From the cultural relics in the dust, look for the past and present life of Da Shengkui
Author/Sun Shuheng
One
In front of the headquarters site of "Da Shengkui Firm" at No. 18 Desheng Street, Yuquan District, Hohhot, the prosperous appearance of the year has long been gone, only the rebuilt antique buildings and vermilion gates make people have a rich imagination. It is understood that in the early years of Kangxi, when the Qing government quelled the rebellion of Galdan in the Junggar Department, because the army penetrated deep into Mobei, merchants were allowed to trade with the army. Among the merchants who traded with the army, there were three shoulder-picked hawkers, namely Wang Xiangqing of Taigu County, Shanxi Province and Shi University and Zhang Jie of Qi County, just like Liu, Guan, and Zhang in the Three Kingdoms period, they formed brothers, hugged together, treated people with righteousness, and worked hard, in the heyday of the employees reached six or seven thousand, and the caravan camels were nearly 20,000 heads, and the business footprints were all over the country and Uriya Sutai, Kulen (now Ulaanbaatar) in Mongolia and Siberia, Kyakhta, Russia. In Moscow and other places, Dashengkui continued for 270 years and walked out of a road of national integration and foreign trade, which can be called a model of Mongolian-Han and even Sino-Russian trade, the largest transnational trade merchant in the Qing Dynasty of China, and the flagship store of the Wanli Tea Ceremony.
This year, in order to protect, inherit, restore and utilize the time-honored brand of Dashengkui, Dashengkui Company focused on the construction of Dashengkui Museum. Zhao Zhengwei, deputy general manager of Dashengkui, said that this year, the company's management concentrated on a lot of effort, launched a wide range of activities, and solicited from the society. The company sent Feng Xinhui to follow experts Wu Cheng and Zhang Xiaodong to Erlian, Taiyuan, Qixian, Taigu and other places, traveled thousands of kilometers, and began a journey to find Dashengkui cultural relics.
Two
Feng Xinhui said that the search is always about surprises.
The search team went to the hometown of Shi University in Qi County, and his descendants still live in the ancestral house, which is still preserved as it was. When I arrived at Wujiabao in Taigu County, there was only one and a half left in Wang Xiangqing's ancestral house, which looked a little vicissitudes. The old yards of his eldest and second sons are still there, but they have changed hands.
The search team also brought back a piece of blue brick from the buttress of the ancestral house, with a cloud hook pattern on it, and two wood carvings of the eaves of the old house, carved with cows and flowers, with sharp edges and corners, lifelike, after three or four hundred years of wind and rain, the old house is still shaky, and has not erased the mark of the once rich. Feng Xinhui said that he was lucky to meet him.
"Touching these blue brick and wood carvings, I feel the temperature of history. ”
Three
Writer Deng Jiugang said, "In the process of my research, I found that the Silk Road is just a concept and a cultural symbol, while the Tea Road is a real international trade route, with detailed records of how many people, how many camels, how many goods were carried, who was the host, whose goods were, where they passed, how many taxes were paid, and so on. It embodies the spirit of modern business, and has strict procedures in business. It is not abstract or empty. This is a trade route represented by tea. Looking back at history, on the hunchback, there are not only tea, porcelain and silk, but also carry culture and spirit. The bells of camels tinkle, the neighing of horses, the west wind sweeping, the waves of grass rolling, and the quicksand-like time drowns it all again. Chen Yanfu, the last shopkeeper of Da Sheng Kui, served in Da Sheng Kui in 1936 ~ 1946, and in 1946, after the dissolution of Da Sheng Kui, he returned to his hometown Tuo County with some of the objects left by Da Sheng Kui.
During the Cultural Revolution, the gold account was burned, leaving only the Russian wall clock and camel bell, and later he donated the Russian wall clock, camel bell and other items collected from the people to the Tuoxian Museum. His son Chen Yi was once the head of the current Dashengkui Company, and now it is handed over to Song Zhiguo, Qi Juan and Zhao Zhengwei. This camel bell was donated to the museum by Chen Yi.
Four
In order to commemorate the difficult start-up, the God of Wealth of "Da Shengkui" has always enshrined a flat pole, two cargo boxes, a stone, and a bowl of porridge in front of the throne. The flat burden commemorates the founder's start as a household trade; the cargo box is also the wooden box used by the founder to hold his belongings; the stone is used as a weighing tool for weighing silver when he started his business; and the porridge commemorates the sadness of the three people who ate a bowl of porridge together on Chinese New Year's Eve because of extreme poverty. This scale was found by the search team in Shanxi, and it was used by Da Shengkui in the fourth year of Daoguang.
Five
When Da Sheng Kui recruited apprentices, the big shopkeeper interviewed in person, other business apprentices are five years, Da Sheng Kui is ten years, can not go home, the first five years a year five taels of silver, the last five years a year ten taels of silver. During the apprenticeship, you must learn to hold the scriptures in one hand, plan the plate with one hand, and keep accounts with the other. This abacus was donated by Chen Yi, which was used by his father, and the abacus beads were jade. The two sides are inlaid with "Yuan Datou". Full of legends, one keeps guessing who it is.
Six
Da Sheng Kui's business scope includes domestic and foreign trade, planting and breeding, lending money and even the military government logistics supply, tax collection, currency and other businesses, this bucket is Chen Yi's niece Jia Xiaoyan donated, is Chen Yi's father passed on to his sister, this bucket is Tongzhi for three years, Da Shengkui "calibrated official fight", symbolizing the status and power of Da Shengkui, reflecting the historical outlook of the social economy and other aspects at that time, reflecting the unique connotation of Da Shengkui, with important cultural value.
Seven
There is a small "Deacon Jing" plaque of Dashengkui was bought by collector Daniel Zhang from a tricycle driver who picked up rags, and after it was published in the newspaper, after several twists and turns, it cost a lot of money, the horn seal of Dashengkui Flour Mill was found from Tuqi, and the Dashengkui wine jar was found in Qingshuihe, and it was hard and expensive to collect.
Eight
In front of the Buddha Hall of the Hohhot City Sheli Calling Yanshou Temple, there is a plaque hanging, with the book "Yinshan Ancient Temple", and the upper right side of the plaque is written with such words: "Da Qing Yongzheng Jiachen on the auspicious day of the spring Da Sheng Kui dedication", and on the left side is written "Guangxu Jiachen Da Sheng Kui Rich Guy because he saw the plaque of the previous year of the number of dedications, withered and will fall, and the fear of the faction is worried, so it is a heavy book and a new desert book, a few words to the year of the reconstruction."
The writer is Wang Yongzhen, who is the bookkeeper of "Da Shengkui" and a calligrapher. The plaques of "the first spring of the nine sides" of Dazhao Temple are all from his hands, and the plaque of "the first spring of the nine sides" is also the "source of drinking water" of more than 400 merchants at that time, and they are grateful for the funds raised by Yuquan Well. This not only shows the strength and brand of Dashengkui, but also has an impact on Inner Mongolia on the Tea Road and Wanli Tea Ceremony.
Blow off the dust of cultural relics and unveil the true face of Da Shengkui. With extremely high humanistic value and artistic value, this is the cause of Dashengkui company and experts who have spared no effort, so that Dashengkui has lifted the veil of mystery, attracting people's attention from time to time and infecting their souls. Let the stories behind the cultural relics touch everyone's emotions and pluck people's heartstrings.
Historical stories and cultural relics not only let people see the shadow of Da Shengkui, but also can find that Da Sheng Kui has a deep cultural heritage and humanistic feelings, as well as maintain respect and cherishment for Da Shengkui's cultural relics and historical status, so that Da Sheng Kui can stand up again, live, and become popular.
(Author's file: Sun Shuheng, pen name Hengxin Yongzai, a native of Naiman Banner, Inner Mongolia.) Member of China Financial Writers Association, Member of China Essayists Association, Member of Inner Mongolia Writers Association, Member of Inner Mongolia Poetry Society, Member of Western Essayists Association, Deputy Secretary-General of Inner Mongolia Popular Literature and Art Research Association, Senior Researcher and Deputy Secretary-General of Inner Mongolia Poetry, Calligraphy and Painting Research Association)