The city of love

 

 The city of love

 

"Many people go to Lijiang with the idea of "encountering" a romance, hoping to have an unforgettable encounter there. However, do you know

  Many people would call Lijiang the romantic city in China today, but many people don’t know that Lijiang was once the love capital of the world. A shocking and unique love story in human history happened in Lijiang. The high frequency of suicide for love has not only become a serious social problem in the history of the Naxi people, but has also become a unique cultural phenomenon containing a variety of complex factors.

Lacuo took Agudengba, Azhuo, and Chu Sanxing to the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

Lacuo said:

The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain with an altitude of 5596 meters is the sacred mountain of the Naxi people and the highest peak on the south bank of the Yangtze River. It stands majestically in the ancient Naxi Kingdom and is regarded by thousands of Naxi lovers as the destination of youth, life and love. They believe that there is a mountain in the mountains. The unparalleled beauty of the pure land of the spiritual realm - the third country of Jade Dragon, is called "Mist and Dew Touring Cuiguo" in Naxi language. There is a couple who are gods of love. They ride a red tiger and control a white deer. They lead hundreds of animals and birds, play strings in the wind, sing in the clouds, and constantly call out to the lovers who are suffering from misery in the world. Therefore, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is also known as the Naxi people’s mountain of love and sorrow.

This is an ideal paradise that lovers yearn for. It is a fantasy world that can only be possessed by love and youthful life. Only lovers can go to this place, where people can love each other freely. Most of the lovers are between 17 and 17 years old. Young men and women in this age group of 22 are just in the best years of their lives, where they will always be young and never age. Therefore, this ideal world becomes a spiritual holy land that those who commit suicide yearn for, and it becomes an important motivation for committing suicide.

Over the years, countless young men and women have died in love, looking for this ideal paradise where they can completely escape the evil and suffering of the world. The Jade Dragon Third Country has become an utopia that Naxi youth generally believed in in the past. Many beautiful places on the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain have become the places where most love affairs occurred. Other young people who do not directly go to Yulong Mountain to die for love should also find a place with beautiful scenery and where they can see Jade Dragon Snow Mountain to "die gracefully". There were even young men and women who went deep into the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain to find this ideal country, and stayed in the snow mountain for several years before returning.

Lacuo said again:

According to some witnesses of those who committed suicide, judging from the manner in which the deceased committed suicide, many men died first, and then the women committed suicide. Because the woman was worried that the man would be shaken before death and give up the idea of dying together, she tried to make the man die first and then die herself. For example, there was a man and woman who died in love in Baisha Township. When people found their bodies, they saw the man hanging high on a tree branch and the woman leaning on the tree with a smile on her face. There were blisters on the man's face that were caused by fire. It was obvious that the man died first. The woman used fireworks to test whether he was dead, and then she committed suicide calmly and satisfactorily. A couple in Dadong Township have been dating for several years, but their parents have decided to get engaged to someone else since they were young. The man got married earlier than the woman. So the two agreed to die together before the man got married. However, their plan was discovered by their family members. As the wedding day approached, the man was closely guarded by his family members day and night and could not escape. After waiting for a long time at the agreed meeting place, the woman came to the back of her lover's house, hanged herself on a tree behind the house and died of love.

Among the Naxi people's custom of committing suicide for love, there is also a very unique form of suicide for friendship. If a person decides to commit suicide for love, some will say goodbye to their closest friends. So there are often close friends who decide to die together with their close friends. This type of suicide is usually more common among women. Such special incidents of martyrdom have occurred in Lashi, Tai'an, Dadong and other places.

Lacuo then said to Agudengba, Azhuo and Chu Sanxing:

In Lijiang over the long years, countless young Naxi lovers dressed up gracefully and sang a "song of love" and "Traveling Sadness" in front of the snow-capped mountains, and died for their love.

The Naxi people's love-sacrifice is a life tragedy completed in songs and poems, and a popular tragic love-sacrifice literature has also been produced among the people. "You Bei" is the most representative love-sacrifice song among them.

"You Bei", in a tragic mood of sadness and indignation, prominently expresses the national personality of the Naxi people who attaches great importance to emotion over life. A prominent common thread running through the various "You Bei" is the Naxi youth's unswerving loyalty to love. The protagonist's sincere and sad affection in the work, and his infatuation with the ideal of sacrificing his life for love are touching.

Lacuo sang the Naxi love song "Youbei":

 

If my brother is arrested,

My sister turned into a white butterfly,

I go to you during the day;

If my brother is arrested,

My sister turns into a firefly,

I'll find you tonight.

Wings fly in the blue sky,

Life and death are not separated.

Fly to Yulong Mountain,

Melted into Jade Dragon Snow.

We can't be a family,

Assimilate into a cloud,

Can't be a couple,

Assimilate a wisp of smoke,

The haze follows the white crane,

Fly to Yulong Mountain.