First there was Longweidao and then there was Longdaowei
Erlong Street in Haizhu District was formed from the merger of Longweidao Township and Longtian Township. The street named after "Dragon" There are more than 50 lanes, making it one of the areas with the highest concentration of "dragon" place names in Guangzhou. Deng Weixian, who was born and raised in this street, worked in the party and government departments of Haizhu District for a long time before retiring and participated in many cultural relic censuses. According to him, the place name "Dragon" in Baogang area comes from Emperor Liu of the Southern Han Dynasty who ruled Lingnan during the Five Dynasties period. After he became emperor, he carried out extensive construction projects inside and outside Guangzhou and built multiple palaces and gardens. Among them, the "Nangong" was built near the current West Lake Road and the West Lake was excavated, the "Changhua Palace" was built in the current Liwan Lake area, and the "Liu Wang Palace" was built in the mountainous area of ????now Haizhu District.
The area around Haizhuang Park in Haizhu District was once the dressing building for the concubines of the Southern Han emperor. Liu also ordered the "Southern Suburb Altar" to be built next to Baogang, imitating the Hanyuan Hall in Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty, to worship heaven and earth. Deng Weixian said that there is still a street named "Jiao Tan Ding Street" on the west side of Baogang Avenue and southeast of Deng Shichang Memorial Hall. This is where the Nan Jiao Tan was located in the Southern Han Dynasty. In front of the altar in the southern suburbs, there is a passage dedicated to the emperor called "Dragon's Tail Road". Later, the Southern Han Dynasty was destroyed by the Northern Song Dynasty, and all the palaces were burned down. However, the village formed at the "Longweidao" site was still called "Longweidao". The farmland and villages opened east of the southern suburbs of the altar are called "Longtian Township". "Longwei Road" was later spread by rumors, and it was marked as "Longweidao" on the map of "Panyu County Chronicle" in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. Starting from "Longwei Road" and "Longtian", many streets and lanes in Erlong Street and Baogang are named after "dragon".
The "Fujian Dragon" on Nanhua West Street
As for the "Long Daowei" in the current Baogang place name, there are two versions. One theory is that it evolved from the "dragon tail guide" again through false rumors, and "dragon tail guide" is "dragon tail guide". Deng Weixian holds another view. According to him, the old people in Baogang area have a saying that "first there is the dragon's tail guide, and then there is the dragon's guide tail." "A newly opened residential area in the township.
If the "dragons" in Erlong Street and Baogang are "Southern Han Dynasty dragons", then the "dragons" in Nanhua West Street, Haizhu District today can be called "Fujian dragons". According to the research of Luo Guoxiong, an old man who has been engaged in cultural work in Haizhu District for many years, the street name with the word "dragon" in Nanhuaxi Street comes from Longxi Township (today's Longxi Shouyu). The founder of this township was Pan Qi, a wealthy businessman from the Thirteenth Bank of Guangzhou during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. Pan's ancestors originally lived in Longxi Township, Quanzhou, Fujian Province. After Pan Qi entered Guangdong to do business and became rich, he took a fancy to the waterways and convenient transportation in what is now South China West, so he built houses and temples here and settled in the village. In order to show that the ancestors are not forgotten, the place is still named Longxi Township. Pan Qi had seven sons, and as the number of clan members increased day by day, the houses expanded accordingly, so the street names in the nearby area all had the word "dragon" in them. From then until the reform and opening up, this place gradually developed into "Henan Land" (Haizhu District). ) heartland.
In the Qing Dynasty, there was a small island called "Aozhou" opposite the river bank of Longxi Township. Pan Qi funded the construction of three stone bridges: Shuzhu, Huanzhu and Yuelong to facilitate communication. Among them, Yuelong Bridge crosses Aozhou and Longxi Township from north to south, which means jumping from Aozhou into Longxi. So the area near Yuelong Bridge is also called Yuelong Lane. Later, due to the changes in the nearby commercial area, Yuelong Lane was moved to the east of Tongqing Road and was called "Yuelong Shangjie". The waterway between Aozhou and "Henan" was also filled in due to the construction of a road.
Henan also has the "Eastern Jin Dragon"
In addition to the "Southern Han Dragon" and "Fujian Dragon", the "dragon" place name in Haizhu District also has the term "Eastern Jin Dragon". According to old records, the current name of Longtan Township, Xinjiao, Haizhu District was Xincundun. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Lu Xun, the leader of the peasant uprising, led the navy southward from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. He once stationed himself in Xincundun and built a stronghold in "Henan", which was known as "Luxun's Old City" in history. Lu Xun's nickname was Yuanlong, and those who followed him south were mostly Danhu (people living on the water), also known as Longhu, so the new village pier was renamed "Longtan", and the place name is still used today.
"Southern Han Dynasty Dragon", "Fujian Dragon" and "Eastern Jin Dynasty Dragon", these three well-documented "dragon" convergence are the main origins of the "dragon" place name in Haizhu District today. In addition, In addition, some other experts and elders also told reporters some of the theories they know. For example, old man Xia Deying believes that the "dragon" in Baogang area may be the "Feng Shui dragon" in the terrain. Chen Jiankang, director of the Erlong Street Cultural Station, believes that Ma Chung flowing through the western part of Haizhu District may form a "river dragon". (Source: Guangzhou Daily)