Looking for the traces of benevolence The benevolence behind the 100 year old bridge

Mondo Social Updated on 2024-02-22

On the banks of the Chishui River, Renhuai's famous cultural relics are at the mouth of the jar, the lush yellow cypress trees and the increasingly dilapidated courtyard houses are the witnesses of the prosperity of the town in the past. The mouth of the jar is named after the Chishui River forming a bay like a jar here. The cultural relics unearthed nearby show that the area around the mouth of the jar has a history of 2,000 years, and it may have been a town and an important pass in the early days.

However, the mouth of the jar faces the river, the back is backed by the mountains, and there are two gullies in the middle, which restricts the rapid development of the town. The Zhao clan, who had moved to the area after the Pingbo Battle at the end of the Ming Dynasty, had no choice but to avoid the gully and build houses on the slopes of the mountains far from the ferry, despite their strength. Zhao Luoshi is a daughter-in-law of the Zhao family who married into the door during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, and her mother's family is separated from her husband's family by a Chishui River. At this time, the Zhao family, after undergoing the change of dynasty, no longer had the status of a military household and became an ordinary peasant family, but slightly richer than other families. Zhao Luo's husband's name was Zhao Shan, who died young and only lived to be in his 30s. Since then, Zhao Luo has managed the livelihood of a large family. Zhao Rusong, 80 years old this year, is one of Zhao Luo's direct descendants. In his home, a new genealogy was kept, which was supposed to be a "transcription of genealogies of the past generations", weighing two pounds. "The old lady is very tough and benevolent, and her reputation in the surrounding area is very good. Zhao Rusong said that when she got older, the old lady often sat at the door of her house, watching the boats coming and going on the Chishui River, and watching the people coming and going at the mouth of the jar.

At that time, the house where Zhao Luo lived was behind today's jar mouth courtyard, not far away. On the side of the house, there is a ditch, about 4 meters wide, in case of heavy rain and rising water, the simple wooden bridge built on the ditch is often washed away, people can not wade through the ditch, can only climb the mountain and detour. When Zhao Luo was in the middle of the ancient age, she once made a wish in front of everyone that if she could live to be 100 years old, she would build a stone arch bridge on the ditch in the market town of Guanzikou to facilitate people's exchanges. In the era when the technical and economic conditions were lacking, it was a big project to build a stone arch bridge of about 4 meters. Everyone thinks that the old lady is just talking, and she will definitely not be able to achieve it, and she may not live to be 100 years old. After all, in those days, even the Qing Dynasty emperors had an average life expectancy of about 53 years, and the average life expectancy of civilians who lacked medical care was even lower. But Zhao Luo really lived to be 100 years old and became a figure who can be recorded in the county chronicles as a rule. "The magistrates of Renhuai and Tongzi counties congratulated her on her birthday in advance, and also wrote a birthday plaque of 'Kui Shou Ying'. Zhao Kui, another descendant of the Zhao family, said.

At the 100th birthday banquet, Zhao Luo announced that he would fulfill the wish he made that year - to repair the bridge. The Zhao family tree does not record the Zhao Luo's bridge repair, and there is only one sentence in the "Zunyi Mansion Chronicles" and "Renhuai County Chronicles", and many details of the bridge repair are no longer known. But what can be confirmed is that Zhao Luo then devoted almost all his energy and devoted all his thoughts to building the bridge. After five years, the stone arch bridge funded by Zhao Luoshi was finally completed and named "Hundred Years Old Bridge". In the old days, after the bridge was completed, celebrations similar to today's opening ceremony and bridge opening ceremony were held. This celebration is called "stepping on the bridge". According to custom, the "head person" who organizes the bridge stepping activity will give a red envelope to the first person who crosses the bridge, and the latter will donate the red envelope, and then respectfully invite everyone to cross the bridge. Subsequently, the rest of the bridge crossers will also give red envelopes, which will be opened by the "head person" and read out the amount and name one by one. The money in these red envelopes will eventually be used to make up for the lack of funds for bridge repair, or for the later decoration of the new bridge. "The old lady in her 100s was very happy, and she personally acted as the 'head' and organized the bridge. Zhao Rusong said. The stone arch bridge built by Zhao Luo, built with locally produced yellow sandstone, is about 7 meters long and 4 meters wide, and there are stone guardrails about 50 centimeters high on both sides. "When we were kids, we all used to play on the bridge. Zhao Rusong said.

In the nineties of the last century, a flash flood washed away the 100-year-old bridge that had fallen into disrepair. Since then, the highway has been built on the original site, and the highway bridge has been built, and the 100-year-old bridge has become a memory and reputation of the older generation, as well as in the county and government records. The Chishui River, which came from ancient times, split through the mountains, rushed all the way down, and went straight to the Yangtze River, giving birth to the thousand-year-old ancient Yi Renhuai, and also creating thousands of ravines and deep canyons. For a long time, people were blocked by ravines and canyons, and "seeing the house, walking to crying" is a portrayal of traffic in this area. In order to survive and develop, people are adapting to nature while constantly building roads and bridges to promote the civilization of the river basin. The story of the centenarian Zhao Luo's bridge repair is the epitome of people's improvement of transportation, and it is also a testimony of benevolence and righteousness. Historically, like the 100-year-old bridge, there were many bridges and roads built by the private sector in Renhuai, as well as free Yidu. Many of them have disappeared for various reasons, but some still exist and some are still functioning. Jiangxiang Renhuai investigation and combing found that since the end of the Ming Dynasty, the roads and Yidu built by the official advocate or completely spontaneously built by the masses in Renhuai do not include folk word-of-mouth records or unregistered inscriptions, but are only recorded by official clear words, with more than 200 kilometers of roads and 14 bridges.

Road: such as the 59th year of Qianlong (AD 1794), Li Boli Xusheng Wang Xunzhang, the township about Xu Guoheng, Liang Zhixiu, Jiangxi guest chief Luo Yong and others, lasted two years, raised funds to build the locust ditch, the temple forest farm, the water crossing river, the big trough and other places, through the Changgan Mountain to Zunyi road, a total length of 45 kilometers, the then county governor Gu Tingyue donated 64 taels of silver, and engraved a monument to commemorate; In the 58th year of Qianlong (1793 AD), Fu Wenti, a villager (inscribed as Fu Wenjie), took the lead in raising funds to repair the Yansang River Salt Road; In the twenty-fifth year of Jiaqing (1820), Huang Tiancai and Liu Shichen took the lead in building the Dadukou section of the road; In the second year of Xianfeng (1852), Zhang Xiangui and Liu Zipeng took the lead in repairing the road in the Shaba River section; In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Chen Tianjue (also known as Chen Huanzhang), a blacksmith from Xiaowan, built more than 80 miles of roads from Sichuan to Shiliangba in Maoba, Guizhou. In terms of bridges: In the 33rd year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1768 AD), Chen Yulian, the magistrate of the county, issued an initiative to call on the gentry and people to donate funds to build the Yuquan Bridge and communicate the ancient road from the living world to Mushi Village; In the nineteenth year of Daoguang (1839 AD), Meng Qifeng, a native of Luban, raised the strength of his family, and the two cultivators were born on the bridge; In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Chen Tianjue (also known as Chen Huanzhang), a blacksmith from Xiaowan, built a bridge and a new bridge at the mouth of the two rivers; Villager Huang Yuanlu built the Yiyuan Bridge in the south of the city; Li Shilong and Feng Youzhang successively built the Wanshou Bridge in Wumakou (now Wuma) and the Maoba Stone Arch Bridge; Chen Qiao and Wang Qianbang raised and repaired the Guanyin Bridge of Eagle Rock in Gaodaping; Li Shuzhang, Chen Yingxi and others took the lead in raising and repairing the five-way stone arch bridge. In addition, since the Qing Dynasty, Renhuai has also set up many righteous ferries. For example, in the seventeenth year of Guangxu (1891 AD), Chen Tianjue, Chen Wang, and Chen Peng donated assets to set up Yidu in Maoba Xindu, which is located at the junction of Sichuan and Guizhou; In the twenty-seventh year of Daoguang of the Qing Dynasty (1847 AD), Ke Daohui, an octogenarian on Liming Street, raised money among the gentry, built new boats, recruited ferrymen, and changed Yanjiadu to Yidu; In the last years of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, the wealthy Liu Fengxiang donated 8 stone fields to set up the Caolian River Ferry; At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Shuben, Zhen Shengtian Jing, etc., raised funds to set up Erheshu Ferry; **In the early days, Chen Panxiang donated assets, recruited ferrymen surnamed Li, and set up ferries and beach ferries.

These roads, bridges, and bridges advocated by the **, or led by the gentry, or donated by the common people, provided great support for the economic development and social progress of Renhuai and even the entire Chishui River Basin in that era, and also became the physical evidence of benevolence and righteousness, and is a footnote to the urban spirit of "benevolence and righteousness" today. So, from the end of the Ming Dynasty to the beginning of the first century, especially in the Qing Dynasty, why were people keen to donate roads, bridges, and open Yidu? Jiang Xiang Renhuai's research believes that there are two reasons that stimulate people's enthusiasm for carrying out righteous deeds. First of all, it is the traditional idea of accumulating virtue and doing good. Kindness is the most important trait and core value in traditional Chinese culture. Emperors and saints of all dynasties have advocated that people should be benevolent and have a benevolent heart. Confucius said: "Seeing the good is like not being able to see the good, and seeing the bad is like exploring the soup." I see them, I hear them. Secluded in order to pursue his will, and righteous to achieve his way. I have heard his words, but I have not seen them. "Confucius's goodness is a moral requirement from the heart, so that when you see a little goodness, you should practice it, and if you see something unkind, you should avoid it quickly. In the process of development, this kind of friendliness has formed the moral habit of the Chinese nation to regard goodness as beauty. The book "Ancient Texts of Moral Education" compiled and printed in the Qing Dynasty advocated that people "do a good deed every day", and through "doing a good deed every day to achieve 3,000 deeds", etc., to achieve the realm of accumulating good and becoming virtuous, and encourage people to be good.

Building roads and bridges is a manifestation of goodness. In the Ming Dynasty thinker Yuan Huang's "Four Disciplines of Liaofan", when telling the story of Xu Fengzhu in Changshu, he said that this was because of the cause and effect of his father's famine years to help the villagers and repair bridges and roads, and believed that building bridges and roads was a great good deed for future generations. Therefore, many people, especially those who have money and prestige, regard the construction of bridges and roads as a major event to accumulate virtue and do good deeds and protect their children and grandchildren, and also achieve the purpose of establishing their own prestige. Secondly, there is the actual demand. In Renhuai, the southwest hinterland, the development of transportation and other infrastructure has lagged behind for a long time. In the Qing Dynasty, after becoming a large channel for the transportation of Nantong to the north and the salt of Sichuan to Guizhou, commerce and trade became increasingly prosperous, but the budget for the state to build roads and bridges was insufficient, and even the funds for the "national highway" were insufficient. Therefore, in order to solve the dilemma of financial resources and the development of remote areas, the rulers at that time made full use of people's understanding of goodness, promised favors, guided, and encouraged local gentry, chiefs, and township covenants to take the lead in donating funds or taking the lead in raising funds to repair roads and bridges, and after the roads and bridges were completed, they gave plaques and engraved monuments to commemorate, or gave certain false posts and fames.

People who are eager for better transportation conditions, out of their own development and the need to leave a name for future generations, under the stimulus of national policies and the leadership of local leaders, have responded to every call and actively recruited roads and bridges. In this type of charity, businessmen are often the main force. For example, the repair of the Sangxi Salt Road and the Three Hundred Ladder Salt Road in Renhuaiyan has led to the emergence of a large number of names of merchants, salt shops and burning houses. Of course, the behavior of Renhuai people to "do a good deed every day" is not limited to building roads and bridges and opening Yidu. For example, the He Dashan Monument in Moutai Town records small things such as a farmer providing tea and lighting torches to passers-by. And these are the precious foundations of the urban spirit of "benevolence and righteousness".

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