Wilderness valleys are formed by sand
Deep in the mountains at the junction of Hunan, Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces, there is a lively small village, Shazhou Village in Chenzhou, Hunan.
The place where the village is located was originally a deserted river valley, because the sediment wrapped in the river continues to accumulate, forming a large sandbar on the shore, so it is named Sandbank Village.
Shazhou Village covers an area of less than one square kilometer and has more than 100 households, of which 60% are Yaos.
Here, you can not only see the typical Shonan houses, but also see the horse's head wall decorated with the horns used by the Yao compatriots in ancient times to drive away evil spirits and the ploughing clothes.
Of course, there is also the traditional bamboo pole dance performance of the Yao people.
Because of the development of tourism, this dance, which used to be only danced on important festivals, is now danced several times a day in Shazhou Village.
In recent years, with the increase of tourists, the life of the sandbar people has become more and more abundant, whether they are busy or idle, people can have work and income. In 2021, the per capita annual income of Shazhou Village has reached more than 17,000 yuan, more than three times that of 2014.
Half a quilt witnessed the affection of the military and civilian fish water
The reason why this small village deep in the mountains is so popular is from a story told more than 80 years ago.
In November 1934, during the Long March, after a fierce battle, the Central Red Army successively came to Rucheng County, where the sandbar was located, for recuperation.
But because before the arrival of the Red Army, the enemy preached everywhere, slandering the Red Army as a bandit. The shazhou people who did not know the situation hid in the mountains, and only the villager Xu Xiexiu's family stayed.
It wasn't that they didn't want to hide, it was because her children were too young and sick to leave. The family hid in the house and closed the door.
On this evening, because of the heavy rain, three female soldiers of the Red Army had to take shelter under the eaves of the Xu family.
Through the crack in the door, Xu Xiexiu saw the warriors huddled under the narrow eaves, allowing the rain to wet their clothes and not come in to disturb them, which surprised her.
So she boldly opened the door, invited a few warriors to come in, and boiled ginger soup for them to drive away the cold. In the evening, Xu Xiexiu unloaded the door panels and put them together to form a bed, asking the soldiers to rest.
At that time, the Xu family only had one broken cotton wool, and the three soldiers also discarded their suits in the rush march, carrying only a quilt. The rainy night was cold, so the four of them huddled on a bed and covered a quilt.
The next day, before leaving, the Red Army soldiers wanted to give the quilt to Xu Xiexiu. But Xu Xiexiu said that he would not ask for anything, and during the push, a soldier took up scissors, cut the quilt in half, and stuffed half into Xu Xiexiu's hand.
The Red Army was a good man, a good man who had a quilt and had to cut off half of it to give to the people, Xu Xiexiu hurriedly let her husband go up the mountain and tell the villagers on the mountain about his own experience.
Since then, the doors of every household in Shazhou Village have been opened to the Red Army. During those most difficult revolutionary years, hundreds of Red Army soldiers were recuperated in Shazhou Village.
Half a quilt, witnessing the years of wind and rain, life and death, and remembering the simple fish and water affection between the Red Army and the people. In 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping told this past story fondly at the conference commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army's Long March. Overnight, the sandbar village hidden deep in the mountains came into everyone's field of vision.
Today's Shazhou Village still retains the former residence of the elderly Xu Xiexiu, and has also built a "half quilt warm" exhibition hall, attracting more than 3.6 million tourists to come here.
Five pavilions inherit the wind of kindness and human kindness
In fact, in Shazhou Village, the tradition of being kind to people has a long history.
On an abandoned ancient official road next to Shazhou Village, there is a pavilion built by a man named Zhu Weishan.
Zhu Weishan was an extraordinarith during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, and his parents named him "For Goodness", hoping that he would practice his ancestral precepts and do good deeds.
The Zhu family moved here during the Ming Jiajing period, when there were already Miao compatriots living here, and they accepted the Zhu family and helped the Zhu family to take root here.
The Zhu family, who have been treated with kindness, have always adhered to the ancestral precept of being kind to others.
In Zhu Weishan's generation, when he saw the porters and pedestrians on the official road, suffering from wind and rain all day and having nowhere to rest, he took out his savings for many years and built five pavilions.
Today, although the ancient official road has long been abandoned, one of the pavilions has survived. A stone stele in the pavilion that reads good books every day, does good deeds, and shelters pedestrians from the wind and rain together" records the long tradition of goodness between people and people in Shazhou.
Help each other to create a better future for the village
Adhering to this tradition, the people of Shazhou have come to this day in the process of mutual help and mutual assistance.
In 2000, the village of Shazhou was able to build a road with the help of the government.
This year, Zhu Xiangyong, a young Yao ethnic group, went out of the mountains to learn technology, and after returning from his studies, he changed his rice fields to fruit trees.
Three years later, the first fruits produced on the fruit trees made Zhu Xiangyong earn a little.
Thinking that he had money to earn together, Zhu Xiangyong shared his skills and experience with everyone without reservation. Led by him, the villagers of the sandbank planted fruit trees one after another. In 2010, the fruit trees in the village ushered in a bumper harvest.
This was supposed to be a festive thing, but everyone couldn't celebrate it, because the market was not good that year, and the price of the fruit they planted fell so badly that no one came to buy it.
Seeing that the fruit hanging on the tree was about to rot, Zhu Xiangyong rushed to take everyone and run sales channels around the country. Finally got a six-ton order.
With an order, how do I allocate it? The sandbar people did not say a word, and let the family's most difficult family come first.
Later, the shazhou people formed a fruit planting cooperative, and also invited scientific and technological personnel to train everyone, with the strength of the collective, the fruit planting industry in Shazhou Village has developed steadily. By 2021, the income generated by fruit in Shazhou Village will account for 70% of the village's annual per capita disposable income.
Today's Shazhou Village, surrounded by a large area of fruit forests, the rich fruit fragrance floats throughout the village; tourists from all over the world come here in an endless stream, bringing infinite vitality to the small mountain village; and a highway leading directly to the village mouth brings more convenience and broad development space to the village.
Tonight at 20:00, walk into the sandbar village deep in the mountains and see a village that is beautiful because of "goodness".
"Remember Nostalgia" rural revitalization series
Broadcast content: "Shazhou Village - Accompanied by Wind and Rain, Happy to Be Home"
Broadcast time: February 11, 2022 (Friday) 20:00
Broadcast channel: CCTV-4 Chinese international channel
Edit | Wang Linyan