Those things about the Hunan-Guangxi Ancient Road! From Yanglong Mountain to Xiong Village, where the peach blossoms bloom!

Sometimes, I wonder: How should life be lived! For many years, there has been no conclusion, so it has always been: life is endless, and the tossing is endless! As Mr. Lu Xun said: If we don’t want to be mediocre and mediocre all our lives, then let’s be brave while we are still young and strong! If we do it right, we may succeed one day. If we do it right, we may succeed. No, it’s still mediocre today, what’s the big deal? I don’t think it’s a big deal. On the contrary, it will add a lot of interesting experiences to our life journey, which are worth recalling. Whether you are in school or have already entered society, you should be mentally and mentally prepared for a lot of hardships. Reading is a struggle, writing articles is a struggle, learning is a struggle, working and going to work is also a struggle, doing one's duty is a struggle, pursuing perfection is also a struggle, being unwilling to be inferior to others, dissatisfied with the status quo, Challenging yourself is a kind of tossing. Developing hobbies, cultivating interests, cherishing everything... all belong to the category of tossing. Everyone who can achieve brilliance cannot do without tossing. If you don’t experience some setbacks and hardships, and don’t transcend and settle over and over again, you will never be able to stand on the commanding heights of success.

Well, since life is about tossing, let’s keep tossing! Of course, I continued to hike the Hunan-Guangxi Ancient Trail with my group of friends this weekend. This time I walked with sister Aiye and brother Fengyu from Chaotian to Xiongcun (Xiongcun). The general route was: Yanglongshan, Nioling Village, Lianghegou (Shengtian Temple) Shangxialuotang Village, Aijiang Village, Xiong Village. Along the way, thousands of trees are in early spring, peach blossoms are in bloom, birds are singing and flowers are fragrant, and the scenery is pleasant, making everyone feel relaxed and happy! Teammates, you are jumping for joy, and of course it’s great to take photos! And the first stop we passed was Yanglong Mountain!

Yanglong Mountain is located between Daxu Town and Chaotian Township, with an altitude of more than 400 meters. There are lush plants here, and walking there is like walking into a forest oxygen bar! The continuous red maples in the mountains are like a beautiful red Great Wall stretching across the mountains, blending with the green mountains and green trees, forming a beautiful picture. What's amazing is that there are nearly ten small temples in the mountain scattered around the top of the mountain. Pilgrims still go there to offer incense. The mirror field on the top of the mountain (I couldn't go there this time!) is not dry all year round and the scenery is great!

Yanglong Mountain, also known as Piole Mountain and Piulu Mountain, is a scenic spot in Dongxiang, Lingui. There is a small temple on the mountainside. Behind the temple, there are strange rocks surrounding it. There is a peak at the top, standing dangerously and overlooking the mountains, which are all green. Jiaqing's "Lingui County Chronicle" records that "Yanglong Mountain is sixty feet high and forty miles wide. There are two pools on the top. The old "Illustrations" says: Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty gave monk Yuan Kang a white deer tribute from a foreign country and returned here. There are pools in front of the mountain. The water color is cyan blue, and there are lotuses blooming in five colors, which are called flying lotus. "About Piulu Mountain, it was first seen in "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" "Shi'an County Records said that there is Piole Mountain in the east of the county and Liao Mountain in the east. "It is recorded in "Yuanhe Prefecture and County Chronicles" of the Tang Dynasty and "Taiping Huanyu Ji" of the Song Dynasty.

The Tang Dynasty was the most glorious period when Buddhism was introduced into China. Guilin was an important town in Lingnan, and its Buddhism was also popular in the Tang Dynasty. In the second year of Xianqing (657), Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty built a charity in the south of Guizhou. Temple (later named Kaiyuan Temple), and built a pagoda to worship the relics, which was named the Relic Pagoda. In the first year of Tiaolu (679), Sima Li of Zhaozhou made a cliff statue of Guanyin Peak on the west mountain of Guilin. It can be seen that Guilin at that time was one of the Buddhist resorts in Lingnan. According to the "Reconstruction of Guanyin Hall Stele" and "Bailu Zen Master Stele" in the 21st year of Qianlong's reign at the Yanglongshan site, temples were built during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty (627-649). At the same time, on this ancient road, Dinglin Temple was also built at the other end of Haiyang Mountain (in today's Dongjing Township, Guanyang). The two temples echoed each other in the east and west. They were both ancient temples on the ancient Hunan-Guangxi Road in eastern Guilin. Pilgrims from Hunan and Guangxi continued to worship, and the incense was very strong.

Yongzheng's "Guangxi Tongzhi" and existing inscriptions record the life of Zen Master Bailu in detail. It is said that during the Wu and Zhou Dynasties of the Tang Dynasty (684-704), there was a Zhang family in Zhang Village, Dongxiang, Lingui. They gave birth to a son named Yuankang. It is said that when he was in his infancy, he could sit with his hands folded and he had his hair cut off and went to Longquan Temple in Chang'an. One year, he went back to Guilin to visit his relatives. In his spare time, he climbed Yanglong Mountain and saw the green peaks in the distance, winding and undulating like a dragon. He felt very happy about it, so he called himself "Yanglong Savage".

At the beginning of Kaiyuan (713), Emperor Ming of Tang Dynasty Li Longji visited Anguo Temple and ordered famous monks and masters all over the world to compile Buddhist scriptures and lecture on Buddhism. Emperor Ming Emperor of Tang Dynasty asked the monks: "Who can preach and interpret my will?" Yuan Kang played forward: "I am willing." So he was ordered to have a discussion with his master, Master Lishe. Yuankang understood the holy meaning deeply and answered fluently. Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty was very moved and immediately made him the abbot of Anguo Temple. The next year, Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty visited Anguo Temple again and gathered more than 500 monks to watch the white deer presented by foreign tribute envoys. The white deer knelt down in front of Yuankang. Seeing that the white deer was destined to Yuankang, the emperor immediately gave the white deer to him. From then on he was called "Zen Master Bailu". At the end of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, Yuan Kang begged to return to his hometown and lived in Yanglong Mountain. He did a lot of construction and built a Buddhist temple named "Bailu Temple". Later generations changed its name to "Shengtian Temple". (Yongzheng's "Guangxi Tongzhi" shows the map of the Dongli Village Yiling Ancient Road in the full map of Lingui County!)

In the 21st year of Kangxi's reign, Pan Yuwu was a native of Panjia Village, Dongxiang, Lingui. He did not serve in office for many years after winning the election. , I often climbed Yanglong Mountain to express my feelings, and wrote the poem "Climbing Pilu Mountain":

The land is vast and the sky is empty. Looking around the mountains, the boundless scenery is all over the world.

In the clouds and smoke, the towering sky suddenly rises between the sky and the Han Dynasty.

The nature of birds is not as silent as the nature of Zen, and the sound of bells is always accompanied by the sound of gurgling water.

Occasionally, I come to the Range Rover and enjoy the view, and I want to see the deer returning there.

In advocating nature and Zen enlightenment, Pan Yuwu finally received an appointment from the court in the 38th year of Kangxi (1699) as the magistrate of Yiwu County, Zhejiang Province, fulfilling the scholar's wish. During the Qianlong period, the country was prosperous and the people were prosperous. The trade on the ancient Hunan-Guangxi trade route entered a prosperous period. Lingui Dongxiang had the advantages of good time, location, and people, and became the richest township in Lingui County. The villagers respect the Confucianism of farming and reading, and accept the concept of promoting agriculture and business simultaneously. They are financially prosperous, the number of scholars is increasing day by day, and the writing style is flourishing. Among them, the Li family is one of the richest, with a Chinese-speaking family, a martial arts examination, and a high number of officials. There was once a scholar named Li Shiyu who failed to pass the test many times. As time went by, he became indifferent to his fame. He devoted himself to Buddhism and was also interested in doing business. He devoted himself to taking care of his ancestors' property. In his free time, he often walked in the countryside, admonishing people to do good and being good at charity. He was famous far and wide. It was the Double Ninth Festival, and he invited a group of old scholars and close friends to climb Yanglong Mountain and compose an impromptu poem:

The breeze is refreshing on the ninth day, and Longshan is a good place to visit.

In the blue mountains of the building, there are trees with white cloud heads.

The wild birds return to the feast and dance, and the yellow flowers relieve the worries of the guests.

On the bright moon in a bay, the charm comes back to you.

The ancient literati were fond of mountains and rivers, and were bohemian. It was the beautiful environment of Yanglong Mountain that cultivated their sentiments and wrote poems that will last forever. (Poetry of Yanglong Mountain in "Lingui County Chronicles" in the seventh year of Jiaqing!)

Here we must first talk about the history and culture of the Hunan-Guangxi Ancient Road, because Guangxi is located in Lingnan, which was the land of Baiyue in ancient times. In order to unify Lingnan, Qin Shihuang ordered the construction of Lingqu Canal to connect the Hunan-Guangxi water system and form a communication waterway between Hunan and Guangxi. Since the Song Dynasty, especially during the Ming and Qing dynasties, non-governmental trade between Hunan and Guangxi has become increasingly prosperous. However, the Hunan-Guangxi waterway has been in disrepair for a long time and has limited water transportation capacity. It is no longer easy to maintain government water transportation. A large number of commodities need to be transported by land. Local government officials To this end, the organization opened up the Hunan-Guangxi land trade route. The ancient Hunan-Guangxi trade route with a history of thousands of years ran from Guilin to southern Hunan through Lingchuan, Xing'an, and Quanzhou. The peak period of the trade route lasted for more than 500 years and was known as the "Southern Silk Road" by later generations. By the 1930s, the Guihuang Highway and the Hunan-Guangxi Railway were opened one after another, and new transportation routes replaced the thousand-year-old water and land trade routes. As time goes by, the scenery of the ancient roads gradually disappears from people's sight, and the history of the ancient roads is gradually forgotten in people's memories.

According to records, Daxu Town, located on the Hunan-Guangxi Ancient Road, is an indispensable link. Daxu Ancient Town and Xiong Village are also the main destinations that we must pass on this hike! Let’s briefly talk about Daxu Ancient Town. It is said that in the fourth year of Wude (621) of Tang Dynasty, the general seat of Fulu County was set up here, which shows that it is a thoroughfare. In the Song Dynasty, it had become a market, named Lutian City. In the Ming Dynasty, an inspection department was established, and in the Qing Dynasty, the Guilin Prefecture Tongzhi Official Office was established. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the imperial court's development and cultural dissemination of Lingnan became increasingly frequent, and exchanges between the north and the south became increasingly frequent, promoting social development and ethnic integration.

At that time, the ancient post roads from Hunan to northern Guangxi were three main lines: Quanzhou, Guanyang, and Gongcheng. One of the main lines was from Yongming County, Hunan (now known as Jiangyong County) through Longhu Pass and into Gongcheng County, Pingle Prefecture. Enter Guanyang Chongshun Fort (today's Guanyinge Township and Dongjing Township), then cross the rugged and steep Haiyang Mountains, follow the Niuxi River and Chaotian River and cross Yiling to Daxu Town. Then you can enter the provincial capital Guilin by water or land. On the way, we passed Dongli Village, where traveling merchants often rested. Historically, before the 27th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1394), Quanzhou and Guanyang were both under the jurisdiction of Yongzhou Prefecture in Hunan. Dongli Village can be reached from Dongli Village to the Hunan border by crossing Yangyang Mountain, and the distance is only a hundred miles.

As early as the Tang Dynasty, the Li family and the Qin family from Yidu, Qingzhou, Shandong Province, had become a major local clan. They, together with the Xiong, Zhang, Zhou, Mo, Liao, Huang, Yuan and other ethnic groups, were on the ancient road of Hunan and Guangxi. Ethnic groups live together along the line and gradually form villages. At the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, there was a branch of the Li family. They first got rich by doing business. The tree had a large branch and traced the Jindai River from Daxu to Dongli. The ancestor of the first mover saw a herd of cattle eating grass leisurely by the river. The water and grass are plentiful, the fields are fertile and the transportation is convenient, so Sui Bu lives here. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, trade on the ancient trade routes was prosperous, and people with surnames such as Qin, Huang, Zhang, Xiong, Zhou, and Yuan moved in one after another. They either opened shops, taverns, grocery stores, or made liquor or ground tofu, and each had their own business, gradually forming a village. Ruins, the scene is prosperous.

In the fourth year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1406), Xie Jin, the chief minister of the cabinet and a bachelor, was demoted to the position of Chief Secretary and Councilor of Guangxi Province. Passing by the ancient town of Daxu, it was the market day. Luo, with a great crowd, impromptuly wrote:

Lutian City on the Daxu River,

A hundred-foot deep pool surrounded by thousands of bamboos.

After the morning meal of accumulated salary in Liudian,

the children returned home wrapped in salt in lotus leaves.

In a thousand years, how many dynasties have changed; in a thousand years, how many stories have been forgotten over the years; in a thousand years, how many prosperity have been washed away by time. Dreaming back thousands of years, the long ancient road beside the Li River, where many businesses gathered, the heavy sound of horse hooves still seems to be echoing on the ancient road. It also depends on the development of science and technology and the process of history. The ancient roads will eventually be buried by the years, and the bustling streets of the past will gradually decline and be slowly forgotten in the long river of history. Xiongcun (Xiongcun) is a touch of prosperity forgotten by time.

Xiongcun belongs to Dashu Town, Lingchuan, not far from Guilin City, only more than 30 kilometers away. It is understood that Xiongcun was built in the Song Dynasty and has a history of more than 1,000 years. It is an ancient plaque (Wei Market) on the ancient road of Hunan and Guangxi. This commercial road, which had been used for more than 600 years, reached its peak during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was abandoned after the opening of the railway. Xiongcun still followed the ancient commercial road, and its popularity has declined, so not many people know it now.

Xiongcun Ancient Town is 7.5 kilometers away from Daxu Town. It was built in the Song Dynasty. Legend has it that six dragon boats carried the ancestors to migrate to Xiongcun. The architectural styles of Xiongcun and Daxu are different. Xiongcun is built on a hill. There are many stone arches in the alleys. The alleys contain stone steps. The arches are built on the stone steps, and each arch has a name engraved on it. . The architectural layout of Xiongcun Ancient Town is unique, with winding streets and winding paths. There are six lanes of different lengths in the town, radiating to the surroundings, all paved with stone slabs or cobblestones. In the past, most residents on the street lived in high-walled courtyards, and each house had a business shop at its entrance. Wandering around Xiongcun Ancient Town, you can admire the simple and original ancient buildings, and you can be surprised to find many traces of time. This place will impress you deeply and make you unforgettable.

Xiongcun still retains the complete old village layout. There are many stone arches in the alleys. The alleys contain stone steps. The arches are built on the stone steps, and each arch has a name engraved on it. . There is a complete architectural complex of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, including the Hunan Guild Hall, Jiangxi Guild Hall, ancient stage, Guandi Temple, etc. In addition, many Cultural Revolution slogans are preserved on the old buildings in the village.

Surprisingly, some houses have obvious cultural slogans on the mottled walls, such as: "Always loyal to Chairman Mao", "Serving the people", "Politics is the highest", "Unfavorable special interests", etc. Wait, there is also an arch called the Revolutionary Gate, which is really like a cultural revolution museum!

Walking in the ancient village, there are unique buildings and winding lanes paved with stone slabs or cobblestones that run through the village. There are so many traces of time here, every corner, every brick, every stone, you can feel the breath of time, which is unforgettable in the 10th year of Chongzhen (AD 1637). 8. Xu Xiake, a great traveler in the Ming Dynasty, passed through Xiong Village and expressed this emotion in his diary: "There are many settlements on Wei, which are not only unique in the valley, but also rare in Nanzhong." In two or three simple sentences, We seem to have seen the bustling scene of the Xiongcunwei Market in the past, with goods coming in and going out.

If you look carefully at the buildings along the street in Xiongcun, you will find that almost every house facing the street has bricks under its wooden windows. There are blue brick counters for displaying goods, which means that every household here has a shop. The owner only needs to remove the wooden boards on the windows and display the goods, and then he can do business with the passers-by on the street. From here, you can also imagine the heroes. The prosperity of the village at that time

"Outside the long pavilion, beside the ancient road, the green grass stretches to the sky..." With the development of the times, the arrival of roads, railways, cars and trains, caravans and porters can only go there. In the face of history, the people of Xiongcun cannot escape the fate of being abandoned. The prosperity has become a memory, and the hard work remains in their hearts. However, the people of Xiongcun who still stay in the village can no longer see the caravans and porters coming and going like crucian carps and horses. When everything faded away in time, Xiongcun gradually faded out of people's sight... Standing on the empty street, looking at the rows of empty shops on both sides and the weeds on the walls, The dilapidated windows and doors all make people feel sad and helpless. However, nothing can stop the wheel of history. When the prosperity here disappears, new prosperity will rise in another place. Maybe we just need to remember that in this place. Here, our ancestors once shouldered the burden of economic exchanges between Hunan and Guangxi!