Walking with the Stream Goddess (Part 2): The Uncomplaining Mother of the Great Rivers of the West

The Mother of Fish, Grasslands, Forests, People, and Civilization

The western half of the island has relatively broad and gentle terrain. A great river likewise originates in the high mountains, and along its course it passes through changes in topography and forest types, flowing past human settlements. Beyond the stream creatures, it also feeds human civilization.

The sediment carried on the long journey begins to form an alluvial fan plain from the lower reaches onward, and also branches into natural and man-made high canals and irrigation ponds. As it reaches the sea, it slowly disperses and fades out through broad mudflats, wetlands, and mangroves...

The long journey has nurtured countless living beings, weathered too many changes, and silently borne its children's greedy sucking and meddling, like a mother brimming with deep energy who only knows how to give, never asking for anything in return, until in the end she simply falls ill and grows old.

Mother's Attire

From a distance, Mother's adornment looks complex yet without ostentatious brilliance. Examined closely section by section, however, one can see, in the color schemes and floral ornaments of each part, the many kinds of delicate and profound emotions of Mother Earth.

Then, all the innocent and the guilty alike, soothed by the swaying tide at the hem of Mother's skirt, slowly flow into the deep strait.

Mother Is Right Before Our Eyes, Yet We Suffer from Nature-Deficit Syndrome

Flowing through the metropolis that Mother has nurtured, that artificial channel of clear water seems, on the surface, to return at least a little purity to the earth, representing people's need for nature and their desire to make amends; yet the contrived stone-lined banks that have nothing to do with the western alluvial fan plain, the environmental conditions that make it nearly impossible to support native organisms, and the tendency to replicate them everywhere for no discernible reason, all hint that people have gradually forgotten the beautiful outlines of the natural environment of the past, and can only rely on vague, fragmented impressions to piece things together and patch them up...

Perhaps one day, following the nearby streamside nature reserve, or national park, we can travel upstream on a pilgrimage, smell the scent of the mud, touch the roughness of the cobbles, watch the swimming postures of the stream fish. If the Stream Goddess still remembers her own name, she should still be willing to converse with us.

 

Text/Illustration: Li Zhenglin (This article was written with the support and collaboration of the Renhe Foundation and Aveda)