The Traditional Culture of Una Street

Una is located in the south of Yancheng. In ancient times, it was named Zhuxi because mussels were often found in the streams of the town. Along with it, Dingxi and Xixi, which go south in turn, are all romantic names, which make the characteristics of water towns stand out from the paper. Although the name Zhu Xi sounds good, it doesn't last long. Maybe mussel beads are only made occasionally. As an industry, mussel culture was not formed at that time. In short, Zhu Xi changed another name, that is, You Wu.

In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wu You built a saltworks, which became one of the important saltworks adjacent to Yancheng. However, during the reign of Tang Gaozong Ganfu, the saltworks were once abandoned for more than a hundred years. Until the Song Dynasty, someone came here and changed this situation. His name is Wu You, and he is the great-grandson of Wu Jizheng, a former Cheng Tang. At that time, he was an official in Yingyong, Chuzhou. Seeing that the saltworks were deserted, he first proposed to revive them. "The service is not as good as that of ordinary people, but it passed quickly." He was called Wu Youchang as a memorial. Wuyouchang is very close to Yancheng, and it is also a rich place, so businessmen from far and near gather here to do business and make salt. At that time, salt merchants were divided into general merchants, wall merchants and transporters. General operators give lectures, local operators collect salt, and shipping operators transport salt. Una salt merchants are mainly wall merchants, also known as wall owners. Each owner of the temple set up a salt flag to form a small-scale business unit, including dozens of accountants, waiters and helpers. Salt flags have their own characteristics, such as placards, which have become a scene in Una market. Yuan merchants buy stove salt, set up their own pavilions, hire them, and have the right to set up pavilions, swing the ground and produce salt.

Bless Wu Youzi, Tang Wu is his great-grandson. Ninghua people in Tingzhou. Song Dazhong was a scholar in the first year of Xiangfu (1008). He was awarded the title of county magistrate, diligent and loving the people, and served as the county magistrate of Yicheng and Haichang successively. He is also known for his incorruptibility and competence. Move to Chuzhou for a promotion. The old salt field in Chuzhou has been abandoned for more than a hundred years since the reign of Tang Ganfu. You go to investigate, go to Qin to discuss restoration, and go to Jiamian. In view of the fact that Tang collected labor to disturb the people, he gave money and food to work. Homeless people from all over the country flocked to it. It was founded in and turned over tens of thousands of official money at the age of, giving consideration to both public and private affairs, and was called the "five public venues". During Tian Sheng's reign, he was promoted to secretary. An assistant minister asked him to restore Haining county magistrate and transfer it to Huayang county magistrate. He got the benefit of the government, moved to Victoria to serve his sentence, and then moved to Dr. Dachang. The dates of birth and death are unknown. Author of Wu Taichang's anthology.

About Wu You, the Records of Yancheng County compiled by Indian Shui Xin has the following records: "From the Taiping Bridge in Ximen (Yancheng), take the southbound wheel, enter the Chuanchang River in the south, go upstream, and pass through He Daxin to Wuyoucheng. The market is called Wuyouchang, and the Governor's Office is there. There is something in the southeast, towering above the roof, like a gully, all on the salt ridge. There are more than 1,000 households and many shops. "

The towering salt ridges outline the characteristics of Una, and the prosperity of saltworks can also be seen. Since the end of Qing Dynasty, more than a dozen wall merchants have opened stores in Una, including Qingrenchang, Dadechang, Zhucheng Hehe and Rishengxiang. Most of them are from Shexian County, Anhui Province. They often build their own salt blocks, store salt piles and manage them by special personnel, and transport them to Jiangnan, northern Anhui, northwestern Jiangxi, eastern Hubei and other places. Although they are in a foreign land, the prosperity of salt industry management makes them enjoy it, without the slightest sense of loneliness and homesickness. On the contrary, these complicated and impure businessmen have gradually integrated into the local culture.

A scholar who studied salt merchants in Huai River and Huai River once made a detailed analysis of the differences between Shanxi merchants and Huizhou merchants. He said, "Qin Jin salt merchants made money in Yangzhou, so they took it back to their hometown and hid it. They still wear faded cloth and chew onions, garlic and steamed bread. Huizhou merchants pay more attention to worldly pleasures. They build buildings, build garden pavilions, make beautiful clothes, cook exquisite dishes, raise diners, store actresses, play antiques, work, play games and like everything. "

Huizhou merchants' full enjoyment of life will inevitably lead to changes in their living environment. Una has changed from a saltern to a market town, and it has become increasingly noisy and prosperous, which is related to Huizhou merchants. Wu You's geographical position is very special. In the Tang Dynasty, Li Cheng presided over the dike repair, which led to a series of rivers crossing the territory, dividing Una into two parts, forming two parts, which were connected by bridges. The sea moved eastward, the salt stoves became thinner, and the streets in Hexi gradually abandoned. Hedong has become the seat of Una Town. During the reign of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, Wuyou had four main streets and more than a dozen cross valley lanes.

At that time, salt merchants built nine enclosed doors on the heads of the main streets and lanes in Shi Zhuan, and the lintels were engraved with auspicious words such as "Purple gas comes from the east", "Xunfeng comes from the south" and "Four Lights in the North". All the doors are fenced and locked at night to prevent theft.

Wu You's unique fences and fences actually separate the special class of salt merchants from the group. Although salt people and cooks are also closely related to salt and depend on it to survive, they always live at the bottom of society. The great contrast between salt people and salt merchants constitutes a strange circle of society. Wu You has a field office in charge of salt affairs, criminal affairs and civil affairs. During the reign of Qianlong and Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty, there was an official aide, Li Ruzhen, who later wrote "Jing Hua Yuan". Because my brother became the ambassador of Caoyan Field, Li Ruzhen went to the seaside with his brother to be idle. He was very curious about the land of the Cape and traveled around, so he stayed in Una for a long time and had close contacts with the ambassador. Although Li Ruzhen paid more attention to Cao Yan and Xituan Salt Field in the future, the prosperity of Una Town still left a deep memory for him.

There have always been arty people in salt merchants, who try to improve their cultural taste in their contacts with literati. Of course, a good relationship can sometimes be formed without denying the agreement between writers and businessmen. During Xianfeng period of Qing Dynasty, Wu You, a salt merchant, had close contacts with Jiang Lutan, a poet. Jiang Lutan's ci works have high artistic attainments, and sometimes have the reputation of "relying on sound experts to follow the Northern Song Dynasty".

Jiang Lutan lives in Dongtai, but he often visits and lives in Zhou's cocoon garden, drinking tea and chatting, which is very speculative. Once, Jiang Lutan returned to Dongtai from Una, thinking of Una Cocoon Garden, and was deeply touched. He wrote the lyrics "Dimfragrance sends Zhou Xiaobi. Because Zhou's word is Xiao Bi, it is named after it:

So, Laoshan Crane, when the drinkers were tired, flew back to the Ci Hall. Leaning on the piano, I miss Luo Jing at sunset. Do you know whether to stop writing and get sick? I'm afraid to think of the anthers in the West Garden. But from the cover, the door between the trees is lonely, and the shadow of the light is also lonely.

Unfortunately, Jiang Lutan died young. Fortunately, Zhou kept a small portrait of Jiang Lutan, and later people began to know the poet's "true face".

Wu Youchang once lived in Wu Dongyuan, a scholar in the late Qing Dynasty. This artificial poem and song was hired as an editor by Wei Ying Bookstore, and books such as Selected Works were published. In the early years of the Republic of China, Wu Dongyuan joined the army as the secretary of the Seventh Route Army of the Fifth Army in Ren Xinan, and retired to Wu You. Una's small-town style has great attraction to him. Although the outside world is changing and the warlords are changing, he is still alone in Una and loves literature. He founded the National Essence Preservation Society in Una, and studied poetry through correspondence with disciples at home and abroad. At the same time, he wrote 30 volumes, including Supplementary Interpretation of Six Dynasties, Eighteen Biographies of Dongyuan and Dongyuan Series. Wu Dongyuan has also published a large number of poems, the most influential of which is Comment on the History of La Traviata in Paris, France. At that time, the La Traviata de Paris by Dumas translated by Lin Shu was published. Wu Dongyuan was very excited after reading it and immediately commented on the poem. The modern translation of Margaret, Mark Neil, is the heroine. The poem says:

A natural beauty named Mark is hard to get again. Less nickname Paris, one cares about the whole country. In the upside-down or bamboo bushes, cars run like running water in Ma Rulong. Every night, the song floor is full of gold, and the dance pavilion is full of jade. ……

The whole poem is thirty-two lines and hundreds of words, which seems to complain about tears. After reading it, A Ying, a famous literary critic, exclaimed, "This is simply a poem with McNeill's skills.". "Why can La Traviata strongly attract the sympathy of China readers? The poem is quite thorough. "

Wu Dongyuan is a native of Shexian, and there are many salt merchants in Shexian. "Shexian annals" says: "Salt tea and salt wood are the most famous businesses in the city, and the salt industry was particularly prosperous in the past. Eight merchants in Huai River and Huai River always occupy the fourth place. " Salt merchants in Shexian county are also very extravagant. It happened that a Wu Dongyuan lived in Una saltworks as a cultural person, which was quite meaningful.

At the peak of Huaihe River, there were 30 saltworks, which were divided into top ten, middle ten and bottom ten from south to north, and Una, Xinxing and Miaowan were the bottom ten. In the late Qing Dynasty, with the decline of salt industry in the Huaihe River and Huaihe River, abandoned stoves were reclaimed from the sea in coastal areas, and Wuyou was among the major changes, and the splendid ancient salt field finally came to an end.