? Not far from the city gate, there is a square where you can park. On one side of the square is the Yao Family Performing Arts Hall, and on the other side is the Wang Pan Temple. There is a bluestone road leading to Peiyuan Bridge under the square, with stone drum pavilions and ancient houses, and an old woman washing clothes under the covered bridge. Every time before entering the inland, the big team would sit down and eat bean jelly, which became a reserved program when we arrived in each village. The bean jelly made by hand is delicate, smooth, cold and refreshing, and its unique mint flavor is much stronger than the brewed bean jelly eaten in the city. The taste buds in my memory were awakened at once, and it was really the taste of childhood. I had an appointment with a village guide to explain, but unfortunately I couldn't wait. Seeing that it was getting late, we began to walk towards the stockade in twos and threes. It seems that the doorway in this stockade can only be explored by yourself.
? We entered the village in two teams, one from the periphery and the other from the stockade. I joined the former team, so I saw more plants and crops around the stockade, and the flowers and plants were very lush. I want to know why the local corn is hanging upside down on the corn stalk, and the corn stalk and corn husk are all yellow and withered, but no one has come to take it home. This doubt was not solved that day, but we also saw it in other places in the follow-up trip, and we thought it was a local habit.
? Goulan Yaozhai is a typical castle-style ancient Yaozhai, surrounded by the ancient Great Wall of Ming Dynasty, with three layers of fortifications, which surround Yaozhai as solid as gold. Three-tier fortifications, guarded by layers, guarded all the gates leading to the outside world in the village, and built a stockade wall composed of large bluestones on the main road between the two mountains, which can be said to be "one person guarding and ten thousand people can't be forced." It is said that the four folk Yao in Jiangyong, which were naturalized by the imperial court in the Qing Dynasty, were Goulan Yao, Qingxi Yao, Gudiao Yao and Fuling Yao, and Goulan Yao Village was the best preserved and longest-lasting minority village in Hunan Province. There are thirteen surnames in Goulan Yao Village: Jiang, Ouyang, Huang and How. It lasted for more than 1000 years and lasted for more than 40 generations. The village site, family and nationality have not changed, and the changes of these three names are not enough to protect this place well.
? Gradually entering the village, I found a gatehouse building similar to Upper Gan Tang, and asked the local people to know that this is also the layout unit in the stockade. Gou Lanyao lives in the community according to his surname, with one surname and one gatehouse. The gatehouse is perpendicular to the main road, with 13 secondary roads. The surnames extend backward along the alleys set on the left and right sides of the main road and the secondary road, forming a living pattern with blood as the main vein. The lock ring on the gatehouse has been polished by time, and the beam carving workshop bears the traces of time. The Yao family has enjoyed an isolated life between the opening and closing of this gate for generations. Bluestone alleys are all over the village, and the horse-headed walls around the houses are prominent and brightly colored, and bricks are painted or carved on the eaves. There are small bluestone lattice windows to decorate them, which makes the scenery of each street unique, antique and fascinating.
? Along the way, because no one explained it, I could only observe it carefully with my own eyes. What impressed me most was that there were many wells and springs here. It is said that there are several mountain-top springs far above the ground in the nearby mountains, which are also magical all year round. The children fluttered freely in the pond and jumped from one small pond to another. Some children put shampoo on their heads, put bubbles on them, and then plunge into them. When they get up, they have beautiful hair. I feel that this kind of children have been playing in the water for a long time. Gradually, my eyes widened. A stone pier bridge crossed a big pond, surrounded by weeping willows. I thought I should be in the center of the stockade. We successfully cooperated with another team here. You can see a tall quadrangle building in the northeast corner of the pond, which is very beautiful. We quickly crossed the Shidun Bridge and passed a pass to see the true face of this pavilion.
? This pavilion, named Shigu Deng Ting, is a small part of the tight external defense system of Goulan Yaozhai, and its function is vigil. If you want to get close to it, you must bypass three wells in Yaochi and a white spring barrier. Every natural village in Yaozhai has a main entrance, and there is a vigil house at the main entrance. In the past, the vigil room was guarded by various clans in turn, and strangers were bound to be questioned. The vigil house has a special attic with observation ports and shooting holes. This is the secondary defense system of the village. At present, there are still more than ten vigil houses in Goulanyao Village. The vigil house is equipped with an alarm bell, which the watchman can ring. The sound of the alarm bell covered a wide range, and the Yao people who were farming outside immediately rushed back to the stockade to defend themselves. Over the years, Guyao Village has been opened to the outside world, and the role of Shigu Pavilion has also weakened, but this does not affect the balance between practicality and aesthetics in ancient buildings from the existing layout. This intention and wisdom for life still amazes me. Water, mountains, pavilions, pavilions, aesthetic layout, life functions and culture are all exquisite. All these should be taken into account when building your own home. This kind of building has vitality. It is no wonder that it still exudes brilliance after vicissitudes of life, and it is also rejuvenated in the inheritance and use of future generations. At that moment, I thought why I am not an architect, maybe I can understand more beauty and strength.
After staying here for a long time, Mr. Jiang repeatedly said that there are many places worth seeing in this Yao village, including caves on the mountain, ancient stage over there, and. . . . . . It's a pity that there are Yao food, songs and dances waiting for us in the Yao performing hall at the gate of Zhaizi at around seven o'clock. I've always been happy-go-lucky, comfortable and enjoying the present. Because Goulan Ancient Village is quite large, I can't finish reading the hardware. Let's taste the culture and go to Zhaizikou with some regrets.
? The dinner was very luxurious, with tables around the stage and the central dance floor, and all the food was authentic Yao cuisine. Goulan is a castle with strong folk customs, and its martial arts tradition, especially Yao women's boxing and men's knife and stick dance, is the most exciting. Goulanxi Festival, in addition to the national statutory festivals, Yao families also have Bird Killing Festival, New Flowers Festival, Mud Washing Festival, Zhongyuan Festival and Wang Pan Festival. The Yao family loves literature and art, and they must perform and dance at every festival. Or celebrate collectively, dance drums and play lusheng; Or mobile celebrations, dragon and lion dances, going from village to village, and even asking the troupe to sing for three days and nights have been passed down to this day. And we also learned this in the high-quality Yao family song and dance programs in the evening. There are two things that surprise me. First of all, grandma Ouyang, the 74-year-old host, is full of neutrality although her Mandarin is not standard. She is really an old lady who has seen big scenes. Later, when I returned to the hotel at night, I realized that she was a local star. Secondly, I recorded a song and dance program that reflected the culture of women's books that night. I can't understand their language or words, but some common things conveyed by body language and musical effects seem to resonate vaguely.
However, a small wish I made in my mind that night was that when I visited the "Mud Washing Festival" in Goulan Yaozhai, I wanted to come again and feel the culture of this village again, especially the architecture. Are there any peers?