Houcun is a rare research place. It is where the plains, mountains and water meet. South of the Ruhe River, it is said that there was shipping in the late Qing Dynasty. There is a village in the west called Ludu, which is obviously a ferry. A new highway was built one kilometer north of the village. Before the road is completed, there should be a formal road through the village. Of course, this is just my guess. My basis is that this road in the village leads directly to a single bridge, and the degree of wear and tear of the bridge can show the prosperity of the past. Cross the single bridge to Shilipu, Dongda Township Government. I used to cross this road when I was a child. The only thing that is hard to understand is that there is a 20-mile shop to the west of Shilipu. These two places should be ancient post stations, and if the road passes through the village, it is obviously curved. The only explanation is that this road will bend through the village, probably related to the waterway of Ruhe River, because the market in the village has been formed for a long time, and Houcun seems to be a land and water hub town. Judging from the fact that Hou village was once called Hou village in the Republic of China, it should be proved that this inference is far-fetched and reasonable.
There are also various written records that have been preserved for hundreds of years, starting from the "inscription" of "Wang Liuzu" during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. The inscription on the Jade Emperor Temple describes that there was a flood here and the village suffered several disasters. Is it related to the relocation and loneliness of waterways? Wang Enpu, a typical figure of filial piety, is recorded in the county annals and has not found an heir so far. It is conceivable that there must be many faults between official historical records, descriptions and researchers' descriptions of rural history.
Houcun is located on the west side of Zhizhuang Longshan culture, where there is a direct waterway. The Ming and Qing Dynasties Post Road passes through here, and there is a morning meeting every day. Judging from the inscriptions on the Jade Emperor Temple built between the end of Yuan Dynasty and Mindfulness, the names of many surrounding villages are on it, indicating that Houcun was once the cultural and market center of this area.
Houcun, as a settlement village, once had the shadow of war in Li Zicheng in the late Ming Dynasty. According to historical records, when Dashun troops stationed between Xiang Yong to attack Xiangcheng, they must pass through this village. It shouldn't be a problem to leave Dashun's footprints here. There was also a flood of bandits in the Republic of China, and the old people kept saying the story of "going to the general", which can be confirmed by the muzzle of several high-rise buildings. The direct cause is bandits' insurrection and local unrest, and villagers have experienced many incidents of being robbed by broken villages. This is the history of militarization of rural society, and it is also the history of great changes in settlement form at that time. It was not until the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty that Houcun became relatively stable, based on the revision of the genealogy of most surrounding families during this period.
It should be noted that according to the official administrative divisions, what we now call "Houcun" rarely becomes a unified administrative unit. Houcun belonged to Gao Qiao Fort in Ming Dynasty, Lirenbao in Qing Dynasty, Ludu Town in 2 1 year, Gao Qiao Township in 30 years, and Wang Luo District in 49 years. In the local chronicles of the Republic of China, "Houcun" and "Ludu" were once recorded as "Houcun Town after Ludu Lianbao". /kloc-in the winter of 0/949, the county was in charge of the township, and Houcun belonged to Houcun Township, the third district. So far, it is not clear how many villages this township has. And it was cancelled in just two years.
In addition, whether recorded in official history or in folklore, the memory of the early history of Houcun's "opening village" has become quite vague and full of confusion for a long time. The most popular names in the village are said to have been immigrated in the early Ming Dynasty, and another inscription is Wang Xing, who lives in the west of the temple, so he is called the Great Temple King. The scale of the Jade Emperor Temple is not small. There are temples, walkways and wings. There are many cypresses around. But this temple was built in the late Yuan Dynasty. Was there no one around when it was built? Why build a temple in a deserted place? Zhiduanzhuang is the site of Longshan culture, but few people live there now, but Houcun is a village of ten thousand people! Looking at the surrounding villages, only Houcun has morning meetings every day, and only Houcun has temples one after another. There are six or seven traditional temple fairs every year. Why is this? There are many indications that the history of Houcun's becoming a village is definitely not the early Ming Dynasty. The legend that Houcun was built in the early Ming Dynasty is not reliable. It can be inferred that the legend is just the historical memory of the villagers in the early days of opening the village.
Legend has it that there are surnamed tang in the village and only a few surnamed tang in Wang Xing. It is said that their ancestors were actually brothers, because the immigration policy can only be called old cousins. Now later generations still remember the scene of two surnames offering sacrifices to their ancestors together in the early years of the Republic of China. According to the legend of the Zhou family, two ancestors, one went to Lushan Mountain and the other left. Such a legend confirms the historical records.
Jade Emperor Temple was built at the end of Yuan Dynasty. What about the temple of fire that has long since disappeared? When was it established? Why is the Jade Emperor respected here? Who created them? It's already hard to learn. But this does not affect the use of temples as evidence to infer the remains of ancestral activities. At least Hou village was inhabited in Yuan Dynasty. Jade Emperor Temple, as a symbol of ancestors' settlement before the early Yuan Dynasty, should be credible.
However, in the investigation, the author was deeply impressed that many founders of the Jade Emperor Temple were foreign businessmen, ship owners and sailors, and the scope of their sacrifices was far more than waiting for the village. When Ludu was a trading port, many foreign businessmen, boatmen and helmsmen lived here, and their beliefs and financial resources were enough to support the operation of a large-scale temple. However, with the development of society, the situation is different. After that, the nature of Ruhe trade changed greatly, which led to the decline of traditional trade methods, and so did this temple, which was mainly supported by outsiders.
Interestingly, in recent years, many folk temples have been rebuilt and resumed. Even the humble small temple on the roadside was rebuilt, and the local literati showed great enthusiasm for it. I am more concerned about the Jade Emperor Temple and traditional temple fairs. It may be more interesting to hold a grand sacrificial ceremony on this festival.