Since the establishment and evaluation of "beautiful villages" across the country, Hongze District of Huai'an City has actively carried out the construction of beautiful villages. The rural appearance of Hongze District has undergone tremendous changes and has become more beautiful! Brighter!
In the 2017 "Jiangsu Most Beautiful Villages" competition jointly organized by the Jiangsu Provincial Civilization Office, the Provincial Agricultural Committee, the Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Provincial Department of Culture, and the Provincial Radio and Television Station, Huaian Guishan Village, Laozishan Town, Hongze District, and Pengcheng Village, Jiangba Town, were both selected as "the most beautiful villages in Jiangsu".
In 2019, Guishan Village, Laozishan Town, Hongze District, was successfully selected into the "National First Batch of Recommended Units for the List of Key Rural Tourism Villages". There are only 13 companies in the country that can be included in this list. This is also the case in Huai'an City The only recommended village.
Recently, I passed by Guishan Village, Laozishan Town, Hongze District, Huai'an City, and got a glimpse of this beautiful ancient village left over from the ancient Guishan Town on the banks of the Huaihe River.
The bus we took passed through Guantan Town, Xuyi County, and arrived at a newly built cement road leading to Guishan Village around 11:20. The road is not wide and can only allow one car to travel in one direction. We looked southeast in the car and saw a small mountain range stretching for several miles, shaped like a turtle lying on the ground with its head stretched towards the Huaihe River. That was probably Guishan.
Driving to the end of Guishan Village, the name of the ancient village of Guishan Village appeared in front of us. There is a newly built parking lot at the head of the village. There is a hill beside the parking lot. There is a bell pavilion on the hill. This bell pavilion immediately attracted our attention. However, since it was already lunch time, we got off the car and found a farmhouse to sit down.
In the process of Guishan Village becoming "the most beautiful village in Jiangsu" and "the first batch of rural tourism key villages in the country in 2019", the farmhouse delicacies of this ancient village also played an important role, and now the farmhouses in Guishan Village are also A highlight of Guishan Village tour. As the number of tourists continues to increase in this ancient village, there are already twenty or thirty farmhouses of various sizes. These farmhouses are highly praised and loved by tourists for their authentic and affordable fishermen's meals.
The fishermen’s specialty dishes we tasted here at noon include fish balls in sour soup, lake fresh fish cakes, braised vermilion fish, water chestnut rice stir-fry, chicken head pavilion stir-fry, grass pot roasted old goose, grass pot roast Chickens, etc., the staple food that comes with the fish is the authentic grass pot stickers, and of course the fragrant rice. The food at this fisherman's house not only tastes good, but also comes in generous portions. It's truly cheap and good, so why not leave a good reputation? !
After the meal, we have about 20 minutes to rest. At this moment, we couldn't take any time off, so I took advantage of the opportunity of everyone buying farm products and climbed up the hill with the big clock.
This is a Guishan Temple evening bell imitated by later generations. The big bell is hung in the evening bell pavilion. The two little guys who were traveling with me couldn't help itching their hands. Regardless of whether it was other people's lunch break, they pushed the wooden bell that struck the bell, and the bell struck again and again, so the clear and loud bell sounded instantly from the little boy. The top of the hill spread to all directions.
There is a stone tablet on the north side of the Wanzhong Pavilion. Looking closer, there is a poem written on the stele by Mi Fu, one of the "four masters of calligraphy in the Northern Song Dynasty", about the evening bell of Guishan Temple. From this inscription, we can also see that there was indeed a Guishan Temple standing here, and there was indeed a Guishan Temple Evening Bell. This master of calligraphy in the Northern Song Dynasty once climbed to the top of Guishan Mountain and listened to the Guishan Evening Bell roaring like an iron bull.
There are two ancient stone tablets erected next to the houses on the south side of Wanzhong Pavilion. I first looked at the one covered by glass.
Judging from the introduction on the side of the stele, this turned out to be an imperial edict stele from the Ming Dynasty. It is said that the current location of the imperial monument is not its original location. The monument and the base were salvaged from the water in front of the home of Hu Mingjiang, a resident of Guishan Village. The body and the base are now in two places. The base is located on the grass in front of Hu Mingjiang’s home , the monument is located at its current location.
This imperial edict tablet is 2.15 meters tall, 0.94 meters wide, and 0.22 meters thick. It has an arc-shaped forehead and is made of basalt. The inscription is in regular script. It has been severely damaged and the handwriting is difficult to read. The content of the inscription is probably an imperial edict issued by the emperor, requiring the strengthening of environmental vegetation protection in the Guishan area of ????the Huaihe River.
Another stone monument standing next to the imperial edict monument is the monument to the moved Anhuai Temple.
Judging from the introduction next to the monument of the moved Anhuai Temple, it was erected during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty when Lin Qing, the governor of Nanhe, moved the water artifact to Guishan and completed the construction of the Anhuai Temple.
This stone monument was erected on the original site. It is 2 meters high, 1.15 meters wide and 0.22 meters thick. The monument is 1.30 meters long, 0.75 meters high and 0.4 meters thick. The forehead is fully embossed with a picture of auspicious bats and clouds, and the words "Moving to build the Anhuai Temple Monument" in seal script are engraved in the center of the front. The base of the monument is a large stone turtle, 2.5 meters long, 1.5 meters wide and 0.8 meters high. The inscription is in official script, with character width 4.5 x height 3.5 cm. According to reports, the inscription was written by Ruan Yuan of Yangzhou, a bachelor of the Qing Dynasty Prince Taibao Yugaotirenge. The monument was previously broken in two, was repaired in 1998, and is now re-erected here.
After reading these two stone tablets, I headed to the Songta Underground Palace ruins according to the route map I prepared earlier. This is the remnant of the underground palace at the site of the pagoda. The top of the underground palace has been damaged and exposed. A wooden ladder can be placed from the ground to the ground level of the underground palace.
After leaving the Song Pagoda Underground Palace Site, I had no time to see other historical sites, so I hurried back. When I returned, I took a look at the Huaihe River at the foot of the mountain and the youth outdoor camp on the bank. The tourists here were enjoying themselves Picnic.
Due to time constraints, I was unable to see other village monuments. I could only visit the Wuzhiqi Palace, Royal Pier, Huaidu Stele, Stone Embankment, etc. on my way back to comfort my heart.
According to legend, Dayu went to Tongbai three times during his flood control, and finally captured the Huaiwo Water God Wu Zhiqi who caused trouble for the Huaihe River, and locked him at the foot of Guishan Mountain.
According to legend, the Royal Pier was built by Emperor Zhao Gou when he came to Guishan in the first year of Jianyan of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127), and it has been used throughout the generations. Legend has it that Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty also visited here.
The Royal Pier is 3.55 meters wide, 4.5 meters high in total, and has 15 levels. The steps on the lower five floors are curved. The stone material of the wharf is basalt and a small amount of bluestone, which is integrated with the masonry wall.
The rebuilt Huaidu Temple monument was erected during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty and is located at the original site. The monument is 2.65 meters high, 1.15 meters wide and 0.23 meters thick. The base of the monument is 1.5 meters long, 0.7 meters wide and 0.5 meters high. The forehead of the monument is located 20 meters north of the monument, and the lower right corner of the monument is missing.
The inscription is in regular script, with a character diameter of 6×6 cm. There are the words "Yi Dafu Du Cha Yuan, right deputy censor, prehistoric general water transport and Fu Fengyang and other places Lanxi Yushi Tanglong wrote the book". There is an inscription on the back of the stele.
The masonry wall was built in the Ming Dynasty and is about 100 meters long. It is built with basalt and a small amount of bluestone. The middle part of the revetment is slightly damaged and is in good preservation condition. It is connected to the Royal Pier. Its main function is to stabilize the river bank and resist the direct erosion of the river bank by the flow of the Huaihe River.
In addition to the many relics of the ancient Guishan Town, Guishan Village also has the Hongze Lake Fishing Drum, an intangible cultural heritage that has been passed down for thousands of years.
During the Hongze Lake fishing drum performance, the left hand holds a kind of fishing drum that looks like a sunflower fan. The drum handle is about 17 cm long. There is a round or diamond-shaped iron ring at the end of the handle, and there are three iron rings around it. Each hoop is connected to three small hoops. Shake the drum with your left hand, and the sound will clang; beat the drum with your right hand, and the drum will sound. Coupled with the various dance postures, the momentum is magnificent.
On the way home, from what I saw, I thought that from the Sui and Tang Dynasties to the Northern Song Dynasty, Guishan was on the main route of canal transportation. It is close to the ancient Sizhou City and Xuyi County. There are many temples in Guishan and merchants gathered there. It is an ancient place. Guishan Town is definitely home to fishing and drumming. I hope this ancient village will once again shine with a more beautiful tomorrow in the construction of beautiful villages across the country.