The story of the excavation of Longtou Mountain in Wugang

Longtou Mountain is located at the intersection of Hong River and Ru River. Hong River originates from the west of Longtou Mountain in Wugang City, flows through Wuyang, Xiping, Shangcai, Pingyu and Xincai, and converges at the mouth of Hong River in Huaibin County. Entering the Huaihe River, the Ru River is the main tributary of the Hong River. It originates from Wufeng Mountain in Biyang, flows through Suiping, Runan, Zhengyang, and Pingyu, and merges into the Hong River in Bantai Village, Xincai County.

In the past, the course of Honghe River changed several times. After every flood season, the course of the river moved north and south, so the local people also called this river Gunhe River.

However, no matter how dry the years are, the water in the large square pond on the west side of Longtou Mountain has never dried up. I saw with my own eyes the fishermen fished out fish from the pond at the foot of Longtou Mountain. Many huge river clams.

In the early 1980s, when Shimantan Reservoir was not rebuilt, my family still planted water taro in the small ditch on the west side of the reservoir. Thinking of it makes the mouth and tongue wet.

On the west side of Longtou Mountain, there is the Dragon King Temple in front of Building No. 7 of Mazhuang New Village. The temple was first built in the late Ming Dynasty. There are five main halls in the temple and there are east and west side rooms. As a side room, the east side room of Longwang Temple is a thatched house. The person who looks after the temple is a man named Huang Gaoliang who is like a monk and a Taoist.

In the center of the temple, the clay statue of the Dragon King is about two meters high, with more than a dozen sacred statues such as little Bodhisattvas and fairy aunts standing on both sides.

It is said that although the Dragon King Temple was not as good as today's temple with apricot yellow courtyard walls, green gray hall ridges and towering ancient trees, it was still filled with smoke and there was an endless stream of worshipers.

The west wing collapsed early due to the war, and the main hall was demolished in 1952 due to lack of wall bricks during the construction of Baizhuang Village. The various Bodhisattvas were moved to the west by the villagers to the rice fields that were converted from dry fields into paddy fields to scare people. Birds pecking at the rice.

After the Cultural Revolution destroyed the Four Old Ages, the Dragon King Temple and the clay statues completely disappeared from people's sight. The Dragon King Temple site has now been turned into a tall building facing Longtou Mountain.

Even the old Mazhuang, which had been envied and longed to get married for hundreds of miles, has also changed its appearance. Buildings have replaced the neat rows of tile-roofed houses and bungalows.

There is a small road about 23 meters wide on the south side of the Dragon King Temple, which is the shortcut to Shangdian Yangzhuang. Not far from the temple is a thick bluestone bridge, and there is also a small bridge built over the Hong River. The wooden bridge allowed pedestrians to pass. After the damage, Wugang Company repaired the cable bridge for the water pumping station. In 1999, the bridge piers collapsed due to floods. Today, only the large cement bridge piers on the north side still stand quietly in Longquan Lake.

There is a small restaurant between Longtoushan and Longwang Temple. The food is only steamed buns and noodles. There are no side dishes, and chicken and fish are not even expected.

The lower skin of the dragon's mouth is about three meters high from the original river bed. The entire dragon's mouth is nearly two meters square. The east side of the mouth is shallow and oblate like a basin. The west side of the dragon's mouth becomes smaller and smaller. One meter; above the dragon's mouth are two round holes, evenly spaced, just like the dragon's nostrils; above there are numerous small round holes, called dragon eyes or dragon tripods. Everyone who sees it marvels at the magic of nature and the magical power of the ghost axe. Longtou Mountain can be called a living dragon!

After the Shimantan Reservoir was rebuilt, *** built a hexagonal pavilion on the northeast side of Longtou Mountain. The carved beams and painted columns blended modern and ancient times, and the stone tables and benches were used to enjoy the breeze and place a pot. Over tea, three or two people can reminisce about the past and talk about the new, which is so refreshing! Nowadays, the trend of worshiping has started again. Many believers and good women in Longtoushan are paying homage. Not only believers nearby, but also believers in distant places such as Nanyang, Luohe, also hang apricot-yellow flags, and several buses come in force.

Every year on February 2nd, the festival is even more prosperous. The incense sticks of Longtou Mountain are filled with worshipers and devotees. At the release platform by Longquan Lake, believers bring tens or hundreds of kilograms of turtles they bought. Fish and crabs are released to show their good deeds and piety. The person releasing them chants some immortal words. After encountering the water, the living beings may quickly escape and dive, or they may faint due to lack of oxygen and say goodbye to the releasers.

Having seen the scene several times, I think it is good to release animals after all. Buddhism and Taoism are all about enlightenment and compassion. People and animals get along without any benefit, so that we can all appreciate the harmony of nature. Interesting.

I think this can be regarded as a great merit of many believers! After all, it is much better than the thick incense ash left behind after the incense watch is launched into the sky. After all, everything will eventually turn into ashes.

About 400 meters south of the current Wugang Company office building in Shanxi, there is also a gently sloping ridge of decomposed fossil soil, known as Xiaolongtou in history.

There is a huge rock still standing in the water in the southwest of the slope. Local children in their thirties and forties all bathed there when they were children. As a landlubber, I was afraid of water, so I only dared to splash a few times near the shore. The boulder has never been climbed before, but it was from 1995 to 2008 that Longquan Lake was closed. Because I was boating and fishing near Xiaolongtou in my spare time, I was able to stop and rest on the top of the boulder.

Xiaolongtou also completely disappeared from people’s sight due to the expansion of Gangcheng Avenue.

During the Spring Festival of 2006, Wugang Company removed the heating boiler room on the west side of the office building facing Xiaolongtou, demolished more than ten family homes, and built a new building about 50 meters wide and long from north to south. The company dispatched commandos to work on the nearly 500-meter-tall and 20-meter-high earth mountain for more than a month. It was finally completed before spring greening. The mountain was covered with cedars and was named Hutou Mountain.

It is said that the boss has received guidance from an unknown immortal, and asked Wugang Company to tell the ancient book: the blue dragon on the left and the white tiger on the right have good momentum. It can be said that the mountain is not high, and the immortal is the spirit! But no matter what, Wugang is developing, I think this little dragon has already turned into the take-off of Wugang Company. This can be regarded as a great achievement of Xiaolong!

It is said that Li Bai, the great poet of the Tang Dynasty, once traveled to Longtou Mountain and later went to Nanyang to experience it, thus writing the famous historical poem "A Trip to Nandu".

Huang Tingjian, a giant of poetry in the Northern Song Dynasty, worked in Guye County for many years and wrote more than 200 poems, most of which were related to Wugang landscapes. "The green hills are like horses circling in anger, mistaking the forest flowers for brocade saddles." It is said that Huang Tingjian met his good friend Pei Zhongmou by chance. The two of them traveled together and came to the foot of Ant Mountain. They saw the towering dragon head and the lush trees, surrounded by mountain flowers and blooming clouds. They smelled the fragrance of rice rolling in the river and felt happy and happy. *** In one stroke, he composed the poem "Pei Wei Crossing Ma'an Mountain" with the following verse: "If you don't follow the Jade Emperor of An Dynasty, you should always be a city gate immortal", thus creating an eternal poetry and prose story about Longtoushan.

All gone! Thousand-year-old sayings describe the Spring and Autumn Period, and the beautiful lakes and roads continue to be romantic.

Today we climbed up Longtoushan Mountain, overlooking the tall peaks of Erlang Mountain’s lantern stand and swallowing up the sky; overlooking the blue waves of Longquan Lake, glowing with auspiciousness; looking back at the width and grandeur of Gangcheng Avenue; the roses on the shore The graceful boudoirs have weeping willows; the gongs and drums of the dragon boats are beating the sky, the rowing boats are flying, and the arrows are flying. They complement each other with the colorful water lanterns, making the Longtou Mountain look graceful and graceful.

It is expected that the giant dragon will be cut off, and this grudge can be put to rest today!