In Jiaodong place names, in addition to "夼", "疃", "Shop", "Ditch", "Gezhuang", "庵" is also a relatively common suffix, the front is usually matched with "surname" and "home", combined into the village name of "A Certain Family An" (there are also other combination types).
If you look closely at the map, it is not difficult to find what these villages with the suffix "庵" have in common – most of them are located in remote mountainous areas. For example, there are Wang Jia'an and Li Jia'an around Muping Kuncheng Mountain, Sun Jia'an and Cui Jia'an in The Wendeng Tiger Mountain, and Tianheng Town, located in the eastern corner of Jimo, there are also many villages with "an".
According to the dictionary, an temple has multiple meanings, both pointing to the place where the family practices, or to the grass hut. Judging from the field visits and inquiries, the "庵" in the suffix of Jiaodong place names mostly refers to "grass houses" (some villages do have temples around them). In fact, "grass house" is also the original meaning of the word 庵 (variant: 菴).
In terms of origin, the emergence of the village of "An" is closely related to an ancient occupation. This kind of occupation is "watching yamato".
The so-called "mountain households" are the hired workers who used to take care of the mountains for the wealthy families. In order to facilitate their work, they usually build a grass hut (nunnery) near the mountain for living. As a result, outsiders sometimes refer to them as "Kan-an-to".
"Kanan" is a kind of long-term work, as short as a few years, as long as a lifetime, and even father and son. This is somewhat similar to the tenants of the past. In this case, people who come to see the nunnery will generally drag their families to settle down. After several generations of reproduction, the original grass house may gradually expand into a small mountain village.
After the above background preparation, now mention the protagonist of this article - Haiyang "Yu Jia An" Village, I believe that even friends who have not been there should have a rough image in their minds.
Yes, as described earlier, Yujia'an Village is a place located deep in the mountains and inhabited by the descendants of "Kanan".
Specifically, Yujia'an is located in the area under the jurisdiction of Xiaoji Town, south-west of Haiyang City, in the mountainous area where the village is located, called "Crooked Mouth Mountain".
From the town station to Yujia'an Village, you need to take a road to Yahou Village, then cross it from the village center street to a cement road to the east. After walking for three or four miles, after turning over a large slope, you can see pieces of red tiles in the distant mountain pass, which is Yujia'an Village.
(▲The mountain road from Yahou Village to Yujia'an)
After getting closer, you can estimate the number of local houses through visual inspection, about twenty or thirty. Obviously, the size of Yujia'an Village is very small—even if these twenty or thirty houses are full, there are not necessarily too many people, not to mention that many of them are already vacant. Because of this, its nature is only a natural village, administratively subordinate to the adjacent cliff queen. During the production team period of the last century, the official name here was actually the tenth squad of the cliff brigade.
In today's countryside, many people have gone to the city to work and live. Even in some large villages, there are not many people on the street, and small villages are naturally more deserted. Before going to Yujia'an Village, I was worried that I would not find the right person to inquire about the situation. But fortunately, at the door of a courtyard in the village, we met two uncles who were repairing agricultural machinery and agricultural tools. With their enthusiastic introduction, we have learned a lot about the history of this small mountain village.
Originally, the first yu surnamed people who came here to see the nunnery were Dugezhuang, who moved to the north of the village, and the time was probably the middle and late Qing Dynasty.
(▲Village appearance of Yujia'an)
According to legend, the surname Yu was originally moved by two brothers, then one moved back to Dugzhuang, the other rooted in the local area, and now the villagers of Yujia'an are his descendants.
According to the patriarchal system of the past, the surname of Dugezhuang is Dazong, and the surname of Yu jia'an belongs to the branch. Therefore, the latter had long followed the rules to go to Dugzhuang to worship their ancestors, and it was not until the middle of the last century that it gradually faded.
Since the establishment of the village, how many generations have the Surname Yu multiplied? The two uncles said they could not remember the complete family tree and had difficulty giving accurate answers. But according to their introduction, the blood relationship between the villagers is still relatively close to each other, and the farthest may be just out of the five clothes.
Relatively close blood relations also increase people's cohesion. Although Yujia'an is small, the village is also quite tidy, which is the reason for the unity of heart.
According to the two uncles, although there are only twenty or thirty houses in the village, the population has reached three digits - in the past, the families were relatively large. Around the 1970s, the population of Yujia'an Village peaked, when the total number of men, women and children living in this mountain pass was 106, and the difference between two people could be 108 generals.
Since then, however, the size of the village has declined as the birth rate has declined and the number of people moving out has increased. At present, there are about twenty households living in the village, and the average of each household is about two people.
(▲The scene of overlooking the village behind the cliff from the slope is obviously much larger than that of Yu Jia'an)
Living in the mountains has advantages and disadvantages. The so-called "disadvantages" are mainly inconvenient transportation. And "li" is reflected in the almost pristine landscape.
Perhaps it is precisely because of the relationship between living in this environment all year round that the residents of Yujia'an Village generally live longer. Among the small total population, there have been many centenarians. Coincidentally, two elderly uncles who introduced us to the history of the village, their respective mothers belonged to this situation, one of them is still alive, and in another year he will be 103 years old. "Good water, good air, good mentality, it is easy to live a long life." The two old men thought so.
After finishing the conversation with them, we spent a few more minutes circling the village and returning the same route. When I turned over the slope again, for some reason, I suddenly had this idea in my mind: "Ten years later, I will still come here to have a look." (Author: Ear Left Moon)