Beijing in Memory (4)-those ancient villages that are about to disappear (Mentougou District)

Yangjiayu

Yangjiayu Village is located in the deep mountains in the southeast of Zhaitang Town. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides. The village area is 7.09 square kilometers. The overall shape of the settlement is like a scorpion. According to a fragmentary stele recorded in the Ming Dynasty, the village was founded in the Liao Dynasty. It was originally a tribe with the surname Yang. It was most prosperous at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, when the population was only a hundred households.

Yangjiayu has a small population, but it has gathered many heritages such as ancient Taoist culture, clan culture, Taoist culture and architectural culture. It can be called a masterpiece among the original ecological ancient mountain villages. The people of Yangjiayu are simple, diligent and kind-hearted. Since ancient times, they have respected Confucianism and Taoism, so they have many reputations such as "Village of Farming and Reading", "Longevity Village", "Shunu Village" and "Village of Ancient Buildings of 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, Tree King and Insect King as well as well-preserved chastity plaques in the village, as well as historic sites such as the Good News of Promotion, the desk on the kang, and the inscriptions on the grinding room. It also reflects the profound cultural heritage of this village. Because it has not experienced much war, Yangjiayu is one of the villages with the best preservation of ancient Zhaitang houses.

Weizishui

Follow National Highway 109, follow the Yongding River Valley, enter Yanchi Ancient Town, turn right at Qinyukou Checkpoint for 6 kilometers, and you will arrive Go to Weizishui, a quiet ancient village from the Ming and Qing Dynasties deep in the Taihang Mountains in the west of Beijing. This ancient village, which is comparable to Cuandixia and has the same roots, was originally named "Weizishui". It is said that it was called "Weizishui" because there was a large ditch running east-west in the village, with water flowing all year round and reeds growing abundantly. Now that the ditches have dried up and the reeds are gone, the name of the village has evolved into "Weizishui" in people's popular customs. Weizishui is an ancient village from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The village houses are distributed among the eight basins of Jiulong. There are 46 Ming and Qing courtyard houses built on the mountain, 5 of which are basically intact. There is a river running east-west in the village. There are 13 bridges on the river, including 5 cement bridges and 8 stone bridges. As the width of the river ditch changes, the length of the bridge changes accordingly. The construction materials of stone bridges are stone, sand, and gray, and their shapes are mostly arch bridges. The materials are simple and usually taken locally. The stones are not large in size and have different shapes after being carved by skilled craftsmen.

The residences of Weizishui Village are distributed in the mountain basins in the Jiutiao Valley. There are 46 courtyard houses of the Ming and Qing Dynasties built on the mountains in the valley basins. Among them, 5 are basically intact. These courtyards relatively intactly retain the simple and heavy architectural style, and more intuitively reflect the rural appearance at that time.

The earliest written record of Weizishui Village is in the 20th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1592). It is said that since the Ming Dynasty, the ancestor of the village, the Gao family, migrated here from the big locust tree in Hongdong, Shanxi. After more than 600 years of reproduction, hundreds of households have the same clan, and no other mixed surnames have been mixed in. The family has been passed down from generation to generation for dozens of generations, and the family genealogy is clear and clear. Due to the relatively closed environment, the villagers are friendly and helpful to each other, do not close their homes at night, and do not pick up lost items on the road. The people's lives are quiet, peaceful, peaceful and natural. The cultural landscape of the village is very distinctive. Since the terrain is a basin structure, there has been a legend of Kowloon playing with the golden basin since ancient times. The residential buildings in the village are distributed among the eight forks of Kowloon. In each of the forks, there are courtyards of the Ming and Qing Dynasties built against the mountains. Much of the ordeal has been preserved. Its distinctive Ming and Qing style makes people feel the vicissitudes of the world. These simple ancient houses are the carrier of traditional culture and a precious, non-renewable resource of folk culture. In addition, there are one elm, two locust trees and four ancient cypresses in the village, and the Bodhisattva Temple is backed by the Dragon King Temple. There are also many beautiful legends and touching stories circulating in the village. The simple folk customs here and the traditional culture represented by the courtyard houses of the Ming and Qing Dynasties have brought unique natural conditions for the development of folk tourism.

Weizishui Village is not big. The village is built along an east-west ravine, and the mouth of the ravine is the head of the village. Next to the stone bridge at the head of the village, a century-old locust tree stands. The erosion of years, wind and rain has hollowed out the trunk of the old locust tree. From a distance, it looks like an old man with a stooped body standing guard at the head of the village, recounting his vicissitudes to passers-by: This clan originated from Hong Kong, Shanxi Province. Hole. The old locust tree is the symbol of Weizishui Village. A ditch built with rocks and nearly two meters deep and wide stretches along the ravine from the beginning to the end of the village. Everywhere not far from each other on the ditch, there is a stone bridge for pedestrians to pass. There are twelve such small stone bridges in a row. The stone bridge in Weizishui Village is also unique in its bridge architecture. All stone bridges are not paved with stone strips, nor do they have piers. They are all made of stones of different sizes. The arches of the stone bridges have different curvatures, the smallest one is only 5 degrees. The ditch is dry. According to the introduction of the elders in the village, there used to be abundant water in the ditch all year round and reeds growing thickly. This is how Weizishui Village got its name.

Weizishui Village has always been known as "one elm, two locust trees and four ancient cypresses". "Yiyu" is a dragon-clawed elm tree, which has been protecting a courtyard for hundreds of years. "Two Locust Trees" In addition to the towering ancient locust tree at the head of the village, there is another locust tree in the village that is a little pitiful. The trunk is only as thick as a fist, but it is the same age as the locust tree at the head of the village. I heard from the elders in the village that it has been this big and small for decades, and like this village, it has not changed much. The "four ancient cypresses" stand proudly on the top of the mountains everywhere, but they grow in a straight line.

Yanjiatai Village

It was once called Erlongtai and was inhabited by people as early as 3,000 years ago. The village faces south from the north. There is the unique canyon Longmen Stream and the historical and cultural site Zhangxiandong. It has beautiful natural scenery and unique cultural charm. Yanjiatai Village faces south. There is the ancient Great Wall on the northern slope of the village, and there is a mountain pass called "Laopokouzi". The terrain is dangerous and it is a battleground for military strategists. There is a deep chasm between the mountains opposite, and a narrow bridge is built over it. Because the bridge is very narrow, it is called "step bridge". There are two rivers flowing out from the East and West Longmen Streams, surrounding Yanjiatai, just like "two dragons playing with a pearl". It is a good land boundary with excellent Feng Shui.

There were officers and soldiers stationed behind the village, so it was called "Guanshan". Songshu Tuo is named after the lush ancient pines. Legend has it that Songshu Tuo is a crouching dragon. Excavation of the soil revealed stone hills, so it is also called "Gangzi Ridge". There are many wonders and wonders near Yanjiatai Village, with deep ravines and magical fortunes.

Yanjiatai Village also has relatively well-preserved ancient houses in the Jin and Yuan styles. The ancient folk customs of Yanjiatai Village can be felt from the screen wall, wall leg stone carvings and door pier stones in the courtyard, reflecting the strong desire of the people for a better life from generation to generation.

It is said that in the first month of 1882, Yuan Laogeda, a famous artist from the "Shanxi Bangzi Opera Troupe" in Langshan, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, came to Yanjiatai. After performing at Yanjiatai, he taught the village artists how to sing. In this way, Yanjiatai's old tunes from Hebei and Shanxi Bangzi merged to form the unique Yanjiatai Bangzi.

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