April in the world is full of green willows and red flowers. Invited by a friend, we embarked on a trip to Lutou together. Lutou is not far from my hometown. At first, I only knew that Lutou had a Jiang family courtyard and the Martyrs Hall of Zhao Jinyang and Zhu Jian. But I never got close to his history. Just like the apricot blossoms, peach blossoms and forsythia flowers blooming all over the mountains and plains along the way, I know them, but they don't know me. If I don't come, it will still be brilliant. Here I am, and it blooms more charmingly and enchantingly in the spring breeze, so vivid that it makes me miss Shu.
In my memory, Lutou is one of the towns with the largest number of natural villages in Shexian County, probably more than fifty. The impression these villages leave on people is that they are always hidden by mountains due to traffic congestion. In the past years, the only way for people in these villages to get out of the mountains for generations was to bump along the winding paths. The opportunity finally came. Last year, a wide, smooth asphalt road called Shengfutian Road passed through the mountains and ridges, linking these villages hidden in the boudoir, like pearls, to the world, allowing people to walk. Reachable.
Wandering in uninhabited villages such as Laozhoubei, Huangdiqiao, Shibanqiao and Liushuqu always gives people a feeling of returning home. Although I am not a returnee, I am a passer-by, but the strange yet familiar village still makes me understand what it feels like to feel homesick in silence.
In the early spring, when some trees and shrubs are still bleak, the apricot and peach blossoms on the trees are in full bloom, which is particularly enchanting. Under the shadow of flowers, rows and rows of ruined houses came into my sight. There is no one in the village. Most of the villagers moved out after the flood in 1996 and settled in the new village. Back then, people didn’t necessarily want to leave their homes. They were just constrained by the terrain and traffic. They had no choice but to leave. They just left their hometown, and these old houses left behind can only remain silent in the years.
Because I am dormant in the valley, I will encounter rocks when I go out. Most of these houses are built with stone walls. They are low and cramped inside and look like they were built in the 1980s. Some houses, in order to look good, use blue bricks to build a front wall, while the other walls are still made of local stones. As for the roofs? They are still traditional wooden structures, and some roofs have collapsed.
When these villages were inhabited, there were more than a hundred households in the larger villages and only a dozen or so in the small ones. When I was a child, I heard that a house will be strong if people live in it. Because the house is ventilated, the beams and purlins will not suffer from insect erosion, rot, or even collapse due to temperature and humidity. At this time, the village seemed to have lost its soul. The doors were closed, the iron locks were tight, and everything was pale. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to describe it as inaccessible. When walking in these villages, the streets that were once paved with gravel are invaded by the grass that has just poked its head out from between the stones. When you step on it, you feel as if you are a long-lost visitor. The curling smoke and humble faces of the past no longer exist. Under the blue sky, there are only a few white clouds floating leisurely between the new and old villages, telling the end of an era and the relationship between the two. The yearning for a better life.
To appreciate flowers, you need to start early in spring and don’t wait until the branches are old. Walking on the Lutou Heavenly Road, the village is surrounded by a sea of ??flowers all over the mountains and plains. As far as the field of vision can be seen, patches and trees of apricot pollen are white in color, like snow and jade, with silver waves and waves, layer upon layer, like white snow in spring, and like a hazy frosty moon. A spring breeze blows, and the petals form a beautiful apricot blossom rain. The apricot blossom rain is like fish scales flying, like flying water droplets, boiling, fluttering, floating leisurely in the air, and then falling on the street. In an instant, it is Spread the ground into a snow-white world, like the clear brilliance of the moonlight flowing down. Looking at the peach blossoms in the distance, the small pink flowers are blooming and swaying quietly in the wind, releasing a light fragrance that is enough to refresh the heart and soul.
Besides the apricot blossoms and peach blossoms, the small yellow flowers on the hills are forsythia flowers. Forsythia suspensa is a traditional Chinese medicinal material that can clear away heat and detoxify.
Compared with the charm of apricot blossoms and peach blossoms, although forsythia flowers are not as enchanting as them, nor as cool as their coolness, they are not inferior either. They bloom in clusters, pure and enthusiastic, like gold. The full armor is like the yellow chrysanthemum in September. It shows a noble spirit of wind. It is not like apricot or peach blossoms. When a strong wind blows, the petals will fall in pieces.
I think these three kinds of flowers are the messengers of spring in Lutou. It is precisely because of these flowers all over the mountains and plains that the mountains of Lutou are decorated with appropriate shades and colors, like a picture scroll in a fairy tale world. It unfolds slowly, just like the color palette of nature slowly blooming.
The flowers bloom the same every year, but each year is different. Standing on the hill of Lutou, breathing the fresh air and watching the flowers blooming, it will always leave people with a sense of comfort and a different kind of comfort. I think back then, these flowers were always accompanied by familiar figures, but now we are faced with visitors from all directions.
What interests me most about Lutou culture is the Jiang Family Courtyard here. According to the "Shexian Chronicle", the ancestors of the Jiang family were originally from Genngle Village, Shexian County, and came to Lutou during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty. Later, famous calligraphers and many business figures emerged from the family. After several years of hard work and self-reliance, they turned a small, remote village into a treasure land for merchants.
The Jiang Family Courtyard, the Liu Family Courtyard in the remote city, and the Ma Family Courtyard in Mujing are considered to be the three major aristocrats in Shexian County during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The layout of the Jiang family compound is no different from the two. It is also an old house with two or three entrances. It is said that in that bustling era, the business of the merchants here was not only popular in China, but also developed to Europe. No wonder some of the gatehouses in the Jiang Family Courtyard have national characteristics and some have a European style.
Speaking of the gate tower, I want to focus on the vertical stone here. Looking at the vertical courtyard stones full of cultural heritage, my interest arose spontaneously. ?Listen to the sound of autumn moving the mother bamboo, and sleep quietly under the cool moon, pillowing the tung grandson. ?Through the content, we can see how comfortable and comfortable the owner is in life. It goes without saying that you will understand what this is like. If this is a sense of happiness, then another vision may also inspire his descendants to work hard to inherit and create this kind of lifestyle. ?The discussion of old learning becomes more sophisticated, and the cultivation of new knowledge becomes deeper. ?Presumably the Jiang family will never be narcissistic or self-satisfied. They have accumulated their own principles and knowledge-seeking experience in the business world for generations. Staring at these brilliant couplets, I remembered the famous saying of Confucius, which is to learn from the new by reviewing the past. I believe this is a brand-new interpretation of modesty, prudence and studiousness by the Jiang family. ?Sincerity, denseness, and firmness are also holes, and things that are thin and light will become clear by themselves. ?Be honest, diligent, frugal, knowledgeable and knowledgeable. ?Good couplets always become more flavorful the more you think about them. When I pressed the shutter, I had to stand in awe of the Jiang family’s diligent and studious family rules and mottos, and let them be engraved in my mind along with the images. In the memory of it.
It is not that all the vertical courtyards in the Jiang Family Courtyard are inscribed. Those without inscriptions are said to be from the Ming Dynasty, because inscriptions were not popular in the Ming Dynasty or before the Ming Dynasty. If you don’t want to engrave words, then carve fine lines to form geometric figures to decorate the stone surface. Don't underestimate these inconspicuous lines on the stone surface, but there is something special about it. According to Mr. Cao, the editor-in-chief of "Jiang Family Courtyard", the parallelogram pattern within those lines is only one inch wide. However, masons need to carve eighteen lines with chisels to be considered top grade. Otherwise, It is not allowed to be installed under the Jiang family's gate.
On the way back, the car was speeding along Shengfutian Road, which is more than a thousand meters above sea level, accompanied by a sea of ??flowers. Faced with the rapid rotation of the wheels, I didn’t want to go too hastily, thinking that would It goes against the slow life of Lutou Ancient Village. Although a broad road will drive their development, the natural scenery and cultural heritage of Lutou still need to be slowly savored.
Author: Zhao Huagang
Public account: Qingzhang Cross-Strait