What other "Yu traces" are there in Beichuan, the hometown of Dayu?

The story of "Dayu's control of floods" is well known to women and children, and is well-known at home and abroad. According to documentary records, existing relics, folklore stories, inheritance of folk customs, and research by experts and scholars, the academic community believes that Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County in Mianyang City, Sichuan Province is the birthplace of Dayu, the ancient flood control hero, the founder of Chinese civilization, and the ancestor of the Qiang nation. Beichuan was therefore awarded the "Hometown of Dayu Culture" by the Chinese Folk Writers and Artists Association.

When Si Chengjia, the 143rd generation descendant of Dayu, went to Beichuan to find his roots, he once wrote an inscription: "Beichuan, Sichuan is the birthplace of my ancestor. The sixth day of June is the birthday of Dayu." Li Xiandeng, a researcher at the Museum of Chinese History, wrote the following inscription for Beichuan: "Yu was born in Beichuan and he believed in it and conquered it." Li Xueqin, an authoritative expert on China's pre-Qin history, pointed out after an in-depth study of Yu Shengshi Niu: Beichuan has a profound historical and cultural heritage, and a large number of relics and legends about Yu are still preserved in the territory. The folk custom of worshiping Yu has been passed down for thousands of years, and its expressions are rich and colorful. . General Zhang Aiping inscribed "Dayu's Spirit Shines on China" for the Dayu Memorial Hall in Beichuan; former President Yang Shangkun inscribed for Beichuan: "Dayu's Hometown".

Before the Tang Dynasty, there were many places to worship Dayu in Beichuan, such as Dayu Temple, King Yu Palace, etc. Jiang Bingzhang, who was the magistrate of Shiquan County in the 33rd year of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1768), is here today. The "Hometown of Shen Yu" square is built at the foot of Shiniu Mountain in the south of Yuli Town. This is the only place in China in history where a "Hometown of Shen Yu" square has been built. Every year on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month on Dayu's birthday, the folk custom of holding sacrificial activities in Beichuan continues. to date.

In Yuli Town, Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County, there are still many "Yu traces" to be found. One mile south of Yulichang Town is Shiniu Mountain. In the weathered dark brown stone forest, as the clouds and mist slowly drift by, the peaks and mountains appear and disappear, changing constantly. When I got closer and took a closer look, I found that there were two huge stones knotted together. "Da Qing Yi Tong Zhi" recorded: "Because there are two huge stones, the stone tips are knotted into one, and they are called stone ties." On the south side of the boulder, there are two large Chinese characters "Shi Niu" engraved, which were written by Yang Xiong in the Western Han Dynasty when he came to Beichuan for inspection. On the mountainside, there is a dark brown stone forest that is not easily weathered. Every time after the rain, white clouds float in the stone forest, and the stone peaks disappear and appear, changing in thousands of ways, which is really a wonder.

Yuxue ditch is named after three ancient "Yuxue" stone carvings. The ancient stone bridge across the west bank of Qingsigou is engraved with the words "Yu Cave" in regular script. Each character is 40 cm wide and 52 cm high, and is signed "Yan Zhenqing Shu". Along the ditch for several miles, the largest one can be seen on the mountainside of Jinluoyan. The regular script "Yuxue" in the regular script is 180 centimeters high and wide. The local chronicles are written by Li Bai; further forward, there is the "Yuxue" with insect seal script on the cliff of "One Line of Sky", "General Chronicles of Sichuan" It is recorded as "written by Dayu". The cliffs in the ditch are soaring in the sky, and the strange peaks face each other, forming two natural mysterious colorful screens, which people call "Oriental Eden, Humanity Skyline". Continuing along the ruins of the Gouyan ancient plank road, you will reach Yu’s mother’s bed at the foot of the medicinal mountain, where Yu’s mother and Dayu once lived. In Beichuan, there is also Wangchong Mountain where Dayu's mother longed for her husband's return.

Precisely because Dayu was born in Beichuan, generations of people in Beichuan have worshiped Dayu as their ancestor and ethnic hero. According to the "Book of the King of Shu", as early as the Han Dynasty, the Qiang people regarded Shiniu Mountain, the birthplace of Dayu, as very sacred. They did not dare to live and graze within a hundred miles, and those who committed crimes hid here for only three years. If you are not captured, you will be forgiven, because this is the protection of the spirit of Dayu. Since the Tang Dynasty, the people of Beichuan have spontaneously formed the tradition of offering sacrifices to Dayu. Every year on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, the birthday of Dayu, the people of Beichuan will hold grand sacrificial activities to commemorate this great ancestor of humanity. Beichuan It is also one of the first three places in Sichuan to build the Yuwang Temple. In Beichuan, almost every town has a Yuwang Palace or Yuwang Temple built spontaneously by the people to express the reverence and grief of the people in their hometown for this ancient hero.

Juerping is a slightly flat place under the mountain peak, which is where ancient books say "the Virgin Mary cut her back and gave birth to Yu". There is a large red stone at the bottom of the ditch in Ping Nei, which is shaped like a basin. When the clear stream flows in, it turns red and looks like blood. This is the place where ancient books record that "cultivate oneself and cut one's back to give birth to Yu".

According to legend, after Xiuji gave birth to Dayu in a semi-closed cave, he put Dayu into a stream to wash; soon, the stream and surrounding stones were dyed blood red. Therefore, this place is also called "Xierchi".

At the bottom of the ditch two miles down the stream, there are quartz stones with blood spots. I casually wiped the mud off a stone by the stream, and the stone turned red. The locals say that the blood stone is magical. After more than 4,000 years, you can still smell the smell of blood, and it has the effect of curing dystocia. Therefore, local women often go to Yuxugou to worship Xi'erchi and the blood stone after pregnancy and before giving birth. , for the safety of mother and child.

Since 1987, Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County has systematically excavated and studied Dayu culture, held many national Dayu culture seminars, and published more than 20 collections of academic papers. Research institutions such as the Sichuan Provincial Dayu Research Association, the Sichuan Provincial Academy of Social Sciences Yu and Qiang Culture Research Institute, and the Chinese Pre-Qin Historical Society Yu and Qiang Culture Research Base have successively settled in Beichuan. In 1988, Beichuan Dayu's hometown scenic spot was rated as a scenic spot in Mianyang City; in 2007, Beichuan was rated as the "Hometown of Dayu Culture" by the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association; in 2009, Beichuan's "Dayu Sacrifice Customs" was successfully listed in the second place Approved on the list of intangible cultural heritage of Sichuan Province; in 2011, "Legend of Yu" was also listed as a national intangible cultural heritage. Today, Beichuan has become a holy place for people to explore ancient times and pursue the spirit of Dayu. It has become a place that Chinese descendants at home and abroad yearn for. (Zhou Yongheng/Wen Dengwei/Photo)