Note: In 1934, a literary scholar came to Guanzhong from Jiangnan. For Guanzhong, he has both a sense of historical and cultural intimacy and a sense of strangeness in a distant hometown. Through meticulous observation, he delicately presents the rural life in Guanzhong more than 80 years ago to our eyes. In a sense, such literary notes have immortal significance.
Lu Yan (1901-1944)
This writer was Lu Yan, a writer who had deep sympathy for ordinary Chinese people during the Republic of China. In 1934, he went to teach at a middle school in Heyang County (written as Gaoyang in the Republic of China), and about two or three months later, he traveled through Huashan and Lintong to the ancient city of Xi'an. His article is not only a record of the rural areas of Guanzhong more than 80 years ago, but also his own road experience.
This article was originally titled "Guanzhong Trivia" and was published in 1934 in the 47th issue of "Middle School Students".
The money turtle in Huazhou
Author: Lu Yan
From Tongguan to the west to Chang'an, the scenery on the road along the road is similar to what you see on Longhai Road, and you can see some trees far or near at any time. Although the color of the mountain is relatively dark, there are still no stones on the way, only near Huazhou, and suddenly some rocks and stones are found on both sides of the road. But after three or five miles of this, it returned to its original state, and all the way to Chang'an, I couldn't see the stones.
1934 Guo Ziyi Arch from Harvard University
To my astonishment, a companion told me a legend about the stones in the bumpy car after I inquired.
"Around the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty," my companion began to narrate, "there was a richest man in Huazhou, whose name was Li Fengshan, and he was the most miserly and mean-spirited scrooge. He had a lot of money, but he didn't pull out a dime, and he did a lot of evil things. He believed that his property could not be eaten and used for several lifetimes, and one day he boasted: "After drying the Yellow River and collapsing the sky, he cannot be poor in Huazhou Li Fengshan." So his sins and this boastful word reached heaven, and the gods became angry and sent a god to a monastery at the foot of Mount Huazhou to become a monk. One day, wearing a tattered dress, this monk came to Li Fengshan's house to make amends, and Li Fengshan not only did not give him money, but beat him up and drove him out. A kind servant in his family, looking at this monk pitifully, secretly stole two steamed buns and sent them to the gate to give him food.
"—The girl—the monk said gratefully to the young lady—that there is soon a great calamity coming here, that you are a kind man, and that I would like to inform you in advance: If one day you see the eyes of the stone lion at this gate red, you will leave here without a sound, and the faster you run, the farther you will run, the better. Otherwise, your life will be in danger. Remember my words and don't leak them!
Then the monk suddenly disappeared. Listening to his command, the servant went to the gate every morning and evening to see the eyes of the stone lion.
"How many days passed, one morning, the young man really found that the stone lion's eyes were red. It was like a joke of whoever had made it, and a red paper was pasted on the stone lion's eyes. The servant felt that the monk's words had been fulfilled, so he immediately ran away with all his might.
"On this day, The Shaohua Mountains in Huazhou collapsed. The rocks tumbled down, crushing Li Fengshan's family under the stones, but not the monastery at the foot of the mountain.
"Since then, there has been a special animal in Huazhou called the money turtle, which is as big as money and will not die after ten days of starvation. Everyone believes that li fengshan's family changed because they had money and ate more ginseng before they died. ”
That's the end of my companion's narrative. He was not from Huazhou, and what he said did not seem to be very detailed. Although it is a folklore that scolds people too fiercely, there are many miserly and mean-spirited scrooges like Li Fengshan in the world.
After passing through Huazhou to Chishui, to Weinan, the central point of the automobile road, Longhai Road has been opened to traffic here. From here to the south of the west, the terrain is getting higher and higher, the road is getting closer to the Wei River, and the sand and dust are like smoke in the distance, and the speed is speeding, that is, the flying sand on the Wei River beach.
Source: The Story of Zhongnan Mountain, "Trivia of Guanzhong"
Original author: Lu Yan
Finishing editor: The story of Zhongnan Mountain, Huazhou Literature and History