After restoring his former residence from Du Fu's poems, no one ever asked where the hut was

"I never thought that I would study Du Fu as a career and be busy all my life." The person who said this was Zhou Weiyang, the former director of the Du Fu Caotang Museum in Chengdu (hereinafter referred to as "Du Fu Caotang"). As the former residence of the poet Saint Du Fu in Chengdu, is the caotang hut today an architectural style more than 1,200 years ago? As an expert in Du Fu's research, Zhou Weiyang should be the one with the most say — the hut was rebuilt during his tenure as curator. Not only that, many cultural relics excavated from the Caotang Tang Dynasty site were also surprised when he was the curator.

I didn't understand why they shed tears before, and now I have become people who have deep affection for Du Fu

The old curator, who had worked in Du Fu Caotang for 27 years, told an interesting story about his association with Shi Sheng. One afternoon in 1961, Zhou Weiyang, a first-year junior high school student, studied "The Song of the Hut Broken by the Autumn Wind", and at the age of 13, he did not know who Du Fu was or the meaning behind the poem. Bored, Zhou Weiyang and his friends skipped class. Unexpectedly, the teacher told his mother about this. When he got home, his mother punished him for kneeling, and he was beaten, "The key is not to let him eat!" Starvation was a serious punishment at the time. ”

In February 1982, after graduating from the department of Chinese of Chengdu University, Zhou Weiyang was assigned to work in Du Fu Caotang. From the deputy director and director of the Research Department (Editorial Department), to the deputy director, to the secretary and director of the work, he has seen too many people's deep feelings for Du Fu: there were Japanese middle school teachers, when they walked to the door of Du Fu Caotang, they burst into tears in an instant; there was a Czechoslovak poet who translated the entire Du Shi into Slovak, and before his death, he told the students that they must send it to the Du Fu Caotang Museum in Chengdu; there was also a northeastern tourist, when he was forbidden to enter the museum at 6 p.m., he must go in to see the thatched huts of the Caotang. He said that this may be his only opportunity to pay homage to Du Fu; when he went to Canada to communicate, he also exchanged Du Fu poems with a female teacher by writing Chinese characters, and the female teacher was full of tears when talking about Du Fu...

"I really didn't understand why they were crying." Zhou Weiyang said: In 1986, when he was just working in the research department, Zhong Shuliang, the old president of the Du Fu Society and the editor-in-chief of the Du Fu Research Journal, said to him with a heavy heart, "Carrying forward the spirit of Du Fu, doing a good job in Du Fu research, and protecting the Caotang is a cause." "At the time he didn't elevate the job to career. As he grew older, his experience gradually enriched, and the people he came into contact with became more and more extensive, and slowly, Zhou Weiyang also became the person who had deep affection for Du Fu.

"Du Fu's poems have made great contributions not only to our country but also to the world. Du Fu hoped that the country would prosper and the people would live and work in peace and contentment. The entire Du poem runs through his humanistic thought, reflecting the brilliance of human nature, the people's compatriots and the feelings. This kind of hope for the prosperity and strength of the country and the happiness and stability of the people's lives is the common feeling of the people of the whole world, so it can move people. For example, Zhou Weiyang, in "Titled Peach Tree", "curtain households should pass milk swallows, children Mo Xin beat crows", showing Du Fu's respect and reverence for life; in "Chicken Row", "The family is tired of chicken insect-eating ants, I don't know that chickens are sold and cooked", it is Du Fu who sees chicken pecking insects, feels that the insects are very pitiful, but think about it, if the chickens are sold in the market, the chickens also face a tragic end. "This shows that Du Fu has no way to deal with the law of the jungle and the law of the weak and the strong, but his kindness will always be respected and praised by future generations."

Why did you rebuild the thatched hut? The humor of thinking of the ancients, the holy place of sending feelings

The relationship with Du Fu's hut was in 1996. Shortly after Secretary Ren presided over the work, former Secretary Zhang Decheng told Zhou Weiyang that many tourists were looking for huts everywhere. The two of them met to go to the Gongbu Ancestral Hall to find out, but they did not expect that in less than 10 minutes, more than 5 people asked about the location of the hut, and even more thought that the Shaoling Monument Pavilion was Du Fu's hut. Tourists arrived at Du Fu Caotang and did not see the hut mentioned in "The Thatched House Is Broken by the Autumn Wind", which is a pity. "We can't explain to every tourist that this is a monumental ancestral hall based on the old site of Du Fu Caotang's thatched house, which has been repaired over the centuries."

Recognizing the importance of the problem, Zhou Weiyang began to prepare for the restoration of the huts in the caotang. In September 1996, the construction of the hut began, which lasted five months, and was completed and opened to the public in February 1997. Zhou Weiyang recalled that on the day the hut was officially opened, everyone was as happy as the New Year, and the national media rushed to report that Du Fu Caotang was not lively. 24 years later, standing in front of the hut of the Caotang, Zhou Weiyang is still moved, "This is a sacred place for people all over the world to revere Du Fu, to think about the humor of the ancients, and to send feelings." ”

The huts that Du Fu once built have gradually been dilapidated and abandoned since he left Shu. After being restored and rebuilt by the late Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the pattern of Du Fu Caotang today was preserved by the thirteenth year of Ming Hongzhi and the sixteenth year of Qing Jiaqing, but there is no trace of thatched hut. Since there is no trace, why should it be restored? If it is significant, why not restore it sooner? It was not until the suggestion of the old secretary Zhang Decheng that Zhou Weiyang knew that the original team had long had the idea of rebuilding the hut, probably suffering from the opposition to the reconstruction of the hut, believing that the restoration of the hut was a fake antique, and it had been impossible to implement.

Since then, Zhou Weiyang has been preparing for the reconstruction of the hut. He first sorted out the necessity and feasibility plan, and wrote an article entitled "On the Necessity and Feasibility of Rebuilding The Huts". He believes that the reconstruction of the hut should excavate the cultural connotation of Du Shi, so that the majority of tourists have a place to "think about the humor of the ancients". In addition, the huts built by Du Fu could not have been preserved for more than a thousand years, and the restoration on the original site was carried out to meet the requirements of the majority of tourists and let them have a "holy place for sending feelings". Through the efforts of Du Fu's caotang work team, the voices that had once opposed it gradually dissipated.

Restoring the appearance of the hut from Du Shi No tourists have ever asked where the hut is

Where was the reconstruction of the hut built? What does it look like? How to determine its style? Regarding these problems, Zhou Weiyang believes that Du Fu has already described clearly in his poems: from "the chai door is not opening the river", knowing that his chai door opens along the Huanhua Stream; from "back Guo Tang into a shade of white grass", knowing that his hut is turned back to Chengdu Chengguo, it is made of thatch; from "Calling Nu Suo Rice Crying Gate East", knowing that the east side of the hut is the kitchen; from "the window contains Xiling Qianqiu Snow", knowing that the west side of the hut is the bedroom... The five peaches and four pines outside the hut, and the bamboo forest next to it can find the general orientation in Du Fu's poems.

"Du Fu's thatched house style I think is designed according to the Chuanxi folk house design of the wear bucket style, because this style has existed for more than a thousand years. The thatched huts in the countryside have not changed until now, and certainly not wrong. Zhou Weiyang said that through Du Shi's "go to Guo Xuan's openness", "all layers of Xuan are facing water", "pavilions follow the height, open and open when The River" can be inferred, Du Fu's huts are of a higher grade than the general rural grass houses. In this way, the design drawings of the hut gradually became clear.

The reconstruction of the huts has received attention and support from leaders at all levels. Zhou Weiyang recalled that Shi Jiajian, former director of the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Culture, would go to the construction site every weekend to understand the progress of the project and coordinate the difficulties encountered. The staff of the Ministry of Infrastructure worked overtime day and night. At the same time, it is also necessary to go deep into the surrounding villages such as Meishan, Renshou, and Jianyang to collect wood, bamboo, yellow thatch and other building materials needed for thatched houses from local farmers.

Since the reconstruction of the hut was completed, no tourists have asked where the hut is since then.

Kissinger and Chirac, the "pilgrimage" places where Du Fu was revered, also visited here

After the reconstruction of the hut, it became a "pilgrimage" place to honor Du Fu, including former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former French President Jacques Chirac.

"The two of them have a heartfelt reverence for Du Fu." Zhou Weiyang recalled that in 1998, Kissinger visited Du Fu's Caotang, which was reserved for 15 minutes, but he finally visited for 45 minutes. He looked carefully as he walked, showing great interest and respect for Du Fu. The escort was in a hurry, and I said that it would take more than a quarter of an hour to walk around. Zhou Weiyang laughed, at that time, Kissinger did not care how long it took, he wanted to see Du Fu Caotang all over again. When he reached the hut, Kissinger showed excitement on his face, and when he saw that there was a guestbook next to him, he found a blank place to leave a message; he went to Daya Hall and wrote on the guestbook there. When Kissinger left, he learned through his translator that he wrote in the same English in both places: "A people that produce such a great poet will surely have a brilliant future." ”

Chirac's effective time in Chengdu is only 3 hours, of which 80 minutes are spent in Du Fu Caotang. In Zhou Weiyang's memory, Chirac liked Chinese literature very much and knew Du Fu very well, "Walking to the Caotang Flower Path, he said that Du Fu lived in the temple before he went to the Caotang to repair the hut. When he walked to the hut, the ambassador to France Zhao asked the curator to personally explain to the president. Zhou Weiyang said that at that time, the cultural relics excavated from the Tang Dynasty site were specially placed in the hut, and after telling the history of these cultural relics, Chirac carefully observed the cultural relics and said: "I really don't want to leave, this place is too beautiful." Unexpectedly, after Chirac returned to China, he asked his ambassador to write a letter to Du Fu Caotang and thank him for this reception. After Du Fu Caotang replied to the letter, he personally wrote a letter to Zhou Weiyang, once again expressing his gratitude for the reception, and saying that the impression left here would be preserved in his memory for a long time.

The nan tree was once pulled up by wind and rain and is now a vibrant scene

Du Fu Caotang's hundreds of acres of gardens are lush and lush, and the ancient trees and famous trees that can be seen everywhere stand tall in the sky. Walking in this green forest, Zhou Weiyang said that the ancient nan trees here had died one by one, and they tried their best to drip irrigation, consult garden experts, fertilize and so on, but they did not improve. Even a batch of garden plants that were replanted later did not necessarily grow well.

This made Zhou Weiyang also have a sense of helplessness of "resigning himself to fate". In 1996, he also personally experienced the scene of Du Fu's "Nanshu is Lifted by Wind and Rain". "On that day, the wind around Du Fu's caotang was not very strong, but the wind in the caotang was very strong, and the big trees were uprooted by the wind, which was not exaggerated at all, and dozens of incense camphor and nanmu trees fell." He described the picture and his state of mind: "The southeast is fluttering in the wind, and the river is turning over the rocks and flowing clouds. Dry drain thunderstorms are still striving, and the roots are broken by providence! ”

The growth of the grass and trees in Du Fu Caotang has undergone a qualitative change, which comes from the flow of the water system. At that time, the water in the grass hall was stagnant water, and there were debris in it, which often emitted a foul smell in the summer, and tourists were quite critical of it, which also attracted the attention of relevant leaders. After Zhou Weiyang learned about the situation, he said to Li Feng, who was the director of the construction office at the time, "Can you design a plan to pump out the water of Huanhuaxi, flow around in the grass hall, and then return it to Huanhuaxi?" ”

In this way, after the completion of the transformation of the water system, the trees in Du Fu's grass hall are growing better and better, showing a vibrant scene today.

The discovery of Tang Dynasty ruins provides physical evidence for Du Shi's writing

Before the discovery of the Tang Dynasty ruins, Du Fu Caotang had one of the biggest shortcomings, that is, from literature to literature, there was no specific physical object. Approaching the Tang Dynasty ruins, where more than a dozen large and small clay pots were buried half underground, Zhou Weiyang pointed to them and said, "This may be the refrigerator of the Tang Dynasty, because half of them are buried underground, so that the food stored inside can be preserved in a lower temperature environment and is not easy to mold." After saying that, he pointed to a well in the distance, indicating that the Tang Monument was unearthed there.

The discovery of the Tang Dynasty ash pit on the west side of the main gate of Du Fu Caotang and the ruins of Tang and Song dynasty houses in the nursery base on the east side of the north gate began in March 2002.

It was a weekend, the workers of Du Fu Caotang were doing the laying of the underground pipe network, and Zhou Weiyang suddenly received a call saying that a water tank and several bowls had been dug up next to the main entrance. Zhou Weiyang was worried that it was a cultural relic, and immediately asked everyone not to move, and after the regular meeting on Monday, he went to the scene to see that it was a monument with a large stele. After several bowls were identified as Tang Dynasty cultural relics, Zhou Weiyang was extremely excited, "This has great value and significance for Du Fu Caotang." Later, a large number of Tang Dynasty ceramic artifacts and fragments were unearthed in the ash pit, as well as stone mortars, blocky lime and some rusty iron objects.

Not long after that, Caotang Dongzhuang was laying the pipe network, and that day Zhou Weiyang was taking a nap when he suddenly received a call: "Zhou Guan, found that the basement is covered with stone slabs, maybe there are gold and silver treasures inside." Zhou Weiyang immediately rushed to the construction site, lifted the stone slab, and found a dry well below.

The text on that stone slab is the only written cultural relic in the Tang Dynasty ruins of Du Fu Caotang - the Tang Dynasty Monk Pagoda Inscription, which is engraved with "Great Virtue And Sense Zen Master Arched for Three Years, Finally the Temple". In 687, the third year of the arch, Du Fu entered Shu in 759 to avoid the "Anshi Rebellion", which confirmed that Du Fu lived in the temple when he first arrived in Chengdu - "the monks of the ancient temple were imprisoned, and the empty tenants lived". Although it cannot be concluded that they are directly related to Du Fu, they provide physical evidence for the living environment described by Du Shi and the living conditions of people in this area.

Text/Rao Jin Zeng Qi

Photo/ Duan Xueying

Editor/Zhang Yuehao