Ma Xie Village's "Woman Lane", called "Niangniang Lane" in local dialect, is a women-only lane. The alley is narrow and deep, with the widest less than one meter and the narrowest only 60 centimeters. It is the epitome of feudal ethics, which is rare in China.
On the morning of May 9th, our "Journey of Xijiang History and Culture" joint reporting group came to Juren Village, Ma Xie, Enping for an interview. On that day, the sun was shining, and the blue sky and Wan Li were like washing. Guided by the tour guide, our group went down the Jinjiang River by boat. After about 20 minutes' voyage, a natural pastoral scenery came into view. Several simple village women are washing clothes at the pier in front of the village. The tour guide told us that this is Ma Xie Village.
Before going to Ma Xie Village, the reporter had read the relevant introduction and learned that although the village is a small natural village near Jinjiang, its historical and cultural heritage is very profound. Only the Ming and Qing Dynasties trained more than 670 celebrities, including more than 280 Gong Sheng, Zi, and Jinshi. Most people who have achieved fame have entered the official career, including more than 430 officials from the ninth to the second class, as well as three ministers and second-class officials. Why can a simple village generation cultivate so many celebrities? With questions, the reporter set foot on the land of Ma Xie Village, ready to find out.
The width of the driveway is different between men and women.
Entering Ma Xie Village, I saw ancient houses in groups, arranged in order, with lush old trees, which is an idyllic scenery, and people live in harmony with nature. Surprisingly, the descendants of Ma Xie Village built the whole village into the shape of a horse, including a horse's head, a horse's waist and a ponytail. The drainage channels of "Matou" roadway are all open channels, which are called "horse bones"; Ponytails are all culverts, called "horse peritoneal bones", and the manhole covers of culverts are all in the shape of cast money, and the pond in front of the village is called "horse belly". It is said that the "horse" that rests the horse is a male horse, so there are two big stones in the "ponytail", which symbolize the horse's genitals and are talked about by the villagers.
In Ma Xie Village, the reporter found that all the ancient houses were built with exquisite craftsmanship. The walls are made of blue bricks, and the eaves and roofs are decorated with gray sculptures depicting dragons and phoenixes, which are exquisite and beautiful, showing the affluence of Ma Xie people in history. Hutongs in Ma Xie are also unique, which are divided into big hutongs and small alleys. 13 alley is for men to go in and out, and three or four people can pass side by side, which is called "men's alley". 14 Alley can only be passed by one person, which is a place for women to enjoy the cool and chat. If a man comes in, he will be considered rude, obscene and laughed at. These alleyways are called "women's alleyways", which are the epitome of the feudal concept of "men and women give and receive without kissing" and men are superior to women.
There are many stone tablets for fame and fortune.
The tour guide took us to a village where there are many stone tablets, and told us that the most unique thing in Ma Xie Village is the stone tablet forest and eight famous flagpoles. She said that the forest of steles in Ma Xie Village was built during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty and grew gradually during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, stone tablets were erected around the platform of Godson for those who were awarded fame or above to show their fame and encourage future generations. At most, there are hundreds. Near the Godson Platform in Ma Xie Park, we can see that there are more than 200 stone tablets of fame and fortune arranged in order. These stone tablets are all made of granite, with a width of about 0.35 meters and a height of about 1.3 meters. It reads, "Xinke has won the top prize in the provincial senior high school entrance examination, and won the first place ××× the first place and the second place.
There are also eight flagpoles beside the forest of steles to commemorate the eight five-prize winners. The flagpole pier is square, with a height of1.3m.. There are two stone tablets in the middle of the pier, and a flagpole with a height exceeding 10 meter is sandwiched between the stone tablets. The flagpole soars into the sky, giving birth to the feeling of top gun. Both granite stone tablets are engraved with words, which indicate the achievements of celebrities. These flagpoles were originally scattered in "Horsehead", "Horsehead" and Longxintai, but they were all destroyed as "four old" during the Cultural Revolution. Now, people in Ma Xie Village gather them together during the reconstruction, and combine them with the forest of steles, the statue of Confucius and the Longxintai into a scene.
The fragrance of calligraphy is everywhere.
In terms of culture, Ma Xie Village is even more commendable for its numerous couplets and their many stories. These couplets include door couplets, church couplets, temple couplets, library couplets, barn couplets, lamp couplets, temple couplets, philosophy couplets, warning couplets and banter couplets. It is said that most of them were written by Ma Xie people, and some of them were sent by celebrities at that time, which shows the profound cultural background of Ma Xie people.
The reporter read such a couplet in the Mawei Library of the village: "Flowers are not as far away as books, and human tastes are not as good as Taoist seniors." This couplet not only shows Ma Xie people's pursuit from "scholar" to "Taoist", but also has warning significance, which is very philosophical and can be described as a masterpiece.
"When you measure rice with a pen container, you should also teach your children to read."
"Measure rice with a pen container and teach children to read" is an ancestral motto handed down from generation to generation in Ma Xie village, which means that even if you are poor enough to cook with a pen container, you should try your best to make your children read and become successful and make Ma Xie more prosperous.
Ma Xie was once very rich in history. During the Tongzhi period of Qing Dynasty, he owned a lot of land, and the annual rent of rice alone exceeded mangoku. It is said that people in Ma Xie village were once poor, and their ancestors raised ducks for a living, but they firmly believed in the belief that "measuring rice with a pen can also teach children to read" and regarded this spiritual belief as a family heirloom, which was passed down from generation to generation. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Liang Tixing, the former magistrate of Yunxi County, Hubei Province, returned to his hometown because of the demise of the Ming Dynasty, and took the lead in building many libraries and libraries, and established a "learning valley system" to encourage young people to study and become talents. The so-called "learning valley" means that the village supplies 24 stones of rice to the registered students every year to ensure that children can study with peace of mind without working; Children who have won the fame of scholar or above will enjoy the honor of "learning valley" for life. The "learning valley" enjoyed by one person is enough to feed the whole family.
Liang Tixing also did a meaningful thing to encourage villagers to learn, that is, to carve stones and monuments for their ancestors who became famous in the village and build a platform for their godson. From then on, anyone who has achieved a certain fame will be highlighted in the village, and those children who have no intention of learning will be taken to the Loongson platform to "think about it". From spiritual encouragement, material rewards to face-to-face punishment, Ma Xie Village has formed a perfect educational reward and punishment system, and with a good learning environment, it has gradually developed a fashion of being proud of reading.
In modern and contemporary times, Ma Xie Juren Village is also full of talented people. Hundreds of college students, master students and doctoral students are distributed at home and abroad, and some couples are university professors. Brigadier General Liang Hanyi of the US Air Force is one of the outstanding representatives. During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period, he was a member of the Flying Tigers. After the founding of New China, he was the captain and pilot of Air Force One, which was visited by former US President Nixon for the first time. He was received by President Mao Zedong twice before and after liberation. Besides, there are Fang Yanfen, a famous Cantonese opera dancer, Liang Dingguang, a contemporary calligrapher, and Liang Yulun, a Hong Kong business celebrity, who have made great contributions to the country in science, technology, culture and commerce.