Editor's note: This article is the last in a series of bibliophile Wei Li's field search notes on the relics of ancient Chinese literati, and the photos are provided by the author.
Yao Nai
The three ancestors of Tongcheng refer to Fang Bao, Liu Daxun and Yao Nai respectively. The establishment of the Tongcheng Sect was actually finally formed by Yao Nai, and one of his main motives for founding the Tongcheng Sect was to compete with the Ancient Classics School headed by Dai Zhen.
Yao Nai's former residence is located in Tongcheng Middle School, No. 10 Tongcheng Park Road, Anhui Province, and to this day Tongcheng is still famous for its articles, and there are indeed too many celebrity former residences here. Tongcheng Middle School is so famous that it is still a famous school in Anhui today, and it is said that its promotion rate has always been at the forefront of the country. In my personal advice experience, it is not easy to enter the school, and Yao Nai's former residence, that is, the famous Xi Baoxuan, is just wrapped in the campus of Tongcheng Middle School, in fact, this relationship should be reversed: Tongcheng Middle School is expanded on the site of Yao Nai's former residence, I don't know what my own statement, Tongcheng Middle School people think, but my trip to find has left a good impression on this school.
When I came to Tongcheng, it was just in time for the National Day holiday, the campus was quiet, but the doorman was still loyal to his duties, I explained to him the purpose of my visit here, and at the same time concisely praised Yao Nai and Tongcheng Middle School, but the doorman just smiled, I think his smile is to tell me what you think, don't make so many padding, so I straightened my clothes and told him that I wanted to go into the campus to take pictures of the ruins of Yao Nai's former residence, he took my itinerary, looked at it, and then did not say a word, Waving at me, such an important school, it was so smooth to walk in, and I was in a good mood.
Soon, I saw a bust of Wu Rulun on campus, he is the founder of Tongcheng Middle School, naturally should be placed here, but the campus in front of me has been renovated, and there seem to be not many old buildings that can really be seen. After filming Wu Rulun's Mid-Levels Pavilion, I continued to walk around the campus, and soon saw a row of two-story old buildings, in front of the building there was a stout ginkgo tree, I think this tree from the age point of view, should be connected with Yao Nai, really walked closer, saw the introduction nameplate under the tree, in order to prove that the tree is indeed Yao Nai's hand planter. I came closer and wanted to touch the tree's pole, so as to get Yao Nai's aura, but also to let my article go all over the world, but unfortunately this tree was surrounded by a guardrail, so I think, there are not a few people with such a mentality as me, which makes the school take this protective measure.
Although the parapet blocked the tree pole, the fallen leaves were still able to drift out of the parapet, and I picked up a few fallen leaves from the ground and sandwiched them in the small book I carried. Kong Yi has said that stealing books is not stealing, so it can be inferred that picking up the fallen leaves planted by Yao Nai's hand is separated from stealing another layer, but this diaphragm obviously plays a role, because after the fallen leaves are picked up, although I look and touch from time to time, the articles i write out have not seen where they are.
Saw the signs
Of course, just finding the ruins of Yao Nai's former residence will not satisfy my ancient heart, and I must go to his tomb to have a look. Yao Nai's tomb is located in Ruan Pong Village, Yijin Town, Zongyang County, Anhui Province, although it is only thirty kilometers away from Tongcheng County to Yijin Town, but because the road is easier to walk, it feels much closer than the real distance. This taxi driver looks, although the appearance does not have the Sven of the Tongcheng people I imagined, but the behavior along the way seems to have the style of a big brother on the road. Before leaving, I handed him the list, and he said to me with his eyes glancing at the name on it: "Fang Yizhi I know this, Wu Rulun and Yao Nai have signs on the side of the road, when driving by, I have seen it, Liu Daxun does not know this." "I told him that Liu Daxun was Liu Haifeng, and he immediately said that this person had heard of it, and he could know so many historical celebrities, and it seemed that the local literary style had not been completely cut off."
Panoramic view of Yao Nai's tomb
Yao Nai's tomb is on a slope not far from the side of the road. The car can only be parked on the side of the road, I asked the driver to wait here, walked uphill to the slope, soon uphill saw a few simple shacks, there is a forest behind the shacks, Yao Nai's tomb is in this forest, there is a meadow in front of the tomb, these grasses are obviously not wild, but the green space in the city square is paved like a carpet, the south is full of rain, and this method is used to decorate the cemetery, I don't know what kind of mentality. But from the perspective of the nearby form, Yao Nai's tomb should be the original site, and the pillar next to it is plain and unprinted, which is somewhat different from Yao Nai's splendid article, but from the perspective of weathering, at least it is an old object, and the carved stone next to the stele also looks like the original object of the year, from the inscription of the tombstone, this is the joint burial tomb of Yao Nai and his wife.
It is said that the power of the Tongcheng sect has continued until the Republic of China, so the tomb of the founder of this sect should also be worshiped by too many revered people, but the tomb situation is the way it is in front of you, I don't know if it was the catastrophe that made it what it is today. But now, Tongcheng Middle School still takes Yao Nai as the call, if Yao Nai's tomb is built more spectacularly, rather than just paving a lawn so sloppy, I think it will show people's respect for this article.
There is also a provincial cultural protection card here
Square buds
Fang Bao's former residence is located in Tongcheng City, Anhui Province.
Before coming here, I did my homework beforehand, there is an article on the Internet that Fang Bao's former residence is located between the temple lane and the new lane, the teacher heard what I said, she took me to the alley of the new lane, the original new lane and the temple lane are two parallel alleys. Entering this alley, I saw the back wall of an old house, thinking about the direction just now, this wall should be the back wall of Fang Yizhi's former residence that I just went in to shoot, and the original two alleys were sandwiched between Fang Yizhi's former residence. In this way, Fang Yizhi's former residence has always been in this area, I am afraid that it is difficult to have a large place to accommodate the former residence of the lower bud, what is the relationship between the former residence of Fang Yizhi and fang Yizhi, and Fang Yizhi and Fang Bao belong to the same "Guilin Fang", and there are articles on the Internet that Fang Yizhi is a long house, also called "Zhongyi Room", Fang Yizhi is a small room, also called "Zhongliu Room", so that Fang Yizhi is closer to Fang Yizhi, is Fang Yizhi's former residence Fang Bao's ancestral residence? I have not yet found the corresponding supporting material for this conclusion.
One of the things seen in Temple Lane
The situation in the courtyard of Fang Yizhi's former residence
Two days later, I went to visit the Tongcheng Confucian Temple, and a retired teacher who had taken me through before told me that although the Confucian Temple was smashed during the "Cultural Revolution", the overall situation was still well protected, and there was also a tablet for Fang Bao, since I was not sure whether Fang Yizhi's former residence was the same thing as Fang Bao's former residence, then going to the Confucian Temple to find Fang Bao's tablet was also my memorial to everyone in this article.
Came to the gate of the Temple of Literature, but saw the mixed old and new, the "Temple of Literature" plaque above the gatehouse was mottled and full of ancient meaning, and I inadvertently noticed that the plaque was actually Zhao Puchu, so to speak, this is also a close thing. On both sides of the gate tower there are "Tongcheng Confucian Temple" cultural relics protection signs, the gate tower is first the Star Gate, then panchi and xiaoqiao, and then a foyer is the Dacheng Hall, the middle of which is Confucius, the left side is ZengZi and Mencius, the right side is Yan Zi and Zi Sizi, flanked by the ceremonial Zhongyou, Bu Shang, Youruo and ZhuZi, etc., six on the left and right, but I can't find the fang bud I want to find, so I went to the door of the Dacheng Hall to visit the exhibition halls on both sides, and the exhibition held here now, on the one hand is the Yan Fengying Memorial Hall, on the other side is the calligraphy and painting exhibition. It also has nothing to do with Fang Bao. Continuing to look, there is another row of rooms with closed doors and windows, and a simple "Tongcheng Sect Research Society" sign is erected at the door, and the original famous Tongcheng Sect is such a existence in today's reality. Since Fang Bao is the founder of the Tongcheng Sect, now that I have found the research society of this sect, I can also indirectly find the relics of this article.
Tongcheng Confucian Temple Star Gate
The Tongcheng School Research Society, located in the Temple of Literature
Liu Daxun
The tomb of Liu Daqin is located in Xiangrong Village, Jinshe Township, Zongyang County, Anhui Province. Visit the tomb of Yi Zhi, and then ask the driver to send me to the Yunfeng team. After entering the boundary of Xiangrong Village, I saw a tall monument on the side of the road in the distance, and I immediately asked the driver to stop, because I thought it was probably the tomb of Liu Daxun that I was looking for.
Look closely, this stele is newly carved, but the production is quite exquisite, the stele is engraved with the word "Holy Will" on the forehead, and the two sides of the stele are also engraved with reliefs, but a closer look at the handwriting on the tombstone is not the Liu Daxun I am looking for, which makes me a little lost, but the inscription has the name of "Hu Jushu", and the couplets on both sides are engraved with "The soul flies outside the sky and the old man is buried, and the bones are buried on the mountain." I instinctively felt that he should be a book collector, and only such a person buried on the mountain could be transformed from the fragrance of books into the fragrance of grass and trees.
The words "Mr. Haifeng" were identified on the tombstone, and the falling money was "Yao Nai"
When he was about to leave, he turned around and saw a stone carving full of words next to him. This carved stone is very interesting, it turned out to be a reply letter from the Anhui Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau to a man named Hu Dekui, who said that this Hu Dekui suggested the restoration of the Meiziling Arch in Zongyang County. I had never seen a letter carved in stone and then erected in a mountain, and I had not been able to understand why I had replied in such a peculiar way, and why the letter to the private was displayed in a public space.
When I arrived at the Yunfeng team, I inquired about the location of Liu Daxun's tomb, and the villagers immediately pointed to a house by the pond and said that it was behind the house. Following the route this man had pointed out to me, I went around the pond and saw a hill opposite the house, and behind it was a path of climbing steps. Along this way, not far out, you will see a tomb with the inscription "Mr. Liu Gonghaifeng". Finally found the right place. The inscription is "Foolish Nephew Yao Nai". It seems that Liu Daxun's stele was also written by Yao Nai. The tomb here is very small, only made of rubble stacked into a semi-circular arc, the top of the tomb is made of cement poured, the driver stood next to it and said that this should have been renovated later, I praised him for being very clever, only ran with me for one day, and even learned how to see the old and the new.
Liu Dakui's tomb is made of rubble stacked into a semicircle
After photographing the tomb of Liu Daxun, I went down the mountain along the original stone steps and came to the house by the pond. I inadvertently noticed that the back wall of this house was hanging a huge mirror in the direction of Liu Daxun's tomb, and it seemed that this family had also been instructed by a feng shui master. That being the case, why build a house before an ancient tomb? I can only infer that the tomb of Liu Daxun has become extinct at some point, and this family chose the good feng shui of this place and built a house here, and many years later, Liu Daxun's tomb was renovated, and this tomb is directly behind his home, which makes the owner of the house unhappy, so he hung such a large mirror to compete with it.
As I walked out along the edge of the pond, the villager next to me asked me, "Are you going to demolish the house?" "It seems that they are also aware of this problem, but at least Liu Daxun on the famous mountain has attracted the attention of the relevant departments, which is unlikely to relocate the tomb, then the only way can only wait until the relevant departments come to demolish this house, but unfortunately I can't solve such a major problem for the villagers, I can only laugh and tell them that I just came to worship this former sage, and the demolition of the house can only be solved by the relevant local departments."
The house under the hill of Liu Dakui's tomb