Qinhuai River in the spotlight of engine sound

I had heard the name "Qinhuai River in the Sound of Oars and Lights" by Zhu Ziqing earlier, and thought it was quite romantic. However, it was much later when I actually read the article, and I was greatly disappointed. The first half describes the structure of the cruise ship and the scenery seen while boating in the Qinhuai River, which is worth reading. The second half of the writing changes and writes "encountering an intractable dispute." After a closer look, it turns out that he was entangled by a geisha. Although he was "oppressed by the moral law" and rejected them, he still had "a sense of inadequacy", which gave rise to some discussions about morality and sympathy, and "feeling regretful and lost." The author writes some moral and sympathetic words, but when facing the prostitutes, he has a kind of condescending and unconscious pity and even contempt, using respect as the reason for rejecting them, and he can't restrain his hope for the sweet music. This is This attitude, in my opinion, is quite hypocritical. It is enough to offset the wonderful description of the beautiful scenery in the previous article and make me experience a disillusionment with the author and even the impression of the Qinhuai River.

After I came to Nanjing, I still wanted to see it in person. Boarding the so-called boat boat, the bright lights outside the boat form a dragon pattern. There are neat glass windows on both sides of the boat. A corner of an orange life jacket is exposed under the seat. A uniformed "boatman" operates the steering wheel, and the boat moves slowly. When the ground starts to move, there is naturally no sound of oars, replaced by the repetitive mechanical noise of the engine. Fortunately, it is not very loud, and one can still hear some gurgling water in the river. The lights on both sides of the river are artificially decorated and colorful, hanging on the stone railings on the river bank, on the walls of the houses on both sides, and on the branches of the trees, forming some unattractive and inappropriate patterns. The houses are mostly restaurants and hotels built along the river, with white walls and black tiles, pavilions and pavilions, and red lanterns under the eaves. Although the walls are a bit unnaturally white, the lanterns are naturally light bulbs, so they are still a bit interesting. . People on the cruise ship look at the houses along the river, and people eating on the balcony look at the cruise ship in the river. They both become scenery.

The ship sailed through several bridge holes, and poems praising Qin Huai were engraved on the walls, as well as portraits of poets with their heads raised and hands behind their hands reciting poems. There was a section along the way where there were very few lighted houses on both sides of the river, with only vegetation standing quietly in the darkness, and the river flowing outside the window and the night breeze. It was night and the moon was not quite round, but the wind and water were clear. There was a female voice playing on the radio on the ship, telling the history of the Qinhuai River, the stories of talented people and beautiful women, and the emotion of how life is different and things change with circumstances. My mother, who was traveling with me, said that she envied the ancient people for their romantic and unrestrained style, but that unrestrained and unrestrained style only belonged to talented people. Beauties were often "beautiful but unlucky." The enviable youthful love ended hastily. After that, they either drifted with the crowd and died alone, or died for love vigorously and miserably. , in exchange for the empty title of a chaste woman and righteous daughter. I don’t want to accuse cannibalistic feudal ethics here, so I’ll leave it at that.

When the boat arrived at the pier, they saw a boat moored under the stone wall illuminated by colorful lights. A woman on the bow waved her sleeves and sang opera, and the singing echoed over the Qinhuai River through the sound equipment. Today, of course, there are no singing girls floating on the river all day long, making a living by making jokes; this boat and singers are probably arranged by the tourism department at the pier to attract tourists. Due to my previous disappointment with the article "Qinhuai River", this field trip did not feel boring in comparison. Although I am a nostalgic person, I also know that no matter how good things in the past sound, they are just visions like a mirage. Using today's scenery to express today's feelings, why do we have to chant history, nostalgic for the past, and lament that the present will never be the same. Thinking about it this way, Zhu Ziqing's night tour in Qinhuai, using singing girls to express some of his moral laws, is not a disappointment.