Chapter 192: Stone Toad Town
After passing the Bazhou in the center of the river, ahead is the Stone Toad Town.
There is also a strange thing here. The boat drove from the beginning of the middle dam to the end of the middle dam, but it did not stop at the middle dam. It had to stop at the riverside after the two rivers rejoined. The small town of Shidao Town On the dock.
Stone Toad Town, like Rongshan Town, was built in the late Yuan Dynasty, because at the end of the original old street next to the pier, there was a huge stone shaped like a toad, which people called Toad Stone, hence the name Stone Toad. name.
More than a hundred steps in front of Toad Stone, a spring gushes out from the cracks in the stone. The spring water is clear and sweet. People built a well here, called Toad Well.
However, because Shiba Town lacks the support of a large national-level factory, the layout is still that of Laochang Town, which is much smaller than Rongshan Town. It is just an old street. The only advantage is that it is antique.
There are many farmers selling green fruits on the old street, and the quality is very good.
Green fruit is olive. Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: "Olive, although this fruit is ripe, its color is also green, so it is commonly called green fruit."
In the Fujian and Guangdong regions, green fruits are mostly salted and candied. For example, when Su Dongpo tasted green fruits in Lingnan, he wrote, "The green fruits are covered with red salt, and the true taste is bitter and harsh. It tastes slightly sweet and is bitter." Cheeks, already lost cliff honey is very sweet." It says to eat it with salt.
In Jiachuan, this fruit is mainly eaten raw.
There is also the method of stewing pork belly with it, which is the same as stewing pork belly with bitter clam. It is a top-quality food for clearing away fetal heat and detoxifying.
The taste of this fruit is actually very strange. It is sour and astringent when you first enter your mouth. However, after chewing the first bit of sourness, your mouth will be full of sweetness. It not only produces fluid and quenches thirst, clears heat and detoxifies, but also eases the throat. Phlegm, relieve troubles and sober up.
Because of this, it is deeply loved by Jiachuan people. There is even a folk song about it - "A green fruit has pointed ends, crisp skin and fresh taste. It tastes a bit astringent at first, but it takes you a long time to realize that the aftertaste is sweet. ".
Because of this characteristic of "bitter first and then sweet", the "Compendium of Materia Medica" also specifically mentions this: "It tastes bitter and astringent, but it will taste sweet after a long time. Wang Yuanzhi's loyal words are offensive to the ears, and chaos is thought, so the name of the friend For the fruit of admonishment.”
Jin Jihan's "Nanshan Grass and Trees" records: "Although the olive tastes bitter, the fragrance in the mouth is better than that of chicken tongue. In the year of Wu, it was given as a tribute to the attendants."
In other words, it also has the effect of cleaning the mouth and freshening the breath.
My friends are all from Jiachuan and liked this very much, so I carefully picked out a good one and bought a few kilograms. After asking about it, I found out that this green fruit is a local specialty of Shidao Town. .
This is another strange thing. Apparently there is only a waterway. The sour green fruits are abundant on the bank here, while the sweet sugar cane and longan are abundant in the middle of the river over there.
Then the farmer boasted that his green fruits were harvested from an old tree. Everyone in the town knew that it was the oldest tree behind Qingyuan Palace.
Eh? Zhou Zhi felt as if he had heard something good, and after further inquiry, he found out that there was an old temple in the town called "Qingyuan Palace", and the god worshiped inside was called "Sichuan Lord".
Zhou Zhi immediately became interested: "So Qingyuan Palace is actually the main temple of Sichuan?"
The old farmer said: "Yes, our Qingyuan Palace, Shi Toad, has had a big temple fair since the Ming Dynasty. The first month of the year is on the ninth day of the lunar month. The Sichuan Lord's Meeting is the most lively in March, and the Sichuan Lord's Meeting is the most lively in September."
Zhou Zhi said: "The Sichuan Lord's Meeting is definitely the most lively." br> "We have a saying that refers to this excitement: whenever there is an event, thousands of people come and go, half of it is Jiangjin and half of it is Jiachuan. There is a lot of people and incense..." The old farmer was happy: " Eh? But do you know that?"
"Hehe," Zhou Zhi also smiled: "I also know that the birth date of Lord Sichuan is June 24th, right?"< br>
"The enemy!"
Zhou Zhi stood up: "Old man, where is the Qingyuan Palace? Let's take a look." "There is a big camphor tree in the Qingyuan Palace that is more than 500 years old. It's easy to find! After the old farmer had a conversation with Zhou Zhi, he said, "You came here from Jiachuan to play? Then we also have Daiyun Pavilion and Dengguan here." You guys should go and see Yun Temple and Thousand Buddha Rocks!”
“Really?” Zhou Zhi was originally planning to visit Zhongba, but he didn’t expect that Shi Tou Town was like this. There are many attractions, so hurry up and find out where they are and the time of the last ferry to the island. If you still have time, hurry up and visit.
Qingyuan Palace is really easy to find. A stone staircase at the end of the old street leads there. The main reason is that a big camphor tree on the right side of the main entrance square is too conspicuous.
There are exactly forty steps in the vertical belt-style staircase in front of the palace. Climb up the steps. There are eight flower stands on both sides of the steps. After walking up the steps, you will reach the mountain gate. The mountain gate is a stone archway with six reliefs of Taoist legends. The word "imperial edict" is engraved on the stone archway above the main entrance, with a prime minister on each side. There are three characters "Qingyuan Palace" written across the lower forehead, and the writing power is quite good.
There are no tickets required here. You can play as you like. After entering the mountain gate, you will find that this is a representative work of a typical club + palace building.
The theme buildings include the stage, Chuanzhu Hall, Lingguan Hall, Jade Emperor Hall, Sun and Moon Pavilion, Qingfeng Pavilion, and a garden with many century-old trees.
After checking the inscriptions, I found out that this palace was built in the fifth year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty. As the old farmer selling green fruits said, it is almost more than 500 years ago.
The entire palace is very unique. It is not only a standard traditional building, but also a "complex courtyard" with a unique style among traditional buildings.
The entire temple is surrounded by a three-foot-high wind and fire wall. The temple is built with beams of brick, wood and stone. The relief carvings are exquisite, the cornices are raised, and the floors are paved with slabs.
The general layout is a theater building with three halls and one courtyard. The two sides are symmetrical, and there are two high pavilions on the left and right, namely the Wenwu Kuixing Tower.
On both sides of the stage, the male and female guest rooms are also separated on the left and right.
There are thirty-two large columns supporting the front and back halls, and like Jiachuan Fawang Temple, they use stone pillars.
It has the characteristics of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In addition, the last very distinctive feature is the green glazed tiles used on the top of the entire temple, which perfectly matches the lush green shade of the towering ancient trees around the temple.
While touring, everyone was thoughtful and at the same time spreading knowledge to everyone.
The Sichuan Lord Meeting is actually an important custom for people in western Chongqing, southern Sichuan and northern Guizhou.
The twenty-fourth day of the sixth lunar month is the "birthday" of Li Bing, the founder of flood control. Because of the legacy of the Dujiangyan water conservancy project, Li Bing is revered by the people of Bashu as the "Lord of Sichuan" and the "Great Bodhisattva".
Therefore, on the days around the 24th day of the sixth lunar month every year, people would organize memorial activities, forming the "Sichuan Lord Temple Fair".
According to local customs, during the event, the statue of Li Bing is usually carried out and folk activities such as fetching water, praying for blessings, and worshiping are held to express the memory of Li Bing and pray for good weather and a good harvest.
During this period, it is of course inevitable to hold lantern festivals, temple fairs and folk drama performances.
Zhang Xinyi said: "I used to only know about Dujiangyan and the Erwang Temple, but I didn't know that even our Jiachuan and Yuzhou further downstream have temples dedicated to Li Bing."
"Actually, Lord of Sichuan There are many theories about the origin of the name. Some say it is the minister Yang Jian of the Shang Dynasty, some say it is Li Bing and his Erlang, and some say it is Zhang Yong who was good at governing Shu in the Song Dynasty. No matter how you say it, they are all figures with outstanding political achievements. ”
“And the custom of worshiping the Lord of Sichuan is not only in Bashu area, but also in several provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Hubei and Shaanxi.”
“Just like the two emperors Wangcong, no matter because of war or politics These temples and temples have been destroyed many times due to factors, but as long as people understand their deeds, they will always restore and rebuild those temples after the storm has passed.”
"What is this called? This is what is truly authentic and will always live in the hearts of the people."
(End of Chapter)