Thieves steal half, burn them all,
Folk slang is very figuratively
Expresses the fierceness of the fire.
Historically, Hangzhou was also a fire-prone city.
But there are not many monuments that record the fire,
In the Forest of Steles in Hangzhou, there is a piece,
It doesn't look remarkable.
but he always makes people stand before him,
Suddenly thrilling,
It was as if it were burning between the lines
A blazing flame that warns the world.
This is the earliest stele found on the mainland to record the fire
One by one" stele of "Wulin Disaster".
Monument to the Chronicle of the Wulin Disaster
Hangzhou, formerly known as Wulin. Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, it has been the capital for two times. Since the Southern Song Dynasty, with the urbanization of the city, fires have also occurred frequently, and the Southern Song Dynasty, the late Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty are the three peak periods for fires. Although the Yuan Dynasty was not at its peak, with the corruption of the late Yuan Dynasty, the fire prevention facilities established during the Southern Song Dynasty were gradually destroyed, and the fires became more and more serious. According to the "History of the Yuan" and other records, in the fifty-seven years from 1286 to 1343, there were more than 20 fires, an average of one in three years. In particular, in the early years of the Yuan Shun Emperor Zhizheng (1341-1368), there were three major fires that affected tens of thousands of homes. The stele of the Wulin Disaster records one of them.
Fire cause analysis
There are many fires in Hangzhou, and the Song Dynasty is already there. The reason for this, Mingtian Rucheng's "West Lake Tour Zhiyu" once analyzed:
First, the residential density ratio, the stove is continuous.
Second, most of the walls are slabs, and the brick walls are very few.
Third, the Buddha is too prosperous, the home is a Buddhist hall, the lamp is burned all night, and the banner is fluttering.
Fourth, drinking uncontrollably at night, children are tired, and candles are thrown around.
Fifth, the women were delicate and the camp cages were out of place.
For the three fires from the Yuan Dynasty to the early years of the Zheng Dynasty, the "History of the Yuan" does not record in detail, and this stele of the "Wulin Disaster" written by the Yuan Dynasty literary scholar Yang Weizhen just fills this gap. The stele reads: "On April 1 of the second year of the second year, the city of Hangzhou was destroyed by a catastrophe, and forty thousand people's houses were destroyed. On May 4 next year, another disaster was done on the axle. "Its fire is like a bird's nest, like a rush, which means that it is inflamed, and it forces the West Lake Academy." At that time, "in the official Zheng disciples running to save Mo, although the Wu Shou Mansion guard was too loud and useless, he had to "face the fire and burn the head of the fire to prevent the people from disaster." In the inscription, the author praises a spirit of dedication for the sake of the people, and this spirit actually touched the heavens, and the fire immediately changed direction. We don't know if this is a statement of fact or the wishes of a writer.
The urban construction and development of ancient Hangzhou was destroyed by fire many times. This may be one of the reasons why we rarely see ancient architecture today. The Italian traveler Marco Polo of the Yuan Dynasty once praised Hangzhou as "the most beautiful and luxurious city in the world".
But this bustling place finally could not withstand the looting of flames again and again. Many of the ornate buildings of the Southern Song Dynasty were destroyed by fires in the late Yuan Dynasty, and even the Great Inner Palace, which was painstakingly operated by the imperial family, was not exempted from being "burned down" in the fire (Xu Yikui's "Examination of the Palace"), and Hangzhou Fuxue, located in the current forest of steles, was repeatedly swallowed up by fire in the fires of the Yuan to Zheng years.
Now hangzhou Confucius Temple Dacheng Hall
For hundreds of years, the fire has brought great disasters to Hangzhou's urban development and people's lives, and how to fight against the fire has become an important part of Hangzhou's urban development and guarantee of people's lives.
Ancient fire prevention measures
In the Yuan Dynasty, according to the "Travels of Marco Polo", the Hangzhou garrison patrolled at night, both catching thieves and forbidding people to light lamps, if they found that a certain house had lights, that is, they made a mark on the door, and the next day they were sent to the government for inquiry. The "Great Ming Law" promulgated by the Ming Dynasty clearly stipulates the punishment for the crime of fire and arson: "Whoever sets fire to his own house by fire shall be flogged forty; those who burn the houses of officials and people shall be flogged for fifty; those who thus injure people's lives shall be 100 rods; and those who sit on fire will be burned." The punishment for arsonists is increased, of which "those who steal property therefore shall be beheaded, and if they set fire to the houses of officials and people and the warehouses of public offices, they shall be beheaded". The frequent fires in the Qing Dynasty not only aroused the serious concern of local officials and scholars, but also deeply touched the fire prevention awareness of the general public.
The "Fire Monument" found in Hangzhou in recent years (see the Knowledge Section of the Rising Point for details) is an example, although it reflects a negative way, but it also shows that the people of Hangzhou City are quite alert to the fire.
Ancient fire fighting tools
In addition to law and public opinion, people have also invented various effective fire extinguishing apparatus in the struggle against fires. In recent years, cultural relics workers have discovered the fire-fighting water dragon built in the eighteenth year of Guangxu and the Yanju construction in The Youshengguan Lane of Hangcheng. The water dragon consists of five parts: a water tank, a water spray device, an airbrush, a bar rod and a shelf. When extinguishing the fire, take turns to press both ends of the bar and drive the iron bar to lift and lower, so that the water can be pressed into the water spray device and sprayed out through the spray gun.
Ancient water dragon carts extinguish fires
There was also a one-man operation of the copper water gun during this period. This straight barrel water gun is divided into two sections, the lower half of the upper section is inserted into the lower section, the bottom surface of the lower section has many holes, and when it is used, it is only necessary to place the water gun in the bucket, the left hand is closely according to the lower section of the gun body, and the right hand keeps twitching the upper section, and the water rushes out. These two kinds of fire fighting apparatus played a positive role in the fire fighting of Hangzhou and neighboring areas at that time.
Ancient fire water guns
Today, whether it is our country or our city, on the one hand, it is the rapid construction, on the other hand, it is the loss caused by the fire, and in the sound of the fire alarm, the fire control work is more responsible than Taishan.
Of course, compared with ancient times, our fire fighting facilities and technology today have made great progress, with a complete set of intelligent fire protection, which includes smart electricity, networked independent fire detection alarm, fire facilities remote monitoring system. Once set up, our cultural relics and historical buildings are like a pair of 24-hour fire eyes. Re-reading history, let us from passive disaster prevention, progress to active prevention, wisdom fire protection is more important.
Rose
dot
know
know
Fire-setting monument
The monument is 150 cm high, 49 cm wide and 25 cm thick. Inscribed in the eighth year of Qing Guangxu (1882), the director of Tongshan Hall supervised Le Shi. The inscription on this stele is "Fire Map" 3 characters, Chen Qijin Seal Book. This monument was collected from Ding Sujun's home at No. 4 Fengye Lane, Swimming Lane, Jianguo North Road, Hangzhou in March 1993. This monument has a strong folk firefighting color and has a high cultural relics value.
The "Fire Map" stele
inscription:
"Fire Map": the essence of one six (the word "one six" comes from the "I Ching": heaven is born of water, the earth is six percent, meaning to use water to overcome fire), turtle and snake combination (the ancients often used turtle and snake combination to mean that it can eliminate disasters and avoid harm). True martial arts to open fire map, can return to the wind to extinguish the fire, repeatedly experienced. There are many fires in Zhejiang Province, and it is advisable to hang this map of the town. Eight years of Guangxu, years in Yuan Di Dun Mu, Bi Yang Yue Nong Chen Day Xinhai Shi, Sun Lu Girder, Moon away from the well, Earth in Lou, Wood in Ang, Fire in the Well, Gold in the Stomach, Water in Kui. Ji Chen ordered Chen to instruct him to imitate the seal of Jin, and the director of Tongshan Hall, Le Shi, to divide the four corners of the provincial city to dissect the dragon's qi and prepare the folk imitation cloud. Zhejiang Chengxuan messenger, Changbai Dexin is careful.
Contributed by: Niu Inli
Edited and sorted out by the WeChat platform of Hangzhou Cultural Protection Center