The Kuixing Building fell.
Once it was the tallest building in Yanjiazhuang Village, Xindi County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, and existed for at least a hundred years.
In early October this year, it collapsed silently in the heavy precipitation water that is rare in Shanxi's history, and even the villagers living nearby could not say when the already crumbling Kuixing Building fell.
"Above-ground cultural relics look at Shanxi", Shanxi has 53875 immovable cultural relics, of which 28027 are ancient buildings. After the rainstorm, people turned more attention to the National Cultural Relics Protection Units such as the Jinci Temple, Pingyao Ancient City and the Thousand Buddha Caves Grottoes.
In fact, the more serious disasters are city- and county-level cultural relics and ungraded cultural relics.
According to statistics from the Shanxi Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics, as of 19:00 on October 11, Shanxi cities reported that a total of 1,783 cultural relics in the province had roof leakage, wall cracking and collapse, foundation collapse and surrounding slope protection, and wall collapse to varying degrees. After preliminary assessment, among the cultural relics affected by the disaster, 661 cultural relics protection units at the city and county level have not yet been approved and announced as immovable cultural relics for cultural relics protection units.
These low-level ancient buildings are scattered in the countryside, and the number is huge, and for a long time it has been unguarded, funded for repairs, and professional protection. The heavy rain brought them fatal damage and also brought attention. Some people "hold umbrellas", some people donate, and some people run around the countryside just to help them.
"Low-security ancient buildings also have unique values, they represent a certain era, a certain region." Ren Yimin, president of the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Ancient Architecture and Painted Murals, said that the large number of cultural relics and insufficient funds and manpower are a common dilemma for the protection of cultural relics in Shanxi. Next, the protection of cultural relics should be inclined to the low-security ancient buildings, and strive to achieve "should be guaranteed to the fullest".
The Kuixing Building of Yanjiazhuang collapsed after a torrential rain. Beijing News reporter Wu Caiqian photographed
The fallen Kuixing Building
The Kuixing Building in Yanjiazhuang Village, Xindi County, was noticed after it fell.
In early October, days of heavy rain washed it away, and the ruins of its broken walls were photographed and uploaded online, attracting attention. After the National Day, four or five groups of people came to take pictures and take small videos. Liu Xiufen, who has lived on the side for more than 30 years, does not understand, "The buildings have collapsed, what is there to photograph?" ”
Tang Dahua, a volunteer who protected the ancient building, saw the photo and decided to go to Xindi County to look for it. Shanxi's terrain is high in the north and low in the south, and Xindi County, located in the south of Jinnan, is a large county of cultural relics and the hardest hit area of this rain disaster. On October 7, the Xindi section of the lower reaches of the Fenhe River suffered the largest flood peak in nearly 40 years, and a breach occurred.
From the county seat of Xindi County to Yanjiazhuang, you have to pass through the Fenhe River. On October 16, the Fenhe River was flooded wide, covered with yellow mud, sandbags were piled up on the side of the road, and the apple and pear trees that should have been harvested had been blistered. In Yanjiazhuang, there are still traces of floods in the cornfield, and the corn stalks are blistered and black and moldy. Corn was hanging in front of each house, a golden yellow, and occasionally one or two collapsed houses could be seen.
Looking for ancient buildings, Tang Dahua has experience, "There are many Kuixing buildings in Shanxi, which are generally built in relatively high places. The higher the star, the closer it is to the star. "If he had come a few days earlier, he might have only had to look up and find it." Now, I could only ask the villagers and ask several people before I found the country lane leading to KuixingLou. Liu Xiufen told Tang Dahua, "It rained heavily for a few days on National Day, and the rain stopped, and I found that this building collapsed. ”
It was a slope that led to a vast cornfield. The Kuixing Tower is hidden on the edge of the slope, surrounded by weeds and trees, so dense that it is impossible to get off the feet. The pavilion of the Kuixing Building collapsed almost completely, and the surviving tiles were hunched over, and the fallen earth rubble piled up into a small slope, washing down the small trees next to it, leaving only the foundation of the rammed earth exposed.
Seeing that someone had come to photograph Kui Xing Lou again, Liu Xiufen took out a photo album from the house. Flipping around, she finally found the old photo taken more than thirty years ago, "You see, this building is in the background. In the photo, nine men stand in a row, wearing black coats and red sweaters, behind which is a Kuixing Building with a tall pedestal, a two-story wooden attic, brick and tile integrity, and stone railings.
Yan Jianlin, 53, has a similar photo that he took when he was 27. In Shanxi, if the age is a multiple of "nine", it is considered a "threshold", which is equivalent to the "year of life". Yan Jianlin said that whenever the age of "nine" is reached, the peers in the village will take a group photo in front of the Kuixing Building.
"Kuixing Building used to look good, it was the symbol of our village, and everyone likes to come here to take photos." When Yan Jianlin was a child, there was a school next to the Kuixing Building, and boys would climb up in their spare time and climb up to the far horizon.
Yan Shude, who was over the age of flower armor, also liked to climb the Kuixing Tower when he was a child, and when it was cool in the summer, he could see a large area of wheat fields and reeds in the distance, "And lotus flowers, so big, very beautiful!" He drew with his hands, a row of white teeth grinning from his dark face.
Yan Jianlin, at the age of 9, 18, 27 and 36, took pictures in front of the Kuixing Building, and watched it become dilapidated little by little. People no longer take photos with Kuixinglou, and Yan Jianlin's photo shooting location when he was 45 years old was changed to the entrance of the village.
When the villagers mentioned it again, only memories and regrets remained. "In the past, the Kuixing Building in our village was the best, and every year there were college students, and one was admitted to Tsinghua University. There are entrepreneurs in the village who have said that they want to repair it, but they have not moved. Yan Shude said.
The villagers of Yanjiazhuang Village used to take a photo with The Kuixing Building, behind which is the collapsed Kuixing Building. Beijing News reporter Wu Caiqian photographed
The history of Kuixing Tower may never be known to later generations. It is not in the list of cultural security units and ungraded cultural security units in Xindi County, and it is not recorded; this time the damage is serious, and a stone stele or wood with inscriptions cannot be found; the old people in the village cannot tell, Yan Shude heard her 91-year-old mother say that the Kuixing Building already existed when she was a child.
Its final portrait, perhaps under the brush of the painter Lianda, is that the outer layer of the bottom base is cracked and peeled off in pieces, the rammed earth inside is washed by the rain and the ravine is crisscrossed, the right eaves of the two-story brick and wood pavilion have fallen off a corner, the rafters are stretched out alone, and the whole pavilion is seriously deformed and deformed, and the wood is overwhelmed.
Lianda began to hand-paint ancient buildings in Shanxi in 1999 and has painted about 2,500 paintings so far. In 2015, when he first saw the Kuixing Building, he couldn't eat, sat in the bushes and weeds against the scorching sun, and painted it. "This is perhaps its final portrait. I felt a gust of wind and it fell. ”
After six years, seeing the photos of the collapse of the Kuixing Building, Lianda felt sorry, but not unexpected. "In such heavy rain, I don't know how many ancient buildings scattered in the countryside and mountains will eventually die out."
"The national security and provincial security can not be guaranteed, and so on"
Guangcun under the Lüliang Mountains is a famous historical and cultural village. This small village of just over 1,000 people includes the Fusheng Temple of the Tang Dynasty, the Jade Emperor Temple of the Yuan Liao, which is applying for provincial protection, and 32 county-level cultural relics protection units.
Fusheng Temple was founded in the Tang Zhenguan period, the temple buildings are stacked on top of each other, staggered, and there are painted sculptures of the Song, Jin, Yuan and Ming dynasties in the hall. Among them, the "Nanhai Guanyin" in the main hall is a colorful overhang of the Song Dynasty, which was once rated as "the most beautiful Guanyin".
On September 26, heavy rain poured down outside, and water droplets dripped on the top of the main hall, and the traces of raindrops were clearly visible on the original dusty base of the Buddha statue. When Li Tianbao, the temple keeper, found out, he took a rain cloth and a plastic bag, covered it with a Buddha statue, pressed it with tiles underneath, and then called the Cultural Relics Bureau to report it.
That's all he could do. Li Tianbao suffered from polio and walked with a limp, he could not climb to a high place, and he could not pull a rain cloth for the hall that leaked rain. These were only done after the staff of the Antiquities Bureau came, they found scaffolding, put it on the roof, pulled up a large piece of plastic sheeting, pulled it little by little, and covered most of the Buddha statues, which took more than an hour.
Inside The Fukusho-ji Temple in Guangcun, a rain cloth is blocked in front of the statue of Kannon in the South China Sea. Beijing News reporter Wu Caiqian photographed
Li Tianbao had been watching from the side, "I am here to die, and the Buddha statue cannot be damaged." He is 56 years old and has been guarding Fusheng Temple for 10 years, and his partner has just changed from a 70-year-old man to a "young man" in his 50s.
Most of the temple keepers in Xindi County are about the same age as Li Tianbao, and his father also began to guard the temple in his 50s, and he kept it for 20 years. Before taking over, Li Tianbao also went out to work like a young man in the village. After his father fell ill, his family persuaded him to stay and take a salary of 300 yuan a month for 10 years.
On weekdays, Fukusho-ji Temple is not open, and two large locks lock the gate. Li Tianbao lived in the house behind the side of the main hall. There is a bed and a table in the room, with pen, ink and paper on the table, opposite the fire alarm controller and surveillance video, connected to the anti-theft sensor on the wall. Li Tianbao was not useful, once the fire alarm sounded in the middle of the night, he was so anxious that he only wore a single coat, so he stepped on the bicycle and turned around, fortunately it was a false alarm.
The Jade Emperor Temple behind Fusheng Temple is a county-level cultural relics protection unit that has been unattended for many years. According to the inscription in the temple, the Jade Emperor Temple was first established in the Yuan and Liao Dynasties, and there was no god statue inside", and the statue was resculpted in the thirteenth year of Daming Zhengde (1508 AD).
Tang Dahua remembered that when he saw the Jade Emperor Temple nine years ago, the main hall collapsed, and there were no doors and windows. Revisited this time, "still the same", even more dilapidated.
In the days of heavy rain, Jing Runguan, the former temple keeper, came back to check the situation, the wall collapsed, and the main hall leaked rain. The corner of the house, which had previously been cracked, was fixed with wire, and it was also washed away in this heavy rain and collapsed.
Three generations of the Jing runguan family had lived here, and they took care of the Jade Emperor Temple by the way. It wasn't until 2015, when their son got married and moved into a new home, that the family moved away. This time, when he came back, he only reported to the village chief after reading it, and then tied the wooden door and left. On the red wooden door, it is written in white chalk: Visits are not allowed.
The 32 county-level cultural relics protection units in Guangcun are facing different degrees of damage, but few people pay attention to it. Villagers said that people from the Cultural Relics Bureau had also come to see it, "They said that neither the national security nor the provincial security can protect it, and the rest will wait." "The village has made a budget, and it will take about 5 million yuan to repair the Jade Emperor Temple, and it is still waiting for the funding of the Cultural Relics Bureau."
The main hall of the Jade Emperor Temple in Guangcun partially collapsed and leaked rain. Beijing News reporter Wu Caiqian photographed
In Tang Dahua's view, many villages in Shanxi are facing the dilemma of aging and hollowing out, and it is almost impossible to rely only on villagers to raise repair funds.
Tang Dahua is a lover of ancient architecture, since 2012, he has visited more than 1,000 ancient buildings in Shanxi and created a special topic on the Internet called "Saving Ancient Buildings with Your Hands". His original intention was just to do his part to protect Gu Jian, to seek peace of mind, "Watching them destroyed, can not be indifferent." ”
Unexpectedly, the topic of "shooting with your hands to save the ancient building" has attracted much attention on Weibo, and more and more media reports on this matter. Between 2012 and 2015, Tang Dahua often took media reporters to Shanxi to search for ancient buildings. Among them, he was impressed by the fact that CCTV's "Economic Half Hour" launched four consecutive programs in 2015, titled "Shanxi: Why the Cultural Relics Province 'Wasted' Ancient Buildings".
The concentrated reports of dozens of media have also promoted the introduction of relevant policies.
In March 2015, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the Shanxi Provincial Government announced that they planned to jointly raise 1.5 billion yuan to start the protection project of ancient buildings in Shanxi and repair 235 ancient wooden structures with national and provincial guarantees. At the same time, the municipal and county governments are required to raise funds to carry out emergency maintenance of more than 200 pre-Yuan Dynasty municipal and county bao ancient buildings in the province, so as to truly achieve "full coverage".
Since then, the stones in Tang Dahua's heart have finally been put down. In 2018, he and CCTV's "Economic Half Hour" column visited Shanxi Gujian again and found that most of the national and provincial security buildings have been protected and repaired.
And those low-level or even ungraded ancient buildings scattered in the countryside are always ignored and have to "wait" because of their large number, insufficient protection funds and manpower.
On the wall of Fukusho-ji Temple, a national security relic in Guangcun Village, it is written: Cultural relics are non-renewable wealth. Beijing News reporter Wu Caiqian photographed
Hold up an "umbrella" first
Another Jade Emperor Hall, because of an "umbrella" survived the rain.
In Hejiazhuang Village, Hongdong County, Linfen City, two layers of blue colored steel tiles cover the old Jade Emperor Hall, and polished stainless steel columns stand around. The floor in front of the temple was still wet, and the golden corn cobs were hanging on the ground; the arches behind the temple collapsed, and several pillars were crumbling.
"If this colored steel shed had not been built, this temple might not have been able to withstand this rain disaster and would have collapsed." He Guoping, secretary of the party committee of Hejiazhuang Village, introduced that the color steel shed was organized by a cadre stationed in the village two years ago, and he was originally a cultural relics worker in the county. Under his vigorous efforts, he held up an "umbrella" for this county-level protected cultural relic.
But "umbrellas" are only short-term expedients. There was a musty smell inside the Jade Emperor Hall, and the pillars on the top also had traces of rain erosion. Tang Dahua introduced that although the color steel tiles can block most of the rainwater, they also block the sunlight, and the temple becomes wet. In the ancient buildings in the north, a layer of mud will be laid under the tiles for insulation, and when the rain is heavy, the mud tiles and wood in the temple will also be wet. If it cannot be dried in time, the wet wall will become heavier, and the risk of building collapse will also be exacerbated.
Blue color steel tile sheds were erected on the Jade Emperor Hall of Hejiazhuang, and even so, in this heavy rain, some of the walls on the back of the hall collapsed and the pillars fell. Beijing News reporter Wu Caiqian photographed
He Guoping recalled that it cost about 70,000 yuan to build this shed, and at that time, someone also made a repair plan. He came up with two repair project design plans, the total cost of the project is 2 million, of which the project cost accounts for 82%, the design fee accounts for 7%, and the source of funds is financial appropriation.
Everything is in place, only the funds are left.
Later, the village cadre who was suspended from his post left, and the repair plan of the Jade Emperor Hall was also stranded. "We want to fix it, but where can we raise so much money?" In this village of more than 1,100 people, only half of the permanent population, most of them are elderly, who grow crops for a living. Raising 2 million is as difficult as ascending to the sky.
The large number of cultural relics and insufficient funds and manpower are the dilemmas commonly faced by the protection of cultural relics in Shanxi.
Ren Yimin, president of the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Ancient Architecture and Painted Murals, introduced that there are 53,875 immovable cultural relics in Shanxi, of which 28,027 are ancient buildings, and the majority of low-level and ungraded ancient buildings account for the majority. "Although the provincial finance now comes up with 170 million yuan per year, and the local municipal finances also have input, the gap between the number of protection objects is still relatively large."
In addition to financial appropriations, Shanxi Province is also actively encouraging social forces to participate in the protection of ancient buildings.
In 2014, Shanxi launched the "Regulations on the Participation of Social Forces in the Protection and Utilization of Ancient Buildings in Shanxi Province" legislation. In March 2017, the Shanxi Provincial Government issued the "Implementation Plan for Mobilizing Social Forces in Shanxi Province to Participate in the "Civilized Watch Project" for the Protection and Utilization of Cultural Relics", and launched a new policy for the "adoption" of low-grade cultural relics. Under the premise of not changing the ownership of cultural relics, social organizations, enterprises or individuals are encouraged and guided to participate in the protection and utilization of cultural relics protection units at the municipal and county levels and other immovable cultural relics through methods such as funding repairs and adoption.
Up to now, there have been 238 cultural relics adoption projects in Shanxi, but compared with the total number of 28,000 ancient buildings, it is still too few. At the same time, it is also facing chaos such as "adoption but not adoption", chaotic reconstruction after adoption, and improper use.
In addition, government departments and non-profit organizations have jointly promoted the "umbrella action" to protect ancient buildings. The earliest was initiated by He Yanjun, a volunteer for the protection of cultural relics in Changzhi City' "Civilization Watch", initiated by village cadres and villagers in the village where the endangered cultural relics are located, and raised funds through the Internet platform, and volunteers and professional umbrella teams completed the construction. Nowadays, it has successfully "held umbrellas" in Changzhi, Shanxi Province, in 20 places.
Tang Min's public welfare organization "Friends of Gucun" also participated in the "Umbrella Operation", and he called the money The "rescue fund" of Gujian. "The funds needed for complete repairs are too much, but the cost of 'umbrellas' is on average 20,000 yuan, and almost every village can raise them." On the other hand, the repair of cultural relics requires certain professional skills, and villagers may cause secondary damage by repairing themselves, while the difficulty of "holding umbrellas" is low, which can "continue to live" cultural relics for 20 years.
"We can't watch it collapse, and it's a helpless move to build a shed." Tang Min said that the protection of ancient buildings is not only a matter for the government, but also requires the participation of social forces. The local villagers are the biggest beneficiaries and the best guardians of the protection of ancient buildings. "When we raise funds, we are also enhancing the sense of honor and responsibility of the villagers. After they participated, the protection of cultural relics slowly became cultural conservation. ”
The Kuixing Building in Xizhuang Village is under renovation. Beijing News reporter Wu Caiqian photographed
"Every artifact has a unique value"
There are also "lucky" Kuixing Buildings, which waited for repairs before heavy rain.
More than ten kilometers away from Yanjiazhuang Village, the Kuixing Building in Xizhuang Village is a three-story three-eaves brick and wood building built in the Qing Dynasty, which was included in the county-level protected cultural relics protection unit of Xindi County in 1981. In March this year, the Xindi County Cultural Relics Protection Center funded its protection and repair.
When Tang Dahua arrived in Xizhuang Village, the repair work of Kuixing Tower was in full swing, the scaffolding was more than ten meters high, and the surrounding ground was piled with sand and gravel materials. Workers estimate that it will not be completed until December. Surrounding villagers said that the county cultural relics bureau inspected for two or three years before and after, and the cost of repairs is expected to be nearly one million.
The population of Xizhuang Village is twice that of Yanjiazhuang, with nearly three thousand people. Villagers make a living from the stone carving business, and there are stone sculptures of stone lions, tethered horses, Buddha statues and other stone statues in front of their homes, and the economic conditions are relatively good.
Xizhuang Village Temple Fair, all kinds of small stalls crowded the road that was not spacious. Courtesy of respondents
October 18th, coinciding with the thirteenth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar, is the day when the temple fair is held in the village.
On the street in front of the Guandi Temple, people are boiling, and small stalls and tents are crowded with village roads that are not spacious. Colorful candies are poured into aluminum plates, freshly fried buckwheat slices float in a colander, cold powder with white smoke stewed in an iron pot, and sugar-fried chestnuts are constantly tumbling...
Such a lively temple fair is not several times a year. The Guandi Temple in Xizhuang Village is also a county-level cultural relics protection unit. The courtyard is planted with evergreen cypress trees, and the wooden door was built later, on which is engraved a relief: Born in 1986 at the age of thirty-six. The fine sunlight sprinkled into the Guandi Temple, shining on the big red lantern next to the door, just illuminating the word "bless".
The villagers believed in Emperor Guan, and every 15th day of the first month, they would come to give incense to Guan Laoye. 84-year-old Li Lanhua, silver-haired and blue-clad, is reverently incense and prostrating his head, offering oil lamps to Guan Laoye. She was one of the keepers of the Guandi Temple, and she took turns with several other elderly people in the village to take care of it.
Li Lanhua entered the Xizhuang Guandi Temple to offer incense. Beijing News reporter Wu Caiqian photographed
The sun moved overhead, and Li Lanhua stood at the entrance of the courtyard and looked around, constantly chanting: "What time is it, what time is it, are they coming?" She was waiting for a Pu opera troupe from the Salt Lake District of Xindi County.
In Shanxi, there are as many ancient temples as there are villages, and there are usually stages in front of the temples. The temple fair is centered on this, and the village temple not only gathers the popularity of the villagers, but also the cultural center of the village.
"This play is sung to God and sung to man." Villagers donate incense money to the temple, which is used to ask the troupe to sing operas and dedicate themselves to the gods, and people can also borrow light to watch plays, zhang Guangping, deputy head of the troupe, introduced. He has been going to the countryside to perform for many years, some old opera fans have run to the backstage to send him their own cakes, some people have brought him a cigarette, and retired old village chiefs have also come to host the scene, and people always look forward to such a lively scene.
On the stage is Wang Baojun, who is dressed in pink and long braids, and most of the old people with white hair sit under the stage. On the stage, the queen mother dressed in green threw up her sleeves and sang: "Three girls, open the door!" The owner of the beef noodle stall under the stage replied: "Come! The crowd laughed and the show began.
Xizhuang opera stage, most of the stage is an elderly audience. Beijing News reporter Wu Caiqian photographed
Tang Dahua looked at it with relish, "This is the social value of ancient rural architecture, and it should be paid more attention to." "Xizhuang Guandi Temple is a Qing Dynasty building, according to the value of cultural relics, its repair should be ranked after many national security, provincial security, but it was re-statued in 1997, in 2004 the new seminary wall, are spontaneously repaired and maintained by villagers, donations and funding stone monuments are still placed in the courtyard."
"Some artifacts, while it may be low-level of protection, represent a special value for this place." Ren Yimin, for example, is just as some people look beautiful and some people look average, but together they constitute a human group. Cultural relics of each era and each region have their own unique value, "We do cultural relics protection, and what we want to protect is the diversity of cultural relics." ”
In Ren Yimin's eyes, ancient architecture is not only a house, but also carries historical culture and social folklore, reflects the changes of the times and regional characteristics, and is a carrier that can be seen and touched by history and culture.
After 36 years in the industry, he compares himself to a doctor of cultural relics, hoping that "these cultural relics can be passed on from generation to generation under our care, so that they can be preserved forever, which is our goal."
The heavy rain also gave a wake-up call to cultural relics workers, "In the face of such extreme weather, can we do some preventive protection work?" He hopes that the daily maintenance and preventive protection of cultural relics can get more attention, "the daily patrol has achieved full coverage of national security and provincial security, and the city and county insurance is basically partial coverage, and we are striving to achieve full coverage and should be guaranteed to the fullest." ”
Tang Dahua visited Shanxi for more than ten days, and after returning to Shandong, he began to update the column "Shooting and Saving Ancient Buildings with Your Hands" non-stop. He saw that the national security and the provincial security had been better protected and repaired, and wanted more people to pay attention to the ancient buildings in Shanxi with low protection levels, "The national security and provincial protection are worry-free, and it is the turn of the rural temple." ”
Yanjiazhuang Village has had good news recently. Yan Yilin, the village director, said that recently some people from the Cultural Relics Bureau had come to see the collapsed Kuixing Building and "promised to repair it." ”
"If someone comes to repair it, I will definitely help, as much as I can." Yan Shude's cornfield is near the Kuixing Building, he rides a tricycle to the field every day to grab the soaked corn, whenever he sees someone coming to shoot the Kuixing Building, he will stop and enthusiastically introduce it.
Yan Jianlin will be 54 years old next year, which is another year of "nine". He hoped that Yan Jiazhuang's Kuixing Building could be repaired, and he and his peers could take another photo with Kuixinglou.
(At the request of the interviewee, Yan Jianlin, Yan Shude, Liu Xiufen, li Lanhua pseudonyms)
Beijing News reporter Wu Caiqian, intern Wang Zhimin, reported from Shanxi
Edited by Liu Qian
Proofreading Li Lijun