Pack up a piece of Jin Ou
——Kaifu Old Town Tour
Wen 丨 He Liwei
On April 29, the spring sun was good, so I walked to the old town of Kaifu in the north of the city, and the figure was short and long under the bright sun.
I remember April 29 because it was my daughter-in-law's due date. I thought I was going to be promoted to a taunt, the phone called my cub, he said there, there is no response grin, no hurry. But the mood is still good, do taunt, but just around the corner. The steps I walk around in the old city, trying to be taunting, may be in line with these old streets and alleys, should be the scene.
First, it turned from Xiangchun Street to West Park North. Passing through the archway, the eyes are new, quiet, clean, familiar and strange. The last time I came back was two years ago, the winding alleys were lined with fences, cement bags, scaffolding, and red, yellow, and yellow hard hats that walked around. The ground is covered with mud and water, and the road must be tiptoed and jumped left and right like a kangaroo. I know that this is the transformation of the old street, and it is a chaotic scenery that can be seen at any time in the old neighborhoods of Changsha.
After the chaos, it is the slow unfolding of order. Last year, the West Park North Completed the renovation, the current street scene, new and old, well-ordered, there is a kind of old days after the new eyes of the five flavors of the ancient and modern miscellaneous. Is it the West Park North Lane today, or the West Park North Lane of the past? Trance inexplicable.
Turn right into the street to the former residence of the late Golden Stone Seal Engraver Mr. Li Li. During the Cultural Revolution, I had just graduated from elementary school, all the universities, primary and secondary schools in the country had suspended classes to make a revolution, the thirteen- and fourteen-year-old young boys had no books to read, the revolution was not old, and the town was full of days and nights, and the streets were full of loudspeakers and rebel leaflets flying in the air. At that time, I often went to Mr. Li Li's house with a classmate surnamed Wen to play. Classmate Wen and Li Li are relatives, but the young man is taller than the adult, and Mr. Li, who is in his forties, wants to call me a primary school classmate as a cousin, which is funny to think of. There is a little silence in the midst of the big trouble. The alleys in the north of the West Park were so deep that I could not smell the noise of the revolution. The old eaves, the sparrows chirping, a tranquility. Mr. Li liked our two young boys very much, and at that time, Mr. Li was not very famous, there were not many visitors, and some of them had time to talk with us. Occasionally, he locked the door, dragged a box from under the bed, and showed us his collection of famous calligraphy and paintings, one by one, carefully picked up and spread on the bed, and the corners of his mouth were crookedly floating with a smile. What we saw in him was the true handwriting of Qi Baishi, Li Xiongcai, Guan Liang, Fei Xinmei, Yang Zhiguang, and so on, which was the initial aesthetic enlightenment of me and Wen Classmates. In the future, Wen entered the university to study fine arts, and the work I was engaged in was also literary and artistic creation, which was probably related to this kind of enlightenment. See the good things in the world, and from then on have a panoramic view of the mountains.
In 2003, CCTV made a series of documentaries "A Man and a City", planned by Chen Xiaoqing, the director of "China on the Tip of the Tongue", and selected ten cities with the most historical and cultural heritage in the country, written and filmed by the city's indigenous writers, they chose Changsha, and also chose me to write the "Changsha Years", writing of course my experience of growing up with this ancient city, is a personal history, but also the history of the city. I took the CCTV film crew to the north of the West Park, photographed Mr. Li Li and his stone house, photographed the hemp stone of this deep alley, the door knocker, the wooden window and the eaves, and photographed the sun shadow peeling on the moss-covered brick wall. These close-up shots frame the ordinary scenery of the ordinary days of ancient Changsha, and the situation is deep and long. This documentary is repeated every year on CCTV, and every time I see it, what comes out of my heart is an old folk saying: a long day is like a small year.
Mr. Zhang Shizhao, who was the chief justice and education chief of the Beiyang government, once said in the preface of a poem: "The land covered by the Crown of the West Garden." "Why is it so well known as West Garden?" Since the late Qing Dynasty, the west garden street, the first street of the West Garden, there are many mansions, celebrities gathered, from the Qing court to the Republic of China dignitaries, from the restorationists to the revolutionaries, from the Miao family to the scholars and famous teachers, ants gathered in beehives, crowns like clouds.
Among them, the most famous is the Metamorphosis Garden, which was built by Hu Xingren, the inspector of Zhejiang Province, and is a quiet and secret place. Mr. Chen Yinke, who is recognized as the most learned scholar of the twentieth century, was born in Metamorphosis. Tan Si tong often came to this garden, and once wrote a poem of "Metamorphosis Garden", praising his "crystal pavilion leaning on han jade, bamboo green time far away from the sky." "There is also the West Garden Dragon Mansion, which is the residence of Long Zhanlin, the attendant of the Qing Punishment Department, and the hall is grand. On the east side of the Dragon Mansion is the ancestral hall zuo xianggong ancestral hall of the late Qing dynasty worship generation of famous courtiers Zuo Zongtang. In addition to the famous Gongwang clan, if we talk about rejuvenating learning and rejuvenating education and educating people, then this street has given birth to two of the most famous schools in Huxiang, one is Mingde Middle School and the other is Zhounan Middle School. Modern celebrities Huang Xing, Chen Tianhua, Zhang Ji, Chen Guofu, Zhou Xiaozhou, Ren Bishi, etc. are all Mingde alumni. The talents cultivated by Mingde alone are 17 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the Academia Sinica in Taipei, such as Jin Yuelin, Chen Hansheng, Zhang Xiaoqian, Yu Daguang, etc. A middle school, called the "cradle of academicians", is not exaggerated. Zhou Nan is a girls' high school, and among the outstanding alumni, there are Xiang Jingyu, Cai Chang, Yang Kaihui, Lao Zhanjun, Ding Ling and other figures. The second school is still full of talents, strings and songs, peach and plum fragrance.
This street is not particularly humanistic, but also has a revolutionary origin. In 1904, Huang Xing invited Song Jiaoren, Chen Tianhua and other enthusiastic volunteers to establish the "Huaxing Association" in The Dragon Mansion in Xiyuan to engage in anti-Qing activities. In his early years, Mao Zedong also went to Mingde Middle School to mobilize students to participate in the May Fourth Movement.
Shi Zhao's so-called "land covered by the crown of the West Garden" is not a lie, and there are no less than sixty people who have heard of the late Qing Republic of China related to this place, in addition to Huang Xing, Chen Tianhua, etc., there are also Chen Baozhen, Tan Sitong, Tang Caichang, Li Jue, Tan Yanmin, Zhao Hengti, Du Xinwu, Jiang Tingdi, and Xu Teli.
In 2016, Kaifu District launched the construction of the West Park Beili Historical Trail, which starts from Xiangchun South Road in the north to Yingpan Road in the south, with a length of about 560 meters, which is the first section of the first historical trail in Changsha, and the West Park History Exhibition Hall is set up. While restoring the ecological status of the old streets and alleys, it also restores the historical and cultural memory of the old streets and alleys.
Follow the historical trail and turn onto Chaozong Street. It is also a famous historical and cultural district in Changsha, which still retains the pattern of streets and alleys formed since the Ming and Qing dynasties. At the same time, Chaozong Street is still paved with mashi from T-shaped Bay, which is one of the only four ancient mashi roads left in Changsha's old city. The Chaozong Gate, built during the Ming Dynasty, is one of the nine gates of Changsha. The Ming Dynasty also settled Changsha County into this street, and gradually grew into the political center of Shacheng North. And because of the proximity to the Xiang River, the convenience of the boat, from the Qing Dynasty to the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, chaozong street rice industry along the street piled up, business booming, when people called it "rice street". There is also a division of labor in the rice industry, with rice milling for grain processing, grain trading for grain, rice shops for grain retail, and grain stacks for grain purchase, sale and storage. Later, it also stored cotton, machinery, cotton yarn and other goods, and formed a stack industry, that is, a warehousing industry. Later, in addition to Chaozong Street, the area along the river, such as Fuxing Street and Bixiang Street, is also a place for storage. "Rice Street" is no longer there, but I saw that there is still a stone plaque embedded in the old green brick wall on the street, with yellow characters on a black background, which reads "Changsha Warehousing Industry Relics", which is where the stack line stored grain and other goods at that time.
But the most prestigious thing about Chaozong Street is the "Shiwu School". Of course, a "Wenxi fire" only existed at the old site after that. The "Former Site of the Shiwu Academy" was inscribed by Liang Qichao when he revisited the old land in 1922. From 1897 to 1898, the reformists opened the Shiwu School in the old residence of Liu Quanzhi, a major minister of the former Qing Dynasty and Qianjia, with Liang Qichao as the chief teacher of the Chinese and Li Weige as the chief teacher of Spanish. Among the students were Cai Yi, who later gathered to defend the Nationalist army against the Yuan uprising, Yang Shuda, a master of linguistics, and Fan Yuanlian, who was the education chief of the Beiyang government. Shiwu Xuetang opened up the indiscriminate pursuit of modern education in Hunan, and was also one of the predecessors of Hunan University. Today's former site, called "Tianni Lu", was purchased by the democrat Chen Yunzhang to build a mansion here, and the Current Affairs School Research Association was also set up. Now it is a cultural relics protection unit of Changsha City. Knocking on the door, mr. Chen Yunzhang's fourth son, Mr. Chen Jiashu, came out of the door, pointing to the photo on the wall, saying that the modern lyricist Mr. Xia Chengtao and his father took a group photo, Mr. Xia was a guest living here, and there were words and chapters as evidence. Deep courtyard, red walls and black tiles, the walls are crawling with dense climbing tigers, green and lush. Black-and-white photographs of celebrities associated with the School of Current Affairs filled the showroom with exhibits. I remember that about a year ago, Xu Zhiyuan's "Thirteen Invitations" had an auction of "Looking for Tan Sitong", from Liuyang to Changsha, he continued to complete the shooting in this courtyard, the guest was Chen Jiashu, and the young historian Tan Boniu and the young folklorist Ren Bo talked about the spiritual pursuit and path choice of a generation of young intellectuals during the Penghu period. I read this issue, and they all talked well and were very impressed. Mentioning this to Mr. Chen, Mr. Chen smiled and said, yes, yes, it was filmed here. Think about it, the year of the Penghu Reform Law was also the time when the Shiwu Academy was opened. Restoration and revolution, one south and one north, different geographies and the same morality.
Mr. Chen went to Jiuruli to see the old mansion with the most Republic of China style in Changsha. The name of the alley in Jiuruli is very good, the old streets and alleys around it, the names are good, such as Liansheng Street, such as Sangui Street, such as Gaosheng Street, such as Fuxing Street, Shouxing Street, Tongtai Street, Tai'anli, the names are all classic, meaningful and auspicious, can be described as elegant and vulgar. In the past, the names of the old streets and alleys in Changsha were all so exquisite. The "Nine Ru" in Jiu Ru is a classic of the Book of Poetry. Lesser. Tianbao", which means long life. Nine is like nine, and it is not an imaginary number here, because there are nine mansions adjacent to the alley, forming a group of mansions. Jiuruli now has the best preserved inner gate in the ancient Changsha City, six meters high, red bricks, embedded in the Han white jade stele, Mr. Li Zetai inscribed the name of the lane "Jiuruli". These mansions are all Western-style buildings, but red bricks and black tiles, and they are a mixture of Chinese and Western. During the Republic of China period, there were many mansions in Changsha, and there were several such styles, new and old, old and new. The gate of the Fourth Mansion, although dilapidated, still maintains its original appearance, with wooden planks at the bottom and bamboo pieces on the outside, spelling out patterns, exquisite and exquisite. Many of the bamboo pieces had fallen off, and the outer layer of metal sheets had also been stripped off, revealing small iron nails that rusted red. Touch the bamboo pieces, touch the iron nails, think about the days in the gate in the past years, the brocade sables, the bells ringing and eating, but the wind is always blown away by the rain and the wind. Last year, my good friend, the calligrapher Mr. Kong Xiaoping, wanted to find an old mansion to do a studio in the old town north of the city, and I visited with him in the area of Liansheng Street on Sangui Street, transferred to Jiuruli, and also saw the mansions here, especially the fourth mansion. Living the old life in the new days, the cost is hehe, a little bit of that.
Shouxing Street is now bisected by the north-south Yingpan Road. In the early years of Ming Hongwu's reign, a Taoist Shouxing Temple was built on the west side of the street, and the street name was derived from this. Today, only an ancient archway remains, and the view no longer exists. Shou Xing is a constellation in ancient astrology, one of which is Changsha Star. The old saying goes, "Changsha Xingming, then life, descendants sheng." "Therefore, the descendants offered the birthday star for sacrifice. In the Ming Dynasty, Wang Yangming, the great Confucian king, degraded Guizhou through Changsha, so he stayed at the Shouxing Temple and inscribed a poem. Guo Songtao, the first diplomat of the late Qing Dynasty to open his eyes to the world, also settled in the Taoist Temple in his later years, until his entire year, and his residence was called "Yuchi Villa". In the seventh year of Guangxu, Zuo Zongtang visited the Yuchi Villa, and zuo Guo and the two who were originally in a bad relationship were re-repaired, which was a good story for a while. The Wenwu characters who visited Yuchi Villa also included Peng Yulin, Zeng Guoquan, Li Yuandu, Zhu Changlin, Wang Minyun, and Wang Xianqian. Just as the so-called talk and laughter have a great confucianism, there is no white ding.
Later Hunan Inspector Chen Baozhen and his son Chen Sanli, who was also Chen Yinke's father, lived in Tai'anLi Metamorphosis Garden, close to the Yuchi Villa, and the two families were obedient at any time and had close exchanges.
These old streets and deep alleys in the north of the city are really hidden dragons and crouching tigers, heroes and heroes.
I walked slowly in this old street, the spring sun was shining, and there were three or three old people sitting in front of the door basking in the sun, comfortable and quiet. I casually asked an old man: "Oh, how long has your Lang family lived here?" Answer: Sixty or seventy years! There are not many tourists on the streets, which may be related to the fact that the new crown epidemic has not passed, but it may be the case. People may not be surprised by the past of this street and alley. What is coming at us is today and tomorrow, and as for yesterday, people are gradually forgetting.
But there is a place in Chaozong Street, where tens of thousands of Koreans come to Changsha every year to visit. This place is Nammu Hall No. 6, which was the site of the provisional government of Kim Kyu, the father of the Republic of Korea, and the Korean Revolutionary Party, the Korean Independence Party, and the Korean Kuomintang from 1937 to 1938. Nanmu Hall No. 6 was burned in the "Great Fire of Wenxi" in 1938, but the main part of the east side is still well preserved. After repairs, an exhibition hall was added and became a provincial and municipal cultural relics protection unit. I've been here many times, and on each occasion I've met Koreans carrying backpacks and lining up to visit. Mr. Jin Jiu stands in the middle hall of the exhibition hall with a bust sculpture of traditional Hanbok, and on his head is the four Chinese characters of the "Independent Spirit" in his thick ink handwriting, which are written with strong bone strength. During the epidemic, Koreans did not come, and the sun came in through the lattice window, and the place was quiet. The photo of Jin Jiu hangs on the wall of the board, and the face of the chinese character wears round glasses, and the corners of the mouth are tight, revealing a strong character. He was the leader of the Korean National Independence Movement and one of the founders of the Korean Independence Party and the Provisional Government, and fought in exile in China for 27 years with the anti-war situation. After Japan's surrender, he returned to China and committed to the establishment of a unified government between the North and the South, and was assassinated in 1949, which is a great national hero in the minds of Koreans.
Kaifu Old Town is now west to Xiangjiang East Road, east to Furong Road, north to Sanyi Avenue, south to Baisha Road, the overall planning has formed a "one circle, three rings, multiple branches" historical trail grid, connecting the above historical and cultural blocks, historical lots, and major historical resource nodes. This is a remembrance and respect for the past years, but also a connection and inspiration for today's life.
As you walk, you can see the careful restoration of cultural heritage, meticulous care, and efforts to restore and reproduce the shape of streets and alleys formed over hundreds of years. The immovable cultural relics in the grid, such as the former residences of celebrities, cultural attractions, and efforts to preserve and repair, the former houses, from the roof to the wall, and even the doors and windows, roughly restore the pattern of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the same style, white wall Dewa, moss and bamboo, lattice windows, wooden door carvings, folk customs, a school of humor and ancient meaning. Most of the people in front of the alley have also planted potted flowers, and when this spring and summer season, most of the people's front and window have bloomed under the stone flowers, honeysuckle flowers, pitcher plants, winter tomatoes, and honeysuckle. The neem trees here and there on the street are also full of purple flowers, pouring down like a torrential rain. This is the daily life of the old streets and alleys, and it is also the daily life of life. The so-called restoration, in fact, is the restoration of the habits of life that have been rudely interrupted, so that the years have passed from ancient times to the present, so that the days have their own origins, such as the Xiangjiang River on the street, never stopping, gushing and flowing.
At the same time, I also saw that the Kaifu District Government has the concept of "organic renewal" in the repair of old neighborhoods and the transformation of human settlements. It not only restores the old appearance, but also takes into account the people's livelihood, and solves the residential dilemmas of many accumulated years one by one. For example, the problem of illegal construction, such as the problem of wall falling off the roof and leaking water, for example, many old houses do not have kitchen toilets or even sewers and septic tanks, as well as the problem of insufficient public facilities and imperfect functions, which have basically been properly solved in recent years. I saw two brothers living facing each other in the north of the West Park, and the two-story old house did not have a toilet and a bathroom, so the community built a sky bridge for them and installed a sanitary bathing room on one side to facilitate the daily life of the two families. The community gave the flyover a name, called "West Park Flyover", which was repaired as old as the old, integrated with the surrounding buildings, and became a landscape on the street. Such a caring, everywhere, is naturally welcomed by the residents of the old street. Happiness must be concrete, and the specific help for people in difficulty is the specific improvement of people's happiness. In the implementation of the organic renewal of the old neighborhood, the Kaifu District Government has always adhered to the five principles, namely the livability of life, the integrity of the style, the authenticity of history, the regionality of culture, and the vitality of the neighborhood. The overall goal of "organic renewal" is to make the old people more happy and make the old city more Changsha flavor. In detail, from personnel to material affairs, this overall goal has been completed, and it has been done quite well.
I am sixty years old, and I am a native of Changsha. For more than half a century, I have lived and worked in all the districts of Changsha, southeast, and northwest, and now I am an ordinary resident of Kaifu District. A deputy director of the Propaganda Department of Kaifu District called me the other day and asked me to walk around the old town around Chaozong Street in the north of the West Garden to see how the "organic renewal" implemented in the district in recent years feels, and if you have feelings, please write some text. I wrote this article after returning from the visit, I want to touch the past, but the teapot boiled dumplings, a lot of feelings, in fact, has not yet poured (Tao) out.
Or can't catch it.
[Editor-in-Charge: Liao Huiwen]
[Source: New Hunan Client]