Entry: Xiangxi
Great Xiangxi (Western Hunan), in a broad sense, covers Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Zhangjiajie, Huaihua and parts of Shaoyang. In a narrow sense, its geographical area refers to Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Zhangjiajie City and Wuling Mountain Area located in the northwest of Hunan and the north of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. It borders on Hubei, Chongqing and Guizhou. Altogether seven counties and a capital city, Jishou, fall under the administration of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, while Zhangjiajie City covers two counties and two districts. With 30 ethnic nationalities, including Tujia, Miao, Han, Hui and others, the population is nearly five million. Xiangxi boasts great fengshui and has been in history the birthplace of many great minds. Simplicity and sincerity are characteristics of the life there. The natural scenic spots include Zhangjiajie City, Wulingyuan District, Fenghuang Town, Mengdong River, Zuolong Gorge and Lvdong Mountain and the significant historic sites such as Liye Town with the bamboo slips of the Qin Dynasty, Shoubadong as the birthplace of the Tujia People, the ancient and historic site of Laosicheng Tusi Domain and Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan-Guizhou Revolutionary Base Area.
To put it plain and straight, this dictionary comes out of a person's life. It will be a dictionary different from any other in the world. It is about Xiangxi, its culture and life. It is also about family, love and life. The image of Xiangxi will be established here, tinted with beauty or the taste of melancholy.
More imagination and expectation of it are anticipated. Xiangxi constitutes an important part of my life and destiny. It all started in 1964, when I was born in a small village in Xiangxi. It is true that Beijing granted me permanent residence and a job, but it can't give me the most precious feelings as Xiangxi does. By feelings it does not mean the affection between man and woman but rather the love for the land and the passion for life. In Beijing, skyscrapers obscure the sunshine-like tender feelings that I need in interpersonal relationships. The sturdy steel and hard concrete tend to reshape the land with detachment. In crowded streets, hardly could be found the expression of warmth. I live in Beijing, but have never reach an identification with it. The city to me is an everyday stranger. I can only be a runaway child, in the dead of night, walking along the same road I followed home before. Step by step, league by league, I return to my hometown, Xiangxi. Because I know no matter how cold I am outside, the moment I go back to her, she waits for me with a warm light at the crossroad. The moment I step into the house, she waits for me with a basin of charcoal fire on the hearth. Family members' smiling faces, friends' affection and those frisky puppies and kittens which instantly get together around me melt the ice in my heart. The familiar scenery of the lush green fields along the way stretches out, welcoming me with its unique beauty and expression.
I am the child of Xiangxi. My root is in Xiangxi.
Generation after generation, literati describe Xiangxi as a beautiful treat away from the world with picturesque scenery and sincere residents. The romantic love festivals such as Ganqiu Festival (Autumn Gathering), Bordered Love Field, Wild Onion-Picking Day, Strolling Among Flowers—Tahuahua Activity, Looking for a Bridegroom, Bride's Weeping and the deeply mysterious folk culture of Releasing the Gu in Xiangxi (Dosing poison medicine made of venomous creatures), Falling in Love with the Cave God (Luodong), Dead Body Driving and Amulet of Chenzhou endow Xiangxi with a special ethnic temperament and unique cultural landscape. I am lucky I was born in such a land of idyllic beauty and edified by such pure, romantic and mysterious folk culture in my childhood. Though I am in my late 40s, my heart is still as pure as clean water, reflecting my visage. This is because Xiangxi caresses me like soft breeze；Xiangxi washes me with clean water. I am proud of her! I admire her!
Here, I record the local customs and practices, and every bit of Xiangxi into this dictionary, devoting it to Xiangxi and also to you readers. It is not wise to treat it as a complete encyclopedia of Xiangxi. To be precise, it's the heartfelt gift that a child away from home gives to his hometown. I do say you can see an unparalleled Xiangxi clearly in the reflection of my heart. Life after life, the clear shape of Xiangxi can be seen in this dictionary, which will infatuate you with her beauty so you will yearn for her presence in your entire life.