Where is the "Xinghua Village" in Du Mu's poem?

The "Xinghua Village" in Du Mu's poem "Qingming" should be in Chang'an. "Xinghua Village" in the Tang Dynasty, now called Shuangzhu Village, belongs to Chang'an Weiqu Street Office. In the past, this village was also called "Xinghuaping", "Yushizhuang", "Shuangzhuang" and "Podi Village".

"It rains heavily during the Qingming Festival, and people on the road are dying. May I ask where the restaurant is? The shepherd boy points to Xinghua Village in the distance." The seven-character quatrain "Qingming" written by Du Mu, a poet in the late Tang Dynasty, is known for its fresh and smooth lyrics. The language, vivid and expressive artistic images, and beautiful and implicit artistic conception have been widely recited for thousands of years. Therefore, people also have a strong interest in the territory of "Xinghua Village". Linfen in Shanxi, Guichi in Anhui, Xuzhou and Nanjing in Jiangsu, Macheng in Hubei and other places all claim that Xinghua Village is in their place. In the 1950s, Chinese cultural and academic circles also discussed the territorial jurisdiction of "Xinghua Village". There are currently three main theories. One is the "Shanxi theory", which is widely circulated. Shanxi Xinghuacun Fenjiu Company also registered the trademark "Xinghuacun"; the second is the "Anhui Guichi" theory, which is based on Du Mu's The "Happy Dictionary" program hosted by CCTV host Wang Xiaoya also confirmed that Xinghua Village is in Guichi, Anhui Province. The third theory is that Xinghua Village is a general reference and is not the real name of the village at all. In fact, when people studied the territory of "Xinghua Village", they forgot a place that should not be ignored, that is Chang'an, the birthplace of Du Mu.

The relationship between Du Mu and Chang'an Fanchuan

Du Mu (803-852 AD), courtesy name Muzhi, was born in Jingzhao Wannian (now Xi'an, Shaanxi). In the second year of Yamato (828), he became a Jinshi and was awarded the title of School Secretary of Hongwenkan. He served as a staff member in other places for many years, and eventually became a member of Zhongshu Sheren, where he died in his hometown of Fanchuan.

Du Mu was born in a prominent bureaucratic family in Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty. His grandfather Du You was a veteran of three dynasties and rose to the rank of prime minister. Du Mu described his birthplace in a poem like this: "The old place opened its gates, and the city of Chang'an Central." Du You's residence is located in Anrenfang, the third lane east to south outside Zhuque Gate. In the Tang Dynasty, officials of third rank or above lived on both sides of this street.

Du Mu spent his childhood and adolescence in the city of Chang'an until he entered the officialdom as a Jinshi at the age of 25. After that, he had many ups and downs in the officialdom and served in Chang'an four times. After returning to Chang'an in his later years, Du Mu used his savings over the years to build a villa in Zhupo, Chang'an. Finally, Du Mu died in Chang'an and was buried in the Du family's ancestral grave in Sima Village, Yin Town, Chang'an.

Du Mu’s ancestral home is in Zhupo Village, Chang’an. This place has been mentioned or described in many of Du Mei’s poems. Zhupo is located in Fanchuan, also known as Houkuanchuan. It was the most beautiful place in the south of the city at that time. Du Mu's grandfather, Du You, served as the governor of Huainan for 15 years. After returning to his hometown of Fanchuan, he could not forget the ancient town of Guazhou Island in Jiangxi when he was an official, so he named the place where the Du family grew melons "Guazhou Village". Legend has it that Du Mu also planted melons here when he was young. Not far to the north of Guazhou Village is Niutou Temple, one of the eight major temples in Fanchuan. Du Mu studied in the west of the temple when he was young.

To the west of Niutou Temple, there is a village called "Xinghua Village". The poet Wen Tingyun of the Tang Dynasty wrote in "Farewell to Friends": "Having half drunk farewell to Dumen, the ancient plains are desolate. The evening breeze is Yangye Society, and the cold food is Xinghua Village." In the Tang Dynasty, not far from Mingde Gate, the south gate of Chang'an City, In Shaolingyuan, there was a village called Xinghua Village. Du Mu had a relationship with the poet Wen Tingyun in his later years. Studying the place names related to Du Mu, we found that this is the earliest "Xinghua Village" that appeared, earlier than the "Xinghua Village" recorded locally in Linfen, Shanxi and Guichi, Anhui.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, government official Zhang Li wrote a monograph called "Journey to the South". This is an important document for studying the geographical ruins in the southern suburbs of Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty. The time was the first year of Zhezong of the Northern Song Dynasty (1086). The Tang Dynasty fell less than 200 years ago. "Journey to the South of the City" records: "The Longtang is to the west of Niutousi Temple. Therefore, there is a Longquan Pagoda courtyard in the temple. This hall is its place. There is a pagoda in the north of the spring, commonly known as Longtang Slope. It is very flat and has many apricots planted in it. It is called Xinghuaping, see Du Xu's "Shengyoulu". "After searching the villages around ancient Chang'an, this is the only one called "Xinghua Village" or "Xinghuaping". From this we can conclude that the "Xinghua Village" described in Wen Tingyun's poem and the "Xinghuaping" recorded by Zhang Li 200 years later are the same place. Moreover, this place is very close to Du Mei's residence.

The weather before and after the Qingming Festival in Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty

The place where Du Mu lived was located in the hometown of Fanchuan in Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty. Fanchuan is located in the southern suburbs of Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty. It starts from Jiangcun in the southeast and reaches Tapo in the northwest. It is a strip basin about 15 kilometers long from east to west. Here you can see Zhongnan Mountain in the south, Shaolingyuan in the north, and the clear Jiao River running through it. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Qingming Canal was introduced under Shaolingyuan. The rivers were crisscrossed, with dense vegetation, beautiful mountains and clear waters, and pink willows and pink flowers. Since ancient times, eight rivers have surrounded Chang'an. The northern slope of the Qinling Mountains is densely forested. Most of the eight rivers originate here, and the water potential is large. In addition, there are 10 natural lakes such as Kunming Pool, Ying'e Pool, Lingchi and Taiye Pool, which provide a good natural environment. It provided sufficient conditions for rainfall in Tang Chang'an.

"Restaurant" is another necessary condition for "Where is the restaurant?" in the poem "Qingming".

In the Tang Dynasty, there were many springs near Shaolingyuan. "When I go to Du Xiang's hometown, the sound of springs surrounds the house and cries" (Du Mu's "Zhu Po"). According to historical records, there is a Jiuqu Pond with thousands of twists and turns in the garden where Du Mu lives in the countryside. In the west of Niutou Temple, there is a natural ditch "Qi Surname Ditch" ("New Book of Tang": Du's surname is Qi). The ditch is very deep and has many springs. The water flows continuously all year round and flows into the valley at the bottom of the slope. In Qingming Canal, a large pond (Xunyinpi) is formed.

Not only are there many springs here, but the water quality is also very good. The "Nine Dragon Pond" next to Niutou Temple is the most famous. Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty once visited here. She has a poem to prove it: "A jade girl wanders through the mountain window, and the stream door faces Qiongfeng. Two phoenixes fly on the top of the rock, and nine dragons pour in the center of the pond. Bamboo leaves float in the wine, and hibiscus is written on the cup. Therefore, I inspect the home mountain Reward, only the wind enters the pine. "The water quality is good, the water volume is large, and it lasts for thousands of years." In 1900, Empress Dowager Cixi fled to Xi'an, and her party drank water from Jiulongtan. Until now, springs are still gushing out here.

Good water produces good wine. In the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an, the capital, was the center of the country's wine industry, with a high level of wine brewing and prosperous production and sales. Liu Yuxi "advises you to drink more Chang'an wine, and Nanmo Dongcheng will seize the spring", which shows that Chang'an wine has a high status in people's minds. In addition, from Liu Yuxi's "Hundred Flowers": "When there are hundreds of flowers in Chang'an, the scenery should be light and light, no one is not selling wine, and there is no place to enjoy music"; Dai Shulun's "Guests should come frequently and drink on credit"; Cen Shen's "Love many guests" It can be seen from "Liquor Debt" and "Fetching wine and shrimps under the toad mausoleum, and every family keeping the New Year's Eve and passing on the news", there are many places to make and sell wine in Chang'an.

Fanchuan winemaking has a long history. When Kang Youwei came to Xi'an, he wrote the poem "Singing Duqu wine in the morning and watching the moon in Fanchuan at night". To this day, the water of "Chang'an Winery" is taken from Shaolingyuan, which is a microcosm of the ancient Chang'an Fanchuan wine industry.

Elements that cannot be ignored

In the original poem, there are some elements that cannot be ignored. 1. Since ancient times, the Shaoling Plain has crisscrossed ravines and luxuriant green grass. The original slopes were not suitable for growing crops, but were especially suitable for grazing. Now there are still people grazing cattle and sheep in this area. 2. The original slopes have limited sight lines and are densely covered with ancient cypresses. A bend is a scene. The shepherd boy is standing in the place where he is grazing. The sight in front is limited, so he cannot point directly. He needs to point "distantly", which is in line with the local landform characteristics. 3. The Du family's ancestral tomb is located in Sima, the town northeast of Du Mu's residence. Village, the scene in the poem "Qingming" should be what Du Mu saw on his way back from visiting the grave during the Qingming Festival (Xinghua Village is in the west). 4. Du Mu is very familiar with the local terrain and knows that there is wine in Xinghua Village. When the shepherd boy pointed, he knew that the shepherd boy was referring to Xinghua Village.

To sum up, the "Xinghua Village" in Du Mu's "Qingming" poem should be in Chang'an. "Xinghua Village" in the Tang Dynasty, now called Shuangzhu Village, belongs to Chang'an Weiqu Street Office. In the past, this village was also called "Xinghuaping", "Yushizhuang", "Shuangzhuzhuang" and "Podi Village".