Lubei Yue Ming's When Songs and Legends Are Silent

The time is in the year and month of 1798. Si Yuanru, a 45-year-old wealthy businessman in Zhuji, went upstream along Shanglinxi and returned to his hometown.

The man who came back from the wonderful world outside the mountain is full of ambition and wants to build a mansion in the hometown of Si surname in the south of Zhuji, a mansion with at least 1000 columns.

I guess this is Si Yuanru's long-simmering plan buried in his heart, and he made this decision with some comparison psychology. Because a "former bamboo house" belonging to Zhang has been erected in Bamao Village, Xinchang County, Shaoxing Prefecture, more than 100 kilometers away. Since we can't do it at the earliest, we must do it big! Moreover, Si Yuanru, who is engaged in tung oil and timber business, already has enough financial resources and confidence.

Soon, the village of Kesifan, where torreya grandis was in full bloom, became lively. Logs, stones, blue bricks and various building materials arrived one by one. Skillful craftsmen from Fiona Fang Baili were invited to give speeches one by one.

Soon, a brick wall grew tall and the pillars stood up. The stone carving of the tied horse pile has gradually taken shape, and the brick carving of the gatehouse is being polished. In the carpenter's field, the sound of long saws sawing logs rang for a long time, and the wood shavings and sawdust on the ground smelled of wood.

Si Yuanru should be standing halfway up the Bifeng Mountain, watching everything, smoothing his beard and planning with a smile. Finally, on an auspicious day, amid a long string of firecrackers, a "Qianzhuwu" in the deep mountains of central Zhejiang was completed.

Sitting south facing north, facing the mountain and facing the water, the courtyard-style group layout with five verticals and three horizontals is full of restraint and grandeur. The building community takes the main entrance, hall and building as the central axis, and the square courtyard extends to both sides, with 8 quadrangles, 10 large patio and 36 small patios. It is said that walking in every corner of the "Thousand Pillars House" can achieve "the sun does not shine, and the rain does not wet the shoes". Clever design not only ensures the relative independence of member units, but also considers the convenience of family contact. The whole building is surrounded by eaves and doors. Dignified, rigorous, orderly and noble, it shows the ideal and model of living together in the era of agricultural civilization.

I wonder if Si Yuanru, who was in excitement at that time, had carefully counted the columns. According to the accurate figures provided by later generations, the "Thousand-Pillar House" with brick and wood structure is 108.56 meters wide from east to west and 32. 10 meters deep from north to south, covering an area of 6,850 square meters, with 12 1 rooms and 32 alleys. Of course, the "Thousand Pillars House" is no longer a house in the traditional sense. It is magnificent, and the white walls and tiles constitute a vast green architectural wonder in central Zhejiang.

From today's perspective, Si Yuanru, as a businessman, not only has enough wealth, but also has enough self-reliance. His "thousand-column house" almost perfectly realizes the balance between architectural aesthetics, wealth publicity and safety. The high walls outside the fortress block (or deter) all eyes that covet wealth, while the interior of the fortress shows low-key luxury with meticulous carving, and it is also ingenious in the design of fire fighting, ventilation, lighting and drainage systems. Of course, the main hall on the central axis might as well be luxurious, which is the place where family sacrifices, deliberations and major events are held. It adopts five-beam structure and is tall and spacious. Excellent hanging beam, thick gold column and the column base of basin, all designs should be commensurate with the dignity of the family gradually established.

In fact, the most interesting thing is the moral ethics, etiquette tradition and value orientation displayed by this building. The eight quadrangles on both sides of the main hall are the residences of Si Yuanru's four sons, named Cong Guitang, Shuanghuaitang, Fushoutang and Renshoutang respectively. Fushou and Renshou are well understood, and the so-called "Benevolence leads to longevity". As for the meanings of "Cong Gui" and "Shuang Huai", it is obvious that the laurel tree means "the moon is a laurel tree", and the locust tree was called the tree of the three fairs in ancient times. Then, Cong Gui and Shuang Huai are like inspirational trees for homesick children to enter the imperial examination. It should be noted that "Thousand Bamboo Houses" is just a common name among the people, and the official name of this mansion is "Four Holy Houses".

The name is engraved on the forehead of the Qingshi Gate at the main entrance of the central axis, and the four seal characters of "Prosperity is thinking" are full, which complement the exquisite pine, plum, flower and figure reliefs carved on both sides of the forehead. "Xing Yu Si" comes from the meaning of "Si" in The Analects of Confucius and is also the surname of Si. Pun intended, the name "Four Holy Houses" is natural, and everything seems to have been designed.

More than 200 years later, in the autumn, I saw the courtyard of "Qianzhuwu" with bright sunshine and green potted plants. Residents supported on wooden frames with bamboo boards to dry fresh peanuts and soybeans. A few fat hens paced leisurely, and the dense pebbles on the ground were covered with delicate moss and grass. Mosaic patterns and patterns are indistinguishable. The most exquisite features of "Thousand Pillars House" are various carvings: stone carving, brick carving and wood carving. * * * together constitute its richest cultural symbols, and together with the architectural pattern, it silently tells the inheritance of farming and reading culture for thousands of years. The double-eaved gatehouse at the north gate is carved from stone or brick, with various relief patterns, rich meanings and reverie. For example, "when the boat goes out, the big ship enters", for example, "when it goes out, it must enter the phase", for example, "Wen Wang Che". Six pictures, such as "sleeping on the ice and seeking carp", are engraved on the gate of the gatehouse, which are taken from Twenty-four Filial Pieties; The cornice column in front of the main hall is supported by a bucket arch, and the carvings are Yuanyang Lotus, Songhe Evergreen, Phoenix Indus and Crow Feedback; The doors and windows of the Fourth Temple are carved with auspicious patterns such as plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum and beast. Especially the brick carving of "Hundred Horses" at the top of the main hall, horses walk, sit and lie, or drink, eat, hiss or play, with different expressions, all of which are the same, which can be described as the crowning touch of the carving technique of "Thousand Pillars Hall".

The completion of "Qianzhufu" in those years should only be the first step of Siyuan Confucianism's grand goal, and another grand plan is a family revitalization plan closely related to studying and entering the official career, which can also be regarded as the cultural consciousness of Siyuan Confucianism, a businessman. In fact, countless cultural symbols of "Qianzhuwu" have clearly pointed to this ideal appeal, not to mention that the name Siyuan Confucianism itself has pinned the expectations of its parents. In that case, let's start building Bifeng Bookstore. The site is located on the Bifeng Mountain behind the house, "the victory of nymphs is the crown of a city", just a winding stone step.

Over the past 200 years, the Bifeng Bookstore has gone through many vicissitudes, and it is no longer the scenery recorded in Zhuji County Records during Guangxu period. The regularity of the three-story building and the momentum of looking into the distance are still there, as are the stone tables and benches covered with moss stains. The trees planted in those years, either withered or brilliant, only the sound of reading went away. Interestingly, the bookstore did not design stairs that can go up and down at any time. Every day, after our children go upstairs to study, the escalator is removed, and only after school can we put up a ladder to go downstairs-Si Yuanru's painstaking efforts stop here.

As the saying goes, hard work pays off. It is true that the children of Si family did not live up to their high hopes in the following years: "Old Scholar", "Filial piety and honesty" and "Wen Kui" ... The plaques of different ages hung high in the hall, showing the glorious course of Si family. As for Siyuan Confucianism, the founder, there are also awards such as "five generations under one roof", "helping the world" and "being charitable", which are hung right above the hall.

Nowadays, the children of the family are scattered all over the country, and the "thousand-family house" is not as prosperous as it used to be. Time has quietly eroded the glory of the past, and the inscriptions such as "filial piety, sincerity, founder" and "Tong Guan Hui Chong" are faintly discernible, but some of them have been unrecognizable. The descendants of our family still live in the "Qianzhulou", but it is deserted because of the emptiness. Near noon, someone is cooking. Old-fashioned wood stove, smoke rushed in through the carved windows of bluestone. There are wires on the side of the old wooden cabinet, and a brand-new refrigerator leans against the post, which was in Jiaqing period. History and reality are sometimes out of reach, and sometimes close at hand.

There was a black dog, very strong, who accompanied us all the way from our team to the "Thousand Pillars House". He didn't bark or flatter until the end of the visit, and he went to lie by the stream outside the house. There is an old man basking in the sun on the dock, and a woman is peeling the sweet potato skin with a kitchen knife, peeling off the red skin one by one, revealing golden juicy flesh. Shanglinxi, flowing water gurgles. Under the peak of Bifeng Mountain, the breeze blows gently. Black dog, white goose. Ancient trees in distant mountains. In silence and serenity, a dream of pursuing worldly glory fell into silence or unfolded in another brand-new way.

As I drifted away, I stopped to look back. The "Thousand Pillars House" in the sunset is big and lonely, with mottled white walls and slogans from the sixties and seventies hanging on the walls, and the red color has not faded.

Thinking of Nikolai Nikolai Gogol, he once said, "Architecture is the yearbook of the world. When songs and legends are silent, they are still telling. "