I attended Li Yan, ‖ Xicheng Lane

I attended the meeting in West Lane

Li Yan

Xicheng Lane, also known as alley, is 360 meters long and 4 meters wide, and is located on the west side of the North Pass of Huili Ancient City. In the Ming Dynasty, it was a market trading city in Huili, which contains the meaning of "watching the sunset in the west, celebrating the harvest in autumn", symbolizing harvest and prosperity. In the sixth year of Qing Tongzhi (1867), when the outer city and the three passes of the east, west and north were built, they were reduced and paved with bluestone to form streets and alleys, so they were also called "alleys". I was born in 1970 in this alleyway, which is a winding, wide, narrow, convex alley that leaves fond memories of my childhood.

According to historical records, since the Han and Tang Dynasties, silk and other materials from the Central Plains and Shudi have passed through Huili into Yunnan, and finally reached Central asia and West Asia. Xicheng Lane was the place where merchants and craftsmen used to live. At that time, most of the people living here were engaged in dyeing and weaving, pharmacies, mounting, restaurants, horse shops and other industries, businesses, inns, horse shops abounded, the alley shops were connected, the back yard of the store was dependent on each other, the blue-gray old house walls, the red bucket arch, the old wall house of the horse house, there were still traces of mangers and large stone cylinders, leaving the memories of the horse gang on the ancient southern Silk Road here. Today, there is also a "forbidden monument" at the entrance of the alley, engraved with the words "standing in the eleventh year of Qing Guangxu", with the content of "heavy incorruptibility and customs", warning residents to abide by the "four no-nos" code of conduct, this "forbidden monument" was rated by scholars as the earliest "municipal management regulations" in modern times. It can be imagined that the merchants who have traveled from south to north, the sound of horseshoes one after another, the streets are full of dazzling, silk from the Central Plains and Shudi, sea shells, corals, pearls in Central Asia Minor, and local iron, copper and other metal products, etc., the ancient Xicheng Lane is so bustling and prosperous.

In childhood memories, the alleys are curved, the width is uneven, the bluestone pavement is uneven, there are no inns, businesses and horse shops on the street, the prosperity of ancient times is no longer there, some are just door panels against the door panels, and there are hundreds of residents living next to each other. The buildings that still exist on both sides of the alley, the restoration of the original and complete preservation of the appearance of ancient buildings, especially the courtyard gate, door frame, eaves on the wood carving, stone carving, brick carving, everywhere is carved works, flowers, birds, fish and insects come to life, Meilan bamboo chrysanthemums are varied, and the exquisite skills of ancient carving artists can be described as breathtaking.

The people in the alley are simple, the whole alley is like a harmonious residential courtyard, and the neighbors are like a big family, harmonious and mutual help. From the beginning of my memory, my grandmother lived in the alley, when my parents were teachers in the countryside, and every winter and summer vacation, my parents took us to live at my grandmother's house. The mother had six sisters, and at this time the babies of the six sisters were gathered at grandma's house from all over the world. When I was a child, the happiest time I can remember is after dinner, when adults sit in pairs on stones of different shapes in front of each house (those stones are very large, two or three people have a hard time moving, and I don't know where the ancestors moved from and how they moved, almost all the families have a piece in front of them, generally one or two people can sit, the stones have been polished very smooth), the men or take a cigarette bag in one hand, or hold a large water cup, or smoke, drink water, brag and gossip, or sit quietly; The women carry a bamboo woven dustpan or the like, load the clothes and pants to be sewn, etc., and also find a stone to sit, while doing manual work while the parents chat briefly, doing the housework that can never be done; And our group of children ran from this side to that side in groups of three or five, playing and playing, from the east house to the west house, from downstairs to downstairs, chasing the happiness of children, until nightfall, in the repeated urging of adults to go home. This holiday joy lasted until I was ten years old. In 1980, my mother was transferred to a primary school on the outskirts of the city to teach, and when she left early and returned late, we often lived in my grandmother's house, an alley. In this way, I completed my elementary school student career in the joy of no heart and no liver.

In junior high school, 1984, 1985 those years, began to study at night, perhaps it is the growth and change of girls, I actually became timid, began to be afraid of the alley of the night road, when the alley only has two street lights, and in the empty night, the light of the street lamp is not very bright and not far away. Every night after self-study into the alley, most of them rely on the light from the crack in the door of the house to walk on the road, always worried, the most hope that which house does not close the door, I can use the light of his house, quickly walk in the direction of home.

Standing at the entrance of the alley and looking deep into the alley, the distance was dark, and the location of the home felt even more out of reach, and the heart began to tense at that moment. At that time, I thought that this section of the alley was the longest and longest, and the location of the home was at the end of the alley, almost to the top of the slope at the highest point of the 360-meter alley. The section of the road that is close to home after climbing the slope is the darkest, there is no street lamp, there is an arch hole, there is a slight turn, there are fewer residents, and it is also the section I am most afraid of walking.

From the half slope to the top of the slope, and then to the arch cave side, about 20 meters away, only lived a mentally ill mother-in-law, during the day when there was nothing to do, she sat in front of her own door to scold people, sometimes with things to smash people passing by, no one dared to provoke her, are far away, at night is more afraid of being scared by her. From the elderly population, I learned that she was also a poor widowed old man, and she died early when she was a son and a daughter, which may also be the cause of her illness, and I don't know if there are any relatives alive, all rely on the neighborhood committee to manage her.

From this side of the cave through the arch hole, to the home is about 50 meters long, although only a short distance of less than 50 meters, but because of the curvature, in the arch cave side can not see the door of the home, almost to the top of the slope I began to speed up the pace, three steps into two steps, almost close to the trot rush, not caring about the uneven stone road, has been letting go of the legs to run in the direction of home, fast through the door of the sick mother-in-law. Run out of the arch hole 10 meters, you can see the door of the home, suddenly not panicked, the pace is relatively slow, in the run to take away to complete the distance of 30 meters, open the door to step into the moment, can't help but look back at the black arch hole that just ran, quickly close the door, this is the heart to settle. Later, when I became an adult, I thought it was funny and scared myself.

From childhood to youth, I lived in the alley for twenty-five years, until I got married and did not leave the alley. The simple, kind, and hospitable temperament of the alley residents infected me, and whenever I think back to the days in the alley, the kind and warm feeling in my heart comes out of nowhere, and the simple and flavorful childhood life has a long aftertaste. So now, in my spare time after dinner, I still pull my family to the alley from time to time, trying to find the memory that remains in my memory.

In recent years, Huili Ancient City has become the 8th national historical and cultural city in Sichuan Province, and it is also a national 4A-level tourist scenic spot, and Xicheng Alley is not only a key street protected by a national historical and cultural city, but also a microcosm of Huili's profound historical and cultural heritage. The ancient buildings and ancient houses of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the hoof marks on the ancient Southern Silk Road, will surely add luster to huili cultural tourism.