In the Longgang Hakka Folk Museum, the story of Yang Zhen and Longgang's "Four Knowledge Halls" is displayed in an important position in the exhibition hall of honest government culture for tourists to visit and learn.
More than 1900 years ago, Yang Zhen, a famous minister of the Eastern Han Dynasty, met Wang Mi, a local official he had recommended. In order to thank Yang Zhen for his kindness, Wang Mi took advantage of the night to send him 10 catties of gold. Yang Zhen categorically refused, Wang Mi said that no one knew about the gift at night, Yang Zhen said, "Heaven knows, God knows, I know, The son knows." What ignorance is! ”。 Later, the story of this twilight "four knowledge and refusal of gold" became a good story and was widely circulated.
The Yang family continued to move south from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, and one of Yang Zhen's descendants went all the way from Fujian to meizhou, Lufeng, Dongguan Qingxi, and all the way to Longgang Songyuanjiao in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, where it built a house and a shrine to form Yangwu Village, where it took root and multiplied.
According to the 1983 edition of the manuscript Shengping's "Four Zhitang Yang Clan Genealogy", the "Four Knowledge" Taishou Yang Zhen is the ancestor of Yang Laifa and Shengping's other Yang descendants, and in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, a group of Yang Zhen's descendants migrated to Longgang. The Shengping Yang Clan Ancestral Hall takes the "Four Knowledge Halls" as its hall name, and from generation to generation, it praises the incorruptible virtues of the ancestors and exhorts future generations to take honesty as the festival. Longgang Shengping Yang clan has been seven generations so far, and the "four knowledge" allusions have been passed down from generation to generation in the family, which has a great influence on the clan.
Yang Laifa is an elder of high prestige of the Yang family in shengping community. He joined the army in 1956 at the age of 17 until he returned to his hometown in 1984, "the ancestors passed on the allusions of the four knowledges from generation to generation, which can be regarded as family training." He said.
Yang Laifa's parents are ordinary farmers, he originally had 5 brothers and sisters, but because of his family's poverty, he had to give away 4 of them. Despite this, mothers are very strict with their children, teaching them from an early age that they cannot be poor.
In 1956, Yang Laifa joined the army and joined the party four years later. In 1962, he entered a certain unit of the Beijing garrison, later became the deputy director of the logistics department of the division, and began to enjoy the treatment of a full regiment in the 1980s. This is a "fat difference" in the eyes of many people, and it must be very oily, but Yang Laifa has never taken a dime from the public.
"When I was a teenager, I listened to the elders of the clan talk about the origin of the 'Four Knowledges', and with the teachings of my mother, I never had greed in my heart, but I was bent on doing my job well." Yang Laifa did not smoke or drink alcohol, because he was in charge of good management, honest and honest, and he was also commended as the deputy director of the Logistics Department at the time, "When the handover was handed over, the grain and finance in the division were not less than one point." Looking back, he is still proud.
In 1984, after Changing Careers, Yang Laifa went to the former Shenzhen Foreign Trade (Group) Company to take charge of personnel business until his retirement in 1999, during which he also served as deputy secretary of the group's discipline inspection. "Those who should be mentioned (plucked) are mentioned (pulled), and those who should not be mentioned (plucked) are not mentioned." Yang Laifa said that the sons of some officials in the group are still his subordinates, but he has never thought of using power for personal gain. When the house was renovated in the 1990s, it cost 40,000 yuan to buy a house, and he couldn't come up with that much and borrowed money from his father-in-law.
Yang Laifa has a son and a daughter, and he also tells them the allusion of the "four knowledges". My son used to work in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, which was very hard, sometimes living in container trucks, and later went to shenzhen to work in a state-owned enterprise. My daughter opened a small shop in Yangwu Village and did small business. Many people say that yang Laifa's qualifications can help his children to find a good position, but he is resolutely unwilling. He taught his children not to violate discipline, which is another interpretation of the "four knowledges" family training in this family.
Passing through the Yangwu Archway, about 300 meters away, you will see the Yang Ancestral Hall, covering an area of about 200 square meters. The plaque reads: Sizhitang, and the links on both sides of the gate are: Sizhi Vertical Training, Three Phases Flowing Fang. The inner wall of the ancestral hall also records the donations made by the Yang clan to repair the ancestral hall in 1990, as well as the poetry of the clans.
The "three phases" refer to the three chancellors who assisted the Ming emperors in the Yang family: Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, and Yang Pu. The date of the construction of the Yang Ancestral Hall is unknown, but it is speculated that it was built by the second ancestor. "The door links on both sides of the gate have not changed, and the location of the plaque has not changed, but it was made of wood at that time." Yang Laifa said that the plaque of "Four Knowledge Halls" in the Yang Ancestral Hall as a child is wooden. He played in the ancestral hall since he was a child, and for a time, the ancestral hall was also used as a private school in the village for Yang Laifa and his peers to receive enlightenment education.
In Yang Laifa's memory, the Yang Ancestral Hall underwent two major renovations, which were repaired in 1984 and rebuilt in 2012. As an elder with high prestige of the Yang family in the Shengping community, Yang Laifa led the clan to renovate the ancestral hall on the basis of retaining the original main structure of the ancestral hall, hoping to continue to pass on the Yang ancestral training. Today, the grey porcelain pieces on the façade and the burgundy tiles on the ground are still shiny.
Yang Laifa has not lived in Yangwu Village for many years, but every New Year's Festival, he will still come to the ancestral hall to worship his ancestors, and when they talk about their ancestors and talk about family rules, they will feel supreme pride and glory. Yang Laifa usually pays great attention to current affairs, and every night he must watch the news broadcast, "It is very simple to be an official, just two words, for the people, if you want to make a lot of money, don't come to be an official." Yang Laifa said.