Three searches for the ancient Shenyuan Pass, meeting isolated people in the depths of Songshan Mountain#自车在路#

After leaving Dengfeng City, walk northwest along National Highway 207, pass the Shaolin Temple, and then about 2 kilometers further you will come to the pass where Taishi Mountain and Shaoshi Mountain are connected. To the west of the pass, the mountain drops sharply. And quickly transitioned to a vast plain with a huge gap.

Standing in a place with a wide field of vision, looking towards the direction of the setting sun, the layers of tall buildings in Luoyang City are faintly visible. This is the Luoyang Basin.

National Highway 207 snakes down from Songshan Mountain and extends into the depths of the basin. This winding mountain road is the famous Songshan Eighteen Pans.

Although the Eighteen Pans are winding and dangerous, they are a shortcut from Luoyang to central and eastern Henan. Therefore, they have been an important route for merchants and military strategists since ancient times.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Central Plains was in chaos. In order to ensure the safety of the capital, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty set up eight great passes around Luoyang, namely Hangu Pass, Yique Pass, Guangcheng Pass, Dagu Pass, and Shenyuan Pass. , Xuanmen Pass, Mengjinguan and Xiaopingjinguan, and the eight passes were combined to command the military affairs of the eight passes.

The most dangerous of these eight passes, Zhiyuan Pass, is located at the commanding heights of Shibapan.

At the turn of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Wang Shichong, who usurped the throne and established himself in Luoyang, sent his nephew Wang Renze to garrison Shenyuan Pass. Wang Renze relied on the natural dangers to build Shenzhou City at the foot of Songshan Mountain. This city was easy to defend and difficult to attack. It became a difficult bone for Li Shimin to crack when he besieged Luoyang.

On the night of April 27, 621 AD, a group of Shaolin monks with special skills sneaked into the city, persuaded the city defenders to open the city gate, and captured the general Wang Renze alive. The Tang army outside the city took the opportunity to invade, and She The state city was destroyed.

This is the story of "Thirteen Stick Monks Helping the King of Tang". The brave and talented Shaolin monks made great contributions to the Tang army's entry into Luoyang, and also helped Shaolin Temple become the most famous temple in the world.

We have passed by Shibapan many times and know that Shenyuan Pass is nearby. But what we have always heard about is "Xuanyuan Pass". Even for a long time, the word "轘" has been misunderstood as the traditional Chinese character for "Xuan", which makes it even more difficult for us to find the "轘蕕关".

In addition, "轘" is pronounced as "huàn", which refers to the ancient torture of breaking a car. The winding road is a winding and dangerous road.

Although it is a stone's throw away from Shaolin Temple, Shenyuan Pass does not enjoy the popularity of Shaolin Temple at all. Near Shibapan, there are neither road signs nor any traces pointing to Sheyuan Pass. There are only a few closed martial arts schools, and the empty buildings join the deserted scene of Lingkou.

We followed the marks on the Internet map and walked a little further down Shibapan, and got off at a big bend. There was a section of trail beside the road that looked like someone had walked on it, covered by wild grass and trees. With occlusion, you can only roughly tell where the path is. We guessed that it was probably because Guguan was so lonely and no one visited it that it caused such trouble. So one person picked up a dead branch and walked inside for a while, stumbling through thorns and thorns, only to find that it was a dead end...

Reluctantly, we returned to the main road, but we couldn't walk up and down everywhere. It looked like there was a road, but I couldn't figure it out after studying it for a long time. The sun set quickly, and once it got dark, this mountain road full of large trucks whizzing back and forth made people feel guilty.

So when I looked for Sheyuan Pass for the first time, I couldn’t find it.

We looked for it again the next day, and it was not common for us to not be able to find a place even if we had a map.

This time we drove down Shibapan, and we didn’t see any sign of the pass along the way. When we drove to the flat ground at the bottom, we saw that we were getting further and further away, and most of the passes were condescending. , we must have missed it. When passing a cornfield, we saw a three or four-year-old child from a distance. We judged that there must be an adult next to such a small child. So I got out of the car and walked into the cornfield. Sure enough, an old man heard the sound and came out. We asked him: "Do you know where Xuanyuan Pass is?"

He said that he didn't know what Xuanyuan Pass was, but he knew that there was an ancient stone gate.

We quickly said it was that thing, where is it?

He pointed to the road we came from and said it was right there. There was a stone monument at the intersection with a yellow flag. Just look at the yellow flag.

We drove slowly along the road up the mountain, and within five minutes we saw an intersection and a stone monument. However, the stone monument had fallen to the ground and was broken into two halves. We couldn't help but sigh, no wonder we couldn't find it. It turned out to be lying on the ground.

But this road pointed to a village on the mountainside, and the terrain was relatively low. We drove in with hesitation, and it turned out that we couldn't drive after a short distance. There happened to be an uncle sitting on the roadside smoking. This time he had heard of "Xuanyuan Pass". He pointed to the top of the Eighteen Plate and said: It's still up there...

Before entering the Eighteenth Plate Before Pan, there is an intersection that branches off to the west. There are many stone monuments in the forest next to it, and there are also yellow flags on the cliffs on the roadside. The conditions match, so this should be it.

We parked the car on the side of the road and walked inside. When we were almost at the end, we met a nun.

It is not surprising to meet a monk in Songshan Mountain. People say that there are temples on the seventy-two peaks of Songshan Mountain. Although most of the temples are now in ruins, the number of monks is still considerable.

Rather than saying that we met a nun, it was better to say that she was also expecting to meet us.

She stood at the door of a small tile-roofed house built next to a steep cliff, waiting for someone to pass by. It was difficult for someone to pass by in such a remote place, so when she saw us, she hurriedly greeted us.

It turns out she wanted to ask us to do her a favor. We followed her there, and at the entrance of a large cave, she asked us to hang up a banner with the slogan "Patriot and Love Religion."

We walked into the cave and took a look. There was a clay statue of Bodhisattva enshrined in the innermost part. Next to the Bodhisattva are bedding and other daily necessities.

After we helped her hang up the banner, she was very happy and introduced that the cave was called Huanglong Cave. Just two days ago, she saw a big yellow snake running out of the cave. She took us to visit the pool house where she receives spring water, which is the source of her daily water.

On the roof of the pool room stands a white statue of Bodhisattva, several meters high, as if there had been a vigorous religious ceremony here, but it had been abandoned. After seeing the water house, she went to the nearby field to pick a handful of honeysuckle and gave it to us. The honeysuckle smelled extremely fragrant. This was a small piece of land she cultivated herself. In addition to honeysuckle, she also grew some vegetables.

When we said thank you, she kept saying "Amitabha". She had no intention of mentioning that she had lived here for more than seven years. We were surprised when we heard this. He couldn't help but turn his head and look at the cave where she lived. It was dark and deep. How determined a person must be to stay in such a place for a long time.

"There is no need to suffer from poverty, but you should keep the truth." After that, we thought, maybe this is the real hermit life.

But when we asked her where the Shu Yuan Pass was, she said that she didn’t go anywhere, so she didn’t know. After bidding farewell to this old nun, we began to wander endlessly. There were no vehicles or people on the bumpy dirt road. There were only sounds of wooden fish and chanting coming from the forest, but I couldn't find where they were if I looked carefully.

The ancients believed that between heaven and earth is Mount Song. It seems that everyone likes to come to Mount Song to practice.

In the sound of wooden fish, we put the drone into the sky, and finally found Sheyuan Pass from the mountains and fields from the perspective of aerial photography. At least in the camera, we see a path branching off from Shibapan and extending to a pass-like place.

But it was too late to rush over now, the sun was about to set again. We stood on a huge rock and looked at Luoyang City in the distance until the sunset ended and the lanterns started to shine.

On the third day, there will definitely be no more mistakes.

Especially when we saw the fork in the road that was actually very conspicuous, we were both moved and surprised. Why have you missed it so many times? Because this road is right in the middle of a large loop, when sitting in the car, our eyes are always focused on the next turn, which is why we keep missing this road. Fortunately, we walked there this time.

The old man pointed out the most accurate road at first. There was a stone monument on the opposite side of the road, but it was covered up by shrubs and weeds as tall as a person. There were also yellow flags, but they were not very bright.

After walking up this road for about a quarter of an hour, the heavy and clear gate of Sheyuan Pass appears in front of you.

The ancient atmosphere revealed by Shenyuan Pass is not due to vicissitudes of life, but due to forgetfulness. The gate tower above the gate has collapsed long ago. At some point, people built several tile-roofed houses on it and built a simple Taoist temple. But calling it a Taoist temple is too one-sided. It would be better to say that it has formed a niche practice circle. The sound of us passing by attracted a few bored people to come out of the house. It seemed that there were monks and Taoists.

Climb up the hillside next to the pass and look back into the depths of history. At this moment, Shenyuan Pass faces Luoyang in the west, looking at the ancient city in the distance. It has never seen the prosperity of Luoyang, and it does not know that the sea has changed in a thousand years. It still thinks that it is still responsible for the mission of guarding the key point, so it does not dare to fall easily. Down.

In fact, the Sheyuan Pass in front of us was rebuilt during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. That reconstruction may have been the last time that this ancient pass was eagerly retained by history. Since then, it has been silent at the mouth of the two mountains. Standing high and looking alone.

After passing through Shenyuan Pass, a flat wheat field suddenly appeared in front of us. At the end of the wheat field was the huge mountain of Shaoshi Mountain, surrounded by green hills on all sides, forming a small yet vast world.

After walking a little further, two cows were grazing carelessly on a miniature grassland. A small native dog ran over and barked at us.

What caught our attention from the beginning was not the cows or the grassland, but the two little girls further away. One is eight or nine years old, and the other is eleven or twelve years old. They are sitting on the grass, holding bowls and eating. Next to it is a rough shed made of plastic sheets, where they live.

We looked at each other for a long time, until they became curious about us and came over on their own initiative, and then we also walked towards the grass. The clothes of the two little girls were a little dirty, but their eyes were very clear, and their bright eyes were brighter than those of a cow.

The older girl wears a bun on her head, which is completely an ancient costume, making them look even more complicated.

Neither of them spoke, they just stared at us. In a place like this, it is probably difficult to see strangers all year round. Soon a man emerged from the shed. His clothes were shabby, as if he had been homeless for many years. Of course, he also knew this. He asked us not to take pictures of his face when taking pictures, because the clothes he wore today did not look good.

He told us that he was clearing up land here and preparing to plant corn. There is a field next to the field where rapeseed is planted, and it is now in seed.

Probably because their father was there, the two girls also came closer and smiled at us from time to time. When talking about planting corn, the man dug a shallow ditch with a hoe, and the two girls followed him to help sow the seeds. The puppies also followed, chasing back and forth at their feet.

We had many questions, but we only asked one question: "Where are you from?"

He said he was from Kaifeng. A friend said there was a piece of wasteland here, so he came over. Even if we don't ask more, it's not hard to imagine that he is so poor that he may not have a house to stay, or even a hometown, and he is floating around like a rootless duckweed.

I think he may not use a mobile phone, because his eyes are as clear as those two little girls. Outside the pile of plastic sheds, there was a solar panel. He said it could barely generate electricity and provide a light.

We also asked him if he had a TV set. We actually wanted to know from a side perspective how much contact they had with the outside world. He said yes, but it was broken.

I can imagine many possibilities, but what I don’t understand is how he came here from Kaifeng dragging so many belongings, two children, and two cows? They walked to Shibapan and found the abandoned road, as if they were entering the secret place of Songshan Mountain. The moment they saw Shenyuan Pass, did they feel a little confused...

What I was most concerned about were the two little girls, so I asked them about their schooling. The father said sheepishly: "There is a school at the bottom of the mountain." He spoke a little vaguely, and the two girls also lowered their heads. , I guess they may not be in school. There is nothing at the foot of the mountain, only closed martial arts schools.

We talked about the water problem again, and the man said that he could only ride a motorcycle to transport water down the mountain. This kind of life is even more difficult. To irrigate such a large area, I don't know how many times we have to transport water. Assuming it doesn't rain...

When we were about to leave, a group of chickens were released. , pecking around on the grass. The people on the other side of Shenyuan Pass saw someone visiting and hurried over. As we walked farther and farther, there was a hint of excitement in the valley, but it quickly disappeared like mist.

In the vast mountains and wilderness, only the hidden and declining Sheyuan Pass is left, and the people who call the mountains their home keep each other warm.

Walking down the ancient road, it didn’t take long to get back to the road.

It was getting late, and there were even fewer tourists at the Shaolin Temple. Our car was parked at Shibapan, so we had to walk back. The weather is not cold, but the coolness of Shenyuan Pass seems to penetrate into the body for a while and has no time to dissipate. The sunset is as gorgeous and blurry as yesterday, boundless.

When we get home, boil a kettle of water, make a cup of hot tea, and watch the colorful neon lights flowing in the market outside the window. Perhaps the nun is lighting an oil lamp, twisting her rosary beads, and murmuring. Scripture. The two little girls must have tied up the cows, got into their shed, and sat on the edge of the dew-stained bed. The flashlight flickered on, illuminating their lonely and incomprehensible faces.

We keep imagining it so much that we dare not sleep, and we dare not imagine whether the long night will be cruel to those who are isolated from the world.

Shenyuan Pass, please continue to be forgotten. Forget that some people are escaping from the world, and some people have nowhere to escape because of the world. Because forgetting is sometimes the residual heat and tolerance of the world.