Maojin Ferry

　　   Pinglu’s Maojin Ferry has stood through more than a thousand years of wind and rain since the Shang Dynasty. Nowadays, one Maojin Ferry thrives fashionably as the name of an economic development zone, while the other—the genuine ancient ferry—has faded into solitude after shedding its millennia of bustle, quietly guarding the riverbank and gradually fading from memory.

　　   According to the *Pinglu County Annals*: “Maojin lies at a strategic land-and-water junction, a key passage between Shanxi and Henan provinces. Officials and merchants flock here in great numbers, and the area serves as a vital salt transport route for Shanxi. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, Maojin Ferry was a contested military stronghold. Duke Xian of Jin feigned passage through Yu to attack Guo, Duke Mu of Qin marched on Zheng, and Jin launched a surprise attack across the river to defeat Qin—all via Maojin Ferry.” Song Dynasty poet Wei Ye once wrote the poem *Maojin Ferry*: “A few returning crows cry in the distant trees, / As travelers dwindle along the sunset road. / Twilight mist rises again over Bamboo Dock Village, / While west winds rise anew at Maojin Ferry.” Serving as a major transit hub, Maojin Ferry continuously transported goods such as salt and coal from southern Shanxi to various parts of the Central Plains.