Text: Yang Feng
Zhenhuang Bridge is extremely sacred in the minds of Gwangju people, which is our eternal pride, but it is also an eternal pain! In contrast, the zhenhe cattle on the Zhenhuang Bridge are very mysterious. When was it built? What material? Or even one or two? Scalper or buffalo? They all make their own sense.
According to the 1986 book "Long Talk HuangChuan", the Zhenhuang Bridge, formerly known as the Gwangju Bridge, was originally built during the Northern Song Dynasty, it was a boat bridge that "weaves boats as bridges", and later changed to a bamboo bridge that "builds bamboo for bridges"; during the YuanTaiding period, Wang Jianu built the Town Huai Bridge in front of the Qingyan Gate of the North City; and the Gwangju Zhizhou Qiancheng in the nineteenth year of Ming Chenghua organized migrant workers to build the Zhenhuang Bridge. In the 31st year of the Ming Wanli Calendar (1603), Chen Xijue of Gwangju Zhizhou organized migrant workers to "smear stone Lei Lei" and widen the bridge piers; in the 50th year of the Qing Kangxi Dynasty (1711), due to the flooding of the water, five piers were washed down in the south of the bridge, and the traffic was blocked, and the people complained. Liu Xueli of Zhizhou in the time prefecture "gathered gentlemen to be old and plotted", taking advantage of the opportunity of "no heavy rain in the whole year, the river leveling and sand rising, the middle stream can be waded, and people have to exert their strength"; in the 6th year of Qianlong (1741), the three piers on the north side of the bridge suddenly fell and were repaired; in the 23rd year of Qianlong (1758 AD), Wu Yisong of Zhizhou organized migrant workers to move the bridge site to the west for dozens of zhang, that is, from Ning'an Gate in the south to Dashun Gate in the north, and built the Zhenhuang Bridge, which has been built for more than 200 years. According to the book, "An iron bull was cast on the first pier north of the bridge to show the meaning of 'the iron cow roared, and the flood bowed its head'. ”
Knowing the origin of the names of this "town" and "Huang" bridge, we know how important this "town river cow" is to the People of Huangchuan. Regarding the origin of the river cattle in this town, there is a widely spread folk tale in Huangchuan, which tells that there is a yellow dragon in the huangshui water in Huangchuan City, which often makes waves, floods the river, and the people suffer. Chun Shenjun decided to plan out the evil dragon; later, Taishang Laojun mounted a green bull and transformed into an iron bull to resist the death of the copper buffalo transformed by the evil dragon, and finally protected the story of the people of a city. This legend is called "The Legend of the Dragon Head Mouth and the Iron Buffalo in Huangchuan Castle", which I have included in "Gwangju Ramblings: Twenty Chapters of Huangchuan Folklore", which will not be repeated here.
Regarding the origin of the iron cattle in the town on the Huangqiao Bridge in this town, Zhang Fangyang, director of the Education, Science, Culture, Health and Sports Committee of the Xinxian CPPCC Committee, accidentally obtained it from an eighty-year-old man when he was doing a field survey of the "Hanhuang Ancient Road", and was included by Director Zhang in the "Hanhuang Ancient Road • Seven", the title is "Double Lions vs. Cow Talk Han Huang", the original text is like this:
Folklore has it that when Hu Cangxiao, a native of Gwangju, served in Huguang and took office in Changsha, he achieved a good story of friendly exchanges and interactions between Han and Huang.
The two sides exchanged stone lions and iron cattle and built a bridge across the rivers on the Hanhuang Ancient Road, which not only communicated economic, social and cultural exchanges, but also built a bridge of friendship between the two sides.
This good story has been passed down from generation to generation in the folk oral accounts of the two places, and has become an immortal and vivid historical witness on the ancient road of HanHuang.
It is said that when building a bridge in Hankou, Hu Cangxiao, as a person whose hometown was in Gwangju and who was also an official in Huguang, naturally thought of making closer contacts between the two places. Therefore, they communicated with officials from Hankou and Gwangju, and brokered a bridge between them, and promoted the exchange of gifts between the two sides in order to seek long-term friendship.
Therefore, in order to enhance exchanges and friendship with Hankou (which belongs to Huguang), the government and the local people of Gwangju (present-day Huangchuan) voluntarily donated money to build a pair of stone lions and escorted them to Hankou, which were installed at the northern end of the newly built bridge in Hankou, that is, at the entrance of Hankou on the Hanhuang Ancient Road, and the pair of stone lions looked north to welcome Gwangju merchants who entered Hankou from this bridge.
A few years later, bridges were also built on the Xiaohuang River in Gwangju, and Hu Cangxiao informed the Hankou government of the matter. After the Hankou government learned of this, of course, it also wanted to repay the people of Gwangju, so the Hankou government also widely publicized, solicited the opinions and plans of all parties at all levels, and unanimously agreed that Hankou was a center of industrial and commercial development, and steel was the most advanced and scientific material at that time, so it decided to cast a pair of iron cattle to give to the Zhenhuang Bridge being built in Gwangju as the treasure of the town bridge.
Through the mutual donation and handling of stone lions and iron cattle between the two sides, in terms of transportation, it is necessary to widen and expand the reconstruction, repair, improvement and improvement of the road quality of the Hanhuang Ancient Road, so that the Hanhuang Ancient Road can still be found.
It can be imagined how magnificent the Hanhuang Ancient Road was in those years, and played an important role in promoting the exchange and development of the Huai River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin for the development of Hankou and Huangchuan and Eyuwan, and for promoting the exchange and development of the Huai River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin.
According to Mr. Zhang Fangyang, "The Hanhuang Ancient Road, one of which runs from Huangchuan in the north, passes through Yinshan Pass, Shanshui Pass, Muling Pass, and Loess Pass in the territory of Xinxian County, and reaches Macheng, Hubei Province, and the passes outside its new county are yet to be examined by us; the second road, from Huangchuan in the north, through Baisha Pass, Modou Pass, and Xiushan Pass to Xuanhua, Hubei Province, also needs our in-depth investigation; and the third road, from Huangchuan in the north, passes through Yinshan Pass and Hutou Pass to Macheng, which is caused by historical changes. Mr. Zhang even suggested that Huangchuan, Guangshan, Shangcheng and Xinxian jointly conduct a survey of the "Hanhuang Ancient Road" to reproduce the historical memory and brilliant cultural inheritance of the ancient road.
The "HanHuang Ancient Road" pass near Shawo in Xinxian County
About this Hu Cangxiao, the name Hu Xu (1655-1736), the character Cangxiao, the number purple string. Born in the twelfth year of Qing Shunzhi, died in the first year of Qianlong, a native of Guangshan. According to Qianlong's "Records of Guangshan County", "His ancestors moved from Jiangxi to Guangma City, and then moved to Guangshan. The Fifth Ancestor, who took the village test, was judged by Liaoyang Tong; Zu Huang, Zhu Sheng, died early, his wife Yu Shi, Shou Jie Juzi, was martyred by the crown; The Father's Qi, Gong Poetry and Painting, wrote with festivals; Xu Shao Du Zhi Confucian First Learning, Reading for Practical Use in the World. "Gwangsan originally belonged to Gwangju, and the state capital was built in the current Huangchuan. Judging from this passage, Hu Xu's ancestor was a family of officials and eunuchs, and his grandfather was also a reader, but he died early, and his grandmother was widowed, and after raising his father to adulthood, he died of martyrdom; his father was a man who knew books and was good at poetry and painting, and wrote famous works of good discipline and virtue; Hu Xu was a teenager, diligent in reading, determined to follow Confucian ideas and ideas, and thought that he was an official.
It is said that "at the age of eight, he saw that the Taiji diagram had the tendency of yin and yang to be entangled in the cycle, and the thoughts of sleeping and eating were donated; this long, gong poems, ancient literary words, and flooded with scriptures, especially deeper than the "Yi"" Hu Xu has been diligent and studious since childhood, reading a lot of books, good at writing articles, often immersed himself in the study of "Zhou Yi", and has quite insightful insights. Because of his erudition and versatility, he was repeatedly summoned by the emperor and praised him as a "really hard-working reader", a major minister of the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong dynasties of the Qing Dynasty, and an official of the Ceremonial Department and the Soldier Department.
Mr. Yunyongxuan Li Yong, an expert in Guangshan Literature and History, introduced that Hu Xu wrote many works in his lifetime, mainly including 50 volumes of the Zhou Yi Letter Book, 49 volumes of the Interpretation of the Scriptures, 3 volumes of "About Tu", "Kong Zhu Discernment", and "Instructions for Easy Learning", 10 volumes of "The Purpose of the Bonfire Lantern" (2 volumes), 4 volumes of the "Detailed Examination of the Bu Fa", 18 volumes of the "Notes on the Covenant" (16 volumes), and a total of 158 volumes. The most representative is the "Zhou Yi Letter Book", which still has great academic research value, of which the "original picture" part is more "unique experience". In the first year of Qianlong, Xu Entered the Invitation, and Yin Yizi entered the prison to study, it was September of the year, died in the Beijing Division, the age of eighty, Tan Wenliang.
Mr. Li Yong also introduced that Hu Xu's youngest son Hu Jitang (1729-1800), the character Shengfu, the number Yunpo. A native of Guangshan, Henan, Yinsheng, was awarded the Shuntian Tongjue, and the official was directly subordinate to the viceroy. Throughout his life, he was cautious and diligent, his political achievements were remarkable, he knew people well, he was decisive in the face of major events, and he was deeply appreciated by Jiaqing, and many of the major policies of the Qianlong period were "set by the hands of the Jitang" and "the government decrees before and after were uniform." The first impeachment of Qianlong's favored ministers and Kun twenty major crimes. Yu Jiaqing died of illness in October of the fifth year at the age of 72. After his death, the emperor gave the crown prince Taibao, rewarded the Draconic Sutra, and sent more than ten imperial guards to the funeral, giving him the title of "Duke Zhuang Mingong". His works include "Peiyinxuan Poetry Collection" and so on.
In 1964, Hu Xu and Hu Jitang were listed by the Ministry of Culture as well-known calligraphers and painters in the country from the Tang to the Qing Dynasty. Hu Jitang's calligraphy and paintings have been circulated in Guangshan County, and the county's cultural management committee has its authentic handwriting.
Hu Jitang calligraphy works
Hu Cangxiao and his youngest son, Hu Jitang, are sacred in the hearts of the people of their hometown. During Hu Cangxiao's tenure as an official, he did a lot of good things for his hometown and left a lot of legends, including the legend of the above "double lions against cattle" to promote exchanges between Huangchuan and Hankou.
The most commendable legend is that he asked the emperor not to draw in Henan and not to draft two. In the past, the emperor's draft selection did not know how many red-faced girls wasted their youth. Hu Was not good at sex himself, and his wife and concubines were one with a bubble neck (iodine deficiency disease) and the other with an air foot (beriberi). When he heard that the Yongzheng Emperor was going to be drafted in Henan, he said to the Yongzheng Emperor: Henan's mountains and rivers are evil, and they are either bubble necks or angry feet. The Yongzheng Emperor listened in disbelief and said, "Your Majesty, otherwise I will call my two insiders to show you." The Yongzheng Emperor played the game, and Lord Hu summoned his two insiders to let the Yongzheng Emperor see, and sure enough, one was a bubble neck and the other was an air foot. The Yongzheng Emperor thought to himself that Since Hu Cangxiao's wife and concubine were so colorless, it seemed that there really would be no showgirls in Henan, so he dismissed the idea of drafting in Henan.
In his hometown, Hu Xu also left a legend similar to the six-foot alley, "Heqi Alley" (now known as Baiyun Lane). There is also a legend that when Hu Cangxiao began to lecture on "Zhou Yi", when he talked about "Dry" Gua, suddenly lightning flashed and thundered in the sky, and where the lecture began, the ground shook, the house trembled, and the tables and chairs shook, which was the heavenly court warning him that the heavenly opportunity could not be leaked. It is said that from then on, Hu Cangxiao did not dare to talk about the true meaning of "Zhou Yi".
In 2017, the Huangchuan County Cultural Relics Bureau collected from the society a pig iron cast town river cow salvaged from the Xiaohuang River. It is said that not far from this salvage site, another town river cow has been detected, which has yet to be further confirmed and excavated. The relevant information about the town river cattle also needs to be further examined.