Original title: Sansha Affectionate Illustration: Guo Hongsong [Chinese Story] I discovered that the root system of the island is composed of corals, fish, conches, romantic feelings, and pure poems. They are all shaking in the crystal. The plane is approaching....

Original title: Sansha Affection

Illustration: Guo Hongsong

[Chinese Story]

Only then did I discover that the root system of the island is composed of coral, fish, conches, romantic feelings, and pure poems. They are all shaking in the crystal.

The plane approached Woody Island

We agreed to give up observing the islands and coconut trees, admiring the dark green coastline, and giving up looking at the short and majestic runway. Forty minutes before landing, the flight attendant ordered: close the visors of all the porthole windows.

knows that the island is small, knows that the safety of the island is huge, and knows that the responsibility is huge.

The flight attendant’s voice was full of apologies, but we, the passengers, were full of pride. What we are about to land is the navel of the South China Sea. It’s home to waves, coral, the roar of fighter jets, and lasting tranquility.

I closed my eyes in the darkness, but I knew that a roaring seagull had captured peace, with sharp eyes and precise dive.

Where did that island like a stilt house go?

Where did that iron stilt house go? At that time, he was holding a gun in his hand and looking at a seagull in the distance.

Where has the wave that his heels stepped on gone? At that time, the land under his feet was as small as a turtle's back. The rain was pouring, and the tin drum was beaten until dawn. The water soaked half of his shoulders, but he insisted on holding up the telescope to search for lightning deep in the dark clouds.

The lonely image of the soldier appeared in the stories of friends in Sansha City. Although now, the barracks in the military restricted area are like rolling mountains; the lightning that is good at striking islands has now solidified into a runway for fighter planes.

The soldier back then has a kind face now and his temples are gray. He would fly in regularly to visit the barracks, which were upgraded versions of the tin houses of the past. The flying companion is still the seagull. The seagull reported to him the tide and the enemy's situation; perhaps, they would also recall the history of that year together: a soldier, wearing a military uniform that was torn by the strong wind, couldn't bear to suck a lonely bird egg he picked up.

No. 8, Xuande Road, Sansha City

This is a place where there are thorns, plantains and bougainvillea in front of the gate. It is a place where the climate, sun and humid air make people laugh together; this is a place where geographical signs are erected in front of the gate. The places: Subi Island 680 kilometers, Yongshu Island 812 kilometers, Taiping Island 748 kilometers, Thitu Island 652 kilometers, Huangyan Island 608 kilometers, Zhongjian Island 165 kilometers; of course, there is also the sign of Chongming Island in East China, which was 1888 Kilometers - that is Shanghai of the motherland, that is the fragrant Jiangnan!

Not far from the gate, there is a small wooden pavilion named "Peony Pavilion". That is the meaning of the island defenders to coexist with traditional Chinese culture. It is not superficial, it is confidence.

Like a little bee sleeping in the stamen of a flower, like a little kangaroo sleeping in its mother's womb, I will sleep in the navel of the South China Sea today. I will have a dream with corals, waves, and spear thorns.

This exquisite place has a famous name: Xisha Hotel, No. 8 Xuande Road, Sansha City.

Statue of Mother of the South China Sea

Only her wide arms can match the vast blue; and only her kind eyes can make many islands jump out of the sea and run towards her at a speed comparable to seagulls. The clouds in front of

are ring-shaped, and the sea stands in every direction under the clouds; the coconut trees behind them are also constantly swaying in the wind. In fact, this is not a coconut grove, this is the Nanling, Qinling, Lesser Khingan Range, and Greater Khingan Range!

Professor Yin Jia of Shanghai Jiguang Vocational and Technical College mobilized all his artistic reserves for the kindness of her eyes and her arms embracing the sea. He knew the weight of the word "mother" and the word "Sansha"; he understood what kind of emotions would be aroused in the hearts of the soldiers guarding the island every time they walked past the statue.

Everyone who sets foot on the Paracel Islands will recognize her as their mother.

Me too.

As long as you are Chinese, mother is everywhere.

Monument to the Navy's Retrieval of the Paracel Islands

This tree with thick joints should be regarded as the Mother Tree of China. She has been taking care of this square stone, knowing that the base of this stone is Mount Tai, Kunlun, and the Himalayas.

Remember this time on November 24, 1946, and remember the three names of Commander Lin Zun, Deputy Commander Yao Ruyu, and Captain Zhang Junran. When they stepped on the island, the sound of their military boots was the sound of chiseling on this stone.

On this day, the Japanese invaders retreated, leaving behind bunkers and trenches. On this day, a short stone monument became the highest elevation in the country.

I took a photo with the vigorous words on the monument - those are Chinese characters!

Lin Zun, Yao Ruyu, Zhang Junran—those are Chinese!

I took photos with Mount Tai, Kunlun, and Himalayas. I need a photo full of calcium!

The remaining Japanese military towers on Yongxing Island

I have seen this kind of towers many times in movies, in the North China Plain, in the Central Plains, in the Yangtze River Delta, and in the Pearl River Delta. I have heard the unbridled laughter in the watchtower, and the ambition, arrogance and arrogance shot out in all directions from there.

Unexpectedly, among the waves of aquamarine, under the fruit-laden coconut trees, and among the graceful arcs of gull wings, there is another one like this! ——There is cement, steel bars, bullet holes, brutality, and heart-piercing pain.

The watchtower was erected in 1939. On April 9 of that year, the Japanese Governor-General in Taiwan issued a communiqué declaring that Dongsha, Xisha and Nansha were "incorporated into the Japanese Empire." Xisha's first volley of guns was fired from this gun hole, and the coconuts and heads fell together.

This cancer has survived for seven full years, and its appearance is still intact. So far, even the grass is far away from it, full of vigilance. Be careful, those seemingly dead reinforced concrete cancer cells will one day open their eyes like bullet holes.

Yongxing School on Yongxing Island

Suddenly I had an intuition that these children who were eating, this school with only third grade students at the highest level, were the powerful base of a lighthouse.

How many years from now, their mature and broad vision will sweep across the entire South China Sea.

When I visited this school, it was lunch time. 13 primary school students gathered around a small rectangular table. One of the chubby children said, I want to eat another piece, so he got up, walked to the South China Sea made of stainless steel basin, and fished for a piece of fish. His neat movements were like his father's net.

The other 38 people, all kindergarten children, were gathered around several small low tables. Of course they are more childish, with fish juice, egg juice and vegetable juice at the corners of their mouths. The butterfly on the little girl's hairpin looks like a seagull.

There are only 51 people studying in the school, including the children of military personnel, government servants, fishermen, and employees stationed on the island. They ate around the table, and Lei Feng on the wall looked at them with a smile; the exercises they drew with colored pens also surrounded them on the wall.

They all say that the sea water in Xisha is clear, isn’t that just describing their pupils? It is said that the sunrise in Xisha is dazzlingly red, doesn’t it refer to the scarves around their necks?

I felt the light, the bright beam of light that swept across the sea at night. This is a school that only teaches students up to the third grade, but the light that reaches straight into the future almost makes me unable to open my eyes.

The route in the South China Sea has long-term guarantee, whether it is the passage of people, ships or fish. I feel the light.

I thought, I would give them the novel "Lei Feng" I wrote. On the cover, Lei Feng's smiling eyes are, like mine, a bit unable to open.

Our only beacon is actually, and should be, our successors.

The seawater desalination plant on Yongxing Island

After all, one thousand tons of seawater have to be trained here every day, what a huge lineup!

The sea water not only calls for standing at attention, taking a rest, and looking forward, but also purifies the soul and gets along with human beings at the level of soul compatibility, otherwise they will not be graduated.

's dense pipelines and processes are almost fully automated. The main control room is on the second floor. Nanhai lifted up his shirt and sat on the screen wall on the second floor to do X-ray, CT and MRI.

Although the cost is a bit high, fresh water costs 20 yuan per ton; if it is brought from outside, it only costs 3 yuan. But if you think about this strategic significance, think about how an island can be like a battle flag and never fall down in critical moments.

A handsome man at the desalination plant quietly told me that he had not been reunited with his family for a long time, which made me guess that his wife's heart has always been filled with pure fresh water.

The purified water on the mainland and the purified water on the island are all graduation certificates issued by this handsome man from the desalination plant. In the main control room on the second floor, he used buttons and shouted slogans; when issuing certificates, he played the national anthem.

At the Xisha Lighthouse, looking at the South China Sea from a distance

The waves are only opaque when they hit the breakwater, foaming at the mouth, and a little tired, but everywhere else, it is all glass and crystal.

I looked down and saw the white boulders under the water, all revealing their own patterns: like a group of brown oracle bone characters - what are the Xisha Islands telling? Are you talking about the Zhou Dynasty, the Qin Dynasty, or the Han Dynasty? Or are you talking about when Zheng He made his seventh voyage to the West, a gust of wind here almost blew his hat off? Later, he simply drove off a group of cows and put them on the island?

The South China Sea has clearly exposed the root system of the Paracel Islands. Only then did I discover that the root system of the island is composed of corals, fish schools, conches, romantic feelings, and pure poems. They are all shaking in the crystal. They are even impurities in the crystal.

After I looked far away, the arc-shaped sea horizon began to talk about eternity and philosophy. It doesn't talk about anything except metaphysics; and only at seven o'clock in the evening, the lighthouse next to me will use sharp language to talk to it. Their conversation can make the sea transparent.

This evening, like all days, people came here to watch the sea, and basically did not speak, as if thoughts are inherently transparent, just like the sea water, the air, the roots of the islands, and the eyes of seagulls are all transparent .

- Like the lighthouse and the horizon, they are the fingers of God.

Brother Gong Temple on Yongxing Island

I also believe that there are heroic souls in the sea, so I have to bend down and go to the temple to worship. Some people entered the sea ahead of time and took their seats in the eye of the storm.

They are sitting across from me now.

Lightning shot from their eyes and struck me. The mast in my heart is now down.

When all the fishermen arrive on the island, they must come here first to pay tribute to the two Ming Dynasty brothers who died. The incense they light will be stronger than the mast. They know that the sea not only contains corals, but also life and death.

The temple is small. The horizontal plaque reads: The sea is calm. The couplet is: Brothers feel inspired, lonely souls receive deep grace.

Facing the sea, we are all brothers. We can only be brothers. Let's hold on to the mast together. The storm outside the temple was still very strong.

I bent at ninety degrees, making the mast break shape. But at this moment, who is telling me: Are you saved? In whose eyes, the lightning disappeared and a lighthouse shot out?

Brothers are inspired by each other, and lonely souls are deeply blessed - at this moment, who has passed through the South China Sea?

Meet the bison at the Xisha Ocean Museum

These unruly bison have survived for three hundred years. The location is on the East Island of Xisha, and there are still two to three hundred of them. How many rocks in the South China Sea have they picked up to build their own horns?

Learn to garrison and find your own barracks in the cave; and use the rhythm of rowing waves to practice singing your own military songs from generation to generation.

If there is a war, they know the edge of their horns and the hardness of their hooves! More than 300 animals, an entire organic battalion!

It is said that the hair on their bodies has turned golden, and flames flow when they run. I believe this. China has had the bison formation since ancient times.

Because I am also an Ox, I am very envious of these brothers who can serve in a place with such a good ecological environment. Couldn't they have come through the Military Service Bureau?

One theory is that during the Ming and Qing wars, people fleeing chaos brought cattle with them and settled on Dongdao; another theory is that during Zheng He's seven voyages to the West, he put a group of cattle here at some point.

These opportunities are beyond my reach. My fur isn't golden enough, and I don't run like a flame.

Next time I will go to Dongdao to visit and communicate with my brothers.I want to verify the historical inevitability of their appearance in the Xisha Islands; to verify whether they are the protectors of the South China Sea, they must have the temperament of an ox!

Photographing boundary monuments in Shidao

When I was photographing boundary monuments and the national emblem in Shidao, the waves were always on the side, cheering me on. Their military-like neat slogans are trained by the moon.

Behind the boundary monument, none of the plump cacti made a sound, but they never put down their daggers and daggers.

What Hailang shouted was the slogan for infantry drills. It has been shouted like this for thousands of years, but the local accent has changed slightly: at first it was Qin and Han accents, then Song Ming accent, and now it is standard Mandarin. When the waves turn back, they make a retroflex sound.

The majestic atmosphere and the majestic boundary markers are a whole. Shidao is the base of South China. I have seen the boundary monuments in the north of the motherland in Xinjiang, and now I have seen the boundary monuments in the southern tip of China. Great, I found my bearings. I had precision.

- Very good, the motherland is easy to be in the queue, call me out!

"Long Live the Motherland" carved by the soldiers of Xisha Shidao

I finally saw the famous four stone-carved characters. Finally, as I imagined, big waves hit the old dragon head rock wall day and night, and the South China Sea wanted to shake the island; like me As imagined, a soldier is hanging in the air, using the iron drill in his hand to chisel one by one, connecting his will with the cliff of the motherland. It’s the glue, it’s the spark.

I always imagine that he is still there, this island guard named Yu Dongxing, with a rope tied around his waist, hanging down the cliff every day, tracing his heart in the middle of the sky, sea and earth.

This description lasted for a full half a year, but he knew that he actually did not leave the army; the generations of island defenders before him did not leave, and the generations of island defenders after him would not leave either. As long as these four words are there, everything is there.

Without loneliness, there would be no these four words; without profoundness, there would be no these four words; without blood bubbles, there would be no these four words; without love, there would be no these four words.

I always imagine that he is still there, this island guard named Yu Dongxing, once again, tied a rope around his waist and descended to the middle of the sky and the earth. He likes to meet his motherland at such a height; at that height, it is convenient to hang an iron anchor and fix the motherland at the intersection of sea level and sea level!

Title: A black and white photo: Xisha soldiers collecting letters

This is July 1996. He put his hand into the iron mailbox of "Nansha Post". There were dozens of letters and printed matter that arrived that day; those were his father, mother, Wife, grandma, that is the whole motherland.

His hands touched the noise of Wuyi Mountain, the white sails of Poyang Lake, and a blue-rimmed porcelain bowl from the Central Plains; it was hot wheat porridge, millet porridge, or polenta.

He was smiling all over his face, but there were tears in the corners of his eyes. Ten minutes later, his military camp will stir up joy in the South China Sea. How happy this trustworthy soldier is. His zodiac sign is the primrose, and he travels between the motherland and the isolated island.

People often say that loneliness, vastness and emptiness are scary, but this mailbox is a treasure gourd allocated by China Post. It can take out mountains, plains, hills and basins, there is no limit; the loud voice is the parents’ instructions, and the quiet whisper is There is no limit to the lover's night talk; there is no limit to how long the Paracel Islands can sit on the lap of the motherland.

Kuanzhai Alley Hot Pot Restaurant in Yongxing Island

It’s incredible that when walking in Xisha, you actually walked into Kuanzhai Alley. It is simply unimaginable that there is no ocean between Xisha and Chengdu.

But the fact is that the smiling Sichuan girl has already ushered us into the box. Chengdu plain began to rotate on the dining table, half pot of clear soup and half pot of spicy food.

I was mixing complex seasonings and calculating the latitude and longitude. Am I on an island or in a basin?

Ten years ago, this island was deserted. The only ones that occasionally stop here are fishing boats and seagulls. Today, there are not only Beijing Road, Xuande Road, and Hainan Road, but also government squares, 4G signals, hospitals, banks, and schools. Even the longitude and latitude lines in the depths of the sea are intertwined into wide and narrow alleys.

In the shop, I saw the island guards who were chewing dry food and drinking sea breeze.They cooked the mandarin duck hot pot, but it took a long time to order neither beef nor mutton; thick tears were shed on their cheeks: Platoon leader Zhang's is wider, and squad leader Li's is narrower.

(Author: Huang Yazhou, former vice chairman of the Chinese Writers Association) (Huang Yazhou)

Editor in charge: Xiaoyun