The Cultural Relics Department is collecting inscriptions with the assistance of literary and historical researchers
On May 30, 2018, lovers of scripture and history provided clues to the cultural relics department of Hunyuan County, and a large number of ancient inscriptions with archaeological value were displayed in front of the world. The inscription gathering area is located in a small water conservancy culvert in the north section of Tangjiazhuang Village in this county, which is about 30 meters long and covered with Qing Dynasty tombstones. After 4 days of continuous excavation and cleaning, a total of 34 inscriptions have been unearthed, involving Qianlong, Daoguang, Guangxu and other periods, and its contents include epitaphs, Mingtang inscriptions, etc., which is the highest number of ancient inscriptions unearthed in our county so far, and this major discovery has a very important reference value for the study of Qing Dynasty burial system and character history in our county.
In the process of the cultural relics department to clean up all the inscriptions, as a mottled ancient stele is gradually revealed, a historical mystery about the past of the Li Yumi family is also clear.
Li Yumei, character Hanhui, number Jishan, also known as Pu Yuan, 谥恭qin, Shanxi Hunyuan people, born in August of the forty-third year of the Qianlong Dynasty (1778). He successively served as ZhiXian County, Zhizhou, Grain and Salt Road, Kaigui Chen Xu BingBi Road, Hubei Envoy, Henan Cloth Envoy, Nursing Inspector, Governor of Hedong River and Attendant of the Military Department, Right Deputy Governor of duchayuan Yushi, and admiral of military affairs. He has been an official for 38 years, just and honest, and has made outstanding achievements. The backlog of no less than 10,000 cases was tried, all of which were closed with the case, and the plaintiff and defendant were satisfied and convinced, and the case was never overturned. During his five years as governor of Hedong River, "the river was not troubled" and the people were protected from floods and displacement. Within a few years of the implementation of the brick dam, "no new work was born in three years", saving more than 1.3 million taels of official silver for the national treasury, and the "Qing History Draft" evaluated it as "the crown of Hechen". In February 1840, he was martyred in the post of Zhihe. When cleaning up his relics, the four walls were lined with bookcases, penniless, and the Daoguang Emperor gave him a funeral and built a cemetery and mansion for him in Hunyuan County. The people along the river were ordered to build temples for the "river god".
Scholars have studied his family lineage, but due to limited records, the origin of his ancestors is still confusing and inconsistent. The excavation of this stele provides a good text of physical materials.
The newly excavated kuri yumi ancestor inscription
The stele is 1.25 meters long, 0.6 meters wide, 0.25 meters thick, round head, missing seat, no ornamentation on the yin surface of the stele, and the inscription reads: "Emperor Qing gave the ancestor of the senior political master, Kaoli Gong gong youku, the god of the Yang clan, Daoguang thirteen years in June Gu Dan, Henan envoy fifth sun Li Yu mei qi." From this, it can be seen that when this monument was erected, it was the second year of Li Yumei's appointment as an envoy to Henan, and it was erected to worship the ancestors.
The Kuri clan was once a family of poetry and books, and it has been prosperous for a long time. According to the inscription today, The Fifth Patriarch of the Duke of Li was awarded the title of Senior Grand Master with a prominent official title. According to the Qing Dynasty's "Li Gongqin Gong Gong Annals", only three generations before Li Yu were awarded because of Li Yu's eminent and noble, that is, his great-grandmother Yang Shi, his grandmother Yuan Shi, his mother Bai Shi, and his stepmother Sun Shi, all of whom were given to Guanglu Dafu and Lady Yipin, which were completely consistent with the Regulation of Gifts in the Qing Dynasty. Looking at historical data, in the Qing Dynasty, there were two ways to obtain the "Imperial Qing Gift": first, the great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents of officials with more than five pins were posthumously awarded titles by the Ministry of Rites with the emperor's commandments; second, they were given false titles for the sake of honor and donation. In addition, according to the official system of the Qing court, the imperial court's gifts to officials below the six pins were called "edicts" instead of "edicts". However, in the Annals, his Gaozu Li Youku was not mentioned as "Gifted Senior Doctor". How can such an honorable thing not be recorded? The author has read many historical materials, and the last three generations of Li Youku have no outstanding meritorious people, and his great-grandson Li Wo is only a Bapin teaching. In view of this situation, the title of "Senior Doctor" of the Fifth Patriarch of Li Gong was regarded as an example of the early and middle Qing Dynasty, and the only way for him to receive the gift was through the donation system.
According to historical records, the donation system of the Qing Dynasty began in the Shunzhi period and was completed in the three dynasties of Kang, Yong and Qian. The chronology proves: "Zhigong Gaozu Youku fled chaos at the beginning of the country and moved to Hunyuan Prefecture in Datong Province..." This shows that the stage of Li Youku's life in Hunyuan was mainly the Kangxi Dynasty, which was the period when the Kangxi Emperor implemented the donation system in order to cut the money of the clan, and Li Youku was most likely to donate the title of senior doctor for himself during this period. Referring to the thirty-ninth year donation standard of Qianlong, the donation items donated by the empty title of Li Youku were worth thousands of taels of silver, which shows that Li Youku's family situation at that time was extraordinary.
Looking at the historical materials today, the wealth of his family can also be glimpsed: "Great-grandfathers are secretive, karmic Confucian, and multi-hidden virtue." Zu Zhen Deben, like to read, good charity and charity. "Therefore, looking at what they have done, those who are not clothed and fed can do it." (Photo: Jin Hongzhi Beiyue Literature and History Research)
About the Author:
Jin Hongzhi, a native of Hunyuan, Shanxi, graduated from Shanxi College of Media and Communication in 1995, and is now working at Hunyuan County Television Station, a researcher of literature and history, and a lover of calligraphy and painting.