geographical location, is actually an environment with a low degree of human bondage. However, we can still feel profound historical traces from people living there-traces deeply rooted in the blood of China people. Cui Cui, a young girl in Seeds of Love, is naturally unpretentious, but it is the precipitation of China's moral culture in every woman's blood for thousands of years-yes, it is the product of economic culture, not original; It belongs to the east, not to mankind; It is the product of human society, not the instinct of animals. Yes, men's inferiority complex, which is deeply rooted in women's blood, and the passivity of suppressing true feelings and waiting for happiness arrival are all gender characteristics endowed to women by thousands of years of human history. The kind and lovely old boatman loves his granddaughter deeply and longs for her happiness, but he can't go beyond the limitations given to him by history and times. For his granddaughter's marriage, his inner desire, anxiety, self-esteem, inferiority, cover-up, hesitation, reluctance, contradiction and struggle-are all so sad and helpless. Yes, is he struggling with his heart? He is competing with the whole human history. How can he surpass the times and give his granddaughter a happiness he has mastered? Finally, the old boatman left with a lifetime of great regret. He cannot grasp the happiness of his daughter or granddaughter. Cui Cui, besides waiting for happiness, is there a second way to happiness? Is this actually a story that happened in the border town? Isn't this the story that happened every day in China for thousands of years? Is it Cui Cui who is sitting on a rock by the stream? Isn't that countless women who have longed for happiness for thousands of years? Yes, who can control their own happiness? Who can travel through history and enjoy the happiness that is not bound by the times? -The real encounter between a man and a woman is really across Qian Shan and a thick and difficult history of human growth. But such a day is really worth looking forward to and yearning for, because it is a day when human nature is truly liberated, a day when human beings are out of the shadow of history, and a day when human beings are not only materially rich, but also spiritually rich-although the road is still long, it is worthy of endless pursuit and yearning. Suddenly, I was deeply moved by those boys and girls who are straightforward and full of youthful joy. That's not the classical implicit "I love you"! I even want to cry-because I think of Cui Cui. The third dreamlike painting, beautiful feelings! -Reflection on Border Town 2010-1-2317: 04 If it hadn't been for the storm that night, maybe life would have been dull. The idea of budding love may go through twists and turns. However, it was this storm that took away the ferry and Cui Cui's only relative-grandfather. Maybe he existed for the ferry here, so when the ferry was washed away, the author gave them the same fate. Life is like this, there will always be extinction and there will always be continuation. The old boatman's ferry was washed away, and a new ferry will appear again. Just like the little granddaughter who inherited grandpa's will, she is still doing the ferry. There are no vigorous deeds, no many distinctive figures, and even pure love is just budding, without blazing flames. In this essay, the author shows us a picture of a quiet life-a tea cave, a stream, a small white tower by the stream, a family under the tower, an old man, a girl and a yellow dog. The sun rises, the boat sails by the stream, the sun sets and the boat closes. Like a clear stream in the mountains, like white clouds floating in the sky. But this is the true meaning of life. They precipitated great vicissitudes of life, silence and sadness. The beautiful scenery of Xiangxi Phoenix is touching. The mountain phoenix is surrounded by mountains and waters, and the still water depth is too deep to sink, but it is still clear and transparent. There are plenty of fish in the middle reaches of the river, and dark green bamboo attracts people's attention all year round. Life is moving and the picture is static. Life provides life and pictures provide appreciation. The rural mountain city is like a still picture. It will remain unchanged for thousands of years, and the people living in it have a negligible position in society. However, everything in the painting is always full of the yearning of people outside the painting. Because of love, grandpa worked hard all his life, and at the end of his life, his heart was full of worries; Because of love, girls have a new interpretation of life and hope; Because of love, my brother chose to leave, fulfilling his sincere feelings; Because of love, my brother went to find the most important person in his life; Because of love, she has been guarding the ferry and guarding the man who is looking forward to returning day and night. Life is not a painting. Life needs to flow, and in winter, the collapsed white tower is restored. But the young man who sang in the moonlight and let Cui Cui's soul float gently in his sleep has not returned to the tea cave. Desolate and simple, sadness is over. All thoughts are floating, all mountains and rivers, the sun and the moon are quiet and condensed in the painting.