The Naming of a River

By Cheng Xinhao

The Panlong River is less than 100 km in length and is the cradle of Kunming’s civilization. In human timescale, the landscape along the river has been ever-changing: forests to farmlands, farmlands to suburbs, and suburbs to cities. It sounds to me like the only thing that remains unchanged is the river itself.

However, in geological timescale, even the river evolves naturally. On top of the water environment, the maze-like river branches we saw from the ancient map is not there anymore, except for very few ones. And if we trace further back in geological times, even the river might have not existed. I feel this is like what has said by T. S. Eliot: “Old fires to ashes, and ashes to the earth.”

The river presents itself so differently at various times and spaces and thrives on every one of them. Therefore what I can feel about the river is only its projection within my lifetime and my living quarters, and apparently a metamorphic slice. I tried to be objective towards the naming it, but all I obtained is still the most personal treasures. These pieces of my treasure are the specimens about the river in various time/space dimensions. They interweave and consolidate into another equally complex river -- a river named by me.