When it comes to the mystery of Yueyang, what I want to know most is the iron flail of Dongting Lake.
The iron flail, in my memory, became a topic of conversation every few years. I hadn't paid much attention to it before, and I had a feeling that it wasn't about me. Later, I came to the newspaper to work as a cultural documentary reporter, and my curiosity and "nosy" momentum took a big dive, and I wanted to do everything, but I couldn't find out the fame, so I kept thinking about it. For example, these iron flails, if they have nothing to catch people, they will ask, and they will only receive a few of the same answers: it may be ......The things in the world, but all guesses, are only scratching the surface, and there is no complete version of the story.
Contributing writer Zhang Zhengrong
It's been more than 20 years since I first saw the flail with my own eyes. That time I was very surprised to see it in the Yueyanglou Scenic Area: "God, so big." "Originally, when I heard the name, the figure formed in my mind was a cultural relic that I could afford, but I didn't think it was a behemoth.
Later, I often went to see it, and although it looked like scissors, it never opened the mystery of "who it is". Like many predecessors who have some research on Yueyang historiography, they have not been specifically explained. Everyone's disagreement is just the result of conventional judgment or, as I did, assumptions.
In 2022, Dongting Lake suffered a severe drought, and the fourth iron flail that had not been seen for many years mysteriously surfaced again. Although it is deep in the mud and sand, it still attracts the attention and photos of many citizens, and also causes another round of experts and scholars.
To this end, the Yueyang Cultural Relics Protection Center held a special symposium on the protection of iron flail. During the meeting, the experts had different opinions on the evidence of the ins and outs of the iron flail, and expressed their opinions on future protection measures.
A mystery that has been left for thousands of years cannot be resolved by a single conference, nor can it be quickly unified. So, the mystery remains a mystery.
Although the identity of the iron flail is a mystery, there is still a lot of specific representational information. Every time I read it, I think that I don't even know what it's for, and that the authenticity of the rest is unreliable except for its weight and shape, and even if it is a name, it is only a pictogram.
The iron flail is also known as iron machinery, iron twist, and iron Buddha. Nanjing also has three similar iron flails, compared with the "big brother" of Dongting Lake, it can only be called "little brother", and the locals call it "flying scissors". This one of the existing Yueyang Building is a solid material, the surface is a black-brown pig iron casting, weighing more than 7,000 catties, the two ends are dovetail shapes, and the two tails are 1 apart86 meters, one end and two tails each have small holes, the other end has no holes, and there is a diameter of 0 in the middle28 meters of large holes.
Nanjing "flying scissors".
My favorite recommendation for friends who visit Yueyanglou Scenic Area is to see the iron flail. After the water recedes in Dongting Lake, I also like to take people to the beach to see a few others, hoping to meet someone to give an answer. Of course, it hasn't. Therefore, there are many theories about the year and month in which the iron yoke of Dongting Lake was cast, how it was moved into the lake, and what its purpose was, but there is no exact written record, so it has not been possible to close the coffin. I can't be convinced by these existing explanations, and I have doubts in my heart.
Speaking of records, the well-documented Northern Song Dynasty Fan Zhiming's "Yueyang Fengtu Ji" contains: "The ancients cast iron, such as swallowtails facing each other, have big tricks, and the diameter is allowed, I don't know what to use."Or the cloud will win with this, and ward off the trouble of the mirage;Or think that the stone is too heavy, and it is not possible for the boat people to lift it;Or think that the wood is planted in it, and it is made into a fence to resist the wind and waves, all of which are unknown"As far back as the Song Dynasty, Fan Zhiming, who was very interested in Yueyang's terroir, couldn't figure out its origin and use.
Zhang Shinan of the Southern Song Dynasty also has a text to rely on in the "Chronicles of the Wandering Eunuchs": "There are several pieces on the sand of Yueyang, and people think that they are tired of winning the iron flail, or think that the lake thief king (should be Yang Mi's mistake) is a stone, or the Yunxi people reject the river." According to Zhang Yuanxi's "Baling Tour": "There are five iron cast Buddha outside the city, cover Jin and cut Wu, Wu people cut it with an iron lock, and this plant mark is tied to the ear of the lock. "You say one, he says two, most of them are based on their own opinions, and this iron flail has been guessed until now.
I asked my friends in Nanjing, and when they introduced it, they actually quoted the record of "Yueyang Fengtu Ji", which made people laugh dumbly.
I guessed a lot, and the conclusion is that there are six now: or stabilize the foundation of Yueyang Tower;or the iron seat of the flagpole erected by the ancient government;or an iron anchor for a ship to anchor the shore;or the iron locks used to tie iron chains at both ends when Sima Yan blocked the lake surface when he was destroying the Eastern Wu;or the boat blocking pier cast by Zhong Xiang and Yang Qi in the Song Dynasty when they organized a peasant uprising in Dongting Lake;Or the town lake monster and other sayings.
The earliest text that records the iron flail is the Northern Song Dynasty's "Yueyang Fengtu Ji": "In the sand moraine on the river bank, there are several pieces of iron smelting, commonly known as the iron flail, weighing thousands of catties. This can at least show that the iron flail is before the Song Dynasty. Tracing back to China's iron casting technology was first in the Warring States Period, to the Han Dynasty has been very mature, but it is rare to weigh thousands of kilograms and be a thing in water.
Iron, in the past, was not an ordinary thing, it is said that it was only available under official control or by the military, and such a large volume of pig iron castings could not be small, so it was impossible not to have a specific record, but where is that text hidden?What year did it come out?
As the folk say, there is a beginning and an end.
It is said that in 280 A.D., the Three Kingdoms returned to Jin and divided the western part of Jun County to build Baling County. At that time, Baling City was located at the mouth of the three rivers where Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River meet, and every time the flood collapsed the lakebank, the city wall collapsed, seriously endangering the lives and property of the people. One day, Baling Zhi County convened the gentry and merchant elders of the whole city to discuss countermeasures to deal with the problem of flood erosion. These gentlemen and elders talked one after another, and everyone gossiped. Some people who have been to other places say that in order to avoid flood disasters, some cities near the river and the water place iron oxen and so on at the water's edge to suppress evil spirits in order to suppress the river.
The second iron flail not far from the west gate of Yueyang Tower.
At this time, someone said that the dragon in Dongting Lake was too powerful, and the iron bull might not be able to suppress it. Some people say that if you want to stop the dragon, you must find a way to lock it up so that it can never turn over. After discussion, it was decided to cast it into a sharp blade on both sides, and the whole shape resembled a weapon called a halberd. As soon as this statement came out, it was recognized by everyone.
According to the length of the west city wall, every 300 steps (about 150 meters) shall prevail, and iron flails will be placed, and a total of five dragons will be cast.
Considering that Baling did not produce iron ore at that time, and the cast iron flail consumed more iron, everyone also discussed, one is to go to the north of Xiajun (now Daye, Hubei) to buy iron ore;The second is to mobilize the people of the whole city to donate iron tools, and have the money to contribute and make a strong contribution. In this way, after a hundred calls, the five iron flails were finally successfully cast. Then choose a good day and auspicious day, burn incense and pray, and carry the five iron flails to the beach by the west lake in the city, may God bless this to lock up the evil dragon, so as to protect the safety of the city and the people.
This is the most complete explanation of all conjectures, but it is not official.
Time passes, and the longer it passes, the more difficult the mystery becomes. If you guess like this, there may be eight, ten, dozens of answers. It's not good for refinement, but it's fun.
Speaking of which, the first artificial displacement of the iron flail was actually not long ago.
In March 1980, when the water level of Dongting Lake dropped, the villagers were fishing when they noticed that three huge "iron lumps" had emerged not far from the lake's shore. After research, archaeological experts determined that these "iron lumps" were iron flails left over from ancient times.
Qing Guangxu's "Baling County Chronicles": "The iron equipment is in the water outside the west gate of the city, and the system is very workmanlike. Where five, one of them is lesser. "The number and size are very specific. This proves that before the Qing Dynasty, the beach should have been lower, because only in this way can the original five pieces be seen when the water recedes. We've seen three of them before, with a fourth being dug up in 2022 and one stuck in the mud of the lake.
The third iron flail in Dongting Lake.
According to the older generation of villagers, in the thirties of the last century, when Japan invaded China, it sailed to Dongting Lake in an attempt to tow away all these iron flails. However, the steel wire was dragged many times, and the iron flail did not move, and finally had to give up.
In order to further study these iron flails, in order to facilitate visitors to visit, in May 1980, the management personnel of Yueyang Tower found two heavy cranes, slowly dragged one of the iron flails to the shore, and then salvaged it, cleaned it and stored it in Wupingtai in Yueyang Tower Scenic Area. It has been listed as a subsidiary cultural relic of Yueyang Tower in the National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit "Yueyang Tower Protection Plan".
There is also the iron flail is still in the vast Dongting Lake, and the moment you solve the mystery of its life experience, you will definitely unravel the other history of Dongting Lake.