大河恋
“上善若水”，世上至善至美之物莫过于水，中国古人把最高的礼赞献给了河流母亲。
《圣经》开篇即说：“神的灵运行在水面上”，西方古老的观念里，水，是在光之前，在空气之前，在生物之前，在人之前。
荒洪的地质年代里，剧烈的地壳变化与板块运动切出河床，千万年风雨侵蚀，一条河流诞生了。她的发育成长，历经漫漫沧桑。她们的出现，结束了地球的单调与死寂。
大河上下，或草场、或山岳、或湖泽、或平原，形成了千姿百态的自然景观，滋养出复杂各异的生态体系。我们的先民逐水而居，或牧，或猎，或渔，或农，在河流两岸，留下了人类文明的第一行脚印。以河流为通道，部落族群交汇碰撞，社会组织冲突整合，文化思想演义凝聚。循着江汊河支，人类拓展着大河文明的腹地。
大河文化与人类历史的童年相伴相生：苏美尔人在两河流域建立城邦，开启了古巴比伦文明之门；尼罗河畔，古埃及七千年的辉煌历程成为水的原始颂歌；诞生于古印度文明中的几种宗教，是恒河永恒的涅槃与轮回；而滔滔长江导引出大溪、河姆渡、良渚文化，滚滚黄河哺育出商周重器、魏晋风骨、汉唐盛世。大河文明，是文明之源头，文明之根基。
然而，我们发现，还没有一种书，是在用脚步，从头至尾丈量一条著名大河的长度与厚重。关于河流，有太多正在发生的事，还未取代人们脑海中印象深刻的误读与道听途说。在这个旅游图文书风行的年代，人们习惯了简单资讯的拼贴，却没有人来挑动这博大的命题。
于是，我们沿着河流去旅行，某一段，它是浩荡的巨川；另一段，它是柔美的溪流。在纷繁的景致中，我们经历着特别的故事：辉煌，贫瘠；战争，和平；信仰，毁灭；眼泪，欢笑我们试图通过走近一条河流，去触摸一段过往，认识一个族群，了解某种生存方式。我们渴望与读者一起分享这流水式的平常日子；怀想这或喧闹或寂寞的流域背后的历史；追本溯源体味生命初始的意义与文明传承的讯息。
因此，便有了我们的“大河恋”，除孕育了古文明的河流，我们还将把视线投入见证美国历史的密西西比河流域；自然景观最为丰厚的亚马逊河；欧洲文明的守望者多瑙河；中南半岛的恋人与母亲湄公河；俄罗斯的血脉之源伏尔加河众多的流域文化拥有风格各异的人文自然风物，我们将尽力用优美的画质与丰富的笔触，带回我们所看到，所听到，所嗅到，所触到，所想到，所历经的一切。
这便我们的大河之旅，我们的大河恋。
三三
2006年平安夜
It gives me great pleasure to write a foreword for this lovely book.
I have known Xin Xin through her husband Zhong Chao as an ardent traveler. It was a pleasure traveling with her and sharing all her experiences. Not only did she respond to every surprise that India unfolded on her, being with her gave me a unique, sometimes amusing, opportunity of looking at multifarious aspect of India that an Indian takes for granted, through a foreign travelers eyes.
I am very impressed with the enormous amount of information Xin Xin gathered in her visit. She visited some of the most inspiring places in India: from the lofty heights of the Himalayas to the revered centers in Varanasi, Amritsar, Kolkata–and many more. It was amusing to have Xin Xin approach curious peasants, befriend them and jot down information they carried by word of mouth for generations!
In this book, Xin Xin gives historical, philosophical, mythological glimpses of the huge territory she covered. Her amusing experiences in Patna, Bodh Gaya, Nalanda, Sarnath, Kushinagar, Lumbini, Varanasi on the one hand, her reverence in Tagore's house and emotional tidings at Mother Teresa's side, her thrill at beholding religious centers of six faiths (Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Jain, Buddhist and Islam), her interviews with Jain monks and Hindu sadus, and her compact illustrated coverage make a pleasure to share in this book.
Xin Xin literally retraced the foot steps not only of the legendary traveler–Hiuen Tsang but of the Great Buddha Himself. Where ever she went, she exuded a feeling of warmth that conveyeda feeling of common cultural heritage and identity between the great Nations China and India. I hope that the glimpse of India brought out by Xin Xin would inspire many more people from China to trace Xin Xin's steps. They will all feel welcome to visit the ever amazing India and share the happiness and hospitality of its people.
Daksh Lohiya,
Professor of Physics, University of Delhi, India,
Life member, Clare Hall, Cambridge,UK.
