"Ferry" In The Perspective Of Literary Geography

Ferry,known as Jin or Du,is the mooring for ship or raft to berth during transport.As a vital point connecting waterway and road transport of different regions,ferry is not only closely related to people's daily life,but also greatly affects the national government decrees,and taxation and many other livelihood events.What's more,the ferry is an inevitable place to arrive at or leave somewhere.The constant busyness and unique space composition of ferry greatly inspire literature writers to create countless classic literary works.In Tang and Song Dynasties,politics and economics were much more prosperous than ever before,and transportation and communication became increasingly frequent.Consequently,literary works about fury of this era were highly representative in geography,epochal character and literature.China is crisscrossed by a network of rivers,and Chinese ancient civilization is nurtured by the Yangtze River and Yellow River.During the progress of civilization,ferry is one of the most unique parts.Among all the Yellow River ferry,Pu Jin Du,Meng Jin Du and ferries on Wei River own the largest amount of poems.To be more detailed,ferries on Wei River are famous for Xianyang and Ba Qiao.Xianyang faces west and is mainly used for army or envoy,so the basic styles of related literary works are heroic and tragic;while Ba Qiao faces the east and is more for farewell,the poems are more disconsolate and melancholy.The Yangtze River is prosperous,but the literature focus more on the critical crossroad between the Yangtze River and Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal,including Zhenjiang West Ferry,Yangzhou Yangzi Du and Guazhou Du.The West Ferry flows from south to north with delightful and bright scenery,often representing a success in career;while Yangzi Du flows in the opposite direction with a desolate and sorrowful view,representing relegation.In addition,Jinling Taoye Du is favored by literati of Song because of the story of WANG Xizhi and his wife Taoye.Via analyzing these poems,we are able to extract the unique spatial elements of the ferry and to further restore the landscape described by these works.Geographically,ferry nestles under mountains and faces rivers,and thus links literary focuses with its wide vision and sufficient brume.Ecologically,ferry attracts abundant aquatic birds with its large number of aquatic plants and cultivated willows.Culturally,ferry offers a temporary parking place for “mobile” boats,and closely communicates with adjacent “stationary” villages.All these elements are significant inspirations for writers.When literary writers created works,they not only described the real furies,but also expressed their own feelings and imagination,making their works show a more profound literary connotation.The same fury being described in different works might appear as different looks,telling unique stories about view and sightseeing,farewell and cherish,leaving hometown and missing family,dream and ideality,time and memory,and etc.