Anyone who has been to Jiayuguan has noticed that there is a "Dingcheng Brick" on the roof of the urn in the west of Jiayuguan. That brick is out of tune with the neat environment. I really want to take it off when I meet someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder like me.
However, people say that this is an old city brick of Zhengde in Ming Dynasty, which has a history of more than 600 years. That's a "town thing" that can't be brought. Jiayuguan relies on the "Dingcheng Brick" to curb it, and if it is taken, it will die. So I heard the story of "Dingcheng Brick":
During the period of Zhengde in Ming Dynasty, the official in charge of the repair and supervision of Jiayuguan invited an expert skilled in calculation named "Yi Kai Zhan". The names of these two people are Yi and Zhan. At first glance, they are people who know Feng Shui. It is said that this man can calculate the engineering materials clearly. He calculated that Jiayuguan needed 99,999 bricks.
The supervisor said that if too many or too few bricks were found in the end, it would be easy to occupy them, and all the craftsmen involved would be punished with three years of hard labor.
After Jiayuguan was completed, the supervisor saw an extra brick, so he put it on the roof of Xiwengcheng and used it as an excuse to punish Yi and all the craftsmen. Why is there an extra brick? Many people also brought one, or someone left one on purpose.
However, Yi Kai Zhan deceived the governor with one sentence: "This last piece is called Dingcheng Brick. If you remove this brick, the city will collapse. " Will the construction supervision officials be convinced? Of course, the saying "Zhen Shi" has existed since ancient times, and people now believe it, not to mention people in the Ming Dynasty.
So, is it really useful to say that Jiayuguan "Dingcheng Brick"? I don't know, either. Anyway, there is still a custom in many rural areas: after a new house is built, a brick should be placed on the roof. In other rural areas, a brick should also be placed on the top of the newly built grave.
In some places, people think that the old bricks of the Great Wall can "ward off evil spirits". People often steal a brick of the Great Wall and put it back in their yard as a "town thing".
Speaking of "town affairs", there are many kinds of folk customs. Such as Buddhist and Taoist portraits and artifacts; For example, Shi Gandang; Like the front mirror. These customs are actually very common and can be found in many rural areas. The "looking at the wall in the courtyard" and "the stone lion at the door", which are not usually noticed by people, are actually the customs formed by "town affairs" Nowadays, many people do these things for decoration and forget the original meaning.
Speaking of these things, the more distinguished people believe them. For example, the Cangzhou Iron Lion, built in Chai Rong, Zhou Shizong, also has a name "Zhenhai Roar". You can see from its name that it is a town object. For example, there are five famous towns in old Beijing, and the five elements of Jin Mu correspond to the east, west, north and south. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were "town objects" in old Beijing: Nanmu near Guangqumen (east), Zhong in Juesheng Temple (west), Yandun in Yongdingmen (south), Bronze Bull in the Summer Palace (north) and Jingshan (middle).