Ding jianshe
Jiagou Town, Yongqiao, Suzhou, has been a very cultural place since ancient times. Mr. Zhang Binghui, an essayist, is from Jiagou. Although he didn't dig deep into Jiagou and Yongqiao culture, he did his best. However, the cultural ecology of Jiagou seems very fragile. If many valuable things are not rescued in time, I am afraid that one day we will regret it. For example, those watchtowers are decreasing year by year, with only three at most!
According to research, there are only three watchtowers in Jiagou Town, one is Sunzhai watchtower, the other is Guishantou watchtower and the other is Zhangdiaolou. Those watchtowers scattered in other villages, including Shangdingfu in Jiagou Street, and even the famous Wangqin Pagoda in Wan Qin, have been lost in the vicissitudes of history, or died in the bonfire of war, or become a historical necessity in the movement to break the old and build a new one.
"The east wind warms the willow branches, and Shili Qingshan surrounds the ditch." It shows that the history of Jiagou is not only picturesque, surrounded by green hills, but also full of thieves and robbers, especially in the west of Jiagou, where the mountains are towering and undulating, forming many shanzhai and countless mountain kings. In autumn and winter, they will sneak down the mountain, or spoil mature crops or rob houses. From time to time, they will tie the wives and daughters of large families to Jicaili, Shanxi, and when to send ransom and release them. If a girl with a yellow flower is unfortunately taken away by bandits, I don't know which day she will be taken away by her minions and become Mrs. Zhai, so the people hate bandits.
At that time, Yongan Ji was not called Yongan Ji, but Zhuangzi, a thief. Huang's bandits used "don't rob anything except stones" as a weapon, and often harassed the people of Baili. Some old people who are still alive have a lingering fear as long as they mention Huang! For a long time, thieves were rampant and it was difficult for people to come up with countermeasures. As a result, some rich households built watchtowers at the entrance of the village, which can not only climb high and overlook, but also facilitate the transmission of signals, commanding and guarding against enemies outside the "national gate". And dig ditches to build villages, spend a lot of money to buy long guns and short guns, form a joint defense village team, and patrol day and night.
Turrets are all designed on the third floor. The first floor is used for garrison and the second floor is used for storing guns and ammunition. There are holes in the roof, equipped with earth cannons, for observation and defense. The building is about 14 or 5 meters high, and all the strip boulders are solid. Every village with turrets has self-defense weapons. They plant crops during the day and look after the house at night, protecting the village like iron drums and keeping one side safe. Later, neighboring villages followed suit and built more and more turrets, so that many villages still retain the names of Zhanglou, Li Lou, Wang Lou, Malou, Sunzhai, Zhai Wei, Qinglong Village and Xialiuzhai. This shows how powerful the defensive function of the turret is! Obviously, the turret has become the patron saint of the local people. When the watchtower is here, people will feel safe and sleep well at night. The watchtower is a symbol of unity in a village. With such a United front, no matter how powerful a robber is, he will never set foot in the village.
In the era of war, the role of turret is irreplaceable. Despite the vicissitudes of life, the turret is still quietly accompanying its villagers. In the early days of the People's Republic of China, in peacetime, almost all the turrets standing in the corner of the village head were used as office places for village-level political power, and their roles changed unconsciously. Those "state-owned" village cadres go to the countryside to collect grain and make the watchtower a stop. They come and go in the wind and rain, and only when they get here can they find a warm home-like harbor. When they saw the tall watchtower from a distance after a hard day's work, they saw hope and gained confidence and strength. The turret has become a propaganda station uploaded by the party and the government, carrying the function of getting through the "last mile". The reason why the turret was chosen as the office was because at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country was poor and everything was in a state of urgent need, and it was impossible to spend money to build the village department. So the role of turret is highlighted, and it is considered that the past serves the present and there is no choice.
Sunzhai artillery tower is located in the center of Sunzhai village, facing south, adjacent to the North-South Lu pipeline. In front of the turret is a relatively open village square, where villagers meet and discuss. Turret is the tallest and best building in Sunzhai area. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, my parents took my sister, who was only one year old at that time, and I lived in Sun Zhai's gun house for more than a year, and survived the famine with the help of villagers. At that time, my sister was still young, but she was very sensible and lovable. She often changes from one employer to another and makes many good friends. Later, with the change of my father's work, our family returned to our hometown ... so the watchtower of Sun Zhai is still the homesickness that my sister never forgets.
During the Spring Festival this year, I took the time to go to Sunzhai, looked at the turret of Sunzhai, took a few photos at random, and inspected the inside of the turret on the spot. From the appearance, there is no sign of any damage to the turret, but the interior of the building has been ruined and the partition beam between floors has fallen off. If it is not repaired in time, it is not only a safety hazard, but also the possibility of collapse.
Guishantou turret is located at the intersection of Huangshan Village and Dongshantou Village in Jiagou Town. Construction standards and quality are high. Because of its special contribution in a specific historical period, the villagers cherish it. Even in the most difficult times, few people dare to touch it. Later, the village needed land to build schools, villages, bridges and gates. But village cadres just overcome difficulties and try their best to protect them. As a result, it has become a historical relic of turret culture, which makes the wanderers in the distance feel homesick and adds a bit of mystery and humanity to the ancient Guishantou. When some city people who are traveling to Dawuliu and Zhentou Temple pass by, they can't help but stop to take a photo before they are willing to leave.
Compared with the watchtowers in Sunzhai and Guishantou, Zhang, located in the southeast of Jiagou Town, also has a watchtower. Because of its remote location, the watchtower here is relatively unknown, and outsiders rarely know that there is a priceless historical relic hidden here. A few years ago, when I passed Zhang, I saw it still standing on the roadside intact, like a Zhong Kui who caught a demon, faithfully protecting the safety of the villagers.
It is said that villages with watchtowers generally have stockade walls, just like cities with watchtowers have solid walls, so only when watchtowers are connected with stockade walls can a solid barrier be formed. The watchtower and the wall of the village, plus a self-defense force that is not afraid of death, can be regarded as an iron wall. According to the elders, my hometown used to have a turret and a tall and long walled village. It is a famous peace model village in Shiliba Township. It's just that the turret is not that high. There are many people surnamed Wu in the village, and Wu is also surnamed Huang, so the village is called Wu Xiaolou Zi. As for the stockade wall, there is no doubt, because until now, the elderly still call Lizhuang stockade! As for when Wu Xiaolou's watchtower disappeared, Grandpa didn't say it when he was alive, and I didn't ask. Nobody knows now. I'll ask again.
On the eve of the Spring Festival, Xu Hui, a famous writer in Suzhou, came to his hometown to give lectures, and answered the question of what homesickness is from the aspects of mountains and rivers, dialects, costumes, wedding and funeral customs, local customs, folk songs and agricultural proverbs, transportation and farming traditions. After listening to this, he gained a lot and benefited a lot.
I think the real homesickness should be those rare and decreasing historical remains, or cultural heritage. In addition to turrets, there are old wells, old houses, ancient bridges, ancient trees and so on in my hometown. Although it is not a rare treasure, it is an invaluable wealth left by our ancestors to future generations. Retaining them not only retains the homesickness of generations, but also retains excellent traditions, inherits human civilization and is a great contribution to the country and the people!