Text / Picture Zhao Fuping
As long as there are people, there are roads, and where there are mountains, there are mountain passes. In Jinan, Changqing District, which has mountains and rivers, cities and Guo, is of course no exception. For example, the Dashimen Pass that connects Guide Street and Mashan Town, and the Liukou Pass that connects Shuangquan Town and Feicheng Old Town Street. The mountain pass introduced today can be absolutely said to be well-known and well-known in Changqing District. This famous mountain pass is the Muko Pass.
(Muko Pass where the two mountains face each other)
Wuzi Pass is located at the junction of Wenchang Street and Guyunhu Street, and is named after Wuzi Village. After crossing the Fenghuang intersection at the easternmost end of Longquan Street in the main urban area of Changqing, this road is still this road, but the name is officially named Lilac Road, and then a short distance to the southeast is Wuzi Pass. Here Wenchang Mountain, South Mountain, Wuzi West Mountain confront, southeast and northwest direction of the mountain col narrow strip is the place where the above main road passes. It is roughly bounded by the watershed of the mountain pass, the east of the pass is the jurisdiction of Guyunhu Street, and the west is the area of Wenchang Street. The nearest village to the east of the pass was Muko West Village, which is now the Danfeng community. The nearest village on the west side of the pass is Dongpu Village, which is now the Dongpu Community.
Historically, this mountain pass is the main road of Changqing County to Gushan, Zhangxia, Wande, Tai'an, East China and other places. However, due to the limitations of the times, the slope here is steep and the road is narrow, and the drop is very large, and it is difficult to walk. Due to the distance from the old city of Changqing, coupled with the surrounding mountains and dense forests, the peaks are continuous, so it is also a place where strong people often haunt. Before the 60s of the 20th century, on the north side of the mountain pass, that is, on the highest pedestal at the south end of Wenchang Mountain Park now, there was also a large three-bay Guan Gong Hall of the old age, and there were stout cypress trees growing around, and several ancient monuments of the past dynasties were erected in front of the hall. It's just that due to the changes of the times, the above-mentioned ancient buildings and relics are now difficult to find.
The reason why this pass is called Muko Pass is that it is impossible not to mention the village of Muko at the foot of the mountain on the east side.
According to historical documents, the village was first built in the Tang Dynasty (894-898), with its terrain in the middle of the high and flat, named Wuzizhuang, some people also write the pestle, are high and flat in the middle, low and curved around the meaning. Because the village was surrounded by mountains on three sides and by the river on one side, the dew was everywhere in the early morning of summer and autumn to moisten the crops and grow, and it was written as Wuzizhuang. And because of the gradual simplification of Chinese characters, it is also written as Wuzi. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he simply called Wuzi. There are four streets in the village, the front, the north, the middle and the west, and then due to the increase in population, on the basis of these four streets, four administrative villages were established: the front, the north, the middle and the west.
According to the Republic of China edition of the "Changqing County Chronicles", before the Ming and Qing dynasties to the 20th year of the Republic of China (1931), Wuzizhuang was under the jurisdiction of Gubaoli, Shanchi District. Twenty years after the Republic of China, the system was cancelled, and the name of the old district was changed to a number sequence, at this time, Shanchi District was changed to the third district of Changqing County, and Wuzi was the fifth township of the third district. After 1958, it was the Gushan People's Commune, the Gushan District Office, and the brigade and village under the jurisdiction of Gushan Town. Now it is the Danfeng community of Guyunhu Street. However, although the four villages of Wuzi were moved into the community, the village mechanism and name were not revoked, but were retained.
In the late fifties of the 20th century, Changqing County at that time used the strength of the whole county to build the Dongfeng Reservoir, the largest reservoir in the province. Shortly after the dam was closed, the overflow flooded many parts of Mukozhuang. Subsequently, the people of the four villages of the village moved out of the original site as a whole. Wuzi Xizhuang, also known as Wuxi Village for short, was relocated to the foot of the mountain near the southeast side of the mountain pass to build a village. The altitude is much higher than that of the old village before it was flooded. At that time, there was such a slip of the tongue:
Kaishan fried rice shop,
A slip of Dagu Mountain.
Kicking the pestle (business).
Look at Dai Hiko.
The meaning of these words is that although the terrain of Wuzi Village at this time is relatively high, because it is located in a mountain valley, you want to see the villages of Kaishan and fried rice shop in the northeast, but due to the obstruction of mountains such as Dagu Mountain, you can't see it at all. Even in villages such as Ohiko, which is not very far to the southeast, you have to stand on a stool and stretch your neck to see it. Tumbling, four sounds, Changqing dialect, meaning "standing", "standing", "climbing" meaning.
(Near the Yamaguchi Watershed)
Judging from the actual situation, the overflow of the Dongfeng Reservoir recorded in the literature should be the backwater to be precise. Because after the dam was closed, the river water flowed downward from the past to the reservoir water back to the upstream direction. It is not difficult to understand that the four villages of Wuzi, which were relatively low-lying in the original terrain, were flooded.
Entering a new era, on May 8, 2008, with the implementation of the withdrawal of Changqing County into districts, the main urban area of Changqing expanded dramatically, and the mountain pass, which was originally located a long distance in the east of the city, seemed to have reached the edge of the city at once. Due to the construction of the university town, a large residential gathering place was built near the four villages of Wuzi, which used to be remote and desolate. The urban layout of "the mountain enters the Guo, and the city is in the mountain" seems to have been completed in the blink of an eye.
(Danfeng Community, where Wuzi 4 Village is located)
The pace of urban construction is advancing, and road construction is naturally speeding up. The widening and reconstruction of the original "Changgu Road" in the direction of the main urban area leading to Guyunhu Street in Changqing was officially put on the agenda. The Muko Pass, which is located at the throat, has been chiseled much lower in height after the road has been reconstructed, and the distance of the ramp has been lengthened. The section of the road has been transformed from a narrow road into a wide thoroughfare with six motorized lanes in both directions, two non-motorized lanes, two sidewalks and two green belts (reserved for motorized lanes). It has become one of the two main roads leading from the main city of Changqing to the university town. Nowadays, when people drive past the Muko Pass, they basically don't feel the existence of the slope, and it seems to pass in the blink of an eye. Even if you ride a battery bike or bicycle or simply walk, walking is not as strenuous as before.
What really makes Wuzi Pass famous is not only the above-mentioned historical, cultural, transportation and other factors, but also the specific implementation of the reform of the funeral system such as changing customs and customs by the people's government in the early seventies of the 20th century.
At that time, due to the country's economic backwardness, people's food rations could not meet the basic requirements. Against such a background, the state has made efforts to increase grain production on the basis of implementing family planning. "The dead should not be allowed to compete with the living for food", the specific method is to level the graves in the fertile fields and use them to increase the area of fertile fields. Later, people who died were cremated to change the custom of wasting fertile land by burial.
The Changqing Funeral Home was built during this period, and the location was selected in a remote mountain col on the west side of the Wuzi Pass. Although the funeral parlor is in Wuzi Pass, the location here has nothing to do with Wuzi Four Villages, but the land of Dongwang, Dongpu and other villages in Chengguan Town, which is now the jurisdiction of Dongwang Management Area of Wenchang Street.
Since then, Wuzi Pass has basically become a special place name for the end of everyone's life in the jurisdiction of Changqing. "Go to the Wuzi Pass" means that the person has passed away, "Almost arrive at the Wuzi Pass" means that the person is about to die, etc. Since then, Muko Yamaguchi has become famous all over the world.
After all walks of life actively and steadily promote the work of changing customs and customs, the people's incomprehension from the beginning of cremation to the current full support and cooperation, all reflect the great changes in people's concepts and the great progress of society.
As a special moment, we must not forget that at the end of 2022, the three-year epidemic has come to an end, and all the original control measures have been cancelled. At this time, although the sharpness of the new crown virus has been greatly reduced, many elderly people with underlying diseases still have not survived this hurdle, so that there are many elderly people who have passed away, and there is a long queue for several miles waiting for cremation at the Wuzi Pass. The funeral home ushered in a great test of the work process. But as time went on, everything passed, and now Muko Yamaguchi has returned to its former appearance. The green hills on both sides are still lush, the nearby trees are still thriving, and the traffic in the middle of the road is still endless.
I don't know if it's intentional or coincidental, the intersection from Wuzi Pass to the funeral home and the southernmost entrance of Wenchangshan Park are only a few dozen meters away. The most beautiful park in Changqing District and the quietest place in Changqing District are connected without disobedience, which should be the best interpretation of the harmonious coexistence of human society and the world of gods.