The history of Fuzhou people planting banyan trees

This is a city with a history of more than 2,200 years. It was first called Fuzhou when the Dudu Mansion was established in the 13th year of Kaiyuan of the Tang Dynasty. During the Five Dynasties, the city was expanded and the beautiful Wushan, Yushan, and Pingshan mountains were enclosed within the city. From then on, Fuzhou became a unique city with "mountains in the city and city in the mountains". "Three Mountains" became Fuzhou's nickname. In the third year of Zhiping in the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhang Boyu, the prefect, personally planted two banyan trees in front of the government office, and called on the people to plant them universally. After that, the city was covered with green shade to block out the sun and the sun would not open during the summer, so it was also known as the Banyan City.

I am used to calling it the Banyan City. On a summer night, sitting around under the banyan tree, with my long beard gently brushing, my dislike for this city will fade away in the wind. When I was alone on the road, the banyan trees everywhere gave me care. They were like an elder, giving me a sense of dependence. When I checked in, it was the first time I separated from my son. Vulnerability hit me everywhere. I leaned on the trunk of the tree many times and prayed to the banyan tree to give me strength. I once compared you to a banyan tree, and I wanted to express this feeling, because he accompanied me through those miserable days.

Fuzhou falls along the Min River, and there are countless inland rivers in the city. Standing on the top of the mountains, the city is always shrouded in hazy fog, never clear. People here have a mother-like affection for the Min River and call it the mother river. Therefore, Fujian is shortened to Min. There are many terminals on the Minjiang River. Our company's 10,000-ton foreign trade terminal is located beside the cross-river bridge. When the sun sets, you can see the beautiful scenery under the red clouds. Looking at the ebb and flow, some emotions will arise quietly, and some will be brewing lightly.

Scenery

The most distinctive building in the city is undoubtedly the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys, which has been the cultural center of Fuzhou throughout the ages. In every alley, celebrities across historical eras live next to each other. The remaining bluestone slabs, mottled white walls, scattered black tiles, and imperial plaques all tell the story of the past prosperity. The former residences here are open to the public for free. I have been to Yan Fu's, Lin Juemin's, and Lin Zexu's residences, and they were relatively complete. And more former residences only have a small sign, but there are still residents living in them. I have seen a few of them. The meticulous wood carvings and the depth of the ancient wells are evocative. Being in those alleys, the passage of time becomes lighter, which makes people hold their breath, calm down their actions, and meditate on yesterday. I heard that the government has a plan to restore the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys, but I don’t think it is necessary. We restored and preserved his former residence, using the so-called restoration of its old appearance. In the end, there were only a few empty bricks and mortar. It would be better to remember the historical wealth created by celebrities. In my heart or in my eyes, I would choose the former.

There are many temples in the city, the famous ones are Yongquan Temple and Xizen Temple. The two Northern Song Dynasty pottery pagodas in front of the main hall of Yongquan Temple are world-famous. The Song Dynasty lychee trees in Xichan Temple are full of fruits this season. This is my personal highlight. I am naturally a little afraid of temples, and I often can't get close enough to see them. Most of the things I remember are superficial. The incense in these two places is very prosperous. Every year and festival, the bus company increases the number of trains and extends the running time. Perhaps due to my father's influence, I turned myself into an atheist, and because of my own petty bourgeois sentiments, I secretly believed in the theory of destiny. Wandering in such a contradiction, I have today's strange behavior of not worshiping in the temple, but seeking Buddha in a hurry.

Among the mountains in the city, apart from the three mentioned above, there is also Gushan. Gushan is undoubtedly the highest mountain in the city, and it is one of the places where I have recently stepped up my exercise. Walking up the steps, the mosaic rock carvings on both sides silently convey the distant glory. The relevant allusions told by the elders made me wander back to the distant era. There are no gentle banyan trees on the top of the mountain, but there are loose green pine trees. The higher you go, the more graceful they become, heading straight towards the imposing Huangshan pines. In winter, in a sparsely populated place, I sat on the stone steps with my son, held him in my arms, and bathed in the warm sunshine. The warm feeling echoed throughout the mountains. My son can also appreciate this kind of happiness. From time to time, he will make noises about going mountain climbing. Because of his current job, he cannot be by his side every day. The pain of mutual loss can only be slowly made up for by the closeness during this holiday.

Culture

Fuzhou dialect has been collected by the British Museum. Because of this, the city has launched activities to promote Fuzhou dialect. The starting point is that it is worried that future generations will have to go to England to hear their own dialect. dialect.

From the perspective of cultural protection, this approach is quite necessary, but for a city with an increasing number of immigrants, the inconvenience is very prominent. The most unacceptable thing to me is that everyone will try to communicate with you in dialect for the first time when you meet them. When you find out that you don’t understand the dialect, you will breathe a sigh of relief and switch to Mandarin. The feeling during this period is like watching a show A crappy play.

The local drama in Fuzhou is Fujian opera, which is based in Fuzhou and is sung in the local dialect. Fujian opera, like many local operas, is struggling hard, but it relies on the white-haired and crane-faced elderly audiences to survive. The small village where the company is located has simple folk customs. During the holidays, a theater troupe is invited to set off firecrackers and sing for days and nights, and most people in the village can hum along with them. Perhaps only in these secluded corners away from the city, drama can still survive in people's hearts. This reminds me of the Qin opera on the loess land, standing in the strong wind and roaring, echoing in the mountains, which is evocative.

Due to historical reasons, although Fuzhou was one of the first cities in China to open to the outside world, it has always been conservative. It was only in this decade that it really took action. It repeats the path taken by all urban reforms. It rushes to tear down small houses and build high-rise buildings, allowing the brightness and darkness to blend in an extremely disharmonious manner. Therefore, it lacks proper planning and a complete construction system. As a result, we often see that a certain part of the city has been unzipped, slogans against multiple demolitions, serious pollution of inland rivers, etc. Incidents like this are taking place every day.

Among the large number of people immigrating overseas, Fuzhou plays a disgraceful role - stowaway. A friend once joked that Americans don’t know a lot about Luoyang or Lijiang, but they don’t know a handful about Fuzhou. Overseas immigrants have accumulated some capital over several generations, so they return to their hometowns to invest and operate. A considerable number of private enterprises are established in a hurry. They do not have a complete business strategy or a strong corporate cultural background, and some are just interested in profit. There is an urgent need for investment, so those who can survive for a long time are rare.

Food

Fujian cuisine is one of the eight major cuisines in China, the most famous of which is "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall", with extremely luxurious ingredients. It is made by simmering more than 20 kinds of raw materials and ingredients such as shark's fin, sea cucumber, chicken, tendons, scallops, shiitake mushrooms, abalone, bamboo shoot tips, pigeon eggs, etc. Its special and strong aroma can seduce even vegetarian monks. They couldn't control themselves and came over the wall. Hence the name. Ju Chunyuan Restaurant in the city is famous for this dish. Other restaurants of all sizes have this dish, but the ingredients used and the skill are quite different, so it cannot be compared to it. When I met Fu Chu, he asked about this dish and said he wanted to try it himself. When I found the information and sent it to him, he sighed and said he wouldn’t eat it. Because it is a famous dish, the price is so high that ordinary people cannot afford it, and reservations must be made several days in advance. Therefore, most of us eat dishes with this name without knowing the true taste of the dish.

Compared with the noble Buddha Jumping Over the Wall, other delicacies seem much closer. Some snacks have penetrated into people's daily lives and can be seen with a raised hand. I checked the information and found out that what I come into contact with every day belongs to the category of Fuzhou food culture. For example, the meat floss from "Dingriyou", the grilled flat olives from "Big World", the fish balls from Taxiang, as well as thread noodles, Taiping pork swallows, Tai Chi taro paste, pot side paste, light cakes, etc. These are the dishes that ordinary people eat. of gourmet food. The origin of the light cake is worth mentioning: During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, Qi Jiguang was ordered to enter Fujian to fight against the Japanese. People in Fuzhou made a cake baked with flour and a little salt. In order to make it easier to carry, it had holes in the middle. Wear it with braised salt grass and hang it around the necks of the Qi army's soldiers. Later, in order to commemorate Qi Jiguang's fight against the Japanese, people called this cake "Guang Cake".

When I talk about food, I can’t help but think of the popular Taiwan Food Festival a while ago. Most of the so-called Taiwanese delicacies are passed down from Fujian. For example, ordinary thread noodles, which they rename as noodles, can be sold for 20 yuan a bowl. Dragon whisker candy is worth a lot of money after being squeezed by Taiwanese hands. I blended in with the surging crowds and tasted my home-cooked snacks, paying several times and dozens of times the price. I was very dizzy.

The importance of packaging, government guidance, public opinion propaganda, and brand formation have truly taught each of us a lesson that cannot but make people think deeply. When I hear old people living overseas lamenting that fish balls and pot sides are like a thin thread leading them to their hometown, I can’t help but feel ashamed of my admiration for so-called Taiwanese food.

Thoughts

I really want to express my love for this city. After all, I will stay here for a long time, and maybe I will spend my later years here. My dislike for this city is like silk thread, hard to break. I have always said that this city has no characteristics, no cultural heritage, and no strong cohesion. As a member of the city, I have not fulfilled any responsibilities to the city. I only ask for things but not give them. During the selection of civilized cities, my husband and I took our son around on bicycles. When passing through a tunnel, our son suddenly jumped down, pointed at us and said: The civilized city will be destroyed in your hands! We laughed. We took this sentence as a warning and corrected our words and deeds all those days, but as time went by, everyone forgot about it.