【大型精装画册】
典 藏 龚 滩
----世人最向往的家园
翻译： 徐建纲教授（获湖北省翻译学会三等奖）
《典藏龚滩》目录
序 【龚滩印象】
第一章 【人文龚滩】
第二章 【山水龚滩】
第三章 【风情龚滩】
跋 【发展龚滩】
【扉页】
朋友，你到过阿蓬江吗？
朋友，你到过乌江吗？
朋友，你到过龚滩吗？
如果你来到阿蓬江，
你就会被她的神奇所震撼；
如果你来到乌江，
你就会被她的魅力所倾倒；
如果你来到龚滩，
你就会被她的历史所诱惑！
来吧朋友，让我们一起走进龚滩----
The Magnificent Hardcover Picture Album
Gongtan to be treasured
---the Utopia for earthling
Contents of Gongtan to be treasured
Preface: the impression of Gongtan
Chapter 1: Humanistic Gongtan
Chapter 2: Landscape scenery in Gongtan
Chapter 3: National customs in Gongtan
Epilogue: The Developing Gongtan
The title page
Dear friends, have you ever been to Apeng River?
Dear friends, have you ever been to Wujiang River?
Dear friends, have you ever been to Gongtan?
If you come to Apeng River,
You will be shocked by its mystery;
If you come to Wujiang River,
You will be allured by its glamour;
If you come to Gongtan,
You will be attracted by its history;
Come on, dear friends,
Let’s come to Gongtan together---
【龚滩印象】
有这样一个神奇的地方，座落在乌江之滨、凤凰山麓，她有着一种令人心旷神怡、魂牵梦绕的神奇魅力。一千七百年来经营着一条大江的航运，让上下游的所有船只在这里歇帆驻浆、相互换载、踏上归途。这里过往的行人把生命和财产托给爱歌唱的驾船人，任凭他们穿越江中的乱石险滩，在惊涛怕岸卷起的雪般浪花中游刃而行，伴随着高亢的纤夫号子声在峡谷中回荡！这就是重庆市第一历史文化名镇—龚滩古镇。
The impression of Gongtan
Located in the Coast of Wujiang River and under the Phoenix Mountain, there is a mystical place with a captivating charm to send you carefree and joyous. For 1700 years, all the shipping in the place lies in one river where all the boats from upstream and downstream berth in, exchange goods and then set sail again. The past pedestrians resign themselves and property to the singing boatman who voyage with ease between the dangerous shoal and the terrifying waves when the boat tracker’s loud songs resounded in the canyon. This is the first cultural town in Chongqing—the ancient Gongtan Town.
有这样一个神奇的地方，这里有着一条二公里长的青石板路，不知浸透了多少脚力背夫艰辛的血汗；洒过多少哭嫁姑娘伤心的泪水；这里常回响着“木叶”情歌的优雅曲调，激荡着摆手舞的欢快节奏；这里充满了艰辛和快乐，也充满了神奇和幻想；今天，当人们踏上了这条穿越历史的石板老街，自然就会有一种悠远的梦境。这就是古镇龚滩。
In that mystical place there is a two-kilometer-long bluestone road, which bears the sweat and toil of countless heavers and the sorrowful tears of girls on their wedding; the graceful tune of MuYe love songs and the joyous rhyme of hand—swinging dance reverberates in that place; hardships and happiness, mystery and fantasy full in that place. Nowadays, when people set foot on the ancient stone road, they feel like the distant dream world naturally. And this is the ancient town of Gongtan.
有这样一个神奇的地方，这里有着一排排干栏式建筑，一串串吊脚木楼，成就了千年古镇天人合一的奇观，“蛮”味依旧，古韵犹存。这里是土家人祖祖辈辈生活的时空，这里保留着土家先民原始的遗俗，这里传承着中国古建筑经典理念与精髓：因势利导、富有变化、依山傍水、淡泊宁静、一尘不染。这就是古镇龚滩。
There is a mystical place where the Pile-dwelling constructions and stilt houses constitute the exclamatory harmony between man and nature in that ancient town of millennium. The ancient flavor and charm still remain in that place. This is the place where the Tujia nationality lives in for generations, where retains the original relic of Tujia ancestors, where inherits the essence of china’s ancient architecture idea: make the best use of circumstance, full of change, nestles under the mountain and near the water and pursues the tranquility of life. This is the ancient town Gongtan.
有这样一个神奇的地方，她承载着历史的辉煌与失落，乌江彭水电站的修建，没有使曾经的“钱龚滩”成为一张过期的历史旧船票，这里的人们化腐朽为神奇，将古镇整体搬迁复制至下游1.5公里的小银滩，使得古镇仍然延续着过去的历史、记忆和传说，继续保持着不断地勃兴与昌盛。地处凤凰山下的古镇，就如同凤凰般涅槃注定要在浴火中获得重生！这就是古镇龚滩。
There is such a magical place that carries the past glory and lost of history. The construction of WuJiangpeng hydropower station did not make the former QianGongtan become history. The people here turn a negative into a positive: they move the whole town to and rebuilt it in the Small Silver Beach that is 1.5 kilometers downstream, which continues the past history, the memory and the legend of the town, and maintains the constant flourish and prosperity. Located at the foot of Phoenix Mountain, the ancient town just like phoenix nirvana that is destined to reborn from the ash! This is the ancient town Gongtan.
有这样一个神奇的地方，在拥有一座座奇峰异峦好山的同时，还拥有好水乌江百里画廊和阿蓬江国家湿地公园，这里的山河集泰岳之雄伟、庐山之奇幻、华山之险峭、黄山之烟云、武夷之秀逸。尤其是乌江纤夫的风采，土家人的欢歌摆手令人流连忘返。这里的大山密林深处仍然保留着原生态的土家族和苗族山寨，依然可以观赏到婀娜多姿诱人的民族风情；这里还有一片幅员辽阔的苍蒲盖高山大草原，让人仿佛置身塞外，倾心领略 “风吹草低见牛羊”的草原风情。清代诗人梅若翁赞叹这里：“蜀中山水奇，应推此第一”。这就是大龚滩景区！
There is such a magical place where grotesque mountains range there while the famous Wu River and APeng River National Wetland Park are also located. The rivers and mountains here have combined the magnificence of Taishan Mount, fantasy of Lushan Mountain, precipitousness of Huashan Mountain,mistyscenery of Mount Huang, and elegance of Wuyi Mountain. The boat trackers on Wujiang River as well as Tujia ethnic minority’s singing and dancing make the tourists linger on. Deep in theforests still retains the original and primitive Tujia ethnic minority and Miao nationality’s cottages. Tourists can still watch the graceful and attractive ethnic customs. There is also a vast alpine steppecovered with calamus, making people feel like being beyond the Great Wall and experiencing the prairie style of “wind-swept pastures sheep and cattle”. The poetMei Ruoweng of Qing Dynasty had ever praised it: “Among Sichuan’sfantastic landscapes, this should be the top one.” And this is the GongtanScenic!
有这样一个神奇的地方，她的美丽在于：涵养着文化，收伏着心灵！永远等待着人们一次次去探寻，成为未来中国最适合居住、旅游和兴业的山水人文景区。走进这里，就如同走进了一座世外桃源，走进了一个全新的世界！假如以这里为原点画一个圈，那么，与此接壤的湘鄂黔渝均在她的美丽光环上，继而辐射至全中国，影响到全世界。这里就是好山！好水！好风情！魅力四射的大龚滩景区！
There is such a magical place, her beauty lies in that it carries the culture and stimulates the mind! She is always waiting for people to explore again and again, and become the most suitablehuman scenic landscapes for living, tourism and commerce. Coming into here just like entering a paradise, into a completely new world! Here is the origin if to draw a circle, then, with the bordering four provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing and Guizhou are all on herbeautiful ring, and then radiating to the whole country, affecting the whole world. Fantasticmountains! Beautiful water! Magnificent style!—This is the glamorous GongtanScenic!
第一章：人文龚滩
龚滩古镇隶属于重庆市酉阳土家族苗族自治县，坐落于乌江与阿蓬江交汇处的乌江东岸，隔江与贵州省沿河县相望，距重庆市区200余公里，龚滩曾经是乌江上著名的险滩之一，是一座有着1700多年的历史古镇。在历史长河中，几度兴废，又几度荣辱，造就出龚滩这座峡江绝壁中的乌江重镇。龚滩古镇是重庆市第一历史文化名镇和十大旅游名镇，是原始生态与民俗风情、山水景观与历史古镇相融合的典范，是乌江山峡百里画廊的璀璨明珠和旅游目的地。
Chapter 1: Humanistic Gongtan
Located in the east coach of Wu River, the confluence between Wu River and Apeng River, the ancient Gongtan town belongs to the Youyang Tujia and Miao autonomous country in Chongqing. The Gongtan town faces the Yanhe in Guizhou across the river, 200 km away from Chongqing. Gongtan, was one of the famous rapids in Wujiang River, is a town of 1,700 years of history. In history, the several rises and falls create this important town near Wujiang River in the cliffs of Xia River. Gongtan town, the first historic and cultural town in Chongqing and one of the ten tourist towns, is the model of integration between original ecology and folk customs, landscape and history. Gongtan town is the bright pearl in Wujiang River gorge and the tourist attraction.
龚滩古镇历史悠久，古为巴人的领地，是土家族先民巴人的生息劳作之地。龚滩原名龚湍(tuan)，因为乌江水流湍急，又多为龚姓人居住，二者合一而得名。又因传说乌龙兄弟二人劈山开江（龙、共合称为龚）而得名；明万历年间，乌江凤凰山岩崩塞江而形成了险滩，人称龚滩，沿用至今。由于特殊的地理位置，龚滩自古就是商贸周转地，是连接川渝、湘鄂水路交通枢纽，川、黔、湘三省大量土特产由龚滩镇经乌江水路进入长江转往涪陵、重庆、汉口等地。同时，也将大量的川盐、糖类、烟酒百货再转运三省，这样就促进了龚滩市场的繁荣，造就了“钱龚滩”美誉。由于市场的不断繁荣，自然就催生了城镇的建立，也就逐步演变成今日的龚滩。
Gongtan town has a long history. It used to be the territory where the ancestors of Tujia nationality, Ba live in. Gongtan formally named Gongtuan(Tuan means rapid in Chinese). The Wujiang River is rapid and the most inhabitants there surnamed Gong, thus people combine the two factors together and name it Gongtuan. People also name it after the legend that the two brothers of Wulong family cut through the hills to bring in water (in Chinese, the character Long and Gong constitute Gong). In Ming Dynasty, the Phoenix mountain of Wujiang River collapsed, blocked the river and thus formed the rapid coach; people name it Gongtan and still use it until today. As its special geographical location, Gongtan is the place for business from of old, is the transportation hub of waterway that connect Sichuan and Chongqing, Hunan and Hubei. A great deal of native products of Sichuan, Guizhou and Hunan are transported at Gongtan by Wujiang River to the Yangtze River and then to Peiling, Chongqing, Hankou and so on. Meanwhile, a large number of Sichuan salt, sugar , tobacco and wine are transported between the three provinces, which promotes prosperity of market and creates the reputation of Money Gongtan. The prosperous markets naturally give birth to the establishment of the town, which gradually evolves into today’s Gongtan.
走进龚滩古镇，游客们可以强烈的感受到人文龚滩有着二大特色：岁月凝固在那石板路上，岁月凝固在那吊脚楼里。顺天时、循地势，龚滩人以其惊人的智慧灵气，在巴山蜀水的峡谷绝境之中，砌坎铺路，演绎出一幅绝处逢生的建镇奇观。用勤劳和智慧创造了岩石般厚重、太阳般辉煌的历史！
Staying in Gongtan, the visitors may feel strongly the two major features of humanistic Gongtan: time solidifies on the flagging and in the stilt houses. The wisdom Gongtan inhabitants, with their amazing courage, follow the law of climatic condition and the topography, cut the stone to pave the road and establish the wonder of the town in the steep canyon in Ba-Yu region. Their diligence and wisdom create the history as profound as the rock, and as glorious as the sun.
龚滩镇里这条始建于南宋末年长达2公里的青石板老街，宽不过三、四米，窄不过两米，沿江起伏跌宕，宽窄自如，这条石板路经过百年磨砺，已是青幽如玉、光可鉴人。作为交通要冲之地，这条石板路在历史上曾匆忙的走过多少仁人志士和达官贵人，也曾走过无数的纤夫背夫和商贾绅士，为古镇留下了许多繁华和通达的历史痕迹。
The blue flagstone street in Gongtan that is founded in the Southern Song Dynasty is no more than three or four meters in wide, but two meters in narrow. Ups and downs along the river, its width changes also. The stone road now looks like the jade that is brilliant enough to reflect one’s image after hundreds of years. As the artery road in history, this stone road witnesses countless people with ideas, officers, trackers and businessmen, which leave marks of prosperity in history.
龚滩古镇里具有土家风情的吊脚楼，据考证从南宋开始建设一直延续到了今天，叹为观止！饱经乌江风云、人世沧桑，其经久耐用的程度堪与现代建筑媲美！这里的土家吊脚楼依山而建、错落有致、古朴如画、美丽如诗。织女楼、鸳鸯楼、绣花楼等吊脚楼群向人们诉说着那些凄美的传说。
According to the research, the stilt houses of Tu nationality style in ancient Gongtan town, were constructed from the Southern Song Dynasty and continue to this day. It is amazing! The stilt houses go through the vicissitudes of the world for years, and its durability may equal to the modern architecture! The hillside stilt houses are well-arranged, plain and beautiful as a poem. The buildings such as the Girl Weaver Building, the Newly-weds Building, and the Embroidered Building convey the beautiful but moving legends to people.
龚滩镇上的吊脚楼、石板路、宫观寺庙和长廊浑然天成，或临河而建、或傍岩而立，体现出疏密中有疏松、开阔中有紧凑，使古镇有一种立体式的美感。
In Gongtan, the stilt-houses, the flagged path, the Monastic temple are built harmoniously with the colonnade, like the nature itself, or perched above the river, or standing by the rock, reflecting the porosity in density, the compaction in spacing, all of these give us a stereoscopic beauty of this ancient town.
关于龚滩古镇，我国著名国画大师吴冠中感叹：“是唐街，是宋城，是爷爷奶奶的家”，其著名《老街》即诞生于此；峨眉电影制片厂的艺术家用“龚滩古镇人未识,乌江美景第一娇”来赞美它。这里还是《武陵山剿匪记》、《赵世炎》、《奇人安世敏》、《桐子花开》等影视剧的主要拍摄场地。还成功举办过中国·龚滩国际攀岩挑战赛。龚滩古镇就是一部立体古韵人文音画的交响史诗！
As for Gongtan, the great master of the traditional Chinese painting, Luo Guanzhong once said: “it is the Tang Street，it is the Song Street, it is the hometown of my grandmother.” And his famous painting the Old Street is painting about this ancient city. “ it is said that the Wujiang River beauty is most beautiful place, while no one discover the beauty of Gongtan”，an artist of Emei Film Studio used this lyric to praise it. Moreover，Gongtan is also the shooting location of many TV plays, such as the Suppress Bandits in Wulin Mountain, Zhao Shiyan, the Magic Man An Shiming, the Flower of Tungoiltree and so on. The International Gongtan rocking-climbing competition was held successfully here. The Gongtan is just like a symphonic epic of the stereoscopic culture.
第二章：山水龚滩
绸缎般流淌的乌江和阿蓬江滋养了龚滩的神韵。随着乌江水电站的建成，当年那条狭长的峡江已不复存在，取而代之的是雄阔黛绿的江面，性格狂野匆匆急行了上亿年的乌江，大大放慢了它的脚步，变得如此平静与柔美，第一次照出了青山的倒影，我们从这些倒影上轻轻滑过的水面，是以前人们在乌江上曾经仰望过的高空，是皑皑白云缠绕之处，这直送轻舟上碧霄的奇观，这拿水拿云的壮观，应该是山水和人的万年之遇吧，告别的已告别，新生的已经新生！
Chapter 2:Landscape scenery in Gongtan
The sinuous Wujiang River and the Apeng River provide Gongtan with endless essences. With the construction of the Wujiangdu Hydroelectric Power Station, the long and narrow gorges have been replaced by the broad river with the green reflections. The Wujiang River had been wild for thousands of years and now it slows its step and becomes quiet and gentle and it is the first time that Wujiang River owns reflections of green mountains. The river surface which we are skimming over lightly was once the place which people glance upward in the past years; it was once the place where the clouds are wreathed around. The spectacular view of the mountain and river must have been a rare encounter for human being and the nature. However, we must say goodbye to the things in the past for the new birth is waiting for us.
乌江的高峡平湖造就出许多奇丽的景观，构成别具魅力的山水景观，一个以龚滩古镇为核心的大龚滩景区已横空出世！一个融人文景观与自然山水为一体的大龚滩景区，以其灵山秀水和旖旎风光向世界展示着如情似梦的迷人风彩！
A smooth lake rises in the narrow Wujiang River Gorges and a lot of attractive scenery have been created，the Gongtan Town which takes the ancient Gongtan city as the core is born. It is scenery owns a harmonious relationship between humanistic landscape and nature. It is quite attractive for its beautiful mountains and rivers.
乌江发源于贵州省咸宁县，流经重庆市酉阳县万木乡龚滩镇，至涪陵汇入长江，全长1070公里，大龚滩景区的乌江百里画廊包括乌江干流酉阳县龚滩古镇至万木乡之间河段，全长60公里。走进乌江百里画廊，你会知道，她胜过诗，超过画，是史书，也是春梦，她是乌江神笔的辉煌写照！
The Wujiang River rises in Xianning，Guizhou Province. It flows across the Gongtan Town，Youyang city in Chongqing Province and then joins the Yangtze River. It is about 1,070 km. The hundred-mile gallery of Gongtan sceneries involves the reaches from the ancient Gongtan Town of the branch of the Wu River to the reach of the Wanmu，it is about 60 km. Coming into the hundred-mile gallery, you will find she is more than a poem, a painting while she is also a epic, a dream in spring, a magic embodiment of the Wujiang River.
乌江百里画廊也有“三峡”，即荔枝峡、白芨峡和土沱子峡，与长江三峡最大的不同是一年四季碧波荡漾，绿水泛舟，整个峡段两岸秀壁如新。奇峰峻绝、洞中有水、水中有山、山水相依、绿波如茵，令人畅想无限！
The hundred-mile gallery of Wujiang River also has the “three gorges”，that is，Lizhi Gorges，Baiji Gorges，Tutuozi Gorges. However, it is different from the Three Gorges (Yangtze Gorges ), the hundred-mile gallery is like a blue lake in the whole year，the whole gorges always gives the visitors a good sightseeing. The breathtaking mountains and river, water-in-cave，mountain-in-river，mountain-by-river，it is really a fairyland.
今天的乌江百里画廊没有了号子，没有了激流险滩，没有了力的张扬，在平稳和恬静中显得格外温柔。但是，我们从高处俯瞰她，仍然不失美丽与壮阔。那漂浮在乌江两岸大山间的滔滔云海，宛若一幅浓淡相宜的当代中国山水立体画卷，依然深入到人们的梦中！
Nowadays，the Haozi and treacherous rapids in the hundred-mile gallery of Wujiang River already pass out of existence. The gallery has gained the gentle characteristic which she has never been. Looking down from the mountain to the gallery，we will find that she has never lost its beauty for the tremendous changes and she is still quite pretty and grand. While the clouds are floating around the mountains，it is just like a wonderful Chinese landscape painting which will take the visitors to the fairyland.
大龚滩景区的另一个重要组成部分是阿蓬江美丽的湿地公园，她发源于湖北利川市，流经恩施、咸丰、黔江，至龚滩汇入乌江，全长249公里。是全国罕见能够部分通航“一江春水向西流”的河流！阿蓬江的美在于：幽深的峡谷、急流的险滩、千年的溶洞、原始的森林、山水的本色、传说中的诱惑、民族的风情，能够充分满足游客们那种返璞归真的渴求，使人们领悟到一种激情，一种梦！
The wetland park in Apeng River is another important part of the Gongtan. She is raising from the Lichuan City，Huibei Province. It flows across Engshi , Xianfeng，Qianjiang，and joins Wujiang in Gongtan. It is about 2, 49km and it is the rare river that flows to westward. The deep and serene gorges，the treacherous rapids，the ancient karst caves，the original natural forest，the legendary temptation，the unique culture…，all of these make the Apeng River become more charming and all the visitors who come to here will feel close to the nature.
阿蓬江以神龟峡最为独特和精典，神龟峡全长38.9公里，沿途旷无人烟，人迹罕至，景观原始。这里绝壁千仞，重峦迭嶂，隐天蔽日，深邃莫测，山岩如门，两岸蚊母如练，植被华丽，生态完好。
The most representative of Apeng River is the Shengui Gorges，it is about 38.9 miles. It has the wildest natural scenery for it is a large area of land that is not or cannot be inhabited or cultivated. It occupies a special geographic location, the typical topographic features，the high mountain and the deep valley，the well-preserved ecological environment.
阿蓬江岩溶地貌形态万千。形成了奇特、多姿、裸露的溶岩景观，更有神秘的濮人岩棺墓葬；这里有丰富多彩的土家族苗族风情，还有人类从未谋面的原生态大氧吧。
The karst landforms in Apeng River are various. A great number of beautiful scenic spots are created because of these karst landforms. At this the wonderful and miraculous field，we can find the mysterious hanging coffins of Pu people，the culture of the Tujia and Miao minority and maybe also the original oxygen that human being has never met.
第三章：风情龚滩
乌江天下秀，酉阳歌舞乡，风情大龚滩。重庆市酉阳土家族苗族自治县被誉为“中国土家摆手舞之乡”，大龚滩景区自然传承着丰富多彩的土家和苗家文化，走进大龚滩景区，你一定会感受到土家族和苗族特有的民俗美,品尝一次原生态的民俗文化大餐，在这里土家特有的摆手舞、傩戏、苞谷灯戏、咚咚喹、山歌、打镏子、跳丧、苦嫁等文化特色菜会一盘盘的托出。
Chapter 3: National customs in Gongtan
Youyang, an autonomous county of Tujia and miao ethnic groups, is hailed as “the hometown of Tujia hand swinging dance”, therefore Gongtan scenic spot has descended a rich Tujia culture and miao culture. Once your footprints touch upon that field, you will be embraced by the beauty in folk-custom. The unique hand swinging dance, masked drama, corn light show, Tongtong kui(a kind of instrument), folk songs, cymbal playing, funeral dance, and weeping brides will constitute a feast of folk culture for you to enjoy.
在土家族歌舞艺术奇葩中，最为代表性的要算独具个性，充满泥土气息和山花芬芳的传统摆手歌舞了。相传，土王征辽时，正值春节，士兵思念家乡，土王即下令士兵以摆手歌舞而娱乐，以活跃军中气氛，鼓舞士气。如此长期相传而成习俗，便有了如今极为盛行的土家摆手歌舞。近几十年，经过地方文艺工作者挖掘、整理与创新，如今摆手舞已被国家文化部选定为群众广场舞而大力提倡推广，像巴人一样古老的摆手舞必将会像土家人一样焕发新的光彩。尽兴欢歌，世代欢歌，直到永远。
Of all the dancing arts of Tujia ethnic minority, baishou dance is the most representative. According to legend, when the king of Tujia tried to conquer Kingdom of Liao, it was the season of spring. And soldiers were very homesick. To cheer up soldiers’ spirits and enhance the morale, the king of Tujia ordered them to entertain themselves by dancing and waving their hands. This was then passed down from generation to generation and formed as a custom which is now so popular among Tujia people. In the past few decades, local artists had worked hard on this art form with the purpose of deepening, sorting and making innovation As a result, the hand swinging dance has been assigned by the Ministry of Culture as the square dance of the masses, who are strongly encouraged to participate. The dance will shine as brightly as the Tujia people, and will be passed down for a thousand generations.
这里的土家人风情万种，有着极其浪漫的人生性格，婚嫁丧葬非常有特色：“山歌舞祭奠亡灵，以哭泣庆祝出嫁”。“跳丧”是土家人延续至今的一种古老的吊念仪式，在死者灵柩前欢快并有节奏的跳着似虎如猴的舞步，土家人乐观向上，死后潇洒上路。与此相对应，“哭嫁”是土家人最具有特色的婚俗。女孩长到十一、二岁就开始学习哭嫁，这是一种在哭中唱与唱中哭的艺术，哭嫁的形式也是多种多样，有一人哭，也有双人哭，还有群哭，相当于独唱、对唱和合唱，姑娘出嫁的当晚要哭十姐妹，哭上轿，直到抬进婆家门，哭进新的人生！
Tujia people have a very romantic nature, which makes this minority exceedingly fascinating and charming. Weddings and funerals take on great character. “Pay homage to deceased person by songs and dances, wail to celebrate marriage”. Funeral dance is an old-aged memorial, during which people will dance vigorously with rhythm in front of the coffin. Optimistic character makes Tujia people brave and open-minded. Correspondingly, wailing at wedding becomes the most characteristic marriage customs. A Tujia girl of age 11 or 12 begins to learn how to cry at wedding. This is an art form which combines singing and crying. Forms of crying can be various. One can cry alone, or in double, or in a group, which just resemble solo, duet and chorus. The girl to be married shall cry with her sisters, and cry when entering the sedan chair until going into the door of her husband’s family. Then she begins her new life.
在大龚滩景区内，还有不少迷人的、原始的土家族和苗族山寨，这些山寨里的吊脚楼大多建于风景较好的地方，掩映于古木翠竹之中，小桥流水穿梭其间，形成一座座古老的水寨风情。
There are in the Great Gongtan many charming and traditional Mountain Villages of Tujia and Miao minority, of which most stilt-houses are beautifully situated in places with better landscape, let them shinning in lush green bamboo and bridges over flowing streams, and formed these outstanding and excellent houses of ancient folk custom.
这里的土家人与苗家人建造吊脚楼遵循“以山水为血脉，以草木为毛发，烟云为神采”的风水理念，善于将自然山水巧妙结合，合理利用土地资源，从不占用耕地，讲究的就是环境美学与环境生态学，这里的吊脚楼都建在山坡和土坎上，没有一处是建在良田熟地上，这种可持续发现的观念难道不值得今天的人们去反思吗？
People here of Tujia and Miao Nationality follow the principle of “Inject with veins of landscape, cover with verdure hair and favor granted by cloud” while building stilt-houses. They are good at combining the natural landscape to enhance one another's beauty, they use the land reasonably and never occupy cultivated ones, what they are keen on is the balance beauty between environmental esthetics and environmental ecology. Stilt-houses here are all built on slopes and ridge without any one on fertile field; doesn’t this concept of sustainable development deserve people’s reflection upon their behavior today?
只有民族的，才是世界的。吊脚楼不仅属于土家和苗家，属于龚滩和酉阳，更属于中国和世界，吊脚楼文化带给人们的意义是深远的，这种具有生命力的生态建筑无疑将成为我们人类未来居住的重要选择！
Only what is national is global. Stilt-houses don’t only belong to Tujia and Miao minorities, they also belong to Gongtan and Youyang, China and the whole world. The culture of stilt-houses is significant; this kind of ecological building will surely be an important choice for future human dwellings.
跋【发展龚滩】
Epilogue: the Developing Gongtan
每一位有幸走进龚滩、认识龚滩、解读龚滩的人，都会感悟到一个历史的、现代的、勃兴的大龚滩。人们在这里净化着人生、思想和灵魂！
Everyone who comes to Gongtan, to know it, to understand it, will also perceive a modern and flourishing Gongtan. Here people, their’ life, ideas and soul get purified. People come here for getting their life, thoughts and soul purified.
龚滩虽然并不大，但是拥有她的主人却十分大气。完全复原的重建、盛世里的再生，续写着青春、向上、全新的时代篇章。在新的龚滩，邻居还是邻居、老街仍然老街，复原的龚滩古镇为中国的家园提供了美丽的范本，为地球村的明天涂抹上一缕曙光！
Even though Gongtan is not very big, yet the owner of it is very generous. Rebuild fully, regenerate completely and this continue the story of a youthful, fire-new up-and-up epoch. In new Gongtan, neighbors are still the same ones; old streets also remain there. The rebuilt Gongtan proves to be a beautiful model for Chinese homeland, and also lay on the first morning light, the new hope, for our earth’s future!
龚滩，像阿蓬江一样传承着远古的风情，
龚滩，像乌江水一样流淌着历史的深沉，
龚滩，像土苗儿女一样述说着千年古韵 ，
龚滩，是一部永远也读不完的壮美史诗。
Gongtan, like Apeng River, passes on ancient scenery and living style.
Gongtan, like Wujiang River, history runs deeper and deeper.
Gongtan, like Tu and Miao minority, thousands of years’ ancient beautiful stories and things are narrated.
Gongtan is the magnificently beautiful epicthat you can never complete reading.
