Laiyuan people are generally not very superstitious about outsiders. If they know two words and have two cents, they will look down on outsiders even more. Legend has it that this is a custom passed down from the Tang Dynasty.
Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng of the Tang Dynasty were the most famous astronomical geographers in the country. They knew that the geology and geomantic omen of Laiyuan (then called Feihu County) were unusual, so they moved the county seat from the north of the city during the Northern Zhou Dynasty. When Qili moved to its current location, it was called Wulong City. Of course, such a name is not something that ordinary cities can call at will. They have long thought of coming to Laiyuan to pay homage to the mountain, but they are proud of their talents and love to show off. If you come, you will be punished, and you will not dare to come. However, if they don't come to Laiyuan to see it, they don't dare to say that they have traveled all over the country, and they don't dare to say that they have learned about Feng Shui all over the world, so they have to come.
In order to make their trip worthwhile and see Laiyuan’s astronomical, astrological, geological and geomantic omens, they specially chose a sunny day to quietly come to Laiyuan. They walked all the way and saw a man outside the county town. The old woman was farming. Because the soil was dry and hard, she used a hammer and drill to dig into the ground to plant melons. They forgot that they had come quietly, and that they had come to the source they had never dared to come to. They laughed loudly at the old woman and said: "It is useless to plant in such a dry land.
If it doesn’t rain, you’ll have to pay for as many seeds as you plant.” The old woman said, “I can’t pay for a single seed.” They said, “Old woman, do you know who we are? We are the famous Yuan Tiangang and the others. "Li Chunfeng." The old woman said calmly: "I don't know any literacy. I haven't even been to Feihu County. I don't know your name is Yuan Tiangang, and I don't know your name is Li Chunfeng. But I have a problem with my heel." , I was injured when I was young, and then when my heel became itchy, it would have to rain the next day. Today, my heel is itchy again. If I plant it today and wait for it to rain tomorrow, there is no reason for me to lose the seed." They both said, "Let's forget about shooting. It hasn't rained all over the country these days, so let's not talk about tomorrow." The old woman said, "I don't care whether you know how to shoot or not, I just trust my heel experience." Yuan Tianli and Li Chunfeng couldn't convince the old woman no matter what. The more they talked, the more they became more and more stalemate, and when they got to the point where they started to bet, they started a bet. On the next day, the two of them came to the old woman's land as promised. It was already after noon and the sky was still bright. They saw that the old woman had also arrived and was wearing a straw hat to protect her from the rain. They started laughing at her, but they didn't say anything. After saying that, the weather changed. A thin cloud floated in the clear sky, and a cool breeze began to blow. The cloud suddenly turned black due to the wind, and the sun was still shining in the distance. The county seat is Xili. There was a loud crackling sound, and thunder and rain started falling all at once, covering the entire area of ??the source county.
It turns out that the climate of Laiyuan County is special. The terrain of Laiyuan is high and the county is a flat basin. The sun shines strongly in summer, and the expanding air on the ground is rapidly lifted by the mountains surrounding the basin. In the afternoon in this area of ??the county, There will often be thunderstorms, and then the sky will clear up again after a brief period of thunderstorms.
It’s often sunny in the surrounding areas, but it rains in this part of the county. It’s neither flood nor drought. Even a small ice patch doesn’t seem like a disaster. It’s the famous solar rain. Yuan and Li didn't know the particularity of the origin's geography and climate, so they were at a disadvantage. I wanted to ask the old lady for advice, but the old lady said: "Yuan Tianli and Li Chunfeng are not as good as my old lady's heels. Just remember this."
Think about it, even big names like Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng came to Laiyuan. It doesn't matter, who else can Laiyuan people be superstitious about? From then on, the saying "Yuan Tianli and Li Chunfeng are not as good as the old woman's heels" has been passed down.
Narrator: Guo Xiande
Recorder: Xu Wanhong
Interview time: 1982
Rumored area: Laiyuan Town
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