Malin Bridge Ancient City Tour Guide How about Malin Bridge?

The ancient city of Malinqiao is an ancient town with a long history. Too many historical moments and allusions happened here, leaving future generations unlimited space for imagination and imagination. Here, you can feel the rich Hunan culture Charming is a good place for travel and sightseeing. Let me share with you a detailed introduction.

Malinqiao Town, Dongxiang, Changsha County, is located in the northeast of Changsha City, about 50 kilometers away from the urban area. Looking at this place from the national map, it is difficult to find it. Its location is only found on the provincial map.

The relationship between Malin Bridge and Changsha City

Although Malin Bridge is not too long, it has been home to merchants since ancient times. It is the central area on both sides of the Malin River, radiating to surrounding villages and small towns. , this place is known as "Little Changsha".

The town is surrounded by water on three sides, with only two to three square kilometers around. The Malin River flows through the east end of the town. There are four streams flowing from west to east, which flow into the Malin River, and then flow westward to Yangsi Temple (i.e. Guoyuan Township, Changsha County), which is more than 30 miles away from the town. The Liuyang River finally flows into the Xiangjiang River. The town is surrounded by earthen walls along the river. There are hedges of cocktail bamboo on the river embankment. There are many kinds of trees such as locust, mulberry, camphor, camellia oleifera, Kulian and so on. Looking from a distance, all sides are lush.

Malin Bridge was originally called "Barbarian Bridge"

Source of old photos of Malin Bridge/Chen Xianshu

Malin Bridge was called Yi Zhen, Qi Town in ancient times. Bridge, eight buildings, two temples, one bay and one villa. One town is Malin Ancient Town; seven bridges are Malin Bridge, Bamboo Slip Bridge, Miaoqian Bridge, Basei Bridge Main Street, Xijiekou Double Bridge, and Back Street Arch Bridge; eight bridges are Yujia Bridge, Lujia Bridge, and Yingjia Bridge. Shan_, Shuikou_, Chenjia_, Liwu, Pengjia_; one bay and one villa are Dayuwan Yuxia Villa and two temples: Baima Temple and Su Gong Temple.

Malin Bridge has a long history. The "Changsha County Chronicle" of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty recorded that "Malin Bridge is eighty miles northeast of the city". "Place Names of Changsha County, Hunan Province" says: Malin Bridge was in disrepair for a long time and was inconvenient. According to legend, a strong man moved granite by hand and built it on the bridge, which was called the Barbarian Bridge. Later it was called Malin Bridge.

Malin Bridge is located in northeastern Hunan, in the hilly area at the southern foot of Yingzhu Mountain. It has been said since ancient times that Yingzhu Mountain protrudes from the shores of Jiuqu of the Xiangjiang River, south of the vast mist of Dongting for 800 miles, and is independent of Yuelu. To the northeast of the peaks, Malin Bridge was born to the east of Baishi Mountain in the middle section of the Changyue Ancient Road. The Liuyang River flows upstream, on the shore where the four tributary streams converge, and the flowing water flows through the fertile soil between the streams. Since Zhang Zhidong developed Huguang in the Qing Dynasty, agriculture here has been developed, products have become increasingly abundant, and trade has become increasingly developed.

According to historians, most of the villagers here migrated from the north and Jiangxi during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The dialect of Malinqiao is not much different from that of Changsha dialect. The only distinctive difference is the difference between two words: one is the negative word "bu", "bu" in Malin dialect is "um", and the other word is The structural particle "的",

"的" means "burp" in Malin dialect. For example, if you ask a Malin person where he is from, he will definitely say "I am Malin burp". But if you tell him that he is from Changsha, he will definitely answer "Yes, hiccup", that is to say, "I am not from Changsha." Therefore, the characteristic of speaking Malin dialect lies in the balance between affirmation and negation. Mastering "yes hiccup" and "um yes hiccup" means mastering the local slang of Malinqiao.

The only place that the older generation must pass when entering the city

Photo provided by the author of today’s Malin Bridge

It is located east of Changliu and Changping Highways. It is only seven or eight kilometers away from Yueyang City, an important town in northern Hunan, and only more than 100 kilometers to the north. It is the key point of the Changyue Ancient Road and the only place to pass by land from Changsha to Yueyang.

In the 1930s and 1940s, before the road was built, the only way to go to Changsha from here was on foot. When the older generation enters the city (into Changsha City), they always head west from Malin Bridge, pass through Qingshanpu, Tangtian Temple, go up the Changyue Ancient Road (today's National Highway 107), and then go south through Kuzhu'ao and Ansha. You can enter Changsha City by crossing the river through Heishi to Hongshan Temple, crossing the river through Deya Village, Simao Chong and Yanwachi. The hundred-mile journey into the city often takes a day.

In 1944, our family moved from Malinqiao to Changsha City. My uncle used a dirt cart (a kind of wheelbarrow in the south) to push some simple bedding and pots and bowls. The family walked into town. Goods are exchanged with Changsha by placing bamboo rafts during high water seasons.

The area has beautiful mountains and rivers, lush green bamboos, quiet forests and fragrant flowers, a network of rivers and thousands of layers of rice plants, and natural conditions for ensuring harvests despite droughts and floods. It is a land of fish and rice and a prosperous land in eastern Hunan.

In 1968, educated youths moved from the countryside to the Malinqiao area. The wages of each labor force here could reach about one yuan, which was much better than the wages of a few cents a day in remote villages.

Since the reform and opening up, there have been several long-distance passenger buses and multiple minibuses running between Xingsha Town, Changsha County, and Changsha City every day. Now there are Changsha County and district buses that shuttle back and forth, making the transportation very convenient.

"Little Changsha in Eastern Hunan" - Malinqiao Ancient Town

Malinqiao Old Street Old Photo Source/Chen Xianshu

Malinqiao in the 1950s In the ancient town, the three major brands of Nanhuo food and pastry processing shops, Hengtai, Chintai and Qiantai, are the economic pillars. On the old street, there are also Li Hongzhang Stationery Store, Ye Hengxing Tofu Workshop, Tu Xinfu Socks Factory, Yuanyuan Restaurant and other large and small restaurants. There are dozens of shops such as various department stores, ready-made clothes, groceries and dyeing shops, as well as profit-making money shops (i.e. private banks). Among its Nanhuo foods and non-staple foods, the most famous ones are Malin floret slices and Malin tofu. The Malin floret slices are characterized by being thin, crispy and fragrant, while the tofu is characterized by delicate, white tenderness and original bean flavor.

For decades, every time I go back to my hometown to worship my ancestors or return to the city, I always forget to bring these two specialties with me. However, these two specialties have also disappeared in recent years. After asking the residents in the town, it turned out that the profit was too low to make any money, so the employees changed careers and went to work in the provincial capital, earning a steady income of two to three hundred yuan a day. The tide of commodity economy always destroys traditional industries.

Two specialties of Malin Ancient Town: Xiao Hua Pian and Malin Tofu

There is Su Gong Temple at the west end of the town, and the Chen Ancestral Hall in the town, which belongs to our Chen family. Large ancestral hall. At the intersection of Xitou Street in the town is a Catholic church, which is a product of imperialist cultural aggression. Nothing remains today.

Photo courtesy of the author of the Ligong Temple rebuilt in recent years

There is a school at the mouth of the river in the east of the town called "Rixin Primary School". Across the river from Li Gong Temple, the school building is a square courtyard with Cao Ping in the middle. The school building is surrounded by various trees and is lush all year round. The Malin River flows on both sides of the school.

Rixin Primary School is a well-known primary school run by Dongxiang, Changsha County. At that time, the school had a strong teaching staff and its principal was concurrently served as the principal by Mr. Yang Zijing, the well-known educator and director of the Department of Education of Hunan Province. The school was founded in the early years of the Republic of China and was merged into Guangfu'an Central Primary School after liberation.

The prosperity of Malin Ancient Town in the past made it a famous town in eastern Hunan, so it is called "Little Changsha in eastern Hunan". Temple fairs are held here every year in spring and autumn, and this is also the time when the farmers' market is most active. Each temple fair lasts ten and a half days from beginning to end, and tens of thousands of people come from all over to participate in the temple fair every year.

The ancient town of Malinqiao also has a unique topography. In addition to being surrounded by water on three sides, it is surrounded by farmland. According to the older generation, the ancient town is located in the center of Dalong, surrounded by thousands of acres of Dalong. Its fields are stable and high-yield farmland with guaranteed yields despite droughts and floods. Before liberation, all the fields in Dalong were owned by the families of Zhu Cehuang and Liang Baolin.

Malin Hot Spring creates a "longevity village"

Malin Hot Spring Picture Source/Chen Xianshu

There is a hot spring a few dozen meters north of the ancient town, with gurgling water flowing from Coming out of the ground. It is said that the hot spring was discovered in the late Qing Dynasty because of a landslide near the Malin Bridge. Steam and gurgling water continued to emerge from the landslide. Every winter, heat waves hit the surrounding area and thick fog rolled in.

The unexpected discovery of hot springs made the locals very happy. Bathing and soaking their feet gradually became a kind of enjoyment for the locals. Over time, it became an enviable "longevity village", and few people suffered from skin diseases. diseases, stones, cancer and other diseases.

The "Changsha City Chronicles" compiled in 2004 stated: Malin Hot Spring is located in Malinqiao Township, Changsha County. There are three hot water springs. The bubbles are constantly overflowing and the smell of sulfur can be smelled. The water temperature is 29- 32, flow rate 0.138-0.139 liters/second. It was confirmed by drilling in 1986 that the groundwater temperature is 36°C, the daily self-influx is 300 cubic meters, and it contains hydrogen sulfide, silicon metaphosphate, fluorine, radon, strontium, lithium and other trace elements. The salinity is 0.42 g/l, and the water chemical type is Bicarbonate, sulfuric acid-sodium type, the name of the mineral water is fluorosilicic acid, and hydrogen sulfide low-temperature fresh spring water has reached the index requirements of medical mineral water, and the main indicators meet the medical mineral water standards.

At present, Malin Hot Spring has been developed into a tourist attraction. The local government has already made plans for hot springs and regards this resource as an important project to attract investment, striving to create another tourist and leisure resort in Changsha County.

One of the sources of the Great Revolution

In the 1920s and 1930s, the Malinqiao area was one of the sources of the Autumn Harvest Riots in Eastern Hunan and the Pingjiang Uprising during the Great Revolution. The place where the counter-revolutionary struggle was fiercest was the Farmers Association of the Ninth District of Changsha County under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. It was the main venue of activities during the township Soviet government and a group of Sanxiang heroes emerged.

The main leaders of our party in eastern Hunan are Yang Lishan, former Minister of Logistics of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Chen Kangbo, Dean of the Academy of Social Sciences, Liu Keguang and Li Yong, Secretary of the Ninth District Party Committee of Changsha County of the Communist Party of China, and Fu Guangxiang and others in the history of the Hunan labor movement all engaged in revolutionary activities in the area.

After the failure of the Great Revolution, Liu Keguang was arrested and died heroically on the sandbank under the Bamboo Bridge of the Malin River. The elderly people here still have fresh memories of the raging revolutionary struggle during the Great Revolution, and they all shed tears for the heroic sacrifice of Comrade Liu Keguang, Secretary of the District Party Committee.

Among these heroes of Sanxiang, Li Yong, Vice Chairman of the Xiangdong Township Soviet, and Fu Guangxiang, Chairman of the Changsha Dyeing Industry Union, are the revolutionary ancestors that our family is most familiar with.

Li Yong, the revolutionary ancestor of Malinqiao

Mr. Li Yong, formerly known as Li Zhaofan, was born around 1893. He was the third eldest child in his family and was known locally as Mr. Zhaofan. Mr. Li Yong was a craftsman when he was young and learned tailoring skills. The locals also called him Tailor Li San. The relationship between our family and Mr. Li Yong’s family is both a neighbor relationship and a tenant relationship.

Mr. Li Yong’s home is on a hillside about one kilometer north of Malin Ancient Town. It is called Changpo, and descendants of the Li family have lived here for generations. His ancestors were a relatively wealthy family in the late Qing Dynasty. The entire Changpo area of ??more than ten acres of paddy fields and the forest behind the house were the property of the Li family.

The revolutionary martyr Mr. Li Yong was born and lived in Changpo, Malin Bridge. Photo provided by the author

The Li family to Mr. Li Yong’s generation had been in turmoil due to years of warlord fighting. The people were in dire straits, and their families began to decline.

Mr. Li Yong’s family has two properties, which are only a hundred meters apart. This place in the west is larger, divided into upper and lower buildings, with more than a dozen houses, and is lived by two brothers, Li Yong. The property on the east side is smaller, with a structure of seven bays and a side house. It is the tomb house of the Li family. In the old days, wealthy families hired long-term workers to take care of farm work in the fields and the ancestral tombs in the mountains and forests behind the house. My mother's family rented in Mr. Li Yong's tomb house.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the workers' and peasants' movement was raging. Mr. Li Yong bravely devoted himself to the revolutionary movement and was elected as the vice chairman of the Township Soviet (the then chairman was Liu Keguang) and the secretary-general of the Changsha County Farmers Association. After the failure of the Great Revolution, Liu Keguang was arrested and sacrificed. Mr. Li Yong was wanted and secretly went to Jinggangshan on the border of Hunan and Hunan to find Mao Zedong's revolutionary team.

The night before Mr. Li Yong left, in order to avoid the enemy's pursuit, he stayed at my mother's house. Before dawn, my grandmother sent him out to the mountain path behind the house. At that time, a large piece of red cloth and many propaganda slogans were left at my mother's house.

From then on, Mr. Li Yong never returned to his hometown in Changpo, Malinqiao. He changed his name from Li Zhaofan to Li Yong. During the Long March of the Red Army, Mr. Li Yong served as the battalion commander. It is said that he later died on the Long March. , dedicated his life to the liberation cause of the Chinese people.

After liberation, Mr. Li Yong’s widow Li San__, his sons Li Zhengmin and Li Zhimin were all family members of martyrs. The directory and introduction of Mr. Li Yong are still preserved in the Martyrs Memorial Tower in Hunan Martyrs Park.

Fu Guangxiang, the revolutionary ancestor of Malinqiao

Another revolutionary ancestor is Mr. Fu Guangxiang of Yujiaxinwu. On the northeast corner of the land one mile away from Malin Ancient Town, there is a residential house from the late Qing Dynasty. This is Yuxia Villa, which the locals call the Yu Family New House and the Broom Temple. Because there really is a broom temple in this residential village.

The place is divided into upper house and lower house. The upper house is called Yujiaxinwu, also known as Yuxia Villa, and the lower house is called Broom Temple, commonly known as Miaowanli. Judging from the meaning of the name alone, the Temple of the Broom can be considered a working class person. There are more than a thousand houses in the upper and lower houses connected together. It is a famous big house farm in this area, but there are many empty houses all year round and no one lives in them. This house is very close to Malin Ancient Town, and shopping is very convenient.

Photo courtesy of the author of the Yu Family’s New House where Mr. Fu Guangxiang, who was in the history of the Hunan labor movement, was born and lived

During the warlords’ melee, the Yu Family’s New House was a must-have place for troops passing from north to south. During the Anti-Japanese War, it was the barracks of a battalion of the Leiyang Army of the Kuomintang Army, and it was also one of the main battlefields of the Sino-Japanese War in Northern Hunan.

The house is surrounded by mountains and rivers, facing east from the west. Not far in front of the gate, there is a gurgling stream flowing from west to east. There are lush woods on the mountain behind the house, mostly maple and camphor trees, and there are also patches of bamboo forest surrounding it. In autumn, at a glance, the red leaves of the maple trees are dyed all over the forest. When the sun sets in the west, the afterglow of the setting sun sets off the sky above the villa, the smoke from the roof is curling up, the birds return to their nests, and the sparrows sing late, presenting a unique mountain countryside style, hence the name "Yuxia Villa".

The Anti-Japanese War Years of Malinqiao

Photo provided by the author of Yingzhu Mountain

The Malinqiao area has always been a strategic location. It is close to the Changyue Ancient Road. Backed by Yingzhu Mountain in Changsha County, it is a battleground for military strategists. The four battles of Changsha lasted from 1939 to 1944. During the six years before and after, the Japanese army's offensive route always started from Xinqiang River in Yueyang, to the second line of defense at Qingshanpu, Malinqiao, and Jinjing, and then attacked directly from here. The third line of defense is Laodaohe and Dongtundu in Changsha, the provincial capital. Therefore, for six years, almost all the folks in the Malinqiao area lived in panic amidst the war and chaos, and were miserable.

As a strategically important location, in the days when the war broke out, the Japanese soldiers who went south raided the countryside of Malinqiao several times, burning, killing, looting, and raping women. They committed all kinds of evil, leaving behind a legacy for the folks back home. Tragic memories and deep hatred. An uncle from his hometown was in his twenties at the time. After the Japanese entered the village, they kidnapped him and worked as a porter. After arriving at their destination, they gathered all the captured young men into a village hall and shot them all to death with machine guns.

My grandpa passed away in the 1940s. According to my grandma’s recollection, his death coincided with the “trooping” period of the Third Battle of Changsha. My grandpa’s funeral was finished and the tomb in the cemetery had just been erected. As soon as they got up, the Japanese raiders entered the village, and the fellow villagers who helped hurriedly evacuated and hid in the nearby mountains and forests. A family in a neighboring village was also having a funeral. When they saw the Japanese entering the village, they quickly hid in the mountains. The Japanese opened the coffin of the deceased, pulled the deceased out, and turned the coffin upside down.

The extremely vicious Japanese invaders devastated all life in the Malinqiao area, and even the dead could not live in peace. I am afraid that this memory will not be forgotten for generations. According to the "General History of Changsha County", during the Anti-Japanese War, 145,239 civilians in Changsha County were killed or injured by the Japanese army, of which 33,359 died.

In view of the brutality of the Japanese invaders, the people in the Malinqiao area, under the leadership of the party, rose up to resist and bravely killed the enemy. During the four Changsha battles, Xiang Zhongmin, a fifteen-year-old boy from Malinqiao, lurked in the bushes during the day and killed three Japanese soldiers late at night and captured one person. A group of Japanese cavalry fled across the river from Mopanzhou, Malinqiao, but were ambushed by local farmers and shot to death with hoes and wooden sticks.

In the frontline position, Yingzhu Mountain in Changsha County, less than ten kilometers away from Malin Ancient Town, still has many historical relics of the Changsha Battle, including combat fortifications, wartime command posts, and tombs of fallen soldiers. wait. Yingzhu Mountain in Changsha County is bounded by Qingshanpu and Malin Bridge in the south, Jinjing and Gaoqiao in the east, the former site of Ren Bishi in Miluo in the west, and Kaihui in the north. It covers an area of ??27 square kilometers and is a place where Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism coexist and thrive. It is a place of glory, a place where national heroes fight against aggression, and a mountain of heroes. There is a folk song in Changsha: Yingzhu Mountain is three feet three feet from the sky. People have to lower their heads to cross, and horses have to unsaddle. The main peak of Yingzhu Mountain is 509 meters, and there are more than 70 large and small peaks. The terrain is dangerous and it is a battleground for military strategists.

During the Anti-Japanese War, Changsha soldiers and civilians blocked invading enemies at Yingzhu Mountain and killed the Japanese invaders, leaving their helmets and armor behind. In January 1942, the Japanese Sixth Division, which had participated in the Nanjing Massacre, retreated from Changsha to the north. Chinese soldiers and civilians defended the Yingzhu Mountain Sky Pass and resisted tenaciously. The Japanese army then transferred elite soldiers and generals from the Ninth Mixed Brigade to form the death squad "Yamazaki". Brigade" sneak attack on Yingzhushan command post.

In the early morning of January 9, the battle started. After hand-to-hand combat from 4 a.m. to 11 a.m., the Chinese army used its tenacious fighting spirit to wipe out the death squad in one fell swoop on Yaozi slope of Yingzhu Mountain. At the end of the battle, the 480 anti-Japanese soldiers who died were carried to the top of Yingzhu Mountain for burial, and a tombstone was built for the "Tomb of the Fallen Soldiers of the 195th Army Division in Xiangbei Battle of Fulinpu". The couplet on the stele is engraved with the following inscription: The heroic spirit blocked Changsha, and the Japanese pirates did not leave a piece of armor.

Such heroic spirit demonstrates the unyielding spirit of a nation that is not afraid of sacrifice.

Photo courtesy of the author of the Tomb of the Fallen Soldiers in Yingzhu Mountain

Mr. Yu He_, an ancient and rare man on the long slope of Malin Bridge, visited the foothills of Yingzhu Mountain and visited the battlefield where he fought against the Japanese invaders. He was filled with emotion. , wrote a four-character poem full of affection: "The towering shadow pearl has been famous throughout the ages, with strange peaks towering and crisscrossing ravines. The Wushou Qingshan, majestic and blessed, is majestic and stands in eastern Hunan." In 1942, When the Japanese invaders invaded, the soldiers and the people stood up and fought vigorously, vowing to punish the stubborn ones. The brave men shed blood and the Japanese invaders lay corpses everywhere?" He enthusiastically eulogized the national spirit of the soldiers of the Anti-Japanese War.

Photo courtesy of the author of the clearly visible trenches and Shi Lei fortifications on Yingzhu Mountain

Postscript

In the 1980s, the Malinqiao area responded to the reform and opening up Economic and social development has moved Malin Ancient Town to its location on Aoshang, about one kilometer south. There was originally a grain depot here, close to X026 County Road. The area is open and can be developed along the road, but also has room for in-depth expansion. After decades of development, Malinqiao Town has taken on a new look. Now the town has already built various shops, large supermarkets, oil depots, hotels, restaurants, etc., and it is just like a lively small county town.

Photo provided by the author of the new street where Malin Bridge was moved south to Aoshang

At the same time, the old streets of the original ancient town have also been improved and renovated, trying to restore the appearance of the ancient town. To satisfy the nostalgic feelings of modern people, the ancient town's move south to Aoshang has provided new space for its development, but it has also cut off the original historical development context. The older generation of Malinqiao people still miss the appearance of the ancient town in the past and miss the past. During those years of wandering in the small streets of ancient towns, the development and construction of small towns in China faced a historical choice of a new era.