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Chapter 13 Gansu·Silent Water City
Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes

The desert is solitary and the smoke is straight, and the long river is setting in the sun. It seems that only in such a situation can one meet the legendary fairy unexpectedly.The ancient Dunhuang, behind the beauty of bouncing the pipa, sang a song, and since then it has condensed into a breathtaking beauty, flying to the sky in a hundred turns.Gansu, a different kind of scenery, a different kind of feelings, in the memory, not only the bleak inn, the rivers and lakes of grievances, but also the deep eyes, lonely alone on a certain moonless night.

"Suddenly looking back, the constant entanglement / all your pride can only fly in the painting under the sunset in the desert, who is the person playing the flute / let the years strip off the red clothes, but the scars are full of scars"

——"Flying Apsaras"

Legend has it that Feitian was a god who served Buddha and Indra.They are beautiful and enchanting, good at singing and dancing. The immortals who bounce the pipa and hold the lotus buds walk in the boundless sky, or go straight to the sky, or bow their heads to the world. Sprinkle it, it will stretch and bloom as much as you want.Perhaps, it is just a beautiful legend, but the flying sky on the murals of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes is singing and dancing at the end of that ethereal world at every unknown moment.Dunhuang, two solid and powerful fonts, has carried the wind and rain of the Han and Tang Dynasties.Dunhuang, a large and prosperous city, and the Mogao Grottoes exist in this remote northwest.In the vast sand and gravel, countless wisdom is shining; the distant sound of camel bells awakens countless seekers of future generations.

Few people know that this place used to be a big river, and sand and stones piled up as it ran day and night.Maybe the river changed its course, maybe the crust changed, and after the river dried up, this place became a bare mountain.In 366 A.D., Monk Le Zun wandered here, and in that afternoon, without any warning, images of Thousand Buddhas suddenly appeared on the top of the mountain.In the light of ten thousand feet of Buddha, Le Zun bowed down piously. From then on, he took refuge here, formed good affinities, and widely preached Buddhism.On the mountain, he dug out the first cave himself, and inside the cave was carved a Maitreya Buddha.From then on, he worshiped day and night, offering incense and candles.In order to make the cave more emotional and emotional, he painted various stories related to Buddha on the walls and ceiling of the cave.After that, countless Buddhist believers came here, and everyone imitated Le Zun to carve Buddha statues on the mountain. The more money, the larger the scale, and the less money, the smaller the cave.No matter what, everyone here worships, prays, and blesses you with pious hearts.The Mogao Grottoes, which condensed the top carving skills and painting skills, have become the most precious wealth in the sighs of later generations.From emperors and generals to common people, the sponsors of the caves are regardless of their status, background, race or gender.Here, just because of faith, the voice of prayer is full of piety.Proud, the moment when I saw the Mogao Grottoes, it seemed to see the change of the millennium. At the moment of kneeling, the soft chanting sound lingered in my ears like light smoke.That voice means transcendence, and that voice travels through time to today, thousands of years later.

How empty life in the world is, it is better to live in the moment than to look north in a hurry.

Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Lake

"It is the mirror of the sky, the eye of the desert, and the paradise where the stars are bathed. When the sun sets, the mountains in the west and the sky reflect the Crescent Spring. Whenever the camel bells sound, it seems to return to the Crescent Spring."

People often compare Crescent Lake and Mingsha Mountain to twin sisters, but I feel that the relationship between them is like a pair of natural lovers, singing lingering love songs every day and month.

Among the eight scenic spots in Dunhuang, Crescent Lake is one of them, and she is the "wife" among the couples.It was called "shajing" or "medicine spring" in ancient times.100 meters from north to south, and 25 meters from east to west, the whole spring is shaped like a crescent moon, so the name "the first spring in the desert" comes from it.Mingsha starts from the cliff top of Mogao Grottoes in the east and connects to the Danghe Reservoir in the west. Although it is called a mountain, it is a hill made of yellow sand.Whenever the wind is raging, a huge sound comes from the sand mountain. If there is a breeze, the sound is as sweet as silk and bamboo.It is the "husband" among couples.The peaks of Mingsha Mountain surround the beautiful Crescent Spring in their arms, and they continue to love and linger like this, subverting the argument that "water and fire are incompatible".And Crescent Moon Spring, just like a crescent moon, lies gently in the embrace of the yellow sand, the sweet taste, the clear spring water, lying down for a thousand years.Sandboarding at Mingsha Mountain, among the many landscapes in Dunhuang, this practical experience is even more precious.Sitting on a sand hill, sliding down from a high place to a low place, the humming and rumbling sound of the sand is like a faint thunder, which is quite magical.

Looking down from the top of the mountain, the sand peaks are like waves surging in the sea, and the sand waves surging on the hillside are like ripples rippling on the water.The beauty of nature is so timeless, and the harmony between man and nature is vividly portrayed in this way.The difficulty of climbing a mountain is like a test, for sand, or for life.Only when you feel it with your heart can you realize that what nature gives to human beings is not just as simple as it seems on the surface.

Shapotou Tourist Area
It seemed that in an instant, clear spring water jumped into sight.The strangeness of the spring lies in the shape of the crescent moon and the wrapping of the sand hill.It turns out that the Creator is also a man of temperament. Otherwise, how could the clear crescent moon and the towering sand mountain be so romantic?Why does the mysterious charm and variety attract people to come here just to see the beauty?
"The eyes of Mingsha Mountain, the lifeblood of Dunhuang", later generations said when describing Crescent Moon Spring.Whenever the sun rises in the east, the Crescent Moon Spring glows with the most beautiful colors in the morning makeup. The moon and water are of the same color, just like a crescent moon hanging among the peaks.Therefore, people gave this charming scenery a nice name - Yuequan Xiaoche.

The story of Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Lake is repeated like this day and night, and the time changes, always showing the deep-rooted love.It is enviable and lingering.

Yumen Pass

Glancing at the grassland outside the Great Wall, the seemingly heroic emotions are actually longing to see through the autumn waters.In that year and that month, was it like the shining moonlight?At that moment, is there a spring breeze that has cared for and brought the fragrance of flowers?Hands in hand, has spirits and tenacity ever turned into infinite pride?Looking up, the loneliness of Yumen Pass covers the poems and papers of the literati's infinite feelings.

In the sky full of yellow sand, the troops of the Western Regions are still marching forward in mighty way. Thousands of miles of checkpoints and thousands of miles of travel have turned into a piece of graffiti: the wind is rustling, the water is cold, and when the strong men go, they will never return... Dunhuang The Yumen Pass in the territory has become a unique landscape for travelers to see things and think about history after hundreds of thousands of turns. Every time they pass by, they sigh gently.

In ancient times, it was just a pass.In the Western Han Dynasty, Hetian Meiyu from the Western Regions entered the Central Plains from here, so "Yumen Pass" has a beautiful name.Today, there are only ruins eroded by infinite wind, in the Xiaofangpan City in the northwest of Dunhuang, for future generations to look up to.The endless Gobi wind and sand, the illusory mirage, the psammophytes full of vitality, the natural sleeping Buddha in a realistic shape... The blue sky, the desert, and the vegetation, the confusing vastness deduces the breathtaking magnificence, and it seems that the silk can be heard faintly. The dreamlike camel bells jingle on the road.

A small square castle stands on the Gobi sandstone hill.It faces the salt marsh in the south, Lake Hara in the north, and the north in the north, where the Great Wall calls.

"The Yellow River is far above the white clouds, and there is an isolated city, Wanren Mountain. Why should the Qiang flute complain about the willows? The spring breeze does not pass through Yumen Pass." Wang Zhihuan has been nostalgic for this place, and this "Liangzhou Ci" expresses his infinite heart.In the age of war and chaos, the bustle of traffic and prosperity, in Saibei, the unique Yumen Pass brought people to rely on and be safe. Although the spring breeze was sluggish, the majestic and tall posture still made people awe-inspiring.

Yang Guan
In this long-abandoned pass, time suddenly goes backwards, the dazzling sunlight travels in the wall pool of rammed earth, and the space becomes extremely empty.In addition to a touch of sadness, what can still be felt is its suppressing momentum.Thinking of Yumen Pass in the distance, is there a general's dream of iron hooves sleeping in that heavy pass?In the cold night, is there still a trace of delicate folded willow for whom?

"Yangguan" and "Yumenguan" were both built by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to ensure the smooth flow of the Silk Road.It is located in the southwest of Dunhuang City.After the Song Dynasty, due to the development of land transportation, this place gradually declined and became a ruin.It was once famous all over the world for exposing a large number of ancient cultural relics.

Stretch out your hand to touch the dust on the door, as if you touched the movement of history at once.Qiang flute, camel bell, countless sounds mixed together, like joy, but also like elegy.

The picture suddenly remembered, in the thick yellow sand, played an endless and magnificent scene.Even if you leave, you can still drink with the ancients on a certain sad night.Hearing the sound of trampling horseshoes, bathed in the moonlight of Baidi City, and the distant shadow of the lonely sail, at an unknown moment, he crossed mountains and rivers and came to the front.

Gu Dao, Xifeng, once thought that in such a situation, there was Yi Ren's shadow accompanying him.In such a bleak river and lake, has there ever been an intoxicating and fragrant autumn color.Whose song sings three thousand lines of hot tears beside the pillow, whose lovesickness flows through the thousand-year-old jade gate-like loneliness.

(End of this chapter)