Chapter 31: Water Dragon Chant

"Cough, cough, cough!"

The green sticky rice ball in Lu Beigu's throat got stuck, making him cough uncontrollably.

Listening to every "Heave-ho," it seemed as if several pounds of blood and sweat were mixed into each one.

The one-eyed old boatman squinted, using fingers like old tree bark to point at the departing salt boat.

"See that? Once we pass the river island, the pulling chant over there must switch to the 'Level Water Tune.' If one day you hear the 'Retract Rope Tune,' it means someone is going to stay at the river bottom forever..."

The river wind suddenly grew fierce, blowing the last half of the sigh away into the humid air.

On this stretch of the Yangtze in Luzhou, the boats coming and going were mostly merchant vessels transporting well salt, just like the one Lu Beigu had just seen.

Since ancient times, Chuannan has been an important salt-producing region; during the preceding Tang Dynasty, the Jiannan Circuit's Zizhou, Suizhou, Mianzhou, Hezhou, Changzhou, Yuzhou, and Luzhou collectively had 460 salt wells, among which the Yujing Salt Administration in Luzhou was extremely famous, with the depth of Yujing reaching over 70 zhang.

By the present Great Song, the salt wells of the salt administrations in the Luzhou area operated day and night without cease; white salt blocks were loaded into bamboo baskets, transported out from the mountainous areas, carried by laborers onto wooden boats, and sent down the Yangtze.

Occasionally, when the rope-pullers rested at the ferry crossing, one would see them take out copper coins to buy some "River Water Douhua" sold at roadside tea stalls.

—Tender white Douhua served in coarse earthenware bowls, topped with a spoonful of red oil boiled from cornel fruit, sprinkled with chive flowers, and swallowed along with rough rice in one gulp, leaving them covered in sweat.

On the large ferry transporting horse-drawn carriages across the river, their group was eating the same thing.

Hmm, not eating doesn't make one hungry, but eating that green sticky rice ball just made me hungry.

But Li Pan ate very quickly; he finished a bowl of "River Water Douhua" in three strokes and five sweeps.

Lu Beigu reluctantly put down his spoon, because he noticed that after the magistrate finished eating, everyone else, regardless of whether they had finished or not, also "finished," and he felt embarrassed to continue eating while standing out.

"What are your thoughts?" Li Pan asked, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief.

"Seeing the suffering of the common people, my heart feels uneasy."

Lu Beigu placed his hands on his knees and said earnestly, "But I simply do not know what I can do, nor what I ought to do."

"People often say, 'When successful, benefit the whole world; when poor, cultivate oneself alone,' but do you know what the original text of this sentence in the Mencius actually is?"

Without waiting for Lu Beigu to answer, Li Pan continued on his own: "Mencius said: 'When poor, cultivate oneself alone; when successful, benefit the whole world.'"

"The meaning of the ancient sages is not to be misunderstood—there is a saying, 'If one does not sweep the house, how can one sweep the world?' One must first take care of oneself and those around one before thinking about the people of the world."

"As for how you should proceed step by step? Studying the learning of sages and worthies is to be true to oneself, allowing oneself to differ from the ignorant and to perceive the principles of heaven and earth; taking the imperial examinations and becoming a juren is to be true to one's relatives and family, enabling them not to suffer hardship alongside you and to improve their lives; as for becoming a jinshi and entering officialdom, doing things that are true to one's conscience and beneficial to the common people, regardless of size, all count as being true to the people of the world."

"I have read the books of sages and worthies for so many years, observed people and events for so many years, and stored a basketful of principles in my belly; I could speak for several hours at a moment's notice, but what benefit is there in saying so much? A gentleman acts, not speaks; the few words I have spoken briefly today are the principles I teach you; I hope you will remember them."

It was clear that what Li Pan said came from the depths of his heart, and rather than teaching Lu Beigu, it was more like using the scenery to express emotions and guide himself.

"Yes, this student will keep them in mind."

"However, telling you to take care of yourself and your relatives and family does not mean telling you to be selfish or to disregard the common people of the world, do you understand?"

Fearing that Lu Beigu might go to extremes, Li Pan reminded him again, which could be described as taking great pains.

After all, many times, young people full of ideals and ambitions become extreme egoists only after accumulating years of real-world suffering and encountering a triggering moment—it might be just one event or a single word from someone else.

He knew Lu Beigu's family circumstances were not good, which was why he said this specifically.

Afterwards, Li Pan suddenly asked, "How is your recent poetry and prose practice going?"

"I have learned some tonal patterns and rhymes, yet I find myself unable to write excellent works."

Lu Beigu remained earnest and said quite frankly, "I always feel that a fence has been built in my heart for no reason, restricting me."

"Then use this scene and this emotion to compose a ci poem! If you achieve fame and success in the future, look back at what you have written and remind yourself not to forget the suffering of the common people seen today!"

Li Pan patted his shoulder: "Simply express your feelings directly; slight flaws in tonal patterns and rhymes are not necessarily bad. Poetry and ci value natural spontaneity."

Lu Beigu nodded; Li Pan's view was somewhat akin to the "Theory of Spiritual Sensibility."

And composing a ci poem in front of everyone generally carries a certain sense of shame, akin to a social death.

However, given this scene and this emotion, if he did not write a ci poem as a memento, he feared that in a little while, he would no longer have this feeling.

After pondering for a moment, Lu Beigu stood up and loudly recited a ci poem of the tune "Water Dragon Chant," which was the easiest to fill on the spot.

Compared to other ci tune variants with few variations, this tune had as many as twenty-five variants, and moreover, it was not yet an era where Su Shi's ci was considered the standard form, so the space for free improvisation was quite large.

"Thunder cracks stone and pierces the sky, green ropes chew through the flesh of the flood dragon.

Salt mountains press the oars, swirling clouds collapse the sails, starlight splashes the ropes.

Half a verse of the Yang Pass, a single sound of the earth's lungs, breaking free from the heavenly moat.

Behold the spittle sand congealing into blood, the river wind carving the bones; a thousand sails pass—all within the trap of men."

At this moment, towering mountains stood on both banks of the Yangtze, the great river roared, and looking eastward, there was no end.

Lu Beigu leaned on the railing on his own, striking the rhythm with his hand; the river wind blew fiercely, his green robe suddenly billowed, and unconsciously, an aura of sternness was added.

"Suddenly feeling this body like a cocoon, wrapping the cold toad, sobbing within the sheath.

Beneath the scholar's sleeves, how can one gather all the broken scrolls of wailing geese?

When the sudden rain comes, the rope-puller's marks become the brush, the waves become the inkstone.

Call forth ten thousand acres of silver waves, grind my heart and lungs, and make them the arrowhead in the midstream!"

After finishing the recitation of "Water Dragon Chant," Lu Beigu actually felt somewhat ashamed; before his transmigration, he had hardly studied the tonal patterns of poetry, ci, and fu, and the related knowledge inherited from his previous body was unreliable.

Therefore, according to the tonal patterns, rhymes, and prosody of Song ci, the ci poem he improvised on the spot was actually extremely unqualified.

But on one hand, Li Pan had already said "do not be bound by tonal patterns" and asked him to express his feelings directly; on the other hand, Lu Beigu also believed that in the future, he would definitely be able to improve through study in the field of poetry, ci, and fu, rapidly progressing from the current non-compliance with tonal patterns to compliance.

Li Pan clapped his hands and laughed heartily: "Although the tonal patterns are not rigorous, it is still a ci poem of broad-mindedness and ambition!"

"Ordinary scholars singing of rope-pullers merely use general phrases like 'sweat dripping like rain' or 'strength pulling down mountains and rivers'; you alone take the cold light of 'starlight splashing the ropes,' the sound of tearing silk in 'breaking free from the heavenly moat,' and use 'a thousand sails pass—all within the trap of men' as the conclusion of the first half. Such writing power has broken the mold; unless one is present in the scene, one could never write such a ci poem."

"As for the second half, it is like Zu Ti striking the oar in the midstream; it can be said that a gentleman has established his ambition!"

Hearing Li Pan's approving evaluation, Lu Beigu, who had still been somewhat melancholy about the tonal patterns, relaxed his heart; the tonal patterns could be learned slowly later, but the state of mind at this moment could not be sought by marking the boat.

He only felt that all the knots and indignation in his heart, with the completion of this "Water Dragon Chant," were about to vanish without a trace.

Immediately, as if fortune had touched his spirit, he let out a long whistle facing the vast river wind.

After the long whistle, it was as if something like a shackle had been torn apart with a "clunk" in Lu Beigu's heart, and many thoughts became even more firm.

Before his eyes, at the place where two waters converge beneath the city of Luzhou on the north bank of the Yangtze.

The Tuo River water is extremely turbid; the Yangtze River water is extremely clear.

——————

① From "Book of Jin: Biography of Zu Ti": "Zu Ti struck the oar in midstream and swore, 'If Zu Ti cannot clear the Central Plains and cross the river again, may I be like the Great River!' His words and expression were heroic and fierce; all present sighed with emotion." The ancients often used this to symbolize making a firm resolve and striving forward.

(End of this chapter)