黑龙江人

崔玉华

一方水土養一方人

中国北方有两道岭，因为处在“极寒之地”，所以它们被世居那里的满族人赋予了“兴安”的名号。大兴安岭和小兴安岭起伏连绵，成掎角之势，如兄弟般相互守望。他们虽然不高，却是抵挡西伯利亚寒流的第一道屏障。大地母亲赠予兄弟俩莽莽苍苍的原始林海，作为他们御寒的“衣裳”。

ere are two mountain ranges lying in the land of extremecoldness in Northeast China， and they are called “Xing’an”， or“Prosperity and Peace”， by the local Manchu people. The GreatXing’an Range and the Small Xing’an Range are positioned liketwo horns of a bull or two brothers supporting each other in abattle. Although the two “brothers” are not tall， they are the _rstbarrier against the Siberian cold waves. _e mother earth clothesthe two brothers with lush primeval forests， protecting them fromthe cold climate.

中国北方还有一条河，他把自己的名字给了他流经的地方。因为这里富含腐殖质的土壤给了他青黑的颜色，这里宽广的胸怀给了他蜿蜒如龙的形状，这条河叫“黑龙江”，河流经的省就叫“黑龙江”。在黑龙江省，还有完达山、老爷岭、松花江、嫩江等无数“儿郎”，他们齐心协力，孕育出丘陵山谷，孕育出湿地沼泽，也孕育出平原草场。

ere is also a river in Northeast China whose name is givento the land it nourishes. _e humus-rich soil of this land givesthe river a black hue and the level surface of the land gives theriver a meandering shape like a dragon， hence both the riverand the province it winds through are called Heilongjiang， orthe “black dragon river”. Heilongjiang Province is also hometo other landmarks like Wanda Mountain， Laoye Mountain，Sungari River， and Nenjiang River. Together， these mountainsand rivers form the landscape of undulating hills and valleys，wetlands and grasslands.

闯关东

候鸟的迁徙是出于本能，人口的迁移却是迫于无奈。所谓“穷家难舍，故土难离”，如果不是陷入绝境，固守家园的人们怎会选择离乡背井这条辛苦的迁移之路？从中国明朝末年开始至近代，先后有五次大规模的人口迁移：闯关东、走西口、蹚古道、赴金山、下南洋。其中，“闯关东”指的是中原地区的人们去山海关以东（即东北三省）谋生。一个“闯”字，道尽了这一路的艰险与苦难。清朝政府将东北看作满族的“龙兴”之地，因此曾实行严厉的“封关”政策，禁止汉人进入关东。但阳光总在风雨后，付出总会有回报。黑龙江像东北地区的另外两个省份一样，敞开胸怀接纳了衣衫褴褛、远道而来投奔此地的孩子：满族人为他们带来食粮；蒙古族人帮他们盖起毡房；鄂伦春人带他们去山林打猎；赫哲族人教他们打渔织网……这片蛮荒而肥沃的黑色冻土，给每一个吃苦耐劳的人以温暖和希望。一批批来自中原地区的难民闯进关东，扎根边疆，繁衍生息。同时，他们也带来了中原的技术，带来了农耕文明，把所受恩情转化成技术薪火传递给后世子孙，传递给新黑龙江人。

While it is the instinct of migratory birds to embark ontheir ceaseless journey， human beings are usually reluctantto leave their home behind. As shown in the Chineseidiom， “even a poor home is di_cult to leave”， the homelovingpeople would never have chosen the hazard road ofmigration if not driven by sheer desperation. _ere havebeen five major migrations in Chinese history from theend of the Ming Dynasty to the _rst half of the twentiethcentury summarized as such： （exploringeast of the Shanhai Pass）， （going west of theGreat Wall）， （trekking the ancient trade routesto Sichuan and Tibet）， （sailing for San Francisogold mines）， and （going down the SouthChina Sea）. Among them， means peopleoriginally living in the central plains of China migrating tothe east of the Shanhai Pass， i.e. into the Northeast ChinaPlain. The “chuang” in the phrase， meaning “charginginto”， captures vividly the risks and pains su_ered in thismigration process. The Northeast China Plain had beendeemed by the Qing Dynasty Manchu rulers as the “originof the dragon”， so they had closed the Shanhai Pass to Hanpeople and strictly forbade Han people to enter there. Yetthere is always a glorious sunshine awaiting a_er the storm.Heilongjiang， like the two other provinces in NortheastChina， opened its fertile land to the haggard migratorsfrom afar： the Manchu people brought them grains， theMongolians helped them build up tents， the Oroqenpeople taught them to hunt in the forest， and the Hezhepeople taught them fishing and netting… This wild andfertile frozen land of black soil promises hope and warmthto everyone who is persevering and hardworking. Wavesof refugees from central China came through the ShanhaiPass and settled down in this frontier area. Meanwhile，they brought with them the agricultural technology fromthe Central Plains and spread it in this area as an enduringgesture of gratitude.

北大荒

“北大荒”，狭义上指的是黑龙江省北部三江平原、黑龙江沿河平原及嫩江流域广大荒芜地区，后来扩展为东北肥沃而蛮荒的黑土地。说它肥沃，是因为北大荒是世界三大黑土带之一，土壤中有机质含量非常高，有“捏把黑土冒油花，插双筷子也发芽”的说法，非常适合农作物生长。说它蛮荒，是因为北大荒自古以来便荆棘丛生，沼泽遍布，人迹罕至。受西伯利亚寒流影响，这里的冬季寒冷而漫长，最低气温可达零下48℃，冻土层最厚可达2.5 米。

The Great North Wilderness， in its narrow sense，refers to the wild land of the Sanjiang Plain， theHeilongjiang River basin and Nenjiang River basin lyingin the north of Heilongjiang Province. In the broad sense，it is later used to refer to the fertile yet uncultivated blacksoil of Northeast China. The Great North Wildernessis one of the three black soil belts in the world， knownfor its fertile black soil rich in humus and ideal foragricultural production， illustrated by the saying， “Sonutritious is the black soil that it oozes oil and even a pairof chopsticks stuck in it can grow.” Yet it is also a land ofwilderness， for since time immemorial this area had beencovered in thorns and swamps and scarcely accessible topeople. A_ected by the Siberian cold waves， the wintershere are harsh and long， with the minimum temperaturesometimes dropping to —48℃. _e layer of frozen earthcan be as much as 2.5 meters thick.

中华人民共和国成立后，为了解决粮食短缺的问题，自1958 年起，北大荒开始大规模开发，数万人从全国各地、五湖四海来到这里。原来的战士放下枪支，原来的知识青年放下书笔，原来的机关干部离开办公室……来到北大荒，成为拓荒人。他们最开始的工作就是拿起镰刀和锹、镐，开垦荒地，改造沼泽。他们的敌人是严寒，是酷暑，是蚊虫野兽，是遍地荆棘……

Large-scale developmental projects had been carriedout in the Great North Wilderness since 1958 shortly a_erthe founding of the People’s Republic of China to tackle thefood shortage issue. Tens of thousands of people， includingformer soldiers， educated youth and government o_cialsleft behind their homes and came here to become tillersof the land. Their first task was to use sickles， picks andspades to clear the wasteland and drain the marshes. _eyhad to _ght against the harsh natural conditions here： thecold winter， the scorching summer， swarms of mosquitosand beasts， swamps of thorns and thistles…

退耕還“荒”

北大荒锤炼着强者的意志，北大荒淬炼着弱者的灵魂。将近半个世纪，经过黑龙江几辈人的耕耘，过去人迹罕至的“北大荒”变成了美丽富饶的“北大仓”。北大荒农垦不仅有助于解决全国人民的吃饭问题，也使黑龙江成为全国最大的商品粮生产基地，更为后人留下了艰苦奋斗、无私奉献的“北大荒精神”。

The Great North Wilderness is the place wherethe strong souls get elevated and the weak bodies gettransformed. A_er hard work of generations for half acentury， the Great North Wilderness has turned froma no-man’s land into the rich and fertile Great NorthBreadbasket. _e agricultural land reclamation in theGreat North Wilderness not only helped to solve thefood shortage problems of the nation， but also madeHeilongjiang Province China’s largest commodity grainproduction base， passing down the motto “Fortitude，Industry， Altruism， Commitment” as the unique legacyof the Great North Wilderness.

随着国家经济水平的提高、农业技术的进步、农作物品种的优化，人们不再担心粮食问题。一直负重前行的黑龙江省也就此停止围垦，保持剩余农场稳定发展的同时，逐步恢复北大荒原有的生态系统。现在的北大荒不仅有“风吹麦浪穗飘香”的踏实，更能见到“晴空一鹤排云上”的浪漫。

With the development of the national economy， theadvance of agricultural technology and the optimizationof crop varieties， food shortage is no longer a centralconcern in China. As a result， Heilongjiang Province，freed from the duty of China’s breadbasket， called a stopto agricultural land reclamation. While the existingfarms are kept in operation， progressive restoration ofthe original ecosystem of the Great North Wildernesshas been carried out. In today’s Great North Wilderness，you can see side by side the prosperity of windblownwheat waves， even the idyllic picture of a lone cranedancing in the sky.

黑龍江省这个中国最北、冬季最寒的地方，水有情谊，山有担当。这片水土养育了无私无畏、宽容豪爽的黑龙江人。

Heilongjiang Province， the northernmost place inChina with the coldest winter， is home to mountainsand rivers that embody friendship and responsibility._is land has nurtured the sel_ess， open-minded andgenerous people of Heilongjiang.