Handan Travel Notes: Guests coming from Anyang, galloping on the Handan Road

Handan is a big city in the south of Hebei Province. Its location is very interesting. As shown in the picture below, the straight-line distance to Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province, Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, and Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province are all more than 200 kilometers away. It is even closer to Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei Province, only more than 150 kilometers away. Advantages The transportation is very convenient, but from an economic point of view, the shortcomings are also obvious. It is too close to the big cities in the provinces and Tianjin and Beijing, and it is easy to be "blood-sucked". The two cities closer to Handan, Xingtai and Anyang, are even more miserable. Not only are they affected by the four Influenced by the "siphon effect" of large provincial capital cities, it is also affected by Handan. Another explanation for leaning against a big tree to enjoy the shade is that it is difficult to grow up if you always live in the shade of a big tree.

But in my eyes, Handan has an indescribable magic and mystery for three reasons: First, Handan and Xianyang are the only cities in China that have never changed their names since they were named. This situation itself is a mystery. Mystery, and even more mysterious is that these two cities are related to one person, this person is Qin Shihuang, the emperor through the ages. The emperor who established the first unified dynasty created many unprecedented records, such as the political implementation of the system of prefectures and counties, the unification of written characters culturally, the unification of weights, measures and currency economically, the military attack on the Huns from the north to build the Great Wall, and the southward expedition to Lingnan. These measures to repair the Ling Canal established the basic pattern of China's unification of a multi-ethnic centralized country. Qin Shihuang Yingzheng was born in Zhujia Lane, Chuancheng Street, Handan City today, and spent his childhood in hiding in Handan. Yingzheng, who spoke fluent Handan dialect, did not return to Xianyang until he was 9 years old. For Handan, there should be complex emotions of love and hate.

Second, Handan is a city of idioms and allusions. There are more than 1,500 idioms and allusions related to Handan, which is unique among all cities in China. In terms of political, economic, and cultural development in history, Handan has been compared to several dynasties. The cities in the ancient capital are not dominant, but they excel in idioms and allusions that condense the essence of Chinese culture. To a certain extent, it is also a mystery.

Third, it is said that Handan has produced beautiful women since ancient times. This may be related to the genetic optimization brought about by national integration.

After I stayed in Anyang City for a few days, I couldn't help but want to go to Handan to find out. There are many trains going north from Anyang Railway Station, because it is only 60 to 70 kilometers away from Handan. Even if you take an ordinary train, you can reach Handan Station in 40 minutes. Starting from Anyang and heading north, after crossing the Zhanghe River for more than ten kilometers, we entered Ci County, which is under the jurisdiction of Handan City. Gao Changgong, King of Lanling, one of the four most beautiful men in ancient times, was buried 5 kilometers south of Ci County after his death. Taking the train to Handan, I could only sigh at the cruelty of the political struggle when passing the tomb of King Lanling.

As people flow out of Handan Station, the voices of soliciting customers can be heard one after another.

"Ten thousand, ten thousand, ten thousand (Wu An said it quickly and heard it became ten thousand), is there any?"

"Da Ming, Da Ming, Da Ming, can you leave or not, Da Ming."

"Shexian County, Shexian County, Shexian County, can you leave Shexian County?"

"Yongnian, Yongnian, Yongnian"

The Handan dialect that comes to my ears sounds not much different from the Anyang dialect. The difference is that more people in Handan speak Mandarin than in Anyang. When I stood in the sunken square in front of the station and looked around to see where I was going, I was attracted by the sculptures on the square. As soon as I left the train station, I felt the name of the idiom city. The idiom allusion corresponding to this sculpture should be "The perfect jade returns to Zhao". As shown below.

Cen Shen, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, once wrote a poem:

The guest came from Chang'an and galloped on the Handan Road.

Under the sad bush, once creeping grass grows.

This poem reveals an important message, that is, Handan Road and Congtai are the must-visit check-in points in Cen Shen's eyes when traveling to Handan. The ideal thing is that these two places are not far from each other. Walking from south to north along Handan Road can just connect this area and reach the Xuebu Bridge where the idiom "Handan Xuebu" comes from.

• Walking Handan Road

Handan Road, later Chuancheng Street, today's Chengnei Middle Street, this north-south street is like a binding thread, stringing together the historical and cultural chapters of Handan.

Chuancheng Street is undergoing renovation and construction, and the entire block is like a large construction site. I am also fortunate to be a witness to this historical change. When I turned into Chuancheng Street from Lingbei Street, which is lined with tall buildings, I felt like I suddenly switched from the city to the countryside, and from modern times back to the Republic of China. This historical district should be a typical urban village, with blue bricks paving the streets. In the alley, Ming and Qing style buildings are mixed together with buildings from the 1950s and 1960s after the founding of the People's Republic of China. What is interesting is that if you start from Huanche Lane and walk north, you can see the Catholic Church, Hanshan Academy, Guanye Temple, The mosque, and finally the Christian North Church located on the west side of Northwest Ling Street, are mixed with various local gods and goddesses worshiped by residents in front of the door. This diverse coexistence of faith worship is a true reflection of the spiritual world of the Chinese people, that is, abandoning Break away from ideological constraints and pursue harmony and win-win results.

Huiche Lane, where Lin Xiangru avoided Lian Po, left behind not only the allusion of "harmony between generals and prime ministers" for future generations, but also idioms such as returning the intact jade to Zhao, carrying a thorn to plead guilty, and cutting one's neck to death. I don’t know what the carriage lane looked like during the Warring States Period. According to today’s specifications, if two carriages meet, they must give way before they can pass. Zhujia Lane, the birthplace of King Qin Yingzheng, is also in this area, but it has disappeared in the long river of history.

The Catholic Church seems to be under renovation. There may be volunteers washing vegetables at the door. In order to save the trouble of being preached, I did not go in to take a look.

The picture below is of the Christian North Church located on the west bank of Qin River on Lingxi Street. There are differences in the shape of the cross. Different understandings of teachings and conflicts of interests have created different sects. The three major religions are similar in this regard.

Cixi's Palace, also called Handan Palace, was the place where Cixi and Guangxu fled westward when the Eight-Power Allied Forces captured Beijing, and where they rested when they passed through Handan when they returned to Beijing the following year. The scene of decline was quite in line with the shaky atmosphere of the Qing court at that time.

Hanshan Academy is the spiritual place of Confucianism. The ancient locust tree that is more than 100 years old is still green, setting off the Qing Dynasty style courtyard, still full of vitality despite its simplicity.

After crossing Renmin Road, we walked through the alley to Congtai Park. We happened to pass by the former residence of Wang Qintang, one of the last two Jinshi scholars in the late Qing Dynasty in Handan. The dilapidated house obviously lacked repairs, which made people feel a little sad.

• Nostalgic Congtai

Entry to Congtai Park is free, but you need to purchase a 5 yuan ticket to climb Congtai and enter the Seven Sages Temple. Congtai is now the symbol of Handan and is said to have been built by King Wuling of Zhao. Cong literally means gathering, indicating that there was not one such high platform at the beginning. However, after more than 2,000 years of baptism, only one remains.

Inside the Temple of the Seven Sages, you can see the Congtai. The Temple of the Seven Sages was originally the "Temple of Three Loyalties" and the "Temple of the Four Sages". The three loyal ones are Han Jue, Cheng Ying, and Gongsun Chujiu who rescued the Zhao orphans; the four sages are Lian Po, Lin Xiangru, Zhao She, and Li Mu. Among the four famous generals at the end of the Warring States Period, Qin and Zhao each accounted for two. In addition to Lian Po and Li Mu, there were also "Ma Fujun" Zhao She (the father of Zhao Kuo on paper) and the famous general Le Yi of Yan who later defected. It can be said that they were important in the military. In history, Zhao was no worse than Qin, but in the end Zhao was destroyed by Qin, and his defeat was due to political incompetence and mediocrity.

There is also a national first-class cultural relic in the Temple of the Seven Sages, which is the epitaph of He Hongjing. It is the largest piece of epitaphs from the Tang Dynasty that have been unearthed in my country. What is the atmosphere of the prosperous Tang Dynasty? Even in the late Tang Dynasty, the epitaph of a military governor was huge in size and exquisitely carved.

The "Jusheng Pavilion" at the highest point of Congtai houses the statue of Zhao Yong, King of Wuling of Zhao. This revolutionary king started with "Hufu riding and shooting", which attracted a large number of poor and capable poor people and Hu people from poor backgrounds. The elites have a channel to rise, which makes Zhao State full of vitality due to reforms, and expands its territory with increasingly powerful military power, making Zhao State a presence that can overwhelm Qin State. However, the political reform of choosing to abdicate in the prime of life made the mistake of not allowing two tigers in one mountain. In the end, due to the struggle for power, he was trapped and starved to death in a sand dune (in today's Guangzong County, Xingtai City, not far from Handan). His death marked the end of the Zhao Kingdom. The beginning of prosperity turned to decline. 85 years later, Qin Shihuang also died of illness in the sand dunes during his tour, and the Qin Empire began to fall apart. These two events made the sand dunes a taboo place for future kings.

• Toddler Bridge for Toddlers in Handan
  

Exit the north gate of Congtai Park and go west around the Handan First People's Hospital to reach the Xuebu Bridge, where the idiom "Handan Xuebu" comes from. The Xuebu Bridge spans the Qin River. It is an arch-shaped stone bridge rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty. The 18 pillars on both sides have stone lions of different shapes and are very cute. Times have changed. Today, there will no longer be people from Yan who come to Handan to learn to walk. Instead, more people from Handan will flock to Beijing, the capital of Yan, to pursue their dreams. They just hope to imitate, but don’t forget innovation and development. Tragedies will happen again.

Although Handan is also a civilized city in the country, its urban sanitation is much worse than Anyang, which is building a civilized city. I wonder if it is due to slacking off after the success of the city. But everything has two sides. After the sanitation work removes the roadside stalls, the city will look cleaner and tidier, but it will not be easy for us to eat high-quality and cheap breakfast or night food stalls in the city. . Fortunately, this kind of sentiment can still be found in Handan, from shop fronts to roadside stalls, from Cantonese stir-fried noodles and Yunnan rice noodles to Nanyan Village Ramen, Anhui Ban Mian, Wu’an Pulled Noodles, or a bowl of tofu with candies. Egg cloth bags are high quality and cheap. They are convenient and down-to-earth and easy to find. In terms of food, I feel that Handan is cheaper and more affordable than Anyang.

• Zhaoyuan Park

After admiring the Northern Qi Stone Carvings and Idiom Square at Xuebuqiao Square, we walked west across the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway and arrived at Zhaoyuan Park, the largest park in Handan. Legend has it that King Wuling of Zhao once led his soldiers to practice horseback archery here, leaving ruins such as the Arrow Ridge, the Arrow Casting Furnace, the Eyebrow Pond, and the Dressing Building. Today, the legend is still there, but the ruins have long been beyond recognition. Only the loess platform of the dressing building remains. There were wild wild jujube trees growing all over the place. I followed the example of an old man who went through the trees to pick jujubes and soak them in water. I finally stopped because of the discomfort of being stabbed.

There is an Idiom Allusion Garden and an Idiom Culture Wall built in the north of Zhaoyuan Park. Friends who like idioms and allusions may wish to calm down and ponder them carefully, which is a kind of fun. I sat by the Zhaomei Pond and watched the trains whizzing by on the Beijing-Guangzhou Line across the wall. I liked the feeling of the intertwining of the past and the present. Looking at the beauty sculptures in the pond, it was true that the ancient poem said, "There are many beauties in Yanzhao, and the beauty is as beautiful as jade." However, I don’t know why I went all the way north from Huiche Lane to here, but I didn’t see any of the legendary Handan beauties. I think I was really unlucky. Zhang Weili, who currently holds the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) women's strawweight championship belt, and Sun Qingmei, who once won the honor of "Miss Football of the World", are both Handan girls. They interpret the beauty of Handan from another perspective.

Due to time constraints, I only stayed in Handan for one day. There were also Handan Museum, Idiom Museum, Guangfu Ancient City, former residences of celebrities and a lot of delicious food. I didn’t have time to taste it slowly, so I could leave some memories for my future visits to Handan. I hope that my article "Peering into the Cone and Finger" can arouse your interest in exploring Zhao culture.