Beijing in Memory (IV) —— Those ancient villages that are about to disappear (Mentougou District)

Yangjiayu Village is located in the deep mountains in the southeast of Zhaitang Town, surrounded by mountains, with a village area of 7.09 square kilometers. The overall shape of the settlement is like a scorpion. According to a Ming Dynasty monument, the village was built in Liao Dynasty, originally a tribe named Yang, which flourished in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, when the population was only 100.

Yangjiayu has a small number of households, but it has gathered many heritages such as ancient road culture, clan culture, Taoist culture, architectural culture, etc. It can be called a boutique in the original ecological ancient mountain village. Yangjiayu people are simple, hardworking and kind. Because of the folk custom of respecting Confucianism and obeying Taoism since ancient times, it has many reputations such as "hometown of farming and reading", "hometown of longevity", "hometown of girls" and "hometown of ancient buildings in Ming and Qing Dynasties".

Yangjiayu has been a well-known farming and reading village since ancient times. There are temples dedicated to the Dragon King, the Tree King and the Insect King and well-preserved chastity plaques in the village. The good news of promotion, inscriptions on kang tables, mills and other historical sites reflect the profound cultural heritage of the village. Yangjiayu is one of the best preserved villages in Zhaitang, because it has not experienced too many wars.

Weizishui

Take 109 national highway, follow Yongding Valley, enter Yanchi ancient town, turn right at Qinyukou checkpoint for 6 kilometers, and you will arrive at Weizishui, a quiet ancient village deep in Taihang Mountain in western Beijing. This ancient village, which can be compared with "Cuanxia" and has the same origin, was originally named "Weizi Water". It is said that it is called "Weizi Water" because there is an east-west ditch in the village, which flows all the year round and has lush reeds. Now that the ditch is dry and the reeds are gone, the village name has evolved into the "reed water" in people's customs. Weizishui is an ancient village in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Village houses are distributed in eight basins in Kowloon. There are 46 Ming and Qing quadrangles on the mountain, five of which are basically intact. There is an east-west river in the village. There are 0/3 bridges on the river, including 5 cement bridges and 8 stone bridges. With the change of river ditch width, the length of bridge body also changes. The building materials of stone bridges are stone, sand and ash, and most of them are arch bridges. The materials are simple, generally based on local materials, and the stones are not big. They are carved by skilled craftsmen and have different shapes.

The houses in Weizishui Village are distributed in mountain basins in Jiutiao ravine, where there are 46 quadrangles in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Five of the seats are basically intact. These courtyards kept the simple and heavy architectural style well, and intuitively reflected the rural appearance at that time.

The earliest written record of Weizishui Village is the 20th year of Wanli in Ming Dynasty (1592). According to legend, since the Ming Dynasty, Gao, the ancestor of the village, moved here from Sophora japonica in Hongdong, Shanxi. After more than 600 years of reproduction, 100 families belong to the same clan, and there are no other mixed surnames. From generation to generation, the family pedigree is clear and clear. Because the environment is relatively closed, the villagers are friendly and help each other, and they don't close the door or pick up the road at night. People live a quiet, peaceful, serene and natural life. The cultural landscape of this village is very distinctive. Because the terrain is a basin structure, there has been a legend of Jiulong hitting the gold basin since ancient times. Village houses are located in Kowloon Octagon, and there are Ming and Qing quadrangles in every ditch, although most of them have gone through hardships. Its distinctive Ming and Qing styles make people feel the vicissitudes of the world. These quaint ancient houses are carriers of traditional culture and valuable resources of non-renewable folk culture. In addition, there are four ancient cypresses, an elm tree and two locust trees in the village, and the Bodhisattva Temple is backed by the Longwang Temple. There are many beautiful legends and touching stories. The simple folk customs here and the traditional culture represented by quadrangles in Ming and Qing Dynasties have brought unique natural conditions for the development of folk tourism.

Weizishui Village is very small, built along an east-west ravine, and the mouth of the ravine is the village head. Next to the stone bridge at the head of the village stands a century-old pagoda tree. The erosion of years and wind and rain has hollowed out the trunk of the old locust tree. From a distance, it looks like a hunchbacked old man standing at the head of the village, telling passers-by about his vicissitudes: this clan originated in Hongdong, Shanxi. The old pagoda tree is a symbol of Weizishui Village. A running ditch made of stones, nearly two meters deep and nearly two meters wide, extends from the village head to the village end along the ravine. There is a stone bridge for pedestrians at intervals on the ditch. There are twelve such small stone bridges. The stone bridge in Weizishui Village is also unique in bridge construction. All stone bridges are not paved with stone strips and have no piers. They are all made of stone coupons of different sizes, and the arch radian of the stone bridge is different, the smallest is only 5 degrees. This ditch is dry. According to the old people in the village, there used to be abundant water and reeds in the ditch all the year round, so it was named Weizishui Village.

Weizishui Village has always been known as "one elm, two Huai trees and four ancient cypresses". "An elm tree" is an elm tree with dragon claws, which has sheltered a quadrangle for hundreds of years. In addition to the towering pagoda tree at the head of the village, another pagoda tree in the village is pitifully short, with a trunk as thick as a fist, but it is the same age as the pagoda tree at the head of the village. According to the old people in the village, I have seen its scale for decades. Like this village, it hasn't changed much. The "four great coopers" stand proudly on the hills, but grow in a straight line.

Yanjiatai village

Once called Erlongtai, people lived there as early as 3000 years ago. The village faces south, where there is a unique canyon Longmen Creek and a historical and cultural site Zhang Xi 'an Cave. Beautiful natural scenery and unique cultural charm. Yanjiatai village faces south. There is an ancient Great Wall on the north slope of the village and a mountain pass called "Laokouzi", which is a battleground for military strategists. There is a deep ravine between the opposite mountains, on which a narrow bridge stands. Because the bridge is very narrow, it is called "step bridge". There are two rivers rushing out from Donglongmen Creek and Xilongmen Creek, surrounding Yanjiatai, just like the "two dragons playing with pearls" is a good boundary of geomantic omen.

There are officers and men stationed behind the village, so it is called "Guanshan". Songshutuo is named after the lush Gu Song. It is said that Songshutuo is Wolong, and it is also called "Gangziling" because of the excavation of stone pillars. There are many wonders and wonders near Yanjiatai Village. The valley is deep and mysterious.

Yanjiatai village also has well-preserved ancient houses in Jinyuan style. The ancient folk customs of Yanjiatai Village can be felt from the screen wall, the stone carvings on the wall legs and the pier stones in the courtyard, reflecting the people's strong desire to look forward to a better life for generations to come.

It is said that in the first month of 1882, Yuan Laoge, a famous artist of "Shanxi Bangzi Troupe" in Langshan, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, came to Yanjiatai and taught the artists in the village to sing after performing in Yanjiatai. In this way, the old harmony of Hebei and Shanxi Bangzi in Yanjiatai merged together to form a unique Yanjiatai Bangzi.

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