The Millennium slate paved Changhong, and the century-old ancestral hall recorded the vicissitudes of the world. Every stone bridge, ancient tree and ancient temple in Feng Jian Village has an intriguing story, which is engraved with traces of the life of our ancestors.
Every bridge is engraved with a history.
According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 30 ancient stone bridges in Feng Jian Village, among which the most representative ones are Juji Bridge, Mingyuan Bridge and Jin 'ao Bridge.
Li was a scholar and a senior official in the Song Dynasty. Because his political views were inconsistent with the imperial court, he retired and settled in Feng Jian Village. He is also the ancestor of village Li today. According to the old man in the village, whenever Li has a son, a bridge will be built for him. He had five sons in his life, so he built five bridges. Among the five bridges, the names of four bridges have been recorded, namely, Juji Bridge, Mingyuan Bridge, Qingyun Bridge and Qingjiang Bridge, and one bridge has not been verified so far.
When the reporter interviewed the paper-cut artists in Gaoxiangfang, he learned from the villagers that Li built the bridge first and then got the son. In order to thank Feng Jian for his good geomantic omen, he built a "Sanjie Temple" in Gaoxiangfang during the Daoguang period, and the couplets at the entrance of the temple mentioned these five bridges. The couplet is "Qingyun Zi Qi meets the three realms and Jinshui Enbopei Bridge".
The villagers don't agree on whether to build the bridge or lead the children first. However, according to Li Jia's genealogy in Every Bamboo Slip, Li did have five sons, one of whom was Li Ge, the assistant of imperial academy in the Southern Song Dynasty.
Royal gifts of osmanthus trees, stone bridges and archways
The osmanthus trees, stone bridges and memorial archways given by the emperor have been talked about by the villagers so far.
According to the old people in the village, Li Changming, a villager from Feng Jian Village, obtained the position of a juror during Guangxu period, and later served as an Oracle in Haiyang County. He was praised by Emperor Guangxu when he went to Beijing to report on his work, and got a osmanthus tree (the most precious osmanthus tree) as a tribute of Taiwan Province Province.
According to legend, the Jingui tree presented by the emperor was less than a foot high, and Li Changming planted it in a flowerpot after he retired in his later years. Shortly after Li Changming's death, his family didn't know that this kind of flower was expensive. With the decline of his family, he left it in the cold. During the Anti-Japanese War, the Li Family Courtyard was abandoned, and a man who knew the "treasure" dug it up and sold it to a family named Liang at 15 yuan. Liang Jia kept this kind of flower as a treasure in the yard until after liberation.
Jin Ao Bridge, built in A.D. 1700, was given by Emperor Kangxi to Liu, the teacher of the then Prince. It is said that Liu heard that the two bridges in the Forbidden City, Jin Ao and Fish Cave, are very beautiful, so he wanted to see them for himself. One day, he pretended to have an emergency and entered the Forbidden City, realizing this wish. When Kangxi heard about this, he said to Liu, "You can also go home and build a bridge." So Liu built the Jin Ao Bridge with reference to the style of "Jin Ao Fish Cave".
There is also the former site of the "Jinshi archway" destroyed during the Cultural Revolution under the Juji Bridge. The reporter saw that there were only four stone piers left on the roadside, and the 12 stone pile of the archway was faintly visible in the water beside the bridge. It is said that this was also built by the Ming Dynasty villager Liang Shengzhong and later emperor. The old man in the village said that the archway has three floors and is made of mahogany. It is engraved with the words "Heaven and Earth are in the same stream", with the words "Rong En" in the middle and "Jinshi Square" below. In the past, this archway can be seen in Liule Town, 89 kilometers away, which shows its grandeur and height. Some people say it is one of the four major memorial archways in Guangdong, but it is not recorded in the history books. Liang's genealogy only mentions the construction of memorial archways.