In the winter of 1997, I was sent to work in Wangjiayuan of Jixian County as an on-the-job placement. It was the first time I went to study, work and live by the Yellow River. I remember I wrote a Chinese Couplet, which reads "In the year of Ox I am seeking to succeed in my job by the Yellow River; in the year of Ox, I am going to perform my duties diligently at Wangjiayuan." Later I had an opportunity to visit the Hukou Waterfalls, and was impressed with the splendid scene of the river "Splitting the bank, running through the valley, and shaking the earth; driving the clouds, jetting the fog, and roaring forcefully". And it aroused in me my admiration for the great river's fatherly and heroic traits like courage, zealousness, generosity, daringness, and magnificence. At the beginning of the year 2013, I had another opportunity to stay with the Yellow River, when I came to work, live and study in Yonghe County. The special geographical location of Yonghe County helped me to look at the Mother River from a special perspective, which displayed to me something special that might be neglected by many people. 

The Yellow River winds its way through Yonghe County, the section in Yonghe is well-known for its dragon-like figure. As the county history reads, "Yonghe is located among a big range of mountains, with the landscape being extremely bumpy and rugged". But in my eyes, the bumpiness is poetic and picturesque. No matter whether you stand on the top of the Mount Ge, Mount Lou, or Mount of Stone Gate (also known as Mount Double Lock), you look around and can be shocked with the numerous hills intertwined with many valleys, and perfectly integrated with each other, which creates its spectacularity. With the scene being astoundingly spectacular, you feel embraced by the endlessly extending mountains, and you are standing at the center of the heaven and the earth. The Yellow River enters the Yonghe territory at Qianbeitouwan of Nanzhuang Township, and flows out of Yonghe at Qucaiwan of Jiaokou Township, and it winds its way through Yonghe as long as 68 kilometers, forming 7 powerfully stretching gigantic bends from north to south, including Hero Bend, Yonghe Pass Bend, Guojiashan Bend, Hehuili Bend, Baijiashan Bend, Xianren Bend, and Yujiazui Bend. The river section in Yonghe is just like a dragon, strolling through the Jinshan Great Canyon and shining with an atmosphere of happiness and auspiciousness. These seven river bends are collectively named the Qiankun (Heaven and Earth) Bend. On February 1, 2011, Mr Luo Wanxiong, a senior journalist from Guizhou Evening, occasionally took an aerial picture of the Qiankun Bend from the Beijing-to-Guiyang flight, only to find that the river section in Yonghe vividly resembling a huge dragon, with its head being raised high, its body winding and rolling along, its tail wagging forcefully. The dragon was glinting radiantly in the bright sunshine. 

The Qiankun Bend fully exhibits the Mother River's kindness, affection, serenity, easiness, majesty, and harmony. The glamor of the Qiankun Bend is well characterized with its harmony and inclusiveness. Whichever great snake-like river bend you watch, you will be impressed with splendid harmonious beauty of perfect integration and interaction between waters and mountains, heaven and earth, motion and tranquility, bending and straightness, masculinity and femininity, ruggedness and fineness. Particularly, at Hehuili Bend, the central part of the Qiankun Bend, The Yellow River forms an S-curve between the mountainous villages, Hehuili Village of Yonghe County and Yihe Village of Yanchuan County, Shaanxi Province, and the S-curve resembles exactly the Taichi Emblem of Yin-Yang Fish. Here, you can see the mountains embracing the river, the river embracing the mountains, with the river flowing through the mountains, and the mountains standing within the river. According to the folklore, it was here that Fuxi, the legendary Chinese primogenitor, looked up to the sky and looked down to the earth, and he came up with an thorough understanding of the nature and operation laws of heaven and earth, the sun and the moon, Yin and Yang, and the coexistence of things in the world, and thus started the history of Chinese civilization. In the middle of Qiankun Bend, there is an 800-meter long island, which is called by the local people "Laoniukan (Old bull ridge)". On the island there are lots of broken rocks, which are said to be left by Mother Nuwa (legendary creator of Chinese people), when she smelted colorful rocks to mend the cracks of the vault of heaven. This old folklore adds to the magic appeal of the river bend. The Qiankun Bend's beauty lies in its geniality and affection. When you are standing on top of the loess plateau, and look at the Yellow River, you find that it is just like a graceful and charming girl, singing and dancing to the tune of "The Yellow River Chorus", leaving you intoxicated and ecstatic. And now, you will feel that the Qiankun Bend is exactly the most pleasant stage of the Yellow River. When you place yourself in Yonghe County, which is embraced by the countless mountains, and beautified by the harmony between heaven and earth, you'll find that the river is like a tired and well-weathered traveler lying there calmly for a rest, the Qiankun Bend is like a courier station or a port along the long march. When you come up to the riverside and see the river flowing slowly through between the chains of the mountains by your side, you will feel that the river is like a girl to get married, who is leaving her hometown with much reluctance. The Qiankun Bend is the river's home on the Loess Plateau. 

The beauty of the Qiankun Bend lies in its peacefulness and easiness. The Jinshan Great Canyon, through which the Qiankun Bend winds its way, is the most twisted section of the Yellow River, and also where the river experiences most obstacles and hardships, but it is here that we see the river's peacefulness and easiness. It is here that the river is as quiet as a shy little girl, and flows along noiselessly. It is here that you feel you are in mother's warm arms, and however restless or uneasy you may be, you are to calm down when you are here, seeing the river water flowing still. Then, you can't help thinking that the Qiankun Bend is where people can feel tranquility and serenity. 

The Yellow River does not only exhibit her extraordinary natural beauty, but also emit her inner spiritual glamor. Only at the Qiankun Bend can we understand the Mother River's spirit of perseverance and industriousness, which molded such qualities of the Chinese nation. From the 68-km long section of the Yellow River in Yonghe County, we can easily feel the strong will the river displays by pushing its way through numerous mountains and valleys, and running forward unremittingly. From the snake-like twisted river course and its easy flowing, we can easily understand the river's wisdom that awakened the "sleeping lion" in the east. From the inclusiveness of the Qiankun Bend that attracts numerous small tributaries, we can easily imagine the whole river's all-embracing spirit displayed by receiving more than 40 large tributaries including the White River, the Black River, the Fenhe River, and the Weihe River, as well as thousands of smaller streams alongside. We can deeply comprehend the mother river's sacredness that has bred and nurtured everything and everybody living here from the rich ancient cultural relics along the river section in Yonghe, including those of the New Stone Age, the Xia and Zhou Dynasties, the ancient ferry at the Yonghe Pass, the ancient village of Hehuili, and above all, more than 200,000 mu jujube plantation and 20 thousand inhabitants by the river. 

In 1936, under the leadership of Mao Zedong and Peng Dehuai, the vanguard of the Red Army crossed the Yellow River and marched to the east to fight the Japanese invaders, which helped expand the military forces of the Red Army, promoted the formation of the anti-Japanese national united front, and pushed forward the Movement of Resistance Against Japan and Saving the Nation. It was here in Yonghe that Chairman Mao, together with the headquarters, stayed for 13 days when they held a military meeting and made the decision of shifting from "marching to the east to fight the Japanese invaders and Kuomintang forces" to "marching to the east to fight in alliance with the Kuomintang forces against the Japanese invaders", which meant a great strategic adjustment in the course of Chinese Revolution. Today, in the Memorial for the Red Army's East March, people can find the records of Chairman Mao's miraculous stories and the Red Army's great battle achievements. Today, in the neighborhood of the Red Army Cliff, the moving and tragic story is still being told about twelve Red Army soldiers, who were appointed to cover the main forces crossing the Yellow River westward, but finally ran out of their food and ammo, and jumped into the surging waters of the river to avoid being captured by the enemy. At that time, the people of Yonghe, industrious, kind, simple and brave, contributed much to the Red Army's East March achievements. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the people of Yonghe, living in this remote and barren land, have made great accomplishment in social development. When you come up to the Yonghe Section of the Yellow River, you will see the great project of the Three-North Forest Shelterbelt, neatly planted and far-reaching, tier upon tier, line by line, and row by row, which serves as a green monument with the inscription of the great historical chapter written by the people of Yonghe in their fight to improve the formidable ecological and living conditions. In Yonghe County, the spirit of the Yellow River, the spirit of the Chinese Nation, the spirit of the East March, and the spirit of Yonghe are perfectly integrated and revealed. 

The Yellow River that flows through Yonghe occurs to my mind from time to time, silently reminding me of learning from the river. 

Jia Tianshan is former Party Secretary of Yonghe County, Shanxi Province.

(The article was translated by Liu Lianzhang)

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