Yu said: "We still know very little about this world, and countless unknowns surround us."
Xiaoyi described her old house like this on her personal homepage: "109, there was a stone to tie a horse outside the door, and there was a stone bench next to the door. The head of the door is carved with patterns of faucets, flowers and birds, insects, fish and animals representing happiness and good luck, and the image of Zhong Kui is painted on the door to ward off evil spirits and keep peace. "
Shishi at the entrance of the caravan
Xiaoyi's home is in Honghe County, Yunnan Province, the lower half of Ailao Mountain. From the map, it is close to the border and inhabited by Yi and Hani nationalities. Her description, my unknown, aroused my infinite reverie, and my friends and I decided to find out.
After more than three hours from Kunming, we arrived in Honghe County, which is entrenched at the top of the mountain, and saw the towering Ailao Mountain.
Mabang renjia
Mabang inn
Mabang renjia
We stopped in front of a courtyard full of flowers. "This is a two-story building with brick and wood structure, a typical caravan family. In the past, the whole town was this yard, and now there are only dozens left. " Xiaoyi introduced us with a smile.
"The roof of the caravan house in Tosa is a combination of Chinese and western. We locals call it' horse butt room'. The roof is composed of four inclined planes, imitating the French four-slope flowing water design, next to the double-deck tile structure in China. It looks like a horse's ass, which is in line with the concept that the caravan people live on horses and are proud of horses. " Xiaoyi's professional introduction has given us a lot of insights.
Look at the blue sky through the roof
In the courtyard of the quadrangle, there is a huge zhaobi with the word "Fu" written on it. There are stone mountains under the zhaobi, and there are big urns to catch rain. "This town is short of water. In the past, caravan families had big stone hills and large urns to store rainwater. Yaojia in Dongmen has been storing rainwater for four or five years, and often entertains guests with water that has been stored for several years. "
The layout of the main room, wing room, inner room, wing room and kitchen is reasonable, with embossed Hua Niaowen at the door head and carved pomegranate, horse and bird patterns on the small door and drawer of the altar; The pillars with floating eaves are carved with dragons and phoenixes, and the windows are decorated with roses.
Can you guess how many flowers are decorated on the window? "Ninety-nine flowers represent a long time," Xiao Yi explained to me. I am interested in carving windows.
Passing through the patio and coming to the backyard, Xiaoyi showed us the lanterns that her great-grandfather used to help, and the photos of his great-grandfather wearing fashion. On the carved cabinet, there are silver coffee spoons engraved with small flowers, exquisite coffee pots and cups, exquisite clocks engraved with foreign languages, and a phonograph with nostalgia, just like a museum of wealthy families in the Republic of China.
"When the pomegranate blossoms in Myanmar are full of mountain cities and the agave is straight, my great grandfather will drive the horse, carry homespun and silk thread, and go to Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam to do business with Yao Jiazi. When I first went out, my 20-year-old great-grandfather had just been married to my 16-year-old great-grandmother for two months.
Great-grandfather walked in front, great-grandmother chased after with little feet and cloth shoes, great-grandmother sobbed behind, and great-grandfather choked in front, making it difficult to leave.
Just like Shanxi people go to the west, Anhui people go far away, and their husbands have to go out, because this is the way to home. "At sunset, my grandmother's figure drifted away and drowned in the pomegranate forest in Myanmar, while my grandmother was still looking at the gate.
Grandma's Wandering Gate
"Yisa's large-scale cavalry was founded in the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, when the Shan Yao family had more than 200 mules and horses." Yi went on to introduce.
"dopted mother elder brother, dopted mother elder brother, dopted mother elder brother suffered a lot; Eat wild vegetables and rice, sleep on barren hills and turf slopes; Clothes dressed as lotus pieces, pants dressed as hanging lines; Running around for children and women, leaving home and going abroad; It took more than half a year to travel all over the mountains, rivers and rugged roads. "
Xiaoyi sang the song of grandpa's caravan emotionally. She told us that "the caravan walked very hard, and many people died on the road."
People who walk in the caravan are afraid of three things: first, they are afraid of being bitten by tigers and insects in the middle of the night, second, they are afraid of robbery by soldiers and bandits, and third, they are afraid of malaria. It is also my great-grandfather who is not afraid of hardship, fatigue, distance and unforgettable love, so our family built this building. "
The glory of that year was faintly visible.
Ancient buildings in weeping willows
The caravan family with immortal flowers on the eaves.
Grandpa takes a caravan, while grandma does housework at home, waits on her in-laws and takes care of her children. When the autumn wind blew for the first time, grandma went out with little feet and cut off the slender agave leaves and soaked them in water. A month later, she removed the rotten mesophyll and left the agave fiber as rope and sandals.
The rope is used to tie the goods, and the shoes are worn by the groom. Grandma makes straw sandals, weaves homespun and makes clothes. After a long wait, grandma made clothes and shoes, ran across Qian Shan and crossed the river of missing.
Grandpa sometimes comes back half a year, sometimes two or three years. Every time he comes back, he carries a lot of goods on horseback. There are many strange things that he has never seen before. He takes photos and goes back. There are also soaps, umbrellas, vanishing cream, sewing machines and phonographs specially for grandma.
Grandma also blushed and said angrily to grandpa, "I'm not young anymore, why should I wear cream?" But her heart was so beautiful that she hid behind a small window on the second floor and secretly wiped it several times.
Looking at these old objects, Xiaoyi told us the story of great-grandfather and great-grandmother with great interest. We were fascinated, and through the warp and weft of time, it seemed as if we were lovers in front of us.
"Your ancestral home will be very expensive at first glance. Tell me about Gai Lou! " We asked.
"It is said that Tosa has three things: more men, more widows and more gold. At that time, even grandma had four taels of gold in her hand.
It took grandpa and his family decades to open up 1 1 trade routes to Southeast Asia, criss-crossing north and south, gaining a lot of knowledge, earning a lot of money and building a house at home.
Yisa is a dry problem, with no bricks, tiles and stones. Grandfather and his entourage drove the caravan back from Shiping and Jianshui Camel with several blue bricks, tiles and stones. Time and time again, they climbed to the top of the mountain, waded through the swift Red River, went to Qiu Lai in spring, and went in winter and summer.
Grandpa drew his own drawings, invited a carpenter from Shiping and a bricklayer to build water. In more than a year, Lu Xu built this building. So everyone says that we are the city where the caravan camels came. "
"
/kloc-in the spring of 0/925, bandits in the north, taking advantage of grandpa and his family to go out for business, led hundreds of bandits into the city and robbed countless treasures. At that time, our family also suffered heavy losses, but fortunately, people were fine. Since then, people in Yisa have widely distributed shooting holes in the walls when building houses. After a while, there are more than 30 bright shooting holes on the outer wall of the Yao family mansion that I will take you to visit.
The shooting mouth of caravan family can be divided into two types: bright and dark. The bright plays a warning role, and the dark directly attacks the enemy. Obviously, this is dark and false. When the bandits attacked, everyone was a soldier with strong fighting capacity. It is said that even the regular Kuomintang army was afraid, and Grandpa brought back a German spear from abroad to defend himself for Grandma. "
Xiao Yi's story is very vivid, and we seem to see fierce exchange of fire again and again through these loopholes.
Xiaoyi took us to visit the prestigious Dongmen Gate Tower, the Yao Jia ancient house like a three-story courtyard castle, and the maze courtyard of Qianer Palace with more than 65,438+000 rooms.
"This building complex consists of six single buildings, covering an area of 4,500 square meters and a construction area of more than 20,000 square meters. It has a history of more than 70 years. " Xiaoyi used numbers to tell us the magic created by caravan people on barren land.
"These two families are leaders in the caravan era. Their home is more magnificent, staggered, stable and sturdy, and it is the representative of our caravan architecture. The combination of Chinese and western styles is also more distinct. Therefore, it was listed as the sixth batch of cultural relics protection units in Yunnan Province in 2003 and as the national cultural relics protection unit in 20 13. "
Elegant and indifferent, simple and simple, this abrupt building stands on the barren mountain ridge, without resplendence, but with the agility of time and space.
The picture comes from the Jane Book App.
Walking around the town at will, mysterious caravan courtyards as old as Xiao Yi's old house can be seen everywhere on both sides of the winding road. It's really the Grand View Garden of Caravan Architecture. Every yard has stories about Xiao Yi's grandparents. Immortal lanterns accompany the mottled exterior walls of houses, quietly telling distant stories.
In Xishan Park, we saw the Xishan Pavilion built in Tongzhi for ten years, with double eaves and hexagonal cornices and round doors and cloisters. There are two auspicious signs squatting at the door of the attic, and a wall clock hangs upside down in the attic. Xiaoyi said, "This wall clock was stolen many times, and the last time it was recovered after the public security department chased Shiping." Friends sighed: "This is really a small town with many stories."
Hexagonal buildings in Xishan Park
In the alley next to the caravan, eating delicious baked tofu, drinking a cup of ice powder and mixing a bowl of cold-rolled powder, listening to Xiaoyi telling the distant history is really the best experience in the journey. The sky is blue, the wind is blowing from a distance, and the smell is elegant and exquisite.
Mabang roasted tofu
My favorite farmers' market
Caravan culture is inclusive and open: their architecture is a combination of Chinese and western; Their food not only has local flavor, but also combines the eating methods of the surrounding ethnic minorities, as well as the ingredients and eating methods that Zou Magang borrowed from Southeast Asia. The farmers' market is full of Hani, Yi, Dai and Han nationalities, and everything is so harmonious.
Hani people are knitting.