Because of a street, I knew a man, and because I knew this man, I found an ancient village.
Shenzhen's development is rapid, with new roads, neighborhoods, and gardens emerging one after another. These new landmarks are named in different ways, but the names of people are rare. There is a Dengliang Road in Shenzhen, at first, I didn't realize that this is a street named after a person, thinking that "Dengliang" is just to get a good intention, similar to "step by step" and "bright future" and so on. Later, I learned that the street was named after an overseas Chinese named Wu Dengliang.
Wu Dengliang, a native of Nanyuan Village, was born in poverty, and went to the Netherlands as an apprentice in a Chinese restaurant when he was a child. In the early 20s of the last century, he took out his life savings and returned to his hometown to run an education, and opened the only western-style primary school in Bao'an County at that time, "Nanyuan Primary School". In addition to building the school building, Wu Dengliang also bought 10 acres of land on the edge of the village to serve as the school's playground. In order to commemorate him, the people of Nanyuan Village erected a Dengliang monument in the village and named the road in front of the playground Dengliang Road.
The ancient village has a history of more than 800 years
The purpose of visiting Nanyuan Ancient Village was to find people and things related to Wu Dengliang, focusing on Nanyuan Primary School and Dengliang Monument. Unfortunately, the Dengliang Monument has disappeared, and Nanyuan Primary School has been abandoned, becoming a dilapidated house to be renovated. Fortunately, there are still a lot of old objects in the village, ancient trees, ancient alleys, and ancient buildings can be seen everywhere, especially the introduction of Nanshan social science in the Xie Yuan Temple, which makes people deeply impressed by the long history of culture in this place. Unintentionally inserted willows, this trip is not in vain.
Before leaving, the author did some homework, checked the literature of Nanyuan Village and found that Nanyuan Village is located at the northern foot of Danan Mountain, which is one of the oldest villages in Shenzhen-Hong Kong, which was founded in the Southern Song Dynasty during the period of filial piety, and has a history of more than 800 years. Now preserve dozens of old houses and ancestral halls, pawnshops, watchtowers, fences and other historical relics, belonging to a more typical Guangfu walled village. The aborigines are mainly surnamed Wu, so it is also known as Wuwu Village. The Wu family has always attached great importance to reading, and there are more than 100 people in the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties who served as officials or obtained fame in the court. Wu Guoguang, the only well-documented Xie Yuan in the Shenzhen-Hong Kong area, and Wu Guoguang, the main compiler of the Wanli edition of the "Xin'an County Chronicles", also came from this village.
Coming to the entrance of Nanyuan Village, there is a huge stone archway in front of you, and a book is written on it: a generation of heroes and heroes are ambitious and heroic to create a great cause, and the descendants of all generations write the spring and autumn period with heavy color and thick ink. The battle is not very neat, but it is concise and concise, and the words are smooth. In addition, this couplet jumps out of the usual practice of most urban villages to use the name of the village as a Tibetan couplet, avoiding the far-fetched character of the word, and the meaning is clear and smooth, from the blue wisps of the ancestors to the descendants of the past and the future, vividly conveying the unique spirit and spirit of the Hakka people.
The stone memorial arch sits in the west and faces east, and is built along the new road in the south, facing Dengliang Road. After entering the archway, it is a cement road tens of meters wide, and there are some houses with red or white porcelain tiles asymmetrically arranged on both sides, and there are all kinds of shops on the ground floor, which are newly built in the past ten or twenty years. The Nanyuan Street Office is among them, the building is very ordinary, and the scene is not big. Walking along the cement road, the road surface soon narrowed into small streets and alleys two or three meters wide, crisscrossing and crisscrossing. There are three main streets, all of which are in a north-south direction, in order of East Street, Main Street, and West Street, and most of the old houses and ancient buildings are distributed on both sides of these three streets. The main street is in the middle, which is the location of the Wu clan ancestral hall and the village square, and the east street and the west street are guarded by one right and one left.
It can be seen that the orientation and layout of the village back then were completely different from today's. This reminds us that a few years ago, Nanyuan Village was in the middle of the Nantou Peninsula, with Xiangnan Village in the north and the main surname Zheng, Nanshan Village in the south, and the main surname Chen, Nanyuan Village with the surname Wu, and some small villages in between, such as Beitou Village. The villages are connected, the voices of chickens and dogs are heard, the children and daughters are in-laws, half fishing and half farming, full of ancient meaning......
A banyan tree that is over 600 years old.
A culture of immigrants that stretches back thousands of years
At the junction of Nanyuan Village and Beitou Village, it should be the head of Nanyuan Village, and there are several ancient banyan trees that are hundreds of years old. The oldest one was planted around 1400 A.D. and is known as the "King of Trees in Shenzhen". The old and vigorous branches of the ancient banyan tree stretch out firmly, like a big umbrella to shelter the ancient village from the wind and rain, and like an old man who has been baptized by the years to open his strong arms to tell people the story of this land.
Under the big banyan tree is the boundary wall between the two villages, and now only the ruins of the broken wall are more than one meter long, which are tightly locked by the vigorous roots of the banyan tree. This meter of remnant wall can be preserved, when there is the function of the old banyan tree's protective wall, because to tear down the wall will destroy the root system of the banyan tree. A small door is faintly visible on the wall, which should be the passage between the two villages in the past, but now there is only the outline of the door frame, and the door hole is completely sealed, blending with the moss-mottled ancient wall, like the fossil of cultural relics where the villagers lived hundreds of years ago.
The scene of the peasants returning late with their hoes, the fishermen collecting their nets and mooring the boats, and the children chasing and playing is intoxicating. However, in addition to the warmth and affection of rural life, there are also many contradictions and conflicts. It is said that there used to be armed fights between the three major villages of Nanyuan, Nanshan and Xiangnan, and the folk proverb of "Wu Chen Zheng, killing people is not enough to fill in their lives" spread on the Nantou Peninsula. There are two watchtowers in Nanyuan Village, as well as the Zhenguo General Shrine that still enjoys incense offerings, as if it was a footnote to the villagers' arms fight. The Zhenguo General Shrine is located on West Street, which was built in the 70s of the 19th century, and the existing building was rebuilt in the 90s of the last century. The ancestral hall is dedicated to Wu Yinglei, the "general of Zhenguo", who is a native of Zengcheng, Guangdong. At the beginning of the establishment of the Wu family in Nanyuan, it was squeezed out by the neighbors. In a big weapon fight, the village sent people to Zengcheng to ask for help, and Wu Yinglei led his men and horses in time to come, so that the Wu family could gain a firm foothold and spread out in this land.
It is a banyan tree known as the "King of Trees in Shenzhen".
The ancestral hall of the Wu family is located in the main street, with three bays and three deep, and is a painted building with an archway. Through the gate, you can see the "Dexin Hall" hall number hanging in the main hall. The ancestral hall was built in the Yuan Dynasty, and was rebuilt and well preserved. There is a record of the migration of the Wu family in Nanyuan: during the period of filial piety in the Southern Song Dynasty, Wu Hongyuan, an academician of Hanlin who originally lived in Zengcheng Gutan, traveled and lectured in all directions and came to the Nantou Peninsula. He climbed the South Mountain, saw that the land at the foot of the mountain was vast and fertile, and the surrounding blue waves were rippling, and he felt that it was a rare feng shui treasure, so he decided to build a house and settle here, and Wu Hongyuan was the founder of the South Garden.
Outside the gate of the Wu Ancestral Hall, there is a square of about 8,000 square meters, which is the activity center of the villagers of Nanyuan. There are hundreds of urban villages in Shenzhen, and each village has a large or small square. Nanyuan Village Square is surrounded by restaurants and teahouses, among which, within a radius of dozens of meters, there are three Sichuan-Chongqing restaurants. This is a bit abrupt in areas where Cantonese culture is popular. The author subconsciously looked at the exquisite Wu ancestral hall next to it, but there was no sense of disobedience with these poorly decorated local restaurants. What connects them together is a culture of immigrants that has lasted for thousands of years.
The young man who accompanied me told me that a poon choi feast for 1,000 people had just been held here. There are not many old villagers surnamed Wu who participate in the poon choi banquet, and they are all tenants who speak from the south to the north, mainly from Sichuan, Chongqing, and Jiangxi. Today, there are only about 180 people registered in Nanyuan Village, while the non-registered population is 35,000. The unique contribution of urban villages to Shenzhen's urban development can be seen from the simple tiled buildings around the perimeter and the drying racks on the balconies or windows of the small buildings: the land that has been cultivated by their ancestors for generations, the accommodation for thousands of migrant workers, and the formation of a new market culture, so that wandering souls have a place to rest.
Inherit the Xin'an culture together
The Wu family of Nanyuan has left a strong chapter in the cultural inheritance of Xin'an County and Xin'an, that is, Wu Zuo's Chen Qing and Wu Guoguang's cultivation.
In the sixth year of Longqing in the Ming Dynasty (1572), Liu Wen, the deputy envoy of the Guangdong Provincial Prosecutor's Department, inspected the people's situation and went to Nantou Town, Dongguan County. At that time, the invasion of the Japanese invaders was frequent, but the Dongguan administrative office was hundreds of miles away. Knowing that Liu Wen was on patrol, everyone recommended a respected elder to plead to Liu Wen, hoping to establish a new county. This elder is Wu Zuo, a native of Nanyuan Village, who was moved by affection and reason, and tearfully told Liu Wen about the suffering of the people and their desire for preservation. Liu Wenshen thought so, and the above statement coincided with the Ming Dynasty's ambition to pass through the South China Sea. In the end, the hard work paid off, the imperial court analyzed the coastal zone in the south of Dongguan County and the coastal islands to set another county, and named Xin'an after the meaning of "reforming the old and making the new, going to danger for safety", and governed the south of Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Xin'an County was officially established in the first year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1573), and a few years later (1579), Wu Guorong, a native of Nanyuan Village, topped the list of township examinations and became the first well-documented Xie Yuan in the history of Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Wu Guoguang first served as the governor of Yongfu County, Guangxi, and was later promoted to the commander of Xing'an County, Guangxi, and transferred to the commander of Yueqing County, Zhejiang. After returning to his hometown, he was hired by Qiu Tigan, then the commander of Xin'an County, to preside over the compilation and revision of the first "Xin'an County Chronicles", and participated in the preparation for the construction of Wang Liu Ergong Ancestral Hall, and wrote "Haidao Liu Gong Ancestral Hall Rent Record". The Wanli edition of Xin'an County Chronicles no longer exists, but the Kangxi and Jiaqing editions of county chronicles compiled on this basis have become important historical books for understanding the history of Shenzhen and Hong Kong today, and the Rent of Haidao Liu Gong Ancestral Hall is an important historical document for the study of Xin'an County.
Xie Yuan Temple is located on Nanyuan Village East Street.
Xie Yuan Temple is located in the East Street of Nanyuan Village, brick, wood and stone structure, sitting west and facing east, it is built to commemorate Wu Guoguang. This is a small courtyard building with three openings and two entrances, which was built at the end of the Ming Dynasty and rebuilt many times during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. There is a niche in the main hall and there is no image for the statue, the stone pillar next to the niche hangs a couplet "the world has no prescient experience, the people have the wisdom of self-knowledge", the font is simple and vigorous, intriguing. The front porch of the hall is surrounded, displaying the Ming and Qing Dynasty scientific examination system and the introduction of Xin'an's schooling, with exhibition boards, clay sculptures, and real scene layout of private schools. In addition to the old photos and text descriptions on the exhibition panels, the hand-drawn schematic diagrams are particularly expressive. What impressed me was a picture of the "Imperial Examination Grading and Selecting Scholars", which showed the road to fame of the ancient scholars in the form of stacked houses, as if climbing up the ladder, making it clear at a glance.
Promoting education and emphasizing education has a long history
The Nantou area has a deep tradition of revitalizing learning and emphasizing education, and the earliest teaching form seen in historical materials is social studies, which has the meaning of "social schooling". In the forty-fifth year of Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty (1566), Tang Kekuan, a famous anti-Japanese general and founder of Nantou Water Village, and Shu Yinglong, the magistrate of Dongguan County, founded the first social science in the south of the ancient city of Nantou - Tiyun Social Studies. Ten years later, Chen Guo, the first Jinshi in the Nantou area, came out of this social school, and three years later, Xie Yuan Wu Guoguang was also born here. After the establishment of Xin'an County, the style of social studies became more prosperous, and there were Dengyun Social Studies, Gushu Social Studies, Qingyun Social Studies, Bixi Social Studies, Wushan Social Studies, etc.
At the same time, prefectural schools under the direct management and jurisdiction of the government also appeared. In the year of the establishment of Xin'an County, the government office also borrowed the office of Dongguan Shouyu Thousand Households, and took the construction of the school palace as an important symbol of the county, which was personally supervised by the county and completed the following year. In the Qing Dynasty, Xin'an County continued to develop, and successively had Bao'an Academy, Wengang Academy, Fenggang Academy, etc., which were well-known.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, ancient education in the Nantou area reached its peak. Although Xin'an is a small border county, "Guangli Xue Palace, Xing Xian and Cultivating Talents, dropped out of Kui Nan Palace for a while, and joined forces." The school of Yi is gradually crowning Lingnan". A border city in the south, "the mountains and seas are beautiful, and the wind is with Zou Lu". This is not only reflected in the rise of various social sciences and county studies, but also in the continuous emergence of hundreds of jinshi, juren and other famous figures. What they represent is not only the glorious history of each family, but also the continuous vitality of traditional Chinese culture.
The trip to Nanyuan Village, after all, was to Nanyuan Primary School. Although when I arrived at the Nanyuan Sub-district Office, I learned that Nanyuan Primary School had been abandoned for many years, so I made a special trip to the old site of the primary school. One is remembrance, and the other is to find the clues of running the school back then.
On the site of Nanyuan Elementary School, the traces left by the school logo of "Nanyuan Elementary School" are still faintly visible on the walls of white residential buildings.
The former site of Nanyuan Primary School is located in Nanyuan Village West Street, and the teaching building was originally a three-story Western-style building. It is reported that the predecessor of Nanyuan Primary School was a private school "Tongyuan Study", which was opened in 1921 under the sponsorship of Wu Tengliang, and was rebuilt as "Nanyuan Primary School" in 1929. The existing four-storey building was later rebuilt, and traces of the "South Park Elementary School" logo can be faintly seen under the window sill on the third floor. On the left and right sides and behind are the villagers' self-built houses, and the floors are all higher than small buildings, which can be described as airtight. Opposite the small building, there is a small hexagonal pavilion in the style of the Republic of China, with a brick and stone structure, a hollow column, carved eaves, and a clay sculpture on the top, which looks very exquisite, but the surrounding area is full of motorcycles and electric bicycles. This is probably part of the school garden back then, and it is probably the only architectural remnant of South Park Elementary School. Nanyuan Primary School was relocated to Beitou Village East Street in 1972 and renamed Nanshan Primary School. Today, Nanshan Primary School has developed into a first-class school in Shenzhen, and has won the honorary titles of "National Excellent Information School" and "21st Century Art Education Pioneer Base".
Say goodbye to Nanyuan Village and step into Dengliang Road again. The scene of busy traffic on the road is difficult to adapt to for a while. As a rapidly developing modern metropolis, many of Shenzhen's historical memories are quietly hidden. Perhaps, in order to truly understand where Shenzhen came from and appreciate its diversity and three-dimensionality, we also need to go deep into the texture of these ancient villages in Nanyuan Village.
About the Author
Trees
Literary and historical scholar and columnist. Ph.D., Researcher, Peking University. He has traveled to many countries in Europe and the United States, and has published many treatises, essays, and travelogues. He has lived in Shushui in Bashan for 24 years, 16 years in Beijing and 16 years in Hong Kong, and is now working in Shenzhen. His main works include "Hong Kong Hidden in Place Names", "Ten Peaks of Shenzhen", "Because of Walking", "The Covenant of Civilization", "Out of the Thorn Forest", "Hot Topics and Cold Thoughts", "Radical Moderate or Encroachment", "Biography of Engels" and so on.