In southern Jiangsu, where rivers crisscross and bridges are densely covered, there is an ancient town that has existed since the Spring and Autumn Period. He Lv and Fu Cha, kings of Wu, once built a detached palace here. At the foot of these two palaces, there is a small village in Zhong Ling called "Fuli". In the Qing dynasty, a scholar found that overlooking the whole ancient town-"the six roads of the city and the river look like characters", so he renamed R&F as Luzhi.

The water town customs of Luzhi ancient town The pictures in this article are provided by the author except for labeling.

Entering the town from Luzhi archway, a magnificent stone carving overlooks everyone passing by. Its name is "Duan Yi", which is an exotic animal recorded in Shan Hai Jing. Specializing in the local good weather, guarding and assisting the Ming army. Lu Zhi people hope that animals with the same word "Lu" can bring good luck to this land, so this pointed one-horned stone carving has been standing at the gate of the town with a silent expression for several years, which also shows the temperament in the bones-not only the tenderness in the south of the Yangtze River, but also the feelings of many masters about their home country.

The stone carving "Duan Yi" is a rare animal recorded in Shan Hai Jing.

19 17 In the early spring, a young teacher from Suzhou was sitting on a paddle boat. Young Ye Shengtao came to teach at the invitation of Wu Binruo, the headmaster of the fifth senior primary school in Lu Zhi County. Every day, he stepped on the shiny stone road, walked past stone bridges and devoted his youth and enthusiasm to the cause of education. In the era of great changes in China's thoughts, he complied with the trend of the times, edited textbooks, reformed teaching methods, and re-taught knowledge in line with the times. Ye Shengtao also opened the back of the teaching building into a vegetable garden, planted fruits and vegetables, and took students to experience the hard work and sense of accomplishment in farming.

Lu Zhi's beautiful and elegant customs and businessman background provide Ye Shengtao with endless creative inspiration. During his five-year life, Lu Zhi persisted in writing and wrote many classic literary works. Wansheng Mihang, located in the main street of the town, is a straightforward old shop. In the early years of the Republic of China, two wealthy businessmen in the town, Shen and Fan, operated in partnership and later transferred to Yin's family.

Mihang, with a huge scale and nearly 100 stalls for storing rice, was the leading rice shop in Wudong area at that time, and became one of the food distribution centers in Lu Zhi town and more than ten surrounding towns. Ye Shengtao created his famous short story "Overcharging 35 Doors" based on "10,000 meters", which exposed the darkness of "cheap grain hurts farmers" in the old world and expressed his empathy for the peasants.

Fu Mi Yuan hang

Rice barrels by the river port

In just three years, Ye Shengtao has published more than 100 novels and essays. He even compared the ancient town of Luzhi to "mother's milk" and to the "cradle" that nurtured his creative growth. As he said, "integrity is my second reason, and my real teaching career begins with integrity."

Say goodbye to the sound of reading coming from the campus. The picturesque scenery of the ancient town and the wine flags of the diners by the river add poetry to the quiet life here, and also make the life of the townspeople less boring.

The "Luzhi pickles" with radish as the main material was created by the "Zhangyuanfeng Sauce Garden" opened in the light years of Qing Dynasty, with a history of nearly 190 years. At that time, "Zhang Yuanfeng" had a batch of radishes stranded in the warehouse. In order not to waste the ingredients, the pickle maker decided to pickle the radish with sweet sauce. After half a year, the masters took out the transparent radish from the pickle jar and tried it. They found it sweet and salty, crisp and appropriate, and mellow in taste. Therefore, it has become the best food for hundreds of people in Fiona Fang.

Pickle shop

Nowadays, as an authentic food, Luzhi pickled radish spreads in ancient towns, and strict screening is started from the selection of materials, and only smooth and straight fresh radishes are selected. After washing the radish, add salt and pressure, then rinse it, marinate it with yellow cake and embryo radish, seal it with second-grade sweet sauce honey, and sun it for about half a year. Finally, take it out, clean it and expose it to the sun. After drying, add spices to the jar and eat it a week later. When I came to Luzhi, I brought a bag of pickles home, as if it contained the wisdom and talent of Jiangnan people.

soy-preserved radish

Another intangible cultural heritage of the ancient town is the dress of women in Wudong water town. This kind of clothing takes Luzhi as the center, covering more than 300 square kilometers around the garage, Xietang and Shengpu. Dating back to the early stage of rice farming economy five or six thousand years ago, when women worked in farmland, they were often infringed by aquatic animals and plants and suffered from wind and rain. In order to protect their health and meet the needs of production and labor, they began to comb their black hair, put it in a bun, wrap it in a two-color angular triangular headscarf, put on a new climbing and splicing shirt with large rows of buttons, tie a waist skirt, wrap their arms and put on embroidered shoes with boat-shaped cloth bottoms. When walking, working and dancing, they give people a feeling of warmth, enthusiasm, elegance and freedom. Therefore, straightforward women's wear is also called "the clothing model of Suzhou water town".

Traditional costume murals

Nowadays, women in ancient towns no longer need to wear such clothes to farm, but they don't want to forget their long-standing skills. Many shops have retained the technique of direct assembly and direct disassembly, and made lovely pendants and bags with traditional Jiangnan blue cloth as the base cloth, adding splicing, curling, tripping, lace decoration and embroidery. When they hung under the eaves of shops, they floated in the wind, as if it were yesterday.

Re-creation of traditional fabrics

The shopkeeper told me that Lu Zhi also has a treasure, that is, the "Lohan Plastic Wall" preserved in the Antiquities Museum of Baosheng Temple. 19 18, the main hall of baosheng temple was crumbling. Gu Jiegang visited friends in Luzhi and found that the half-hall Luohan sculpture hidden in the dangerous temple had the legacy of the Tang Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, Yang Huizhi abandoned painting as a wall and eventually became a master of clay sculpture in the world. At that time, people said, "When Taoist painters paint, Huizi sculpts, and monks can write magic words." A piece of mud, by beating, beating, throwing, rubbing, rubbing, etc. Mix the dry straw into the clear mud, add the screened spun yarn, and then "erect the bones" to build the clay plastic skeleton, perfecting the modeling of each part. You can't let go of all the details, and it becomes a clay sculpture. Yang Huizhi created the sculpture form of "plastic wall" with the traditional techniques of "shadow plastic" and "floating plastic". The discovery of Lohan plastic wall caused a shock in the cultural circle at that time. Before Baosheng Temple completely collapsed, Nine Arhats were removed from protection.

Antiquities museum data map

When you come to the Antiquities Museum and see the ancient arhats on display, you can still appreciate the elegant charm from their compassionate and rich faces and dignified charm. Simple sculptures show the vicissitudes of history, as Guo Moruo said: "The Luohan statue in Baosheng Temple is bound by religious themes, but the sense of reality is imposed on people with infinite courage, making people feel a lofty beauty."

Proofreading: Shi Yan