Liugou Fenghuang Ancient City

2021-12-3

Liugou Phoenix Ancient City is located in Liugou Village, Jingzhuang Town, southeast of Yanqing County, about 10 kilometers southeast of Yanqing County. It is a small mountain village famous for its tofu feast and the whole village is home to B&Bs.

As soon as you enter the village, you will see bright red lanterns hanging high. The whole village is clean and tidy. There are many murals on the walls about the process of making tofu. It is very literary and artistic. It is said that it is one of the "most beautiful villages in Beijing". say.

Liugou is recorded in "Records of the Ming Dynasty", "Map of Xuanzhen", "Yanqing County Chronicle", etc. The ancient city was built in the 30th year of Jiaqing (1551) and has four gates.

Its geographical location is particularly important. It is located due north of Juyongguan and a little east of the north of Badaling. The three places form an isosceles triangle (Juyongguan is the longer side from Liugou).

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it served as a frontier garrison, an important military fortress, and a pass of the Great Wall. There are still some ancient walls, ancient wells, ancient city gates, ancient temples, ancient trees and other relics left in the village. But most of them were badly damaged.

It is said that there is a section of the Great Wall here from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which is the basic form of the Tubian Great Wall. But later, due to various reasons, the city wall bricks were dismantled by the villagers from ten miles and eight surrounding villages, and they were carried on their shoulders and transported by large horses and small carts. A city wall that was several miles long was turned into houses for each family. The foundation, the courtyard wall...

There is no name "Phoenix City" in the historical records. An article on the Internet said that Liugou City is also called the "Phoenix City" because the overall shape of Liugou City and its east and west passes resembles a phoenix spreading its wings when standing on the hilltop in the west of the city.

Rural tourism in Liugou is the leading industry in the village. Before this, Liugou Village was originally an ancient poor mountain village. The more than 1,000 people in the village mainly made a living by farming and had no other sources of income.

On October 1, 2003, several villagers took the lead in placing iron pot rings on the brazier, an ancestral hand-warming tool, and placed a casserole on top of the iron pot rings. In the casserole, they placed tofu, vermicelli, Cabbage and smoked pork were served, and the "hot pot and tofu feast" was launched, taking the first step in folk tourism reception.

"Brazil Pot" is mainly vegetarian, with a combination of meat and vegetables. Drink soy milk, eat fresh vegetables grown by the locals themselves, and staple food include steamed buns, cornmeal, fried dough cakes...

There is also steaming three-color tofu (nourishing the kidneys) in the brazier. Black bean tofu, mung bean tofu to clear away heat, and soybean tofu to beautify the body.) The banquet is made with a main pot and put in streaky bacon, cabbage, fresh tofu, frozen tofu, fried tofu, etc.

It is surrounded by three auxiliary pots with farmhouse characteristics, three small bowls, and six cold dishes, which means three sheep to make peace, four to be stable, and six to six.

There is also a Tofu Culture Museum, a Land Boat Culture Museum, a Liugou Village History Museum, and a Chinese Herbal Medicine Museum: Wormwood Garden.

Liugou Tofu Culture Museum mainly introduces the culture and production technology of Liugou Tofu, as well as the classic dishes made with tofu from various places, as well as various ways of making tofu

By the way, you can also taste steaming fresh tofu just out of the oven.

Mao also likes tofu products. In addition to stinky tofu, he also likes tofu skin. Tofu skin is a local snack in rural Hubei. Laotongcheng is famous for its three-fresh tofu skin. Mao Yiyi has tasted three-fresh tofu skin four times and "liked" it every time.

Mr. Sun Yat-sen also advocated eating more tofu and even included it in the "Outline of the Founding of the People's Republic of China".

According to "Tianlu Shiyu", "Tofu was made by Liu An, King of Huainan, also known as Li Qi." Liu An is the grandson of Liu Bang of the Western Han Dynasty.

Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" written by Li Shizhen in the Ming Dynasty also recorded that "the method of tofu began with Liu An, King of Huainan in the Han Dynasty".

Liu An originally wanted to develop the elixir of life, but ended up developing tofu. Tofu is rich in nutrients. It is both a delicacy and a good medicine. Regular consumption of tofu can replenish qi, clear away heat and moisturize, produce fluid and quench thirst, cleanse the stomach, maintain health and prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Tofu is divided into southern tofu and northern tofu according to the different materials used to order the tofu. Southern tofu is generally cooked with gypsum, so the southern tofu is very delicate; northern tofu is generally cooked with salt, which is what we usually cook. It's said to be "bitten with brine and some tofu". Different people have different tastes and choices.

But regardless of whether it is southern tofu or northern tofu, the ancients have always praised them a lot:

The great poet Su Dongpo has a famous saying that "boiled beans make butterfat and crisp", and Lu You has " "Tofu" poem: "Wipe the plates and spread them out in a row, wash the cauldron and boil the Liqi", "The new pound is as smooth as beads, the spinned Liqi is softer than crispy". They are all famous sentences praising tofu.

Zheng Yunduan of the Yuan Dynasty has a famous tofu poem: "Beans are planted at the foot of the southern mountain, and the pods are fresh in the frost wind. The jade milk flows when ground, and the clear spring is formed when steamed. The color is crisper and cleaner than earth, and the fragrance is stronger than stone marrow. . The taste is so beautiful that you should not pass it on as a jade food." The poem "Ode to Tofu" by Su Xuexi of the Qing Dynasty describes tofu most appropriately and meaningfully. The poem says: The Huainan technique is said to be the best, and the skin will fade away and the essence can be seen. A round of grinding brings up the liquid agar, and snowflakes roll in the boiling soup. There are shadows of toads soaked in earthen jars, and jade is cut flawlessly with a golden knife. Who knows the taste? Most of them are monks and Taoists.

Since the advent of tofu, people have made tofu into hundreds of tofu dishes, such as Mapo tofu, Jiande tofu buns, Qufu smoked tofu, Changsha stinky tofu, casserole tofu, and purse tofu. , Huizhou hairy tofu, Dongpo tofu, tofu mixed with spring onions, loach tofu, cabbage tofu soup, spinach tofu soup, pickled cabbage vermicelli stewed frozen tofu, pepper dried tofu, tofu skewers... Tofu is regarded as the king of dishes. .

China not only has tofu feasts, but also tofu festivals and tofu culture. Tofu spread quickly to all parts of the world, greatly enriching the table culture of people around the world.

When Monk Jianzhen of the Tang Dynasty traveled east to Japan in 757 AD, he introduced the technology of making tofu to Japan. The Japanese regard Jianzhen as their ancestor. When it comes to Chinese tofu, the Japanese always praise it with reverence, calling it "Tang Chuan Tofu" and calling themselves the descendants of "Huainan Tang".

Nowadays, tofu has become one of the most important foods in their families in Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, Japan and other countries!

The Liugou Land Boat Culture Museum mainly introduces the Liugou land boat culture which originated from the private sector and was included in the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2014. Distinctive land boats and clothing from each period are displayed.

If you come to Liugou during the Dragon Boat Festival, you can also make rice dumplings, tie colorful ropes, hang mugwort as sachets and enjoy flowers in Liugou. You can also personally experience the "Yanqing Land Boat" at Liugou Cultural Square and feel the unique charm of Chinese traditional culture.

The Liugou Village History Museum mainly displays the historical relics of Liugou Village and the introduction of local nostalgia, which is very interesting.

About Liugou Tofu: From soaking the soybeans, beating and grinding, to ordering the tofu and pressing the mold, every process is very particular.

Different from other areas where tofu is ordered with salt brine, here the tofu is ordered with physalis. After the tofu comes out of the pot, the slurry left in the pot is fermented and is called "physalis".

Legend has it that there is a big family named Guo in the local area. Their children are filial to the elderly and they grind soy milk for the elderly to drink every day. Once, the old man put a little vinegar in the soy milk, and the soy milk formed lumps. After the water was removed, it was pressed into tofu. So, the Guo family set up a tofu workshop and used fermented physalis to make tofu, which everyone in the village loved to eat.

As Lao Guo’s tofu shop became famous, many people came to learn the art, and the reputation of Liugou’s tofu also spread.

The Wormwood Garden is an ancient Chinese herbal medicine cultural garden. The walls of the courtyard are murals depicting the Yin Yang and Five Elements diagrams of traditional Chinese medicine and famous quotes from famous doctors.

The house is divided into a Chinese herbal medicine specimen display area, a medicinal native product specimen display area, and a mugwort cultural display area.

The Chinese herbal medicine specimen display area collects more than 300 local Chinese herbal medicine specimens. More than 100 kinds of Chinese herbal medicines are planted outdoors, making it a vibrant fresh medicine garden.

There is also a Chenghuang Temple and a grand stage in the village, and temple fairs are held during the Chinese New Year, which are very lively.

In history, many literati wrote immortal poems in Liugou. The most famous poem was written by Nalan Xingde, a great talent in the early Qing Dynasty.

In those days, Emperor Kangxi often sent Nalan Xingde to patrol outside the Great Wall to appease the border officers and soldiers. At the age of 23, he was ordered to patrol the border, and Liugou City was one of the horse herding areas at that time.

"Nanxiangzi·Liugou Xiaofa" was written in "Liugou City", one of the "Four Ports" recorded in the "Manuscript of Qing History", in the north of Badaling.

"The lights and shadows accompany the singing shuttle, and the Weaver Girl is still complaining across the river. The dawn is far away, and the mountains are rising, and the green snails are rising. Looking back, I vaguely recall Cui'e. It is a sad guest. The material is more than half of the autumn boudoir. I have been wild and crazy in my life. For, horizontal waves. Can you be like a mandarin duck and get rid of it?"

Liugou City is surrounded by mountains on three sides, forming a basket shape. The word "green snail" is a metaphor for mountains. Because Liugou City is backed by Nanshan Mountain, and looking to the north is a small mountain, like a red bird, so the poet used a sentence from Liu Yuxi's poem "Looking at the Dongting": "Looking at the green mountains and rivers of Dongting from a distance, there is a green snail in the silver plate." The poem writes that Liugou City looks at it. The "twilight rising from far away mountains and green snails" at first glance is very expressive and expressive.

Later researchers believe that this word refers to Liugou City in Gansu Province, and most believe that it refers to Liugou City in Beijing.

When the poet was 26 years old in the 19th year of Kangxi (1680), he also wrote another song "Nanxiangzi" to express a different kind of feelings: "Where is Quewugou? A deserted city with green pillows Flow. It used to be the place where the dragons were fighting. The ground was full of frost and autumn. The hegemony was waiting for rest. Don't change your time lightly. How many heroes were just deposed.

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