I yearn for the ancient village prose

Long ago, I heard from my writing friends, in Hunan Yueyang City, about 70 kilometers east of the Penjia Mountain, there is a mysterious ancient village, named Zhang Guying village. So it is thirsty to take a walk.

Early summer, I finally accompanied by friends in the literature to the village of Zhang Guying. The ancient village is located in the mountains surrounded by a slow walk and look out, only to see a new green, mountain flowers blooming. The gurgling Weixi River runs through the whole village, flowing with the undefeated scenery in all seasons. There are 58 stone bridges over the river in the village, a landscape of ancient bridges of various colors, and it is known as a village "surrounded by golden belts", a unique feng shui treasure. This ancient village is China's most well-preserved, reflecting the clustering and living in the Ming and Qing dynasties of the ancient architectural clusters of the village. The village now has more than 600 families, the descendants of Zhang Guying of the Ming Dynasty.

Close to the village of Zhang Guying, standing in the old stone bridge, suddenly feel the eyes of the front and open, the four sides of the rolling green hills, suddenly like a huge barrier flare with the fairy mist slowly rise up to the sky, the village and the outside world naturally isolated. 600 years of history, more than 600 years of continuity, creating the splendor of the village of Zhang Guying splendor and brilliance. Ancient village houses connected, stretching up to several miles away, the village and dozens of high up the ridge connected to the big house, as if a huge colorful scrolls show spread in front of people's eyes, rung up the ancient village of the flash of beautiful.

Zhang Guying the name of this person in the history of biography there are two kinds of sayings: one is said to be the Ming Hongwu years, Zhang Guying is a senior feng shui gentleman, he passed through Hunan from Jiangxi, fancy this piece of magical land, and from then on began to build villages and establish a business, living a sunrise, sunset and rest. Life, generations of reproduction to date, with a strong natural color.

Secondly, there are descendants in the tombstone found on the record; Zhang Guying was born in about Yuan Shundi to the first year (1335 years), died in the Ming Emperor Chengzu Yongle 5 years (1407 years). Originally from Jiangxi, Zhang Guying was a Ming Commanding General (equivalent to today's military commander), who entered Chu from Wu during the Ming? Hongwu years from Wu into Chu, retired in Yueyang County Weidong Penjiao foothills, sent landscape, built the village also set up a succession of a hundred generations of planning. Leaving behind a beautiful dream of passing on the seed to the next generation and honoring the ancestors.

In any case, Zhang Guying is a real person. More than six hundred years, Zhang Guying village descendants here hard work and cultivation, reproduction, has reached as many as 26 generations, the formation of the existing single family name descendants of more than 10,000 people of the Herculean family, the number of people living in the ancient village settlement of more than 2,200 people, become a natural village of the Zhang surname. The village farmers young and old, most of the true love and righteousness; men and women, young and old, respect and order, living a quiet paradise-like idyllic life.

The village has an area of 51,000 square meters of ancient buildings, 206 ancient patios, 237 ancient halls and 1,732 ancient houses. The overall design of Zhang Guying's house reflects the important philosophical idea of "the unity of heaven and mankind" in traditional Chinese culture. The house is located in a scenic area surrounded by mountains on all sides, leaning on Longshang Mountain in the north, which is the so-called "Dragon Vein" gathering place in feng shui. The building of the Big House is situated next to the water and becomes the dragon vein, which is an exemplary work of making good use of the mountain and the water to suit the local conditions. When you look closely at the Daiya, it is as quiet and beautiful as an old castle, like a labyrinth covering this magical land. It is a quiet land, free from the smoke of war and the strife among the world for a hundred years. For more than six hundred years, people have lived according to their own life trajectory as they please, facing the ecology of nature and living naturally.

Touch Zhang Guying village, the tall pagoda on both sides of the ancient buildings, spectacular, ancient building groups of each household outside the gate, stone couplets strikingly eye-catching, as if to show the world a picture of the vicissitudes of history over the years. Roadside, the clear stream crossing, murmuring from under the bridge, as if flowing a thick history book, but also seems to be telling the six centuries of distant historical changes. Zhang Guying Village not only has a beautiful natural landscape, but also has a legendary story of farming and reading.

According to information: Zhang Guying family in the local hundreds of years, inherited the morality, seeking unity, reading poetry and books, understanding of etiquette and righteousness, attacking the martial arts, farming, not to Jiangnan family of self-proclaimed, not to the house of the big bullying the neighbors of the weak and small. Respect for relatives and filial piety, friends and neighbors, "filial piety and friends family style", known for harmony. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, here *** out of 45 people, 33 students, 6 Gongsheng, 1 Gong member, 7 people, 1 jinshi, 1 in the constitutional doctor, of which there are brothers with the tiger list, grandchildren to win the cultural leader is not lacking, leaving many beautiful stories and stories, these stories are connected with a colorful old house.

The whole Zhangguying Village consists of a dozen or so gateways, including Dangmen, Dongtoukan, Xitoukan, Julongwan, Shimen, Wangjiaduan, Shangxinya, Changsha Duan, Maple House, Xiaxinya, Hefeng Duan, Panjiachong, and so on, which form a huge residential compound of single-surname families. The architectural complexes here are a tightly knit whole but also feature the different styles of the architecture of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Each building gates rigorous, high walls towering, square brick pavement, green tile roof, cross through the hall, the alleyway connected, so that the ancient house is full of incomparable magic.

The main building gate of the ancient village is now well maintained. The flying eaves and arches are obviously different from other places retained in the late Qing and Republican period of the building, maintaining a strong style of Ming Dynasty architecture. On each side of the gate, there is a smoke and fire pond, which is both fireproof and spectacular. Cross into the high stone threshold, facing the patio, along the central axis of the house inward is a very spacious hall, four wells five into the carved beams and paintings, the last into the hall, solemn and majestic, for the ancestor hall, the shrine on the first ancestor of Gu Ying Gong statue. The east and west sides are built according to the ground, with 3-4 horizontal branches extending symmetrically, in the shape of "Feng" structure, i.e., horizontal halls, consisting of 3-5 entries, with spacious halls and symmetrical patios. Each group of halls has an obvious function, which is the place where the owner performs rituals, marriages, celebrations, meetings and deliberations, or recreation.

What is even more astonishing is that the architecture here is magnificent, the planning is ingenious, the design is ingenious. From a distance, the gables and corridors are connected, and the pavilions are different; from a close distance, the patios are connected, and the complex roads are longitudinal. The layout of the ancient village of the wonderful, the alleyway of the quiet, patio of the mysterious, the beauty of carving and painting, with the God of the material, can be called the five best. The coordination of its ventilation and passageway is unique, and its lighting and house drainage are marvelous. Each independent house has roughly the same structure, the main hall house and the horizontal hall house consist of several units, each unit consists of a patio and half-open hall house as well as closed compartments on both sides; the middle of the house is separated by a screen door, a gable corridor and an alleyway. Each unit consists of several units, each of which is composed of a patio and a semi-open hall, as well as two closed compartments on both sides; in the middle of the house, there are screen doors, corridors and alleyways separating them. The main hall and its two sides of the compartments for the use of elders, the side of the hall by the family of the late generation of each small family living.

Most of the windows, door beams and screen doors inside and outside are decorated with traditional Chinese wood and stone carvings, some of which are from the Ming Wanli period, and are still intact despite the years. The wood and stone carvings of the complex are engraved with many folk legends, with concise strokes, clear lines and realistic images. Such as Shun plowing the mountains on the plaque, hanging the corner of the book; two dragons on the beam, two phoenixes sunrise; screen door on the Eight Immortals across the sea, the fourth son to visit his mother; magpies and plum blossoms, bats, pine cranes on the window; carp on the desk jump Dragon Gate, unicorn to send a son; patio stone surface of the blessings of fortune and longevity, and so on, skillful, vivid modeling. Among them when the door to receive the official hall next to the hall of the eight steeds is the most atmospheric. Picture of the eight horses on the fat body, lifelike, or lead the head long neighing, or play with each other, or head galloping. Showed the peaceful world of the horse on the South Mountain and this big family of grains, six animals and prosperity of the vitality and prosperity of the scene.

All buildings are connected by deep alleys and corridors, and the 62 unique alleys are twisting and turning, connected to each other in all directions, with a total length of 1,495 meters, connecting the whole house to each other, and you can walk through every house in the village without going out of the gate. After hundreds of years, through many times of heavy rain, flooding, the house unharmed, as to where the water drainage, is a difficult mystery, is a miracle. In addition to drainage, the patio also has light, ventilation and other functions. Sunny days can bathe in the sun, and at night you can drink wine and invite the moon, which is a great stage art effect. You can experience the four seasons of the outside world without leaving your home.

Stepping on the stone pavement of the deep ancient road, weaving in the meandering corridors, into a high door into the open house, touching a pillar weighing more than 10,000 pounds, visit a direct sunlight patio, looking around a carved pattern of the window, seeking a kind of ancient feelings, tracing its hundreds of years of wind and rain, unknowingly feel that, around the house of the carving of the characters and gods The old village is a place where the history is farther away from us, but it seems to be closer to us, and this may be the greatest feeling of the visit to Zhang Guying village ......

In the evening, the setting sun dyed the old village red, as if draped in a piece of red with a purple scarf, and when I was about to leave the old village, it was still as red as ever, and the old village was still as red as the old one. When I was about to leave the village, I was still so reluctant to leave, looking back at this spoiled old house, which has been reproduced for more than twenty generations, there was suddenly a long-established idyllic culture calling in my ears. Yes, it is not only the beauty, but also its uniqueness and the depth of the inheritance and constitute the study of Xiang Chu culture "living fossil" charm, is the treasure of the ancient village!