楊艷

At the end of 2021， Toward a Modern Chongqing was published. It records great changes that Chongqing has gone through， from Jiangzhou and Yuzhou in the old times to the current Chongqing， and from Baixiang Road to Zhongshan 4th Road. As a key work by Chongqing Writers Association and Yuzhong Writers Association， the book analyzes the connotation of Bayu culture and the spirit of the city formed in the past 3，000 years. With the origin and development of Chongqing as the main line， it depicts the history of Ba people making Jiangzhou the capital city， four fortification projects， displacement of the city’s center， and modernization of Chongqing.

The relaxing words and pen paintings in the book outline the appearance of Yuzhong District， the root of modern Chongqing， in the old times， just like a vivid documentary that enables the readers to start a journey of tracing its humanistic history. According to the author Aman， “Yuzhong enjoys profound culture. Since I was born， lived and worked here， I want to restore the history of the city in my book based on my personal experience. Hopefully the readers can， after reading it， grasp the essence of the time-honored Bayu culture and the spirit of modern Chongqing.”

The book is rigorous， objective and unique in perspective. The narration of major historical events and figures are based on authoritative documents， field investigation and the author’s personal experience， thus free from subjective speculation or frivolousness. Major historical events in this book include： Ba Manzi’s protection of his city by offering his head， Zhao Yun’s supervision on Jiangzhou， the fortification project led by Li Yan， Yu Jie and Zhang Jue’s fight against Mongolia， Jian Yi and Zou Jin’s choices in Jianwen Incident， the Great Xia Kingdom established by Ming Yuzhen， Wang Erjian’s compilation of Archives of Ba County， etc. In addition， the book also analyzes the role played by migrants and modern merchants in Chongqing’s development， and tells stories of important figures in modern and contemporary times.

The book recalls the growing experience and memories shared by Chongqing people in Aman’s generation. For example， there is a paragraph about the two rivers：

Living by the Yangtze River and the Jialing River for thousands of years， people in this land have formed a lifestyle that is close to water. Some recreational activities derived from the rivers are exclusive to Chongqing. They have been preserved till today and become attractive and proud traditions for local people. For example， there is a traditional entertainment activity called “fangtan”. It means to swim from somewhere in the upper reaches of the river to the lower reaches along with the currents. It not only saves time and energy， but is also enjoyable. It feels totally different when you swim in the Yangtze River and the Jialing River. As Jialing River is not wide， most of the time， the currents are gentle and people get rather close to the shores. Flowing downward from Niujiaotuo to Chaotianmen， you will pass by Zengjiayan， Daxigou， Huanghuayuan， No.1 Bridge， Linjiangmen， Hongyadong， and Qiansimen Bridge， as if rambling through a gallery of Chongqing’s landscape. While enjoying the scenery， an hour and a half would pass quickly.

The book condenses Chongqing’s culture， geographic features and history into eight main chapters， namely “A Blessed Land”， “General Zhao Yun’s Tent Headquarter and the Twin Stones in Chaotianmen”， “Fortification in Ancient Chongqing and the History of Dongshui Gate”， etc. In a story telling manner， it makes an all-round introduction of Yuzhong District with its history as the principal line， and demonstrates the latest historical and cultural discoveries in recent years.

In the form of cultural prose， Toward A Modern Chongqing rearranges historical materials and literature that are once obscure into a more reader-friendly narration. For example， the book quotes a ballad called A Pray for Rain by Wang Erjian， an official in Ba County during the Qing Dynasty：

Ba people pray to the Heaven： rain pearls or rain jade， might as well rain grains; grains from the Heaven are too sacred to eat， so a downpour or snow may just make it; with raindrops and snow， the crops can grow; it’s much better than rain jade or pearl.

Aman wrote about his understanding of it：

I didn’t translate this ballad word-by-word， because I was extremely amazed by its wording. In this ballad， the Chinese character “雨” is used nine times as the verb “rain”， and twice as the noun “rain”. It delivers such a great impulsion， just like nine fists waving towards the sky， trying to knock the two raindrops down from the Heaven.

When he was working in the Cultural Center of Yuzhong District， Chongqing， the author made a thorough field investigation of Chongqing’s city wall and traced the arduous journey of the Ba people along rivers and mountains. He also carried out meticulous research and source tracing when he discovered mistakes in historical records. For example， Archives of Ba County： Governance of A City writes that Chaotian Gate， Nanji Gate and Taiping Gate， among others， were all demolished. This disagrees with the results of Aman’s field visits and the national cultural relics survey. Therefore， the 5th chapter – “The Palace of Ming Yuzhen and the Fortification Project by Commander Dai Ding” points out the discrepancy， providing convincing reference for the study and research on Chongqing’s history.

Painting/Zhuzijiang ?Photo/Aman

從江州、渝州到重慶，從白象街到中山四路……2021年末，新書《渝城九章》順利出版。該書作為重慶市作協(xié)、渝中區(qū)作協(xié)重點作品，以重慶三千年城市史為背景，以重慶母城的確立、發(fā)展為主線，以巴人都江州、四次筑城、城市中心位移、走向現(xiàn)代化為節(jié)點，聚焦解析巴渝文化內(nèi)涵和城市文化精神。

書中輕松活潑的文字和鋼筆畫，勾勒出一幅幅渝中母城曾經(jīng)的相貌，猶若一部鮮活的紀(jì)錄片，讓讀者在閱讀中開啟一場渝中母城人文歷史的尋蹤之旅。該書作者阿蠻表示，“渝中母城的文化底蘊(yùn)非常深厚，我出生、生活、工作在這里，我想根據(jù)自己的體驗，在書中還原這座城市的歷史，希望讀者能從中讀懂古老巴渝的文化底蘊(yùn)和現(xiàn)代重慶的城市精神?！?/p>

該書嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)、客觀，視角獨到，對重大歷史事件和人物的敘述，如巴蔓子獻(xiàn)頭護(hù)城、趙云督江州、李嚴(yán)筑大城、余玠—張玨抗蒙、蹇義—鄒瑾在“建文之變”中的選擇、明玉珍建大夏國、王爾鑒描城市文脈線、移民與近代渝商的貢獻(xiàn)、現(xiàn)當(dāng)代風(fēng)云人物故事等，都以權(quán)威史籍記載、經(jīng)典遺址考察及作者阿蠻親身經(jīng)歷為據(jù)，避開了主觀臆測與戲說的缺陷。

書中回憶了像阿蠻一代老重慶人的成長經(jīng)歷和共同回憶，如談及兩江：

長江、嘉陵江千百年來為人們養(yǎng)成的親水生活方式，包括在其他任何城市都見不到的玩樂方法仍然保留下來，成為一種令人自豪和可供回味的傳統(tǒng)。比如，有一種玩法叫“放灘”，就是從江水上游的某個地方下水，順著江流“放”到下游，省時又省力，十分暢快。在長江放灘，跟在嘉陵江放灘，所得體驗又截然不同。嘉陵江江面不寬，多數(shù)時候水流平緩，人與岸相對距離較近。從牛角沱到朝天門，邊游邊看夕陽下的曾家?guī)r、大溪溝、黃花園、一號橋、臨江門、洪崖洞、千廝門，仿佛走進(jìn)山水畫廊，慢慢欣賞，一個半小時很快就過去了。

書中從“上天賜予的福地”“趙云中軍帳與朝天門靈石”“李嚴(yán)城大城與東水門往事”等八個方面切入，把人文、地理、歷史有機(jī)地結(jié)合，娓娓道來，既提綱挈領(lǐng)地貫穿母城的前世今生，又宏觀而全面地介紹了母城，并融入了近些年的歷史文化新發(fā)現(xiàn)。

史籍文獻(xiàn)在該書中褪去了陳腐之氣，通過文化散文的形式娓娓道來?！鞍椭瘢堤旃?，雨我珠，雨我玉，不如雨我粟。天雨粟，不可食，不如雨雨與雨雪。雨雨雨雪粟不竭，勝似蒼天雨珠雪。”作者在解讀王爾鑒的《巴民望雨謠》時寫到：

我沒有完全按照字面意思來硬譯這首獨特的歌謠，因為在讀到這些詩句時，我的心靈受到了極大震撼。其中九個“雨”字是動詞，只有兩個字是真正的“雨”，那力度就像九只拳頭向天揮舞，要把天上那兩滴雨砸下來。

作者曾在渝中區(qū)文化館工作，實地考察過完整地母城城墻，沿著巴人逆舟楫水、翻山跋涉之路線做過田野調(diào)查。他在書中對正史上所出現(xiàn)的錯誤進(jìn)行了勘正和溯本正源。第五章《大夏皇宮和戴鼎砌城中》，就結(jié)合了作者走訪以及全國文物普查結(jié)果指出，民國《巴縣志·治城》中所記載的“朝天、南紀(jì)、太平等門悉行撤廢”失之偏頗，為專家、學(xué)者研究重慶歷史提供了很好的參考。

插圖/珠子醬 阿蠻提供