Shandong ancient wells are rich in resources, strong practicality, high artistic level, and most of the ancient wells that are currently left can continue to flow out of the water——
Ancient wells everywhere
□ Reporter Lu Yu
"Well", as a hieroglyph, is a beautiful word. Wells are very common in Qilu, either next to the vegetable garden field, or in the alley in front of the house, or in the mountain pass where the peaks and loops, or in the bustling downtown. The story of man and well stirs up many resonances.
With the popularization of tap water, the use value of wells has been decreasing, but the value of humanity has gradually jumped. Recently, the book "Archives of Ancient Wells in Shandong" organized and compiled by the Provincial Water Conservancy Comprehensive Undertaking Service Center was printed. The editorial department of the book has selected a total of 106 ancient well materials with certain value. "This book is not only a 'living archive' of ancient wells, but also helps to popularize the knowledge of wells, record the history of ancient wells, and inherit the culture of ancient wells, which has certain historical and cultural value and plays a positive role in further promoting the construction of shandong water culture." Zhao Xin, deputy director of the Provincial Water Conservancy Comprehensive Undertaking Service Center and deputy editor-in-chief of the book, introduced it.
Shandong ancient well artwork is high
"A history of water conservancy can be said to have begun with the invention and use of wells by human beings." Zhao Xin said: Digging wells and drawing springs has always been an important way for the Chinese nation to develop and utilize groundwater resources. As early as the primitive society, the industrious and intelligent Chinese ancestors invented and created the water conservancy project of water wells.
Wells have appeared in the Shandong region as early as the Beixin culture period more than 6,000 years ago. By the time of the Dawenkou culture, the use of wells had been relatively extensive, and they had been found in Sites such as Zaozhuang Jianxin, Tengzhou XigongQiao, and Guangrao Fujia. Especially during the Longshan culture period, water wells have been very common, and they have been continuously found in sites such as Yanzhou Xiwu Temple, Jinan Chengziya, and Qingzhou Fenghuangtai. These wells are nearly two meters shallow, 7 meters deep, and generally about 5 meters. Various water-drawing vessels and other pottery have been unearthed in the wells, indicating that the wells have been used for a long time.
On the west side of the middle section of Shunjing Street in Lixia District, Jinan City, there is a Shunjing, named after the legend that Shun dug a well out of the spring. The Northern Wei Dynasty Daoyuan's "Notes on the Water Classics" says: "The south of the city is facing the mountain, there is a Shun Ancestral Hall on the mountain, and there is a large cave under the mountain, which is called "Shunjing".
The invention and use of wells is a sign of the development of productive forces. Ancient humans could only live near rivers and lakes and other places with surface water sources, and the current situation of living on water and low productivity levels led to a low demand for water, making people turn a blind eye to the discovery of wells for a long time. The relative growth of the population, or the occasional drying up of the river in the place of residence, forced the application of this discovery to the practice of sinking wells for water.
After the invention of sinking wells, people got rid of their dependence on rivers and lakes and spread to all the vast areas with underground water sources, thus obtaining a broader living space and freedom of survival, opening up the history of human beings from living in water and grass to settling in villages, and greatly promoting the development of agricultural production.
In Shandong, the ancients left us thousands of ancient well ruins and remains. Zhucheng Yitai Eastern Han Portrait Stone Tomb and Jiaxiang Eastern Han Portrait Stone Tomb both have pictures of wells. Among them, the well platform of Zhucheng Well is square, the column is tic-tac-toe, and two columns are erected on the column, and the image of the well is vivid. "The invention of the well has expanded the scope of human activities, promoted the formation and development of society, and promoted the progress of human civilization." Zhao Xin introduced.
"Shandong gujing is rich in resources, strong practicality, and high artistic level." Zhao Xin introduced that some have become historical and cultural symbols carrying nostalgia with their long construction age, unique design technology and rich folk allusions. For example, the former residence well of Confucius in Qufu is rumored to be the draught well of Confucius; After the restoration of the Holy Gate of Yan Temple, on the west side of the Guiren Gate, there is a well where Yan Zi used to draft water, which is named because Yan Zi lives in the Ugly Lane, so it is called the Ugly Lane Well; Dongquanzijing, Qiancheng Village, Taoxu Town, Mengyin County, was excavated by the famous Ming Dynasty writer and poet Gong Nai; Witnessing Pu Songling's creation of "Liaozhai Zhiyi", Liuquan, Mao Ting is like a beautiful scene, and the scenery of that year can be faintly seen.
"Judging from the function of wells in the province, most of the ancient wells currently left in Shandong can continue to produce water, which can achieve basic functions such as drinking and irrigation." Zhao Xin said that for example, the Yellow Deer Well in Miaozi Town, Qingzhou City, Weifang City, since its opening in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, has been deepened for a long time, and the rope stones have been ground, and so far the large bluestone at the mouth of the well has been ground with more than forty rope marks, reaching a depth of five centimeters, and the viewers are all amazed.
The Qilu culture witnessed by the ancient well
Shandong Gujing has outstanding economic, social and cultural functions. Some ancient wells provided important water sources for the lives of the ancestors, such as Yiyuan Jiulong Spring. On September 18, 1980, the yiyuan ape man fossils dating back 400,000 to 500,000 years ago were found in Anshan, a horseback mountain in the Lushan Mountains, and the excavation site of the Yiyuan ape man fossils was directly opposite jiulong spring, and the distance between the two points was only a few hundred meters. The Upper Cliff Cave and the Lower Cliff Cave, where the remains of ancient human existence are found, are also not far north of the spring, and the Jiulong Spring may be the main water source of the Yiyuan Ape Man.
As an integral part of Chinese culture, "Shijing" also has many practices on the land of Qilu. Literally, the city and the well have a lot to do with each other. "Guan Zi Xiao Kuang": "The merchant will be in the city" "The establishment of the city must be four directions, if the system of building a well." The "Explanation of Words and Words" said: "The city, the place of buying and selling." According to this, the ancients called the place where commodities were bought and sold "Ichijing".
As early as the pre-Qin period, water wells collided with the city wells to produce sparks. The area around the well has become a public living space because the public draws water, and gradually forms a place for trading activities at the well, and the well naturally becomes the birthplace of the city well. The city well is a trade place that is one level higher than the water well and the commodity trade is more developed, and it also refers to the residential area of the civilians, and the city is the development direction of the city well.
In Shandong, there are many examples of jingcheng villages. For example, in the village of Wuyanjing in Shuangquan Town, Changqing District, Jinan, there is a line of five-eye wells under the hillside of the village, and the water quality is sweet. According to the "Annals of Changqing Geographical Names", Wuyanjing Village was first built by the Wei family, and Wuyanjing Village was originally named Weijiazhuang, which has a history of more than 600 years. In order to protect the mountain spring water, the villagers built a rectangular pond around it, covered with four stone slabs, and formed five wells, known as the five eyes well, which later evolved into the name of the village. Located in Jiuhu Town, Zouping City, Binzhou City, the village of Drinking Horse is also said to have been renamed Drinking Horse Village because In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, the King of Qin, drank horses in the wells in the village. Although everyone in the village now has access to tap water, the drinkable horse well still exists and the water source is still broken.
Some ancient wells bear witness to the interweaving of Qilu culture. For example, the black purr spring in Xuejiayu Village, Xihe Town, Zichuan District, Zibo City. It is rumored that this well was built during the construction of the Great Wall of Qi. At that time, due to the large amount of engineering, the large number of laborers, and the large number of Qi troops stationed in xuejiayu lots, the draft water needed to be transported from the surrounding areas with livestock, which was very inconvenient and difficult to draft, and the King of Qi ordered the craftsmen to renovate and dig deeply.
In the north of the ancient city village of Shangye Town, Fei County, Linyi City, there is a Jihuanzi well, also known as the Sheep Well. According to historical records, the earliest ruler in the history of Fei County was Ji You, the fourth son of Duke Huan of Lu in the Spring and Autumn Period, because of his strategy, he twice supported the king of the State of Lu with meritorious service, was worshipped as a superior minister, and gave Ji You the "Land of Yandi and the Field of Wenyang" as a private residence for generations. Ji You's seventh grandson Ji Huanzi succeeded his father as Lu Guozhengqing.
In the fifteenth year of the Duke of Luding (495 BC), Ji Huanzi dug a well in his fiefdom of Yudu and dug a large and small clay vessel with a large mouth inside, which no one could recognize. Ji Huanzi found Confucius and asked, "My family dug a well and got a monster like a dog, what is it?" Confucius said, "This is a sheep!" The ancients said, 'The monster of the mountain is called a hammer; The monster of water is called a dragon and an elephant; The monster of the earth is called the sheep. 'In the land of this day, there must be sheep.' Ji Huanzi asked again, "What is a sheep?" Confucius said, "Neither female nor male, but in vain its form." Ji Huanzi called the people of The Land to ask, and sure enough, he couldn't tell the difference between male and female, so he exclaimed, "Zhongni's learning, the fruit is unattainable!"
Ji Huanzi dug a well and obtained a sheep, which has been recorded in the historical records for more than 2400 years, and the ancient stele of the site still exists, which not only proves that it is the predecessor of the fei county water conservancy project with written records and physical witnesses, the long history of fei county and the origin of Confucian culture, but also proves the status and influence of ji in the history of fei county.
The well was in the minds of the ancients
Is not modifiable for migration
The original meaning of the well is the well, and its extension means the township and the population settlement. In the minds of the ancients, the well was unchangeable, as the Zhou Yi said, "change the well without changing the well", only in this way can "no loss and no gain, go back and forth to the well".
In Shandong, some ancient wells contain information on village changes and family migrations, and have rich folk appreciation and research value. For example, the large well located in Chezhuang Village, Wulin Street, Yicheng District, Zaozhuang City, was built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, and it is rumored that when the Ming Dynasty immigrated, the surnames of Che, Yuan, Li, Liu and other surnames were built when they moved from the Magpie Nest of Hongdong County, Shanxi Province, to live here, and have a history of more than 600 years.
Legend has it that in the late Qing Dynasty, during the great drought, the people were not happy, and many disaster victims filled the water of this well and saved many refugees. During the Liberation War, the People's Liberation Army living here also relied on this well to drink water. In 2011, Chezhuang Village was relocated as a whole, and in order to protect the ancient well, in 2015, the well was renovated, and a stone monument was erected to protect it. At present, Gujing still provides drinking water for more than 800 people in Chezhuang Village, playing a role in drinking and irrigation.
Some ancient wells have strong history and legend culture, and have high literary and artistic value, such as Huayang Palace Ancient Well, Weaver Girl Spring, etc.; Some ancient wells are rich in minerals and excellent water quality, and have become the pillars of characteristic economic development, such as knocking down wells and ancient wells...
"Water springs and wells are a pair of 'twin sisters' that are both distinct and complementary." Zhao Xin introduced that for thousands of years, the people of Shandong have used vertical shafts to extract groundwater, use mountain springs, transform them into wells, and develop and utilize mountain spring water. In addition to the world-famous spring water in Jinan, there are also many springs and wells on both sides of the Taiyi Mountains, such as Heiyu Spring in Tai'an, Weaver Girl Spring, Dog Running Spring, Jiulong Spring in Zibo, Zimu Spring, Hui Spring, And Sijiao Spring in Linyi.
In the Shandong section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, the ancients creatively used well spring water to replenish the canal water source, providing a rich water source for canal shipping. Zhangjiaquan, located in Nanman Village, Wenmiao Subdistrict, Ningyang County, Tai'an City, is proof of this. Zhangjiaquan was founded in the Ming Dynasty, and the Zhangjiaquan Monument that once stood on the spring side records the past of the spring. "This stele is evidence of the introduction of springs in Shandong in the Ming Dynasty, and is of great value for the study of hydraulic facilities and water conservancy management in the Ming Dynasty." Zhao Xin introduced.
"In an era when productivity is extremely backward, building a well not only requires a lot of manpower and material resources, but also requires a kind of wisdom and spirit. The history of shandong's ancient wells and famous wells is the history of the qilu people's strength and indomitability and courage to fight. Zhao Xin concluded.