【History and Culture】Rubbing Ear Rock: Jiang Jiankang, a historical and cultural town sealed by the dust of the years‖

Rubbing the ear rock

A historical and cultural town that has been sealed by the dusty years

Jiang Jiankang

Xi'an Covered Bridge in Shuangliu Rub Rock, Sichuan (photo by Isabella Bird in 1896)

In the west of Chengdu City, 5 kilometers after the Shuangliu Peng Town Old Teahouse Bridge, it is the Rubbing Ear Rock on the side of the Min River, which now belongs to the Jinqiao Community of Peng Town. "Rubbing the ear rock" is the name left by the famous general Yang Yuchun of the Qing Dynasty who returned to Chongzhou to visit relatives and accidentally fell and scratched his ear when crossing the river.

This is the Minjiang River water transport wharf of the ancient Shu Kingdom before Li Bing's repair of Jiangyan, and it is the transportation node of Chengdu's southward Silk Road; There is a magical ancient ferry in Tianfu that does not need to be supported by people to paddle and borrow the power of river flow to drive a boat, and there is a famous Chinese scenic spot covered bridge...... It is a pity that the ancient town with profound historical and cultural heritage has been sealed by the dust of the years on the side of the Minjiang River, and there is still a corner of the old street.

Ancient Shu Minjiang water transport wharf

The history of the Rubbing Rock can be traced back to Li Bing's repair of the Dujiangyan with the water of the two rivers in Chengdu, when Chengdu did not have a waterway that could carry goods and ships, and the Rubbing Rock was the nearest water transport wharf from Chengdu to the Minjiang River in the center of the ancient Shu Kingdom. The river is the earliest natural waterway of human society, and the Minjiang River and the Tuojiang River flow into the Yangtze River, constituting the water transportation network of the ancient Shu Kingdom's foreign exchanges and exchanges, which is a very superior water transportation avenue of the ancient Shu Kingdom. The Sichuan Museum's "Closed but Not Blocked" column shows: "The Yangtze River waterway has become a major communication artery between the Sichuan Basin and the rest of the Yangtze River Basin in the late Neolithic Age". The Minjiang River is a waterway in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River that leads directly to Zhouji, which means that the Minjiang waterway is the main traffic artery of ancient Shu in the late Neolithic Age. As a water transport wharf of the Minjiang waterway system, it shows that it existed in the late Neolithic Age, and it has been three or four thousand years so far.

Ancient Shu is rich in silk, Chengdu is the main center of ancient Shu silk production, ancient Shu people take silk through the Minjiang River and other waterways out, all the way to Yibin ashore, through Yunnan to India Tianzhu, forming the Silk Road to Central and Western Asia and other countries; All the way down the Yangtze River to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, forming an exchange route with the Central Plains and other regions. The cultural relics and culture of Sanxingdui Jinsha site are mainly communicated with Shuwai through waterways such as the Minjiang River.

As the nearest water transport wharf on the Minjiang River in Chengdu, the center of ancient Shu, Rubbing Rock experienced foreign exchanges during the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Spring and Autumn periods and the Warring States Period before Li Bing repaired Dujiangyan. During the major events experienced, there were the battle between Shu and Ba through the Minjiang River, Qin Sima Coo led 100,000 people, 10,000 large ships, 6 million meters, and the battle of "Fujiang and Chu" along the Min River such as the Yangtze River. The water wharf of the Minjiang River in the ancient Shu Kingdom played an extremely important role as a transportation hub, and its historical status is very important.

From the late Neolithic period to the long years before Li Bing's repair of Dujiangyan, the rubbing rock has been playing an important role as a water transportation wharf along the Minjiang River. In the 20th century, two cultural relics were unearthed in the rubbing rock, one is a large copper kettle of a large family, and the other is a copper dyeing set (boiling glue furnace) used for repairing ships and repairing ships. There are also a large number of tombs and a burial maid's tomb in the highlands near the Rub Ear Rock, which confirms that the Rub Er Rock was a town settlement of the Minjiang water transport wharf in the ancient Shu Kingdom.

After Li Bing repaired Dujiangyan and brought the water of the two rivers in Chengdu, Chengdu gradually had a navigable waterway, and the water transported away from the Huanglong River into the Minjiang River, and no longer took the Wa Er Rock Wharf, and the role of the water wharf of the Mo Er Rock gradually disappeared, and it became a simple Minjiang River crossing.

The history of the ancient Shu Minjiang waterway wharf is the history of the ancient Shu kingdom that plays an important role in waterway transportation, and it is the grasp and eye for studying the history of ancient Shu Minjiang waterway transportation. Although it has been sealed by the dust of the years on the side of the Minjiang River, it has finally been investigated and excavated.

China's magical ancient ferry scenic spot covered bridge

The Jinma River of Minjiang River is like a big guillotine, and the dam in the west of Sichuan is cut from it with a brush, and it is divided into two large pieces of Hedong and Hexi, and the Rubbing Ear Rock has become the most shortcut crossing of the river from Chengdu in the east to Chongzhou Dayi Qionglai in the west. After repairing the Dujiangyan, the Jinma River (Waijiang) of the Minjiang River has become the mother river of water diversion and flood discharge, forming the characteristics of crossing the river with abundant water in summer and autumn and dry water in winter and spring.

At the mouth of the Rubbing Rock River, the water in the rainy season in the upper reaches of summer and autumn is large, and the water flow is turbulent and the waves are dangerous, which is extremely unsuitable for boating and rowing. But this is the shortcut intersection from Chongzhou Dayi Qionglai to Chengdu, and there are many people crossing the river, and the request for ferry is strong. As a result, the boatmen had to find a new way to ferry safely. After years of exploration, we finally found a new mode of boat ferrying, which is: when the water is dry in winter, build a large horse chariot in the upper reaches of the river, put a long bamboo rope on it, and the long bamboo rope goes down the river, and the rope head is attached to the head of the ferry. In summer and autumn, when the water is ferried, the ferry will not be washed away by the river, and there is a long oar at the stern that stretches into the river, and the boat can be ferried by the impact of the rapids. This way of "driving the boat with the help of the rope crane" is simple, scientific and practical.

Rubbing the rock ferry until the sixties and seventies of the 20th century, in order to meet the needs of the transition of the car, the bamboo rope was changed to a wire rope, the wooden boat was changed to a steel boat, there is no machine power, or the original boat ferry principle, the Rubbing Rock became a car ferry, and a boat can carry three old Jiefang brand cars across the river, the people of the Rubbing Rock borrowed the power of the natural river to drive the principle of the ferry to the extreme. The ferry was not in operation until the mid-90s of the 20th century, when the construction of the Rub Er Bridge was built.

The ancient ferry respects nature, uses the power of nature to drive the principle of ferry, crystallizes the wisdom of the working people of Tianfu, and the ancient ferry is full of wisdom like Dujiangyan, which is another classic of harmonious coexistence between man and nature on the Minjiang River.

Despite the convenience of the Rubbing Rock Ferry, people still look forward to a bridge compared to the fact that the bridge is feasible day and night. In the late Qing Dynasty, a covered bridge with 48 buildings of about 200 meters long was finally built, named "Xi'an Bridge of Si'an in Shuangliu County, Sichuan". Unfortunately, a few years later, in the summer of 1896, the bridge was washed away by a flood. Fortunately, in the spring of this year, Isabella Bird, a 65-year-old female writer and photographer in the United Kingdom, came across the Covered Bridge and left a precious photo of the Covered Bridge. Later, the photographs were included in the first album of "Famous Places in China" in China at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and the album was exchanged overseas, and participated in the 1915 Panama Exposition in the United States. The covered bridge is also famous in the world with the album, and Japanese scholars have also taken photos of the covered bridge to Shuangliu for investigation.

It is an ancient town with profound historical and cultural heritage and beautiful scenery sealed in the dust on the side of the Minjiang River.

Notice: This article has been authorized to be reprinted by Chengdu Daily, without the authorization of the original media Chengdu Daily, please do not reprint!

Source: Chengdu Daily, page 8, May 7, 2024

Author: Jiang Jiankang