I heard that the name of Shaxi Ancient Town has a strange origin, and I find it quite interesting. It is said that Cao Kui, a native of the ancient town of the Ming Dynasty, was an official in the court, and one day, the emperor casually asked when chatting: "Cao Aiqing, where is the fairy town?" Cao Kui's ears were a little back because of his age, and he thought that he was asking his name, so he reported seriously: "Shaxi." Those who know can forgive him for hearing wrongly, and those who don't know will think that he is guilty of defrauding the king. Fortunately, Cao Kui is sympathetic to Li Min and Ze is deeply loved by the people, and after the people in his hometown know about this, he hurriedly helps and immediately changes it according to his wishes, so this place is called "Shaxi". In fact, before this incident, "Shaxi" had already existed, and Wang Shizhen, a historian and writer of the Ming Dynasty, wrote in the "Epitaph of Cao Gongkui, Deputy Envoy of Yunnan According to the Judge": "(Cao Kui) Mr. lived in Shaxi, because he thought it was a number, and the name of Shaxi has been around for a long time. In other words, it is because there was Shaxi that Cao Kui took the name "Shaxi", not because this story of making mistakes was changed to Shaxi.
It is said that there are many ancient towns called Shaxi in the country, such as Shaxi Town, Tongjiang County, Bazhong, Sichuan, Shaxi Town, Jianchuan County, Dali, Yunnan, Shaxi Town, Shangrao Xinzhou District, Jiangxi, etc., the place we went to is Shaxi Ancient Town (formerly known as Shatou, also known as Yinxi, Tuanxi) in Taicang City, Suzhou, Jiangsu, which is a water town in the south of the Yangtze River with a history of more than 1,300 years. Since the formation of villages in the Tang Dynasty, the Song and Yuan dynasties have become markets, the Ming Dynasty has prosperous business fortunes, and the ancient town has become increasingly developed. Here the small bridge and flowing water, the pillow river people, the alleys and streets are deep and secluded, the water town style, beautiful and elegant, there was "the southeast eighteen townships, the first township of Shaxi" said. To this day, the graceful style is still splendid, especially the basic pattern of "one river, two streets, three bridges and one island", which is even more charming, writing the most lingering and touching stroke of the water town in the south of the Yangtze River.
"A river" flows through the story of time
"One River" refers to the Qipu River, which has a history of 1,000 years and runs through the town. "Shatouli Zhi" said: "Qipu Pass is the lifeblood of a town, and the second is to care about Hengli." The water veins are rippling, the tides are beautiful, and the town is called prosperous. "Since ancient times, the Qipu River has been the source of life and the flowing bloodline, it is like a jade liquid, feeding the people on both sides of the river and nourishing everything here.
In the first year of Jingyou in the Song Dynasty (1034), Fan Zhongyan, the prefect of Suzhou, in order to eliminate the water accumulation in the low-lying areas in the west of Yangcheng Lake and solve the needs of farmland irrigation, greatly developed water conservancy and organized the excavation of the Qipu River, which "inherits the water of Yangcheng rivers in the west and drains into the East China Sea". Since then, the world of Shaxi has been activated, and it has become a river of life for local daily use, transportation, drought resistance and flood drainage. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, due to the silting up of the Lou River, the Qipu River passing through the town became an important waterway between Suzhou and Chongming. On weekdays, the ships come and go, endlessly, businessmen gather, come one after another, the town is becoming more and more prosperous, the residents are gradually increasing, the waterfront residences built along the Qipu River continue to emerge, they have risen, and each family has built a very conspicuous river shed, stretching for hundreds of meters, row upon row, staggered, has become the most beautiful scenery on the bank of the Qipu River.
The so-called "river shed" is a riverside hut built by the people who live on the river, with an area of five or six square meters. On the one hand, the construction of the river shed stretching out to the river surface can expand the space of the house, and on the other hand, it also reduces the direct impact of water waves on the main house. Of course, because of the different economic strengths, they will also have different choices in terms of materials and forms: some are stilted raft-type rafts supported by wooden pillars on the river surface, and some are stone-based rafts made of stone strips. In fact, as a typical symbol of the water town in the south of the Yangtze River, the river shed can be seen everywhere, but it is more common, more concentrated, and more neat in Shaxi. The strong water town atmosphere is irrepressibly emanating from these river sheds, and finally produces a water town artistic conception that is not easy to perceive: some are like pavilions, some are like water pavilions, and some are like high platforms, light and beautiful, euphemistic and moving, so that the people on the river bank and the river water are close to each other, and they must be inseparable for a moment. The biggest difference between these river sheds and other waterside houses is that the windows are larger, allowing for better air and light. Of course, in the creation of the pane, the people of the water town are also unambiguous, and they are more detailed, with lotus shapes, checkered shapes, ice crack shapes, geometric puzzles, etc., which are beautiful and generous, and the flower shapes are diverse. Through these different open windows, what you can see is the life map of the residents of the water town, and it is also a scenery in daily life. There are embroiderers, there are paintings, there are idle sitting, and some people move the table to the window, drink by the river, or make a cup of tea, pour themselves alone, and swim well, "steal the floating life for half a day, the mood is half Buddha and half fairy", the days are like this, quiet and poetic.
Why do Shaxi people like to build river sheds so much? In addition to the factors of foundation consolidation and expansion, there are also needs for boating, water intake, washing, trading and viewing. There is often a dock for docking under the river shed, just like your own garage, which is more free and convenient to enter and exit; There are also water bridges, i.e. river ports used for fetching water, trading and travel. It is not surprising that water towns and river ports are commonplace, but most of the water bridges in Shaxi are private households, mainly composed of bridge gates, bridge railings, and bridge steps. The bridge fence plays a safety role to prevent family members from accidentally falling into the water, especially to protect small children. The width of the steps varies according to the needs of the family and the economic situation: generally through the merchants' families, the stone steps are relatively wide, because they are not only for daily household use, but also for the convenience of transporting goods; The bridge steps of ordinary people are relatively narrow, because of the use of life, there is no need to be so fanfare. There are two forms of bridge gates: one is to open the door on the side of the river shed, and when the bridge door is opened, it is a river port that stretches out to the Qipu River; There is also a kind of opening the door on the river shed, opening the bridge door, you can go straight to the river port below, but closing the bridge gate, it becomes the flat land in the river shed, which does not affect daily life at all.
Qipu River is the mother river of Shaxi and the scenic spot of the water town. The Ming Dynasty poet Huangfu Shu wrote in "Two Songs of Qipu Tang Gift to Zhang Seclusion": "The water is exhausted by three rivers, and the flowers are related to the Qipu embankment. Since Kanjiang Luyong, it is not a fan of Wuling. Changyi Cangzhou Xing, the master Taniguchi. Sijun didn't see it immediately, and the spring grass was blooming. In his eyes, this is really a good place for friends to live in seclusion, full of spring grass, full of embankment flowers, full of rivers, full of nostalgia, beautiful, beautiful, although not as good as Wuling fans, but also have the beauty of Taoyuan. The modern poet Lin Zhibing wrote in "Qipu River", "Ripples in the water / Dancing on the riverbed / The reflection of the blue waves / Recording the scenery of the Song Dynasty". Following these verses, the dreamlike poetry and the days without conflict with the world suddenly become slow down in the sound of flowing water, and condense into the metaphor of life that does not want to disturb the tranquility of life. At this time, we watched fondly as the river slowly flowed forward under the breeze, gradually disappearing at the bend, and gradually flowing into the years of history......
It is said that Qi Jiguang, a famous anti-Japanese general, also has an indissoluble bond with the Qipu River. After Qi Jiguang was transferred to the Zhejiang Metropolitan Division as a general, he recruited 3,000 soldiers from Jinhua and Yiwu to fight against the Japanese and made outstanding contributions. It's just that because the front line is too long, the logistical supply frequency is limited. Qi Jiguang deeply felt that the matter was very important, and believed that in order to transport the grain and grass from the land of fish and rice, it was necessary to open up an unimpeded waterway. After repeated investigations, it was found that the water depth and width of the Qipu River are convenient for the fleet to navigate, and it is fully capable of undertaking this great task. However, some areas are seriously silted and need to be treated as soon as possible. The villagers of Shaxi had long hated the Japanese invaders, and when they heard that Qi Jiguang was going to build Qipu into a channel for transporting military rations, they responded one after another, made concerted efforts, and soon completed the dredging of the river. With the completion of the Qipu line, the military rations were continuously transported from southern Jiangsu to Shandong, Zhejiang, Fujian and other anti-Japanese battlefields, so that the Qi army was more confident and morale was more boosted. Out of their admiration and love for Qi Jiguang, they skillfully used homonyms and simply called Qipu "Qipu".
Perhaps because of the deep friendship between Qi Jiguang, a famous anti-Japanese general, and the villagers of Shaxi, the river of life in Qipu, a heroic symphony was played again, which added many sonorous and powerful high-pitched melodies to the gentle and tender.
"Second Street" opens the fireworks in the world
"Second Street" refers to the two old streets of Henan and Tangbei built along the banks of the Qipu River. The old streets of Henan, mainly the residential areas of the aborigines, have a strong atmosphere of life, a light commercial atmosphere, stretching ancient streets, quiet ancient alleys, as if they have passed through time and space for a time, prosperous, mundane, impetuous, are far away from the world. We didn't stay here for a long time, we walked around and hurried by, but we made a serious and careful investigation of the old streets in Tangbei.
It is said that Tangbei Old Street existed in the Song Dynasty, and was the most prosperous in the Ming Dynasty, and now includes five parts: Dongmen Street, Dongshi Street, Zhongshi Street, Xishi Street and Ximen Street. Walking into the east archway, you will enter Zhongshi Street, which is the core area of the eastern part of Tangbei Ancient Street. The site of Wanhexiang is located at No. 118-120 Zhongshi Street, which was founded in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period and was the largest business in Taicang before the Anti-Japanese War. Five stone columns lined up support the wide porch, the concave and convex shape of the floor and the gentle curves flutter with a slight Western flavor, and the light brown façade still maintains the avant-garde color. The door was closed that day. It is said that there is also a passing horse building inside, the scale is large, and it should be a relatively well-preserved ancient building.
We walked further on, and what we saw on the right hand side was the Xinhua Bookstore built in the 60s of the last century. This is a two-storey fan-shaped building, with a unified national signboard, strong and powerful Mao characters, and an iconic five-pointed star in front of it. On the gatehouse, there are four big characters of "Wenzhi Bookstore", and the door couplets on both sides of the door "Water Flow Years Thousand Autumn Paintings, Character Shaxi A Book" are also fascinating. We went in to have a look, bought a few books, and the bookstore specially sent a cloth bag with the words "There is no trouble, it can't be solved by drinking a cup of tea; If there is, then have another drink." It seems that drinking tea is an effective way to solve daily problems here, and I heard that in the past, when there were conflicts between families and neighbors in the town, many times they would sit in each other's teahouses and settle disputes through mutual coordination. It's no wonder that as soon as we came out of Xinhua Bookstore, we saw the famous "First Floor Teahouse" in the town on the left-hand side. It is said that every afternoon, there will be a performance here. There are a lot of people who come here to listen to books, most of them are elderly. They make a cup of tea, close their eyes and listen to a book, half a day, spend all their time, enjoy it, and have endless aftertaste.
The most eye-catching is the Shaxi Museum of Culture and History. The Shaxi Museum of Culture and History shows the long history of gathering sand into land since Shaxi, with sea and land changes, political economy, and cultural history as the main content, and is divided into three exhibition halls: "The Head of Sand", "Jinshaxi" and "300 Years of Happy Life". Listen to the narrator's introduction, about 12,000 years ago, the Shaxi area was still a blue shallow sea, until six or seven thousand years ago, the shallow sea on the north and south sides of the Yangtze River estuary gradually formed a sand spit, the sand spit on the south side stretched from Zhenjiang to the south-east, through Jiangyin, Yangshe to Fushan turned to the southeast, along the Zhitang of Shaxi, the southern suburbs of Taicang to Shanghai Waigang, Maqiao, Caojing, and connected with the sand spit on the north side of the Qiantang River. This gravel mound made of mud and shell remains and the jagged remains of the coast are what people have known as "Okama" since ancient times. Since then, with the natural change of land entering and retreating from the sea, the coastline near Taicang has continued to move eastward. About 5,000 years ago, the western area of Taicang west of Gangshen formed land; By the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the coastline had been extended to the east from Meili and Xushi in Changshu in the north, through Shaxi Tusong and Ludu, and south to Loutang, Jiading, Malu and Nanxiang in Shanghai, gradually forming the land of Shaxi today.
According to records, there was a mountain called Chuanshan on this small island on land and sea back then, which was the only natural mountain in Taicang, with a height of 57 meters and a circumference of 560 meters, and now there are only ruins. Judging from the photo, it is a bit like the Elephant Trunk Mountain in Guangxi, and it is also a bit like the Holy Elephant Gate in Tibet, the most obvious thing is that there is a hole in the mountain, which can lead to the north and south, and the momentum is rugged. Shen Zhou, the head of the "Four Families of Wumen" in the Ming Dynasty, chanted in the poem "Piercing the Mountain": "Looking at how many mountains in the world, only the smallest mountain is piercing." A majestic hole is opened, and there may not be no treasure in it. "It is said that when autumn comes, the golden lanterns bloom all over the mountains, which are brilliant and colorful, and it is magnificent. Because it is the first mountain that can be seen from Wusongkou into the Yangtze River, it is called "the first mountain of the Yangtze River".
We were walking down the street and suddenly we felt like the street was opening up. At that time, I was a little puzzled, under normal circumstances, the streets of Jiangnan Water Town are relatively narrow, only about three or four meters, but here it is almost three or four times as much. Locals told us that it was not so wide originally, and that it was the result of the expansion of the ancient town when it was developed. Now the two sides of the road are paved with stone strips, and the middle road is separated by a brick road, and they are put together to become the newly built Bronze Man Square. The bronze statues in succession have different expressions and are lifelike, some are striking iron, some are selling vegetables, some are playing chess, some are shouting, and some are talking...... are all classic portrayals that record the moments of the lives of the people back then.
The ancient houses of the Ming and Qing dynasties along the street, the pink walls and tiles, compete with each other, the two-storey riverbank building is the standard configuration here, the ground floor is basically a shop, and the second floor should be a residence, but what does it look like inside, we have no chance to go in, so we don't know. When we humbly discussed with a homestay, we didn't expect the host to agree very comfortably, and immediately invited us to go upstairs to have a look. The staircase is very steep and narrow, and the light is dim, but when you climb to the top, you can suddenly open up, and the two houses in the north and south are relatively spacious, and you can hear the sound of boats coming and going on the busy river and the noise of people coming and going on the street. When the owner opened the two large windows in the north and south, it was as if the two parts of the river scene and the street scene of the "Qingming Riverside Map" were directly hung on the north and south walls, and the two water town pictures were immediately spread out, vivid and chic.
Another point that made the owners complacent was that their ancestors had dug a small well in the room on the first floor. If the river is so close, why bother finding a different way inside? The owner smiled and replied casually, "Well water does not interfere with river water." He explained that both have their own uses, "the river water washes, and the well water drinks", which is the habit of the Shaxi people throughout history. This also explains why there are so many righteous wells on the streets. We opened the lid on the well to see what was going on, but there was a black hole inside, and we couldn't see anything, indicating that it was quite deep underneath. The owner who stood on the side told us that the water here is very clear, and in summer, it can also serve as a refrigerator, hang things in small buckets and put them under the well, and use the cool air of the well water to cool down, which can not only ensure that the food is not bad, but also very refreshing to eat.
The host was very welcoming, went out of his way to boil a small pot of water from a small well and invited us to sit down for a nap. He is a native of Shaxi and is very familiar with the situation in the ancient town, and there are many celebrity anecdotes. We poured a cup of tea and tasted tea, and we were very happy to continue to chat with him about the customs and customs of Hui'an Xiabu, Rolling Lamp, Litai Stilts, Jiangnan Silk and Bamboo, as well as the past and present life of Hongjing, Gong's Carving Hall, Leyin Garden, Yaxing, Tang Research Institute and Jiangnan Folk Modern Poetry Museum......
"Three Bridges" to achieve the heartbeat action
The "Three Bridges" are three single-hole ancient stone arch bridges across the Qipu River, namely the Anqiao, Yixing Bridge (also known as Zengjia Bridge) and Liji Bridge (also known as Xinqiao).
The tour guide Xiao Shen told us that we heard the old man say that the most famous thing in Shaxi Town is Jufu Bridge. At that time, the Qipu River, the riverbed was deep and wide, the river was turbulent, the voice of chickens and dogs on both sides of the river was heard, but it was difficult to facilitate the passage, so it became the expectation of everyone to build a bridge between the north and south, so Yu Xiangdong, who understood the people's hearts, immediately took action and took the lead in donating. On the day the bridge was completed, everyone was elated and rejoiced, all hoping to give the bridge a resounding name. Some say it's called "Huimin Bridge", some say it's called "Zhongxing Bridge", some say it's called "Wanshun Bridge", and finally, it's Yuxiang Dong's final word: "This bridge is for everyone's benefit, and it's built by everyone's money and efforts, I think it's called 'Jufu Bridge'." A person has little strength, a chopstick is easy to break, and only when it is aggregated can the strength be strong; One person is blessed, and many people are blessed, so the blessing of gathering the masses is the real blessing. As a result, "Jufuqiao" came into being and went down in history.
Since Jufu Bridge has such an extraordinary origin, where is this bridge now? Xiao Shen told us that not only many outsiders can't find this bridge, but some locals don't know about it. In fact, Jufuqiao is today's Anqiao, it is the first half of the Anqiao, and the Anqiao is the second half of its life. The reason for the name change is mainly because a longevity nunnery (later renamed Lingbao Longevity Temple) was built in the north of Jufu Bridge, but I did not expect that the incense here is vigorous, the reputation is getting louder, and soon it will become a local famous temple, the people of the four towns are pious and respectful, and the pilgrims ask for blessings and pray endlessly. Because Jufukuqiao is close to the hermitage, people think that it is more pleasant to call it "Anqiao" and easier to remember, so "Jufukubashi" becomes "Anqiao".
It is said that the earliest wooden bridge was built, and it was changed to a stone arch bridge when it was rebuilt in the 44th year of Kangxi in the early Qing Dynasty (1705), and this bridge was rebuilt in the 10th year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1884). The vicissitudes of the sea, the white horse crosses the gap, the style of the ancient bridge is still full of energy, the boats under the bridge are connected, the sky and water are reflected, the arch hole is even reflected into a circle, and the reflection on both sides of the river becomes a piece, becoming the finishing touch of the most rich water town ancient bridge in Shaxi ancient town.
We walked further east and came to the junction of Gao Zhentang Lane and South Lane, and Yixing Bridge (also known as Zengjia Bridge) appeared in front of us. According to history, this bridge was built in the third year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1524) by the local enthusiastic villager Zeng Biao, who named it "Yixing Bridge" at that time, in order to express his enthusiasm for justice and righteousness. In order to express the government's affirmation and encouragement of Zeng Biao's series of righteous deeds for the people, Liu Shilong, the governor of Taicang at that time, directly changed the Yixing Bridge to "Zengjia Bridge". When the bridge was first built, it was a flat bridge with a stone wall and wooden surface, and it was only during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty that it was rebuilt into the current single-hole stone arch bridge. It's just because Zeng Biao is born with "good righteousness and commendability", every time he hears such a story, people's admiration arises spontaneously, and the bridge becomes more and more towering and magnificent.
Xinqiao is located on the east side of No. 34 Taiping Street, in the west of the ancient street, in the east corner of the North Lane, formerly known as Liji Bridge. It is said that in the seventh year of Ming Chongzhen (1634), when the bridge was about to be completed, because of negligence in calculation, the size of the last stone was slightly inconsistent, and it was stuck in the middle, neither put down, nor lifted out, everyone thought of a lot of ways, to no avail. When he was very anxious, an old man with white hair suddenly appeared, walked slowly onto the bridge deck, stroked his long beard, stroked the stone, thought for a while, and spat out the eight characters, "Benefit the common people, help the public", and then bowed down, gently lifted the stone, and then gently put it down, and the stone was tightly embedded in the bridge. When people turned their heads to thank him, the old man was gone. Everyone thought that this was the help of the immortals, so they took two of the eight characters said by the immortals and named the bridge "Liji Bridge".
According to historical records, the bridge was built in the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty and rebuilt during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. The bridge is 15.3 meters long and 2 meters wide, spanning the Qipu River. Every time the red sun sinks in the west, ten thousand rays of light shine on the bridge, shining golden and red. It is said that it was after Wen Zhengming, a talented man in Gusu, experienced the "Hongqiao Sunset" on this small bridge, that he gradually summed up the "Eight Views of Shaxi" such as "Qipu Rising Tide", "Tianquan Moon Looking", "Tongjin Fishing Lantern", "North Courtyard Lotus Fragrance", "Songdun Crane Chirping", "Bamboo Forest Evening Cui", "Longevity Bell" and so on. Of course, some people say that it happened on the North Yaojing Bridge, but in any case, Wen Zhengming, through the pen of literary imagination, did penetrate the barrier of time and space of the ancient bridge, depicting the glorious and magnificent moment of the Liji Bridge under the sunset, leaving us with infinite imagination.
The most outstanding in the ancient town are these three ancient stone arch bridges. But Shaxi is located in the south of the Yangtze River water town, the river is vertical and horizontal like a net, the beam bridge is everywhere, the arch bridge is everywhere, each bridge has been endowed with a unique style and charm by the years, the state of returning to the basics, not being disturbed, close to see the sparkling under the bridge, far away to see the water and sky of the sky, such as a rainbow during the day, arch like a crescent moon at night, charming, smart, keen, solid, from beginning to end, are so eye-catching, breathtaking.
The "island" point to the shape pointing
The so-called "one island" is an artificial island opposite the ancient town. In 1956, when the Suzhou Administration organized local migrant workers to carry out a comprehensive dredging of the Qipu River, in order not to affect the development of houses and water conservancy on both sides of the river, the "New Qipu River" was excavated in the south of the town, and the intercepted soil was naturally piled up into a small island. The whole island is 1,350 meters long from east to west and covers an area of 13,500 square meters.
On this small island, there was originally a nunnery, named "Hanayu Temple". The small bridge in the nunnery flows water, the winding path leads to the secluded, the bamboo is repaired, and it is lush. There are many kinds of birds inhabiting the forest, flying and frolicking, and at dusk, hundreds of birds are singing in unison, and the bamboo waves are bursting. Nowadays, although the nunnery no longer exists, but on the small island and newly built "Songhe Pavilion", "Evening Cui Pavilion", "Listening to the Tide Pavilion" and other three bamboo pavilions, the eyes look at the six roads, the pavilion is elegant, the ears listen to the eight directions, the paragraph is moving. Over the years, small pavilions have been built on the island, new stone roads have been built, and osmanthus, Lei Gong bamboo, octagonal gold plate, peach leaf coral, gardenia, hairy juan, camellia, book ribbon grass and so on have been planted. At this moment, spring is full of greenery, and you can see it all. It is said that if you come here in summer, it is a good place to relax and enjoy the coolness, refreshing and relaxing.
This small island is called "Olive Island" by the locals because of its pointed ends and a drum in the middle, shaped like an olive. When we came to Shaxi, we heard that it was not only a gathering place of Loudong culture, but also an influential place of Shanghai culture. How do you sum up the humanistic temperament here? It's really hesitating. But when we saw Olive Island, the answer to the question that had been left unanswered was finally found. Does the two tips of the olives point to the inside and outside respectively, does it mean that they hope to attract from the inside and outside, and absorb in both directions, and does the middle drum represent that they are eclectic and inclusive? Therefore, the culture here is not conservative, nor single, but a fusion of ancient and modern, through China and foreign countries, advancing with the times, harmonious with the land, also farming and fishing, also work and business, fast and slow, elegant and vulgar, also literary and wild, full of vitality and vitality, which runs through the whole is the courage to be the first, pioneering and innovative truth-seeking style and morality-oriented, righteousness and benefit of the character of seeking goodness and beauty, and the beauty of each beauty, beauty and beauty together. Over the years, these spiritual concepts have been cultivated and rooted in a long history, inspiring to grow in the continuous worship of literature and education, and increasingly condensed in the humanities gathering of talents.
There are Qu Xiaozhen, a famous reclusive poet in the late Yuan Dynasty, Sang Yue, a genius and writer in Jiangnan in the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Hong, who was called to revise the "Yongle Canon" in the Ming Dynasty, Yu Zhen, the "Bian Que of the Ming Dynasty" who visited the Western Regions and other countries to spread the culture of traditional Chinese medicine, Ling Yunyi, who served as the left squire of the military department and the right of the imperial history of the military department, and the military affairs of the governor of Liangguang, Lu Yunfu, a bibliophile in the late Ming Dynasty, Chen Hu, a beginner in the late Ming and Qing dynasties, Cheng Muheng, a poet and writer in the Qing Dynasty who wrote all his life, and Sun Shouqi, the prefect of Liuzhou who eliminated the malpractices in the Qing Dynasty and won the hearts of the people. There is Tang Wenzhi, a famous educator and master of Chinese culture in the Qing Dynasty, and Hu Duanxing, the first student to study abroad in the ancient town of the Qing Dynasty...... These self-improvement Guzhen people have accompanied the Guzhen through many years of journey, not only witnesses of history, but also the coordinate points of the times. "Count the romantic figures, but also look at the present." Nowadays, there are many masters and masters who are worthy of the pride of Shaxi people, the most representative of which are Wang Ganchang and Wu Xiaobang.
Wang Ganchang (1907-1998), a famous nuclear physicist, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and winner of the "Two Bombs and One Star Meritorious Service Medal". He was born in Fengtang Bay, Changshu, Jiangsu, and in 1915, at the age of 8, he went to study at Shaxi No. 2 Higher Primary School. At that time, their home was far away from Shaxi, there were more than ten miles of waterway, and there were eight or nine miles of dry road, after all, there were few opportunities to take a boat, and he walked to school every day. After unremitting efforts in the future, he gradually embarked on the broad road of scientific and technological innovation. He has been one of the founders and pioneers of China's nuclear science, and has won two first prizes of the National Natural Science Award and the Special Prize for National Science and Technology Progress, making significant contributions to the development of the mainland's scientific and technological undertakings and national defense.
Wu Xiaobang (1906-1995) was a dance artist, dance theorist and educator. He was born in a poor peasant family in Shaxi, and ten months later he was adopted by the largest rich man in the town, surnamed Wu, and named Jinrong. Today's Wu Xiaobang's name was changed because of his admiration for the Polish musician Chopin. He lived in Shaxi before the age of 12, and the ancient town culture that he was exposed to brought a needle-like influence to his life. At the end of the 20s of the 20th century, he left home to study at Hujiang University in Shanghai; During the May Day Movement, he rushed out of the school gate and entered the ranks of demonstrations; After the defeat of the Great Revolution, he returned to his hometown to teach, and set up a "book and newspaper circulation society" to spread revolutionary principles; In the 30s, he went to Japan three times to study, and successively studied ballet and modern dance from famous dancers such as Takada, Takaya Eguchi, and Miyakoko, who studied under the German expressionist dance system. After returning to China, he opened China's first dance school in Shanghai, and successively created many realistic dances such as "Puppet", "Funeral", "Clown", "Pujiang Night", "Hope for Peace" and so on. What makes him unique is that he takes dance as a lifelong career to pursue the true meaning of life, and always links his destiny with the destiny of the nation. He was the first dancer to choreograph "March of the Volunteers" and "Song of the Guerrillas" into dances for anti-Japanese propaganda.
I heard that there was a former residence of Wu Xiaobang in the town, so we searched for it and finally found it. This is a European-style double-storey "small western-style building" where he lived with his grandmother when he returned to his hometown in the 20s of the last century to teach in Shaxi Middle School. It is said that the grandmother loves this grandson who is rich and rich very much, loving and nourishing, meticulous, he also respects his grandmother very much, cares about it, and the relationship between the grandfather and grandson has always been very good. For Wu Xiaobang, family affection is the source of this life, and his hometown is also the return of emotion.
Yes, the hometown people are close to their hometown, no matter where they go, no matter what they achieve, their hometown will always be their reluctant attachment. The dawn and twilight of the annual ring of life, the truth of the past years, all the time, a few words, can evoke the rumbling childhood memories and become their most emotional gaze on their hometown. The ancient town is like water, moisturizing things silently, at this time we are in it, seeing what it sees, feeling what it feels, and seeing what it has not seen, feeling what it has not felt, the scenery here is picturesque, this emotion is deep, and the thick nostalgia of those same frequency resonance instantly came to the face unexpectedly......
(Zhang Yongyi, famous writer, literary critic, Jiangnan culture scholar)