Happy Jiangze Village
On the south bank of the beautiful White Clam Lake, there is an ancient village whose name is Jiang Ze.
Jiang Ze Village
"Jiang Ze", as the name suggests, this must be a place with an indissoluble relationship with water. It leans on The White Clam Lake to the north, Dongting Port to the east, Paisha Port to the west, and Sanctuary Harbor to the south. There is a port in the lake, a river in the harbor, a hama in the river, and a stream between the hama. The village is densely packed with rivers and many small bridges. The people of the village live by the water, have been farming for generations, they have a gentle temperament like water, and they speak Wu Nong soft language. Under the thousand-year-old moist watershed of Jiangnan Water Town, the Jiangze people lived and worked in peace and contentment in this spiritual land, and multiplied and lived.
Sanctuary Harbor
A corner of The West Hamlake Bay in Jiangze Village
During the Ming and Qing dynasties of Jiangze Village, it belonged to the twenty-eight capitals and thirty-nine maps of Jiuyong Township, and belonged to the sixth district during the Republic of China period. Now part of Sanhao Village, Lili Town, Wujiang District, Suzhou City, geographically, it is at the northernmost tip of Xinta, intertwined with Zhouzhuang Town in Kunshan City to the east and Clam South Village in Jinjiaba Community to the west. The village is divided by a river, and if you look at it through aerial photography, you will witness what the local old man said: The river shape of the entire Jiangze village is a giant dragon. The north-south river is called the Zhihe River, which is wide and long, with clear water flow, and belongs to the dragon's body; the east-west Henghe and The West Yokogawa are the two hind claws of the dragon; the left side of the south end and the right Side of the West Bang are the two front claws of the dragon; and the dragon's head is on the south side of the village.
The port of the Sanctuary is bordered by Zhouzhuang to the east
Tomb of King Cao
Regarding the Touziwei where Longshou is located (now the site of the Jiangze Village Health Service Station and the Lianhua Supermarket), it is said that the feng shui is excellent. The famous tomb of King Cao in history is buried here.
Jiangze Village Health Service Station
Historical records record: "Emperor Taizong of Tang Li Shimin assassinated Princess Yang of the Yang clan, gave birth to the fourteenth son Li Ming, zhenguan twenty-one years (647), the prince of Cao. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong (656-660), King Cao was demoted to the post of Assassin of Suzhou, Shi Huizheng, and Meritorious Place, and after his death, Wanmin was buried in Jiangze Village, Xinta Town, Wujiang, Jiangsu Province, called the Tomb of King Cao. In the year of Nongzi (712), Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, erected a shrine on the left side of the tomb for people to sacrifice and worship. During the Yuan dynasty, monk Zhifu built the caowang ancestral hall as a liuqing nunnery. In the seventeenth year of the Qing Kangxi Dynasty (1678), the monks Weiru and Faru rebuilt Liuqing'an. According to legend, there is a stele in front of the tomb of King Cao, and there are Jia Yong who are abandoned in the water. Someone peeked into the palace of his tomb, and his coffin was hanging on the ground, which belonged to the princely burial style. In the third year of Liang Kaiping (909), huai soldiers besieged Su, and Qian Wei, the king of Wuyue, prayed in front of the tomb, and sealed the Marquis of Zhaoling, and the gods began from then on. Zhaoling Hou Temple is viewed to the Song and Yuan Dynasties, commonly known as the City God Temple. Xinta Jiangze belongs to the boundary of Wujiang County, and Cao Wang is also the county god of Wujiang County. ”
Former site of Yanagi Khangan
According to the recollection of the old man in Jiangze Village, the villagers of all generations knew that there was a "king's tomb" on the Touzi Wei, but they did not know that this tomb was actually the burial place of Li Mingcao, the fourteenth son of Tang Taizong Li Shimin. Later, it was officially confirmed that the "tomb of the king" in the mouth of the local people was the "tomb of king Cao". In 1966, at the beginning of the "Cultural Revolution", the tomb of Cao Wang was excavated, and cultural relics were excavated from it: a sword and a stele. It was then sent to Wujiang. However, according to later investigators, the sword and stele have not been found in the Wujiang Museum so far. It is also said that because cultural relics are more precious, they may have been sent directly to Suzhou or Nanjing museums for collection.
Wujiang Museum
The villagers do not know much about the origin of Cao Wang's tomb, but they are deeply impressed by the Liuqing'an on the left side of the tomb of King Cao. Liuqing'an is surrounded by small rivers to form a water temple, and there is a leafy, tall and beautiful thousand-year-old ginkgo biloba in the nunnery, like a giant holding a green umbrella to shield the people of JiangZe from the wind and rain. It is said that the stem of this ginkgo tree is thick and requires five or six adult men to surround it. In the summer, people rest under the trees; in autumn, the trees fall on the ginkgo biloba fruit, and the villagers pick it up and soak it and peel off the full-grained, shiny white fruit to eat. But it all ended in 1953 when the ginkgo tree was cut down. According to the elderly, I only remember that in the early morning of that day, there was a sudden loud noise in the village, and the villagers went out to investigate in panic, and when they heard the sound, they ran away, only to see that the thousand-year-old tree had fallen in response to the sound. The cold axe saw ruthlessly separated the roots of the tree from the earth that had embraced it for a thousand years, causing the people to sigh. As for why the relevant departments cut down this towering ancient tree that year, it is not known. In September 1964, the registration form of the Shinta Commune on the situation of the guild hall, temple and ancestral hall stated that there were only 3 remaining houses in Liuqing'an, which were used as the village colonel's house and the warehouse of the production team. It has been demolished and rebuilt. To this day, the former glory of the Touzi Wei has been sealed in people's imagination with history.
Mazi Port in front of Yanagi-an
Jubao Bridge
In the southeast of Liuqing'an, there is a "Liuqing Bridge" connected to the village. Historical records: "In the thirteenth year of Yongzheng, in 1735, the monk Youchen rebuilt the Liuqing Bridge. Unfortunately, later, the Liuqing Bridge, like the thousand-year-old ginkgo biloba, was not spared from being destroyed, and now it is difficult for JiangZe Mura to see the style of this ancient bridge. In addition to the Liuqing Bridge, the Jubao Bridge, located at the junction of Jiangze and Zhouzhuang, is also very famous. Jubao Bridge is located in present-day Jiangze Village Duck Food Basin Beach. Historical records record: Jubao Bridge, in the west of Cwan Yangxi, crosses the characters of two wei, with a wide mouth and rapids. During the Qing Dynasty, Tao Baozong, the ancestor of Tao Xu (the author of the Zhouzhuang Zhenzhi), built a wooden bridge here, which is the same height as the (Zhouzhuang) Bao'en Bridge. In the thirteenth year of Tongzhi (1874), the Li people rebuilt it. In the 1980s, the brick bridge was rebuilt. At the beginning of the 21st century, the original site was rebuilt as a cement bridge. This bridge still carries the daily travel of the people of Jiangze and Zhouzhuang.
The Jubao Bridge under the shade of willow trees
Jubao Bridge vista
Templar Temple
In addition to the famous tombs of King Cao and Liuqing'an in Ezawa Village, Katsuin-an is also very popular. Katsuin-an is commonly known as the "Holy Church", which is said to be the foundation of the temple of Lady Shenggu, and the former village of Jiangze Village is the former site of the Holy Church Temple. Shenggu, according to Fu Zhizai: is the daughter of King Biao of Jin. During the Yuan to Zheng period, it was rebuilt as Katsuin-an. In the Ming Dynasty, it was rebuilt by monk Yingxian. It was rebuilt in the 40th year of the Qing Kangxi Dynasty (1701). Daoguang was rebuilt in the 26th year (1846), and until the 1960s, there were still 3 houses. An ancient yellow beech tree in the temple was later cut down by the relevant authorities, and the year is unknown.
The old house near the site of the former Temple of the Holy Church
In the face of time, everyone is weak, and the king is no exception. History has gradually drifted away in the long river of time, and there are still some Republic of China buildings to be found in Jiangze Village today. In the Xibang Zhangjia family, a five-entry old house was demolished, with a short section of eaves, and the only remaining tiles had four or five kinds of pattern carvings. Although the wooden windows are dilapidated, their small square layout inadvertently still reveals a unique spiritual show of Jiangnan water town. With the improvement of living standards and the rise of rural housing, the old houses were demolished in the 1960s and 1990s, and there is still a cottage and a green brick farm with moss and weeds. In Jiangze Village, there are many courtyards with patios like this, which have been demolished due to various factors.
Republic of China architecture
Wadang pattern
Republic of China architecture national grid window
Green brick yard
Kim Yoon-ji
No matter how time and events change, only the water of Jiangze is still the same. It flows through time with its own flexibility, washing the years. One side nurtures the other side of the people, and throughout the dynasties, Jiang Ze has produced many talents, and a number of people with lofty ideals from all walks of life have emerged. Such as Jin Yunzhi from the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty. The history books record: "Jin Yunzhi, Zi Ji Sheng, Wujiang Xinta Jiangze people, Ming Chongzhen three years (1630) Shun Tianxiang test special ceremony. In the sixteenth year (1643), Yang Tingjian listed two hundred and fifty-two jinshi in the third rank. He was once in Jinjiangzhi County, Fujian Province. ”
Xu Da
Jiang Ze has been a jinshi, and there are also famous people. The Xu family in the former village is said to have been after Marshal Xu Da, a general under Zhu Yuanzhang in the Ming Dynasty. According to historical records: "In the twenty-sixth year of Zhizheng (1366 AD), Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Xu Da as a general and Chang Yuchun as a deputy general, and led an army of 200,000 to attack Zhang Shicheng. Zhang Shicheng personally led elite troops to help... Xu Da toured the city, and Huzhou surrendered. Then capture Wujiang Prefecture and besiege Pingjiang. Although there are only detailed records of Jiangze Village in Wujiang in the history books, the legend will not come out of nowhere, and there were indeed grand old houses and ancient stone barges that have survived to this day in the xu family ancestors of Jiangze Former Village. Moreover, later, the daughter of King Biao of Jin, Shenggu, chose the site to build a nunnery here, and there must have been her reason, whether it was historical truth or folklore, in the hearts of the local villagers surnamed Xu, everyone had long regarded Marshal Xu Da, a well-known loyal general in history, as his ancestor.
The restored temple site of the temple is a stone barge
Tubes are easy
Although there is no evidence for the legend of Xu's descendants, after liberation, Mr. Guan Yiru, who lived in Liuqing'an, was indeed a cattle man. He seems to have fallen from the sky one day, and no one in the locals knows who he is, and why did he come to Jiang Ze alone? He only knew that he lived alone in the ruined temple of Liuqing'an, accompanied by a room full of books. This person knows astronomy and geography, and can be good at literature and martial arts, but he has simple food and clothing, and has many eccentricities. He preached and taught the children in the village all day long, and he was tireless. The people of Jiang Zemin honored him as Mr. Guan. Some people said that he had served as Chiang Kai-shek's secretary in Nanjing, others said that he had pulled Mei Lanfang to Jinghu in Beijing, and some people said that he was from Hangzhou. Some of the old people in Murakami who had been taught to him as a child would remember Mr. Guan vividly whenever they talked about him: Mr. Guan was a good swimmer, he was super watery, and swimming from Liuqing'an in Jiangze to the city river in Zhouzhuang Town was a piece of cake; a Jinghu was pulled in his hand: as fast as a wind wheel, as dense as a snake's foot, the silver bottle cracked, and the swallow whispered. Even the layman was mesmerized; he had a machete hidden in his room, and occasionally showed it to children... "Many villagers said that Mr. Guan was a bookworm, and now he seems to be a wise fool." Such a scholar who has a knowledge of the past and the present and has great skills must have been selected after he traveled in all directions, and after several screenings, he chose the feng shui treasure land of Jiang Zetou Ziwei, and was willing to draw a perfect end to his legendary life here.
In addition to people like Mr. Guan, who have university questions, Jiang Ze also has many people with lofty ideals in modern and modern times who have been recorded in history. Among them are martyrs who defended the motherland with their lives, scientific research personnel who have won their lives in other places with their knowledge, village cadres and village doctors who have benefited the people with wisdom and ability or medical skills, Tsinghua students, young intellectuals who have dedicated their youth to Jiang Ze's educational cause, entrepreneurs who have led the people to make a fortune in various trades, and more importantly, a group of ordinary people who are industrious and simple and dare to work hard.
Beautiful countryside - Jiangze
With the continuous advancement of the construction of beautiful villages in the Yangtze River Delta, Jiangze Village is now developing in the direction of a new countryside that combines human ecology and modern civilization. The river in the village is clear and clean, surrounded by green trees on the riverbank, and the residential buildings are pink walls. Every house is connected to the road, every household can park, and there is also a fitness garden for villagers to exercise, a pavilion and a square for villagers to rest.
One of the fitness venues in the village
Jiangze Village bus first and last platform
A leisure place for villagers under construction
At the beginning of June 2020, the broken road at the junction of Jiangze Village and Zhouzhuang Town was completely opened, which means that Wujiang Fenhu and Kunshan Zhouzhuang have restored this barrier-free traffic bloodline in history, which is not only the inevitable development of the two places, but also a practical matter for the benefit of the people. As the closest neighbor of Zhouzhuang and the all-round radiation of the ancient town tourism industry, Jiang Ze will make full use of its geographical location and resource advantages, cooperate with Zhouzhuang, vigorously develop a series of tourism industries such as agricultural demonstration sightseeing areas and farm leisure areas, and strive to create a new and beautiful Jiangze.
Before the construction of the junction between Jiangze Village and Zhouzhuang Town
The broken road at the junction of Jiangze Village and Zhouzhuang Town was completely opened
Villagers outing
This article is written by Wang Xiaoping
Editors-in-charge: Gu Xiaohong, Wu Ying
Technical Editor: Wu Ying
Image source: Wang Xiaoping, Collections & Network
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