February 15, 2022, Lantern Festival.
From the county seat of Ningdu, go to Dongshanba Town. In the old dam by the Meijiang River, I saw an abandoned village, in which the scale of the ancient building complex was magnificent and the status quo was desolate and decadent.
Located in the Meijiang Water Transport Wharf, it was once a place where merchants and merchants came and went, and the market was prosperous and the people were prosperous. The buildings are mostly composed of green bricks, decorated with carved beams and paintings. Unfortunately, the villagers have all relocated, leaving only a group of ancient buildings that have been hollowed out by time.
It is said that during the era of great demolition and construction, they were able to survive intact, thanks to the strong protection of the governor of Dongshanba at that time.
These ancient buildings need to be repaired urgently, and if they are not repaired, many things will never be restored to their original state. But the money required is enormous, and neither the government nor the descendants of the owners of the houses are currently unable to implement them. County, town, and village cadres are all looking forward to the injection of social funds and revitalizing them.
I imagine what it will look like in the future: tourist attractions, homestays, ancestral hall cultural research sites, artist creation bases, or something else?
At the very least, it shouldn't disappear from the planet.
A large pond sits at the head of the village
The ancient ancestral hall is connected to the decaying houses
The ancestral hall is made of green brick and solid wood, and the frame and base are still very strong
In the center of the village is the Li Family Temple, which has a history of hundreds of years
The Qilin listening to the book on the wall of the Li Family Temple is the same age as the building
The Red Army slogan on the outer wall: Ten crimes of the Kuomintang
The complex is still beautiful, with former fertile fields and ponds occupied by wild water hyacinths
In the past, flagpole stones and horse stakes became small stone bridges
Wild reeds spread around the village
Only an old man was seen hoeing the ground
Some houses have only remnants of walls left
Friends say that standing in front of such a building, you can make a big movie with any shot
A few trees, already eager to occupy the house
The only house with clothes hanging in front of the door, did not see the owner,
I don't know what kind of people have the courage to stand alone in the empty village
The whole village has been hollowed out by time, and I can only imagine the bustle and fireworks that were once there
Chao Yan is a member of the Chinese Writers Association and a student of the 29th Advanced Research Class of Lu Xun Literature Institute. His works can be found in "People's Literature", "Youth Literature", "Works", "Tianya", "Selected Essays" and other journals. He has won the Junma Award, the Annual Award of "National Literature", the Ding Ling Literature Award, the Sanmao Prose Award and other awards, and his works have been selected into the "21st Century Prose Annual Selection" and "China Annual Prose". Published a collection of essays, "Mai Cai Ling Under the Sky", "Juror's Notes", and "Gandi Wind And Currents".
"Gandi Wind And Currents", Baihuazhou Literature and Art Publishing House
The first edition will be available in major online stores in July 2021