The Historical Evolution of Feng Meng Town

Feng Meng Town, located 40 miles southeast of Qingxu County, Taiyuan City, is one of the six ancient towns of Qingyuan, Gao Bai, Yaocheng (ancient pottery Tang Zhen), Xugou and Dachang in Taiyuan City.

Feng Meng Town has a long history. According to Zuo Zhuan, in the twenty-eight years (5 14 BC), Lu Zhaogong defeated the Guo family and Wei Xianzhi was in charge. The land was divided into seven counties. Feng Meng was the fief of Feng Meng at that time, so it was named Feng Meng, with a history of 2520 years.

The superior geographical environment contributed to the prosperity of Feng Meng Town. At that time, there were many merchants' shops in Feng Meng Village, and only the elderly people remembered them successively: Liu Heqing, Gan Hengshun, Dong Shengheng, Yong Faxing, Qing Fengxiang (later Wanhetai), Liu Quan Grain Store and Store were mostly from Feng Meng Village; Dacheng Store, two big shops for chariots and horses in Jardine Garden (and merchants who spend the night), and several grocery stores such as Dehecheng, Baojuxing and Hutchison; After Xie Shengtai, the pharmacy was changed to Guanghengmao; Two cabinet (furniture) shops, one is Tianyi City and the other is unknown; Two wooden workshops for making carts, one is Shijie cart shop (the boss is from Beidongshe, the county, and later stayed in Feng Meng), and the other is Zhangji cart shop (the boss is from Qixian); Pawnshops are always helpful and smooth. There are three rental shops: Jardine Garden, Tailaiji and Deheyuan. A silk cloth village named Juyisheng; A shabu-shabu (brewing workshop), with a front shop and a back factory, was named Wuhequan; In addition, there are five or six pastry shops, two meat shops, and a large number of vinegar workshops and flour workshops. There are as many as thirty or forty shops and workshops in the village, most of which are concentrated around Chenghua Temple in the village. With the development of commerce, a large number of businessmen, craftsmen, porters, doctors, chefs who hold red and white banquets, yin and yang teachers who build houses to see geographical feng shui, fortune tellers, magicians and so on have appeared in society. But also contributed to the prosperity of Feng Meng.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, a temple fair was held in Feng Meng Village. Since Feng Meng is a big village in the southeast of the county, every day of the lunar calendar has been a market in the village since the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty. At this time, vendors from nearby counties gathered in the village. The streets and alleys near the temples in the village are all stalls selling all kinds of daily necessities, agricultural and sideline products, farm tools and cattle, horses, pigs and sheep (the temple fair on the eighth day of the first month mainly sells all kinds of fireworks and firecrackers). The village is crowded with people, the streets are crowded with people, there are sellers and sellers selling, there are mules, horses, donkeys, pigs and so on bargaining.

In the center of Feng Meng Village, there is a big temple, which is the above-mentioned Chenghua Temple. According to the Records of Qingyuan County compiled in the 18th year of Shunzhi in Qing Dynasty (A.D. 166 1), Feng Meng Huacheng Temple was founded in the reign of Emperor Qing Dynasty (A.D. 13 12), with a history of 700 years. Buddhism prevailed in the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, the incense in the temple was at its peak. Every Buddhist festival, good men and women get together to burn incense and worship Buddha, hoping to pay tribute. According to the old man, the last monk in the temple was Jin Liang, and director Jin Liang died in the temple, about1936 ~1937, before the Japanese entered Qingyuan. Without monks, Chenghua Temple became the political center of Feng Meng Village-the residence of the village office. Later, the temple became a complete primary school in the villages around Feng Meng, with two primary schools and high schools. All the high school students in the nearby villages studied here.

Chenghua Temple is divided into three parts: front, middle and back. There are two layers of bells and drums and three main doors in the east and west corners of the front hall. The left and right side doors are open all the year round, and the middle door is often closed. Unless there is a major ceremony or a celebrity visit, the middle door will be opened to welcome guests. Behind the main hall is the Hall of the Great Hero, which is dedicated to three buddhas in the past, present and future. The rest of the hall and the world are unknown.

Just south of Chenghua Temple, there is a stage with considerable scenery. In front of the stage is a vast stage, and near the main street in the north, there is an elegant and simple three-story archway. In May 4th, Fenyang Gufen Opera Troupe was demolished and rebuilt because of the low stage when it sang the monkey show "Noisy Palace". A few years later, it was moved to the west of the temple, and the old theater built houses. The demolition and construction of the stage several times fully showed the people's love and yearning for drama and cultural life in Feng Meng.

As early as the tenth year of Guangxu, there was a "Little Liyuan" troupe founded by Cheng Ying, a native of Dongluo Village, which trained a number of famous Jin Opera artists such as Sanshenger (Meng Zhenqing), Tian Guidan (Wang Chunyuan, a native of Wanda Village) and Zishengdan. In the 20th year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty, Liu Chou, San San and San Er Sheng, a villager from Feng Meng, founded a doll class in Feng Meng village. In the 17th year of the Republic of China (1928), Liu Chou-san hired a famous actor to enter the garden. At that time, there were thirteen red, beautiful covers (Wang Bushan, Hebei native, mother in Wang Dacun) and beautiful ones. At that time, the park was known as the first class of Bangzi in Shanxi Middle Road, which was popular in Taiyuan and Jinzhong. Feng Meng Houxugou Xiaozicheng Garden and Xiaolirong Garden merged. Most of the teachers of The Filial Son Becomes a Circle are actors from a large class, including Shi Hei (Joe from Taigu Xili Village), Shu Shuhong (Gao), Shi Shengsheng (Dong), Da (Hu), Zhu Xindan (Huang Mianze, Ding Xiang), Liu Zhilan, a famous actress of Shanxi Opera, and outstanding students such as Lu Nan, Zhihai and Hua Lianzhi. Bei (from Beitian Village, Yuci) and Wang Zhengkui are from Xiaorong Liyuan doll class.

Feng Meng Village is low-lying, and the terrain outside the village is higher than that in the village. Therefore, the villagers built high weirs around the village to protect it. August 2 1977, Beiwuma River in Dongluo Village burst. (Lunar June 18, because I participated in flood control, I slept on Wuma River Beach for two nights at night, so I remember it clearly. The river overflowed everywhere and Feng Meng was closed. Therefore, in the west of Chenghua Temple in the village, near Chenghua Temple, there is a large pool, commonly known as "Sigodo", which is the place where all the streets and alleys in the village retreat and collect rainwater after rain. Strangely, even in dry years, the water in the "Godot Temple" never dried up. There is also a legend that I can't remember the year and age. There is a great drought in the world, and even the Fenhe River is dripping. In the main hall of Chenghua Temple, there lived a big snake, and there was no water to drink everywhere. One night, he put his body and tail on his temple, put his head into the temple stack and drank enough water. This legend is still widely circulated today. In the 1930s, some people said that the temple hill had miraculous effects and the well smelled of borneol, which was the reason why dragons (snakes) came. Superstitious people ask God to see a doctor and use the water in the temple hill as medicine. It is said that many people's diseases were really cured, so people from dozens of miles away rode horses to ask for medicine, and they came again in the 1960 s, but there were fewer superstitious people.

There is also a scenic spot in Feng Meng Village. When it was built, it lived in the Jade Emperor Pavilion in the northeast corner of the village (the threshing floor of the Southeast Third Team of Feng Meng Middle School). Of course, the main god of the Jade Emperor Pavilion is the Taoist Jade Emperor. Yuhuangge has a novel architectural design, tight structure and beautiful cornices around it. According to folklore, the Lion Yingxian Tower in Jinzhou is not as good as the Jade Emperor Pavilion in Feng Meng, which shows the charm of the Jade Emperor Pavilion. The attic is generally rectangular, divided into upper, middle and lower floors, and is about 15 meters high (villagers say it is four or five feet high). The pavilion is on the second and third floors, and there is a big platform behind the terrace on the second floor, where exotic flowers and plants are planted. It is said that in a maintenance more than 130 years ago, when the third floor was built on the second floor, for some reason, the front building collapsed and the back building collapsed, so only the front hall was built, leaving a big platform behind, forming a strange and rare pattern. After Japanese invaders occupied Feng Meng, they used it as a bunker stronghold for a long time. After the Japanese invaders were defeated and recovered, they were destroyed by the war because they were the stronghold of Yan Xishan's army. After that, Yan Xishan engaged in the integration of soldiers and farmers, and the "three-biography training" lost the hearts of the people, retreated to towns and engaged in fortress tactics. During the period of 1946 ~ 1947, the Jade Emperor Pavilion was completely destroyed.

Finally, let's talk about Feng Meng's flavor snack, Feng Meng's cake, which is the famous Jinzhong. Feng Meng cake is the favorite food for the elderly. It is made by mixing four oils and four sugars (referring to the old name of sixteen liang at that time) in a hanging furnace. The cake is small and golden on both sides. (hanging two fires) sweet and tender and delicious. Speaking of Feng Meng cake, there is a short story. There was a rich man named Zhao in the village, and his family hired a chef named Nanli Wang (some people said he was a famous baker in the village). One year, the rich man of Zhao's family celebrated his birthday and asked the chef to make a cake for him at the expense of noodles. He also brought him a whole basket of oil and a whole bag of sugar and said to him, Suit yourself. The chef asked for half a basket of sesame oil again, and accidentally spilled the oil on the noodle table when mixing noodles. Afraid that the rich man would blame him, he took it all to the noodle jar, added sugar and began to mix noodles. Unexpectedly, he also kneaded the dough left and right, but did not knead it. Add some white flour, barely knead it into a cake, and buckle it in the stove. Because there is too much oil, the cake breaks into small pieces when it is turned over. Seeing that it was lunch time, there was no complete cake baked, only a pot of broken cake, and the chef was sweating with anxiety. At this time, the rich man sent someone to ask if the cake was ready. The cook had no choice but to bite the bullet and say that the cake was well done. The rich man personally tasted it in advance, so the chef had to take a few pieces and send them to the cloud. When the rich man saw it, it was not a cake, but a few pieces of broken dough. He was very angry and stared and said, "What are you burning?" The chef replied in a hurry: "This is a pot specially prepared for your longevity. It is delicious. You can live for a hundred years after eating it. Don't trust me. " The rich man stuffed a piece into his mouth with an angry face, and it was really soft, sweet, fragrant and soft. Then he turned his anger into joy and said, "Get ready for the party." After the birthday guests ate the cake, they were full of praise, saying that they had never eaten such a good pot. In this way, Meng's reputation in the neighborhood spread farther and farther, and it spread louder and louder. Every chef has a silver lining. After returning to China, he repeatedly tried to improve the method and determined that the best formula was four oils and four sugars. The pot blocks made by this method have good color, fragrance and taste. Later, the pot pieces he made were like a cloud of diners, and the sales volume was excellent, which was often in short supply. In the past, merchants had to take a few back after eating, so that relatives could taste them. Therefore, the reputation is far-reaching, and it has been famous for hundreds of years. (In the 26th year of Guangxu (1900), after the Western Empress Dowager fled through Xugou, she ate Feng Meng cake). This is a crispy and sweet hot pot base with the flavor of Vermont. With the growth of people's age, they gradually call it "Feng Meng cake" instead of "Pan block" to call it smooth.

Historically, Feng Meng Town has been under the jurisdiction of Qingxu County. Today, the town governs 25 villages, with a maximum of 29 villages in history. The nearby villages have a long history and splendid ancient civilization. Yaocheng, seven miles northeast of Feng Meng Village, was the place where the ancient sage Yao Wang built his capital.

According to legend, at the end of primitive society, Yao was the tribal leader of the clan (the predecessor of the Han nationality) in the Yellow River valley of China. His surname is Fang Xun Qiyi, and his word is Tang Tao's, or Tang Yao for short. Tao Tang began to live in Zhuolu and Huailai, Hebei. After Yao became the leader of the tribal alliance, he led his tribe to walk to Shanxi to find a favorable place to live. At that time, after arriving in Yaocheng, Fengyaocheng Plain had a mild climate, fertile soil and abundant rainfall, and was irrigated by Yu Xiang River (originated in Yuci) in the east and Wuma River (originated in Taigu) in the south, so they chose this geomantic treasure-house, where they cultivated land to raise six livestock (horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs and chickens).

Shanxi Tongzhi was published for three years: Taiyuan County (now Jinyuan) is forty miles southwest of Fucheng, where Tang Yao was founded, and later moved its capital to Pingyang (now Linfen) in Hedong due to the flood.

Ming Yi Tongzhi also said that Emperor Yao moved here from Zhuolu, and the custom was Yaocheng.

"The Beginning of the Emperor" contains: Yao started in the Tang Dynasty, and then moved to Jinyang (Yaocheng was under the jurisdiction of Jinyang), and Pingyang was the imperial capital.

"Shuzheng in Ancient Books of Shangshu" contains: Yao is the son of heaven, and the capital city started in Jinyang and then moved to Pingyang.

All these fully show that Yaocheng was the first place where Yaodi built his capital.

According to legend, Yao also sent four brothers, Xi Zhong, He Zhong and He Shu, to the east, west, north and south of Yao City to observe the movement of the sun, moon and stars. In their observation, they found a strange grass in the north of the village. Because its leaves are like pods, it is called Viburnum. The grass grows a leaf every day for the first half of the month and falls every day after fifteen days. When the moon is small, a pod will burn without falling. They also observed that the average change period of the moon phase profit and loss is 29 and a half days. On this basis, Yao calculated the new moon (30th day of the first month and 29th day of February) and the four seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter) and eight festivals (non-festival, beginning of spring, Changchun, beginning of autumn, beginning of winter, vernal equinox, summer, etc.). It was not until the Xia Dynasty that the study of seasons was gradually improved into four seasons and twenty-four solar terms, and the summer calendar (that is, the current lunar calendar) was formulated. Yao's Four Seasons and Eight Temperaments is another great creation after the official efforts of the Yellow Emperor to compile Jiazi Calendar (from the era of the Yellow Emperor to AD 1984, there have been 78 flowers, up to now ***4704). The formulation of the four seasons and eight festivals of Yao nationality fully embodies the wisdom and outstanding talents of the working people in ancient China.

Yaocheng is a castle built by later generations to commemorate Yaodi. When did it start? Because there is no record of it, it is beyond reproach. In the fourth year of Qing Daoguang (A.D. 1824), it was also said in Rebuilding the North and South and Building a Bridge that it was renovated only once in the early Ming Dynasty when the city was unknown. In the Inscription on the Reconstruction of Shi Sheng Temple unearthed in the fourth year of Yongzheng (A.D. 1 125), Xusi Temple was built in the third year of Jintianhui (A.D. 1 125). Until the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, Yaocheng was still a castle with complete scale. Later, because of the construction of Tongpu Railway, Yaocheng lost its geographical advantage (Yaocheng is the only place where the official road in the west of Beijing passes, there are post stations and beacon towers along the official road, and there are relics of Nantai and Beitai in the southwest of Yaocheng Village, and the official road in the west of Beijing gradually loses its function). Because of the Japanese invasion after the "Incident", Yaocheng gradually declined into an ordinary village.