Convenient land and water transportation
Post station, the place where people who delivered government documents changed horses or stayed in ancient times, was also the place where officials came and went. From Song Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, with Zhizixi City in Dong 'an County as the center, there were post roads leading to Xinning, Baoqing (now Shaoyang City), Lingling and quanzhou county in Guangxi. Go out of the south gate of Dong 'an County, pass through Yonganpu, Lubutou, Hukouling and Crossshop to Shiqian Station, enter Fanjiaqiao in Lingling County, and enter Yongzhou in Lingling County. Dong 'an is more than 30 kilometers long, all of which are bluestone roads, which are the main roads of the county. Therefore, Shitai Station is the only way for ancient Lingling to reach Xinning, Baoqing and Quanzhou, and it is also a land transportation hub.
Due to convenient transportation, stone age post stations enjoyed a high reputation in ancient times. In the 16th year of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty (1643), Zhang, the leader of the rebel army, conquered Hengzhou, Ming Dynasty and Hou Dynasty. Under the escort of China general Wang, he tried to take Guyi Road from Lingling Station to Zixi City, fled to Guangxi from the underpass, and was caught up by pursuers at Shishi Station. The two sides fought fiercely, the king died, and the three kings disappeared.
Du Mu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, said, "Riding a princess in the world of mortals laughs". In order to be quick, he constantly changed horses and trampled on crops, which reflected the busyness of ancient post stations from one side. As a post station, Shitai Station is located at the intersection of Shitai River and Xiangjiang River, and is also responsible for water post transportation. It played an important role in history and was once very prosperous. Qing Guangxu's "Dong 'an County Records" said that Shitai Station is a big post road station with a prosperous market.
In ancient times, transportation mostly depended on water transportation. As early as six years in Chu Huaiwang (the first 223 years), there was a record that the fleet of Hubei Group sailed back to Xiangjiang River and arrived in Yangxian County (now Yongsui, quanzhou county). In the thirty-third year of Qin Shihuang (2 14), Lingqu was opened, and Lu Bu (now Lu Bu Tou) became the gateway from Xiangjiang River to Lijiang River. In the Qing Dynasty, it was called Dongshui Road, and 20 tons of wooden boats could enter Dongting Lake all the year round. Going back to the South Waterway, you can reach Guangzhou via Lingqu to Lijiang River. Xiangjiang River is 50 kilometers long in Dongan County. Standing by the Xiangjiang River in the Stone Age, it became a waterway transportation hub by boat weaving. In the first year of Guanghua in Tang Zhaozong (898), Donganchang was established in Ma Yin, which became a transshipment center terminal for tea, salt, bamboo and wood, with Shishi Station and Dajiangkou as transshipment terminals. At the intersection of Shitou River and Xiangjiang River, there is a wharf of different sizes, with a total length of tens of meters, which can dock wooden boats within 30 tons and dock dozens of passenger and cargo ships all the year round. Until the Republic of China, goods from neighboring counties and cities such as Xinning and Wugang still passed through Youshi along Xiangjiang waterway.
After the opening of Xiang-Gui Railway 1938, the water transport of Xiangjiang River has been declining, but it still plays an important role. 195 1, Lingling Branch of Hunan Civil Aviation Transport Association set up a shipping station in shishi city, 1959 was upgraded to Dongan County Shipping Management Station, 1964 was changed to Dongan County Shipping Company, with more than 200 employees and more than 40 sailboats, mainly engaged in passenger and cargo transportation from shishi city to Lingling.
Without convenient transportation, it is difficult for a place to become a city. Even if you are lucky enough to enter the ranks of cities, you will eventually be eliminated in social development. Stone Age City can rank among the four ancient towns in Dong 'an County, and later become the seat of townships, districts and towns, benefiting from convenient land and water transportation. Today, thousands of years later, standing on the smooth bluestone steps of the dock, we can still imagine the sails and busy people on the dock in the past and feel the footsteps of history and the vicissitudes of the ancient town.
Beautiful myths and legends
Traffic makes the city develop, and myths and legends make it beautiful. The beauty of the stone market comes from many myths and legends to a great extent.
The stone river that runs through the town divides the stone market into two parts, making it extremely inconvenient for pedestrians to come and go. In the early Ming Dynasty, Tang Taizhen, a righteous official (commonly known as Tang 100,000), donated 8,200 yuan alone and built a three-hole stone arch bridge on the river for seven years. In order to thank him for his kindness, people adopted the idea of building it alone and named it "the bridge built alone". The bridge is 57 meters long, 6 meters wide and 10 meters high, and the fence of the bridge is decorated with patterns. During the period of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the plane dropped two bombs on the bridge, and only two fences were damaged, which shows the exquisite construction technology.
Legend has it that when the hole in the middle was closed, several stones that killed the arch were not suitable, and the leading master was very anxious. One day at dinner, the master saw a beggar sitting there on the construction site, staring at everyone's meal, so he quickly went over and invited him to have dinner together. The beggar refused, but swallowed saliva loudly in his mouth. Knowing that he was hungry, the master packed a bowl of rice and sent it back. When everyone has finished eating, the master goes to get the bowl. The beggar disappeared and the rice bowl was placed on the stone. The master bent down to get the bowl, and suddenly his eyes lit up. The shape and size of the stone are very similar to those needed to kill the arch, and a big centipede is carved on it. The master was overjoyed and immediately asked someone to carry him to the bridge and put him on the dragon. It's perfect. Master suddenly realized, quickly knelt on the bridge, bowed to the sky, and even called "thank the gods for helping me"! As for the centipede on the stone, it is used to suppress the dragon and make waves, commonly known as "cutting the dragon sword." Strange to say, although no one has ever seen a centipede, for thousands of years, how many floods have overflowed the bridge deck, but the bridge has not moved!
In addition to dragons and centipedes, the fairy also designed a "belly button" on the stone that killed the arch, and pedestrians would inadvertently step on it. If it is morning, this day will be good luck; If it is noon, there will be good luck this month; If it is at night, there will be good luck this year. Legend has it that a barrel maker in Hengtang passed by the bridge at night and his foot seemed to be scratched by something. He looked down and found nothing, which made him feel strange. Soon after, Cooper was beating a bucket in a family, which had been finished in half an afternoon, but when he carried the bucket into the house, it suddenly fell to the ground and became loose! He had to hoop again, but no matter how hard he tried, the hoop didn't fit until after dark. Just as he picked up the bucket again and walked to the gate, he suddenly found something flashing in the hedge next to the workshop. He took a closer look, as if it were two old fire bricks, and weighed them with his hand, as heavy as death. The next morning, he asked his master for this thing on the grounds of grinding bricks. When I went home, I saw two gold bricks! It's from cooperch. He dare not keep it all for himself. He used part of the money to buy land, and the other part to build a stage and pavilion, and became a local elder who was "rich and heartless" and enjoyed a high reputation in the village.
There was a partridge mountain and an egong well in East Sanliwei (now Longxing Village), a suburb of the Stone Age. The well is very big, and it has accumulated water for many years and is unfathomable. Legend has it that this was once the manor of the rich. One day, two white bamboo shoots suddenly grew in the manor. Everyone thinks it's strange. Only a little maid knew that this was a pair of dragon horns, and the jade emperor sent dragons to punish evil and promote good. At dinner, Meidochan deliberately threw the spoon to the dog. When the dog saw rice on the spoon, it picked it up and ran away. The handmaid hurriedly asked an old long-term worker to chase after her. The old laborer chased him not far away, only to hear an earth-shattering noise behind him, and then a cloud of dust took off. The old man was frightened! When I turned around, I found that there was no manor. At present, the ancient buildings in Dashuijing Ancient Buildings are dark, and the manor and people have sunk to the bottom of the well. It turned out that this family was rich and heartless, which alarmed the Jade Emperor. The little maid sent by the Jade Emperor to investigate the truth was also bullied and tortured, and only the old workers took care of her. Now many years have passed, and every autumn morning, people can still vaguely see the wooden pillars slightly above the water. Rows of grand and complete roof trusses always show people a truth: evil is rewarded with evil, and good with good!
I don't know which dynasty and generation it was. There was a deserted village in Sanlixu, a suburb in the north of shishi city, which was very short of water. Dozens of families have only one small well, and it has been occupied by the rich man. Poor people even have trouble drinking water. One day, as soon as a woman picked a handful of water from a well, the housekeeper of the rich man came, saying that the well was outside his house and it was not allowed to pick it. The bully poured the water back into the well. When the woman was in a dilemma, He Xiangu, who was visiting relatives in Lingling, saw it and said, "Sister-in-law, you are not allowed to choose there. Come here! " As he spoke, he picked up the woman's shoulder pole and poked it on the ground, and the spring water gurgled out. The woman was overjoyed to fetch water, but the housekeeper stopped her, saying that the well was in the field outside the staff, and it was also outside the staff, so she could not pick it. He Xiangu said nothing, smiled and said to the woman, "That's it." With that, he dug another well. But it is dominated by the housekeeper. In this way, it was not until the ninth well that the housekeeper knew that she had met a fairy and had to give up. The layout of these nine wells is very similar to a blooming plum blossom. Well water merges into a pond and becomes a "nine-well pond". The abandoned village near the pond is called "Jiujingtang".
Later, He Xiangu went back to his hometown to visit relatives. Seeing that the well water is very prosperous, the villagers are not worried about drinking water and irrigation. Impressed, they turned into village girls and sang a song: "Nine wells bloom plum blossoms, and the wicked can't be bullied." Well water nurtures kindness, but bad family business is scarce. Someone asked why, don't say He Xiangu! " This song and He Xiangu's kindness have been passed down to this day, and the rich man's family has long since declined. Exactly: hold your head up three feet and shine on the fairy, or what goes around comes around!
Myth is a story composed of subjective imagination, which cannot correctly explain some natural phenomena and social problems in ancient times. It has placed the good wishes of mankind, and its theme is to punish evil and promote good. Under the influence of this myth, people in the Stone Age were simple and kind. In the 1960s, I worked in Dongan No.3 Middle School, and I was tortured during the Cultural Revolution. A man surnamed Xie in Niujiaozu village next to the school found me in a difficult situation and said, "President Liu, if they bully you again, come to me. I am the leader of the Poverty Association and the leader of the Cultural Revolution. No one can tolerate me! " Soon, the school rebels were involved in factional struggles. In the name of supporting agriculture, I hid in the village, and the villagers rushed to feed me, killed chickens and ducks and treated me as a guest.
Thick cultural heritage
Stone Age cities were lucky. As early as 1000 years ago, it attracted the attention of Kou Zhun, a generation of philosophers and famous officials, with a lion rock, and began its historical and cultural journey. Qing Guangxu's "Dongan County Records" contains: Lion Rock is a "post road" with three holes, the first hole has a stone on the left, the second hole has a stone on the right, and the third hole has a hole like a moon, which is different. In ancient times, there was Zhu Ling Temple, and in Song Dynasty, there were Kou Zhun's poems. ".
On the right bank of Xiangjiang River, a suburb of Stone Age, there is a rugged stone mountain with dense ancient trees, and a treasure hall is faintly visible. This is the Lion Ridge and Zhu Ling Temple built in the Tang and Song Dynasties. Looking from Wushazhou on the other side of the mountain, it looks like a lion crouching by the river with its mouth wide open. That big mouth is the famous lion rock. On the cliff on the right side of the rock mouth, there is an inscription by Zhu, the magistrate of Dongan County in Wanli period of Ming Dynasty: "Lion Rock".
According to legend, Shun Di took a bamboo raft from Jinfeng Mountain in Dong 'an (now Huang Shun) to Jiuben. Seeing that his master had not returned for a long time, he went to look for it. Go to Shitai Station, it gets dark, and then rest by Xiangjiang River. At about midnight, the sheep on the other side of Wushazhou became restless and occasionally groaned. When the lion opened his eyes, it turned out that a tiger was catching a sheep. The shepherd is an old man, watching the tiger take the sheep away. The lion watched for several nights, and the tiger came every night. Seeing the old man's flock decreasing day by day, the lion roared and jumped out. The tiger was frightened and never dared to come again. On the eighth morning, the lion wanted to continue on his way. The bad news is that Shun Di has collapsed. The lion thinks there is no point in going again. Better stay here and protect the sheep for the people. Over time, it became a rocky mountain.
In the 4th year of Song Zhenzong Tianxi (1020), Kou Zhun, who was appointed as the deputy prime minister after his involvement in politics, was dismissed and went to Daozhou (now Daoxian County, Hunan Province) as the secretariat. He is good at poetry and prose. When he visited Lion Mountain and Zhu Ling Temple, he improvised a poem praising "the mountains are deep and small, the trees are old and half-branched" here. Looking at the clouds in the distance, the sky changes easily. "Since Kougong, there have been many tourists, and there are still many ancient inscriptions in the cave.
Baoqing archway Dongan Tower. Shipai Building can be seen everywhere in Baoqing, but there are only three pagodas in Dong 'an, namely Wugong Pagoda in Zixi City, Wenta Pagoda in shishi city and Wenchang Pagoda in Yuangutang. Wenta is located on the boulder on the bank of Xiangjiang River in the eastern suburb of shishi city, diagonally opposite to Lion Rock. The tower is 24 meters high, each side of the base is 10 meter wide, with seven floors and eight sides, which is exquisite and gorgeous. There is a cornice on each floor, and four small ticket gates are opened, but they can't get in. On the second floor, there are plaques such as "Purple Gas Coming from the East", "Antarctic Xiaoxiang", "Western Mountain Jade" and "Northern Politics", which are majestic and vigorous. Wenta was built in the 13th year of Qianlong (1748) and was dedicated to Confucius. Pagoda, also known as floating figure or floating pagoda, was originally used to worship Buddha bones, and later developed to worship Buddha statues, collect Buddhist scriptures and preserve monks' remains. It is rare to worship Confucius like this. The author thinks, why didn't people in the Stone Age build a Confucius temple to worship Confucius as usual, but a seven-level pagoda? I probably want to take advantage of Confucius' great thoughts and noble sentiments, the greatness and firmness of the pagoda to sit on this feng shui.
People in the Stone Age worshipped Confucius and Qu Zi, a great patriotic poet in ancient China. Legend has it that after Qu Yuan threw himself into the river in Miluo, Shishi had the custom of rowing dragon boats and throwing zongzi at Qu Yuan. It is worth mentioning that the dragon boat custom in shishi city is very distinctive. First, it takes a long time, from the fifth day of May to the Dragon Boat Festival on May 15th. During this period, every household will hold a big banquet to entertain relatives and friends watching the dragon boat. Some wealthy families also set meals and dumplings on the street for the audience without relatives to vote for free, and inns and hostels are even full. Second, the scale is large, with 10 and 20 ships participating in the competition every year. The hull is painted in various colors, the blue one is called Xiao Qinglong, and the white one is called Xiao Bailong. When all the boats were launched, dragons competed on the river, which was colorful and spectacular. The third is solemn. At the beginning, we should prepare money, paper, thread, incense and three offerings of wine, invite the dragon into the water, and then invite the dragon to return to its place after the end. Before entering the water, venerable elders or local governors should read the "Dragon Sacrifice". Most of the content is to praise the merits of the dragon and pray for peace and prosperity, such as "Long Zaitian, help China take off;" The dragon in the water leads a thousand ships to win ","the fire of Long Mai is always new, creating a bright world and opening a peaceful sea "and so on. The fourth is persistence. Even in the face of natural and man-made disasters, the plan is correct and rarely interrupted.
People in the Stone Age worshipped not only literature, but also martial arts. During the slack season, almost every village has a museum and everyone practices boxing. In the late Qing Dynasty, a martial arts activity popular among the masses gave birth to the famous Boxers in Hunan and Guangxi provinces. This man was born in Shijiao village on the outskirts of the city, and his name is Jiang Hongzhang. He loved martial arts since he was a child. Once he saw an artist with superb martial arts in the street, so he invited him to his home, worshipped him as a teacher, and devoted himself to learning Yuejia Boxing and Zhao Jia Boxing. Later, he learned Ding Guizhi's stick technique and Tang's leg technique, and eventually became a big instrument and a descendant of the famous Yue Family Boxing. It is said that Jiang Hongjiang once set up a museum as a disciple in Luzhai, Guangxi, and two locals came to "tear it down" (the newcomer competed with the owner, and if the owner was defeated, the martial arts school would be occupied by the newcomer). The newcomer is aggressive and advances step by step, and Jiang Hongzhang retreats step by step, seemingly timid and respectful. When he retreated to the edge of the main pillar of the main hall, the newcomer saw that he had no way out, so he rushed forward with all his strength. Passing 18-wheeler, before the couple had time to push, Jiang Hongzhang's ass rubbed against the column a few times, and a big first room with five pillars and seven cranes moved two or three inches in the rustle. Startled, the newcomers all knelt down and kowtowed. Jiang Hongzhang remained calm and said, "Learn martial arts first, learn morality first, learn to be a man first, let's go!" After that, he squatted a few times, and the main room returned to its original position in the rustle, which was not bad at all, and the tiles were intact. Jiang Hongzhang opened libraries in Guangxi, Hunan and other places all his life, teaching more than six or seven hundred people. Gaozu Zhou Haiquan participated in the compilation of Dongan Wushu, and Zhou Mingde participated in provincial and national Sanshou competitions for many times and won the ranking. Because the whole people were martial, there were many military commanders in the Stone Age. Only during the reign of Xianfeng and Guangxu in Qing Dynasty, two military commanders appeared in China. One is Tang Renlian from Hongjing Village. He was born in the army and was promoted to garrison, guerrilla, lieutenant, company commander and prefect by military merit. Later, he was promoted to prefect and minister of Guangdong navy. Another magistrate is Rong Weishan of Shizipu village, who once intercepted Hong, the young king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
The historical and cultural richness of stone age cities is also reflected in the construction of ancient houses. The Sangjiayuan in Yuangutang is the residence of the Sangjia family, which was built during the reign of Qing Qianlong and covers an area of more than 10,000 square meters. In front of the courtyard is a large photo wall 6 meters high and 60 meters long. There are four gates, one main gate and three auxiliary gates. Each gate has five houses with more than 140 rooms. Each house has a main room and three horizontal rooms. The main room leads directly to the main entrance, and the horizontal room leads to the auxiliary door. Behind the main entrance, there are left and right wings and a large patio for guests. Each main house and horizontal house also has a reception wing and patio, living room, bedroom and inverted hall. All buildings are brick and wood structures. The wall is a wind-fire wall, which can prevent wind and fire; The wooden frame main house has five columns and seven hanging, and the horizontal house has three columns and five hanging; Photos, doors, windows and walls are covered with all kinds of beautifully carved auspicious patterns, which are elegant and generous. The whole building complex is interconnected, and the buildings are closely linked. Walking in the yard, there is no sunshine in sunny days and shoes and socks are not wet in rainy days. At night, every door is closed, unique, quiet and warm. It is a masterpiece of ancient houses in the south of the Yangtze River, with high scientific research, aesthetic and tourism value.
Because the Xiangjiang River and the Post Road are connected with the outside world, it is convenient for people to go in and out, which has created the open consciousness of stone age people. As early as the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Shitai Post Station, a sharp weapon, went out of the county gate and the provincial gate and enjoyed a high reputation in neighboring provinces. In particular, Jiang Youyuan, a blacksmith in Shuangche Village in the suburbs, has a "righteous knife", which is not only hard in strength, but also light and sharp. It cuts before and after, never curling the edge gap, and is deeply loved by users inside and outside the province. In the eighth year of the Republic of China, Ye Bolu, a native of Hubei Province, was accepted in the Stone Age, and a Catholic Stone Age branch was established next to Lion Mountain to integrate Chinese and Western cultures. This branch hall and Dong 'an branch hall in Zixi City did not stop their worship activities until 195 1. Some priests came from Lingling to "attend the meeting" and stopped their activities at 1953.