Travel Notes to the Southeast | Quanzhou: Old Cultural Relic Workers Guarding the Mountain

After meeting Lao Hu, rather than talking about him, I found that he was indeed as those articles said - he had a "sense of mission."

After lunch, our senior sister drove us to several places: Fujian-Taiwan Yuan Museum, Qingyuan Mountain Laojun Rock, and Jiuri Mountain.

The Fujian-Taiwan Yuan Museum is probably the best museum in Quanzhou.

The architectural form of "round sky and square place" and the characteristic red brick wall of Quanzhou. The entrance to the museum is on a high platform. Climb up the stairs, enter the museum door, and walk into the three-story high lobby. The floor is Quanzhou's characteristic red and black tiles. On the wall facing the door, there is a gunpowder explosion by Quanzhou artist Cai Guoqiang. There is a small display cabinet next to the painting that displays some of the tools and materials used in creation at that time. The video above the display cabinet repeatedly plays the spectacular moment of "explosion" during Teacher Cai's live creation on the opening day of the museum.

From Teacher Cai’s creations, we seem to feel the value of “creativity”. Gunpowder explosions are dangerous, but not uncommon. Murals are very common. Combining gunpowder explosions with painting, he became an international-level artist. As one collector said: "The most expensive collections are all creative works of the time and innovative works in human history."

The museum is very large. It revolves around the relationship between the two sides of the strip of water, from the ancient life of slash-and-burn farming to modern indivisible national policies. With "patriotism" as the core idea, it displays many physical objects and pictures, allowing visitors to learn about the Fujian and Taiwan regions. Interconnected customs and habits of clothing, food, housing, and transportation. If you look closely, it takes half a day.

Fujian-Taiwan Marriage Museum

In the middle of the museum hall is a gunpowder explosion painting by Quanzhou artist Cai Guoqiang.

We just read it through once and hurried to Laojunyan in the rain.

The senior sister especially recommended Laojunyan, saying it was their favorite place for outings and outings when they were students. It is also said to be the only ancient stone carving of Laozi in the country.

Now, Laojun Rock has been included in the jurisdiction of Qingyuan Mountain Scenic Area. Although it is right next to the entrance of the scenic spot, to see Laojun Rock, you need to purchase a unified ticket of 70 yuan.

We got off the car and walked up the mossy stone steps of Laojunyan. The trees on both sides were lush and green, and there was a faint fragrance floating in the air. I saw the huge Laozi stone carvings - I don't know who from which dynasty or generation, for what purpose, but with a few strokes on a stable boulder, they carved out a figure with a protruding forehead, big ears and long ears. A seated statue of an old man wearing a broad robe. The corners of the mouth, beard, fingers, fingernails, and folds of clothes are all carved very finely and realistically. Probably after comparing it with some ancient portrait, this old man was upgraded to Lao Tzu. The look on his face, eyes, and mouth showed a thorough understanding of all things in the world.

The senior sister recalled the joy of her youth and said: "At that time, I came to play with my classmates, and even climbed on my shoulders and took pictures in my arms."

Qingyuan Mountain Laojun Rock

I found two old photos on the Internet. I am an old man who really does everything

After leaving Laojunyan and getting in the car, my senior sister made a phone call and said that Lao Hu was in Jiuri Mountain today. We could go to Jiuri Mountain to listen to his stories. He loved every plant, tree and stone there.

Although Jiuri Mountain and Qingyuan Mountain are located in two directions of Quanzhou City, they can be reached in just 20 minutes by car. I met Lao Hu in Jiurishan's office. He was receiving two reporters from Beijing TV. In recent years, with the guidance of the "One Belt, One Road" policy, the topic of "Maritime Silk Road" has become very popular. Quanzhou is an important town on the Maritime Silk Road, and Jiuri Mountain was the place where official "wind prayer ceremonies" were held when ships were sent and returned from the sea in the Song Dynasty. At the same time, there are many stone carvings recording the "Wind Prayer Ceremony" preserved in the mountains, which are very important evidence of ancient overseas transportation and trade. Therefore, as the "head of the family" of Jiurishan, Lao Hu has also accepted many interviews from the media in recent years.

An article interviewing Lao Hu wrote: "He was a folk music performer in the Quanzhou Nan'an Gaojia Opera Troupe. 1985 I went to work in a Hong Kong-funded enterprise in Xiamen and served as general manager with a monthly salary of 1000 More Hong Kong dollars. 1989 Year 1 In June, an order summoned him back to his hometown, saying that he was to "sort out the stone carvings and prepare for the UN inspection." The stone carvings hidden in the weeds aroused Lao Hu's interest. He led his men to spend two years intercepting the surrounding sewage, transplanting the villagers' fruit trees, and demolishing the houses. 100 Many modern graves, rebuilt bridges and paved roads..."

Another paragraph reads: "For 26 years, the old man of the Hu family has been living next to the mountains and with stones as his companions, silently guarding these precious cultural relics and a long-standing piece of history in Chinese civilization."

When I met Lao Hu, rather than talking about him, I found that he did have what those articles said - he had a "sense of mission."

From the Wuhu chaos in China and the entry of eight surnames into Fujian, to Nan'an City's ancient governing position in Quanzhou, to the "peace" desire embodied in many place names related to the word "an" in Quanzhou - Nan'an, Anxi, Hui'an, etc., Went to the Yanfu Temple and Zhaohui Temple at the southern foot of Jiuri Mountain to hold two "Winter Punishment Ships and Summer Return Ships"Praying for Wind grand ceremony with flying flags and flags and loud drums and music. Thousands of ships gathered and thousands of sailboats raced in front of the gate of Jiuri Mountain, "the largest port in the East"...to the turbulent years when he fought through the barren mountains and abandoned ridges, cleaning stone carvings and retracing inscriptions. With a southern Fujian accent, he In the long narration, he quoted scriptures as if he had memorized the book, without any pauses for thinking. Unlike the endorsement, he tells it with passion.

He pointed to the "Maritime Silk Road - Preparatory List of China's World Cultural Heritage" certificate awarded by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage hanging at the door of the conference room, and said: "My biggest wish now is to remove the word 'preparatory' on it. ”

Under the sense of mission of selfless dedication, Lao Hu felt a lot of disappointment, because he lost the status of Nan'an City as a "county-level city" because Nan'an once governed Quanzhou and even Xiamen; because of Jiurishan's marginal status in the city Disappointed, because Jiuri Mountain has such glorious ancient official history and cultural stone carvings, but today, it has been compared to an artificial scenic spot like Qingyuan Mountain. "What does Qingyuan Mountain have?", but whether it is a local or a foreigner, There are many people who only know Qingyuan Mountain but not Jiuri Mountain. This is all because of the government’s propaganda guidance. I feel a little helpless for my efforts. I have worked hard for 20 to 30 years, with insufficient funds and low wages. It is not easy to be rated. A Nan'an city-level model worker put forward a lot of constructive suggestions but ignored them; no one was disappointed for his successors. "Young people can't stand loneliness!" Lao Hu sighed... So he has reached the age of retirement, and he still Continue to "take charge" of Jiurishan. In the bathroom of the office building, there are toothbrushes, towels, shampoo and other toiletries. Lao Hu is not married and regards Jiurishan as his home and one-third of his own land.

Despite the rain, Lao Hu still enthusiastically took us up the mountain for a tour. Along the way, he continued to talk about the glorious history of Jiuri Mountain and his own hard work in Jiuri Mountain. In order to retain tourists, he even raised some animals at the foot of the mountain, such as peacocks. He believes that this will be attractive to young tourists and children. However, these "attractions" will soon be removed from the historical and cultural relics scenic area. There are many open-air cultural relics on this mountain, which are the stone carvings of poems and essays. Lao Hu can recite the passages on the stone carvings by heart, and he also pointed to some words that we had never seen before to test us. The stone carvings include narratives after the "prayer ceremony" of officials in the Southern Song Dynasty, as well as "visits" by literati and poets. What makes Lao Hu very proud is a modern stone carving with the words on it. 1991 Year 2 moon 16 After the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) visited this place, stone carvings with words in several languages and even the UNESCO green LOGO This international event is not only a continuation of the ancient East-West exchange, but also a milestone in Lao Hu's life.

In the evening, JF flipped through the book "Annotations on the Jiuri Mountain Stone Carvings" that Lao Hu gave us, and felt a little emotional about some things during the day. She felt that the "no successor" that Lao Hu had lost was not very good. Makes sense. Even though Jiurishan is not taken seriously by the Cultural Relics Bureau, in Quanzhou, it is always an iron rice bowl department, and many young people still hope to enter such a department. When it comes to young people being unable to bear loneliness, JF disagrees. In the cultural relics industry, many old cultural relics workers always regard themselves as old experts. They feel that they can’t do it without them. They are willing to step back and refuse to give young people a chance.