Walk into the stone slab house in Shiliping
Author/Li Bo
The first time I saw a slate house was about 30 years ago, it was the first time I went to the provincial capital Xi'an, and I saw low slate houses standing on the slopes on both sides of the national highway in Heilongkou and Majieling sections of Shangxian County (now Shangzhou). Although at that time, people's living material conditions were generally poor. But for me, the people of southeastern Qin, who have been living in the shallow mountains and hilly areas, basically see the tiled houses every day, the first time I saw this kind of simple slate house, as well as the chicken nest-like plot growing in front of the house and behind the house, like the ears of wheat like dog tail grass, I can't help but feel pity for the bitter and cold living environment of the mountain people here, so the slate house has the impression of poverty and backwardness in my heart.
Now more than 30 years have passed, people's living standards have also undergone earth-shaking changes, and then go to the provincial capital, take the Shaanxi-Shanghai Expressway, occasionally want to see the scenery or find memories, detour the Qinling old road of 312 National Highway again, the slate houses on both sides of the road have already become small western-style buildings or brick-concrete structure bungalows, and there is no trace of slate houses.
A few days ago, I followed the "Excavation of Ancient Villages" collection group, walked into Dazhuyuan Village, Shiliping Town, and saw the slate house up close again.
The slate houses here are located in the Jiangshi ditch of Dazhuyuan Village, which is a north-south ravine, and most of the slate houses are built on the west and east by the mountain.
Different from the slate houses I saw in the Qinling Mountains, its space and lighting are relatively good, and the houses are much taller and spacious. This is no different from the herringbone house with traditional civil engineering structure before the 90s of the last century. It's just that the roof tiles are replaced with stone slabs, which are slightly messy in appearance and inferior to the tile house in terms of fineness.
At present, in Shangnan County, there are only slate houses of this style here. According to the old people here, there are mainly the following factors for the appearance of slate houses here: First, Shiliping is the most remote township in Shangnan County, and it is the northernmost alpine mountain area of Shiliping Town. The soil here is barren, water is scarce, and the sandy soil lacks clay for firing tiles, so it is not suitable for burning bricks and tiles. Second, natural disasters here are frequent, strong convective weather is more, and it is often attacked by hail, and the slate house has more performance to resist hail than the tile house. The third is that the mountains are high and the roads are far away, the transportation is inconvenient, and the economic conditions are limited, so building a few tiled houses is a big project for a family. A few kilometres away there is a calcareous shale formation, where residents use chisels and axes to chisel out slabs and transport them home to build houses, which is more economical than buying kiln tiles to build houses elsewhere.
After learning about the history of the slate house here, you can't help but sigh that the people here, in the extreme natural environment, do not complain about the heavens and people, do not abandon themselves, use their own wisdom and wisdom, diligence and practical duty, take local materials, and constantly strive to build their own homes here.
Now it has long been a water circuit tee, which basically solves the problem of people's production and life. The houses have been renovated, the walls have been painted white, the floors outside the house have been hardened, and the living conditions are getting better and better.
But with the development of the times, the young people here still went out of the mountains and settled in the towns, and those who stayed here were some middle-aged and elderly people.
In recent years, in the context of prosperous countryside and rural revitalization, Shiliping Town has adapted measures to local conditions and taken advantage of the environment and climate here to build a high-end aquatic cold-water fish farming, precious Chinese herbal medicine planting and alpine vegetable base, and not long ago signed a vegetable supply contract to Hong Kong. All these are to revitalize the withering countryside and attract more young people to return to their hometowns to start businesses.
Standing on the road to the village on the opposite side of the village, the stone slab house surrounded by green mountains is simple and heavy, and the potato field in front of the house is planted with corn, which is flourishing, looking at this scene, it seems to stimulate the awakening of the blood in our hearts, and makes us seem to return to the innocent era of material scarcity, but the folk customs are simple, the human touch is thick, and the spiritual life is abundant.
Guarding the ancient villages is to protect our spiritual home, to retain the old houses, and to retain the nostalgia of a generation......
On the way back, we passed by the ancient tree group on the side of the ditch, which is an ancient tree group that is symbiotic by two kinds of trees, there are about seven or eight ancient trees, the trunks are spread out in a radial shape, the villagers in the middle have built a shrine, and there is a stone tablet carried by a stone turtle under the tree, the front is written with the word Dianjiangtai, and the back records the history related to the stone ditch.
In the Qinling Mountains, where there are ancient trees, there are villages, and it is said that the ancient trees are the guardian saints of the villages, sheltering the people in the villages.
Imagine that children frolicked under these ancient trees, farmers enjoyed the coolness, unloaded ploughing oxen lying under the trees wagging their tails to drive away the grasshoppers, and calves leisurely grazing on the grass beside them.
Now, with the decay of the village, the old trees are overgrown with weeds. These ancient trees, like the old people in the village, are lonely and lonely watching by the roadside......
At present, the protection of ancient villages, excavation of ancient villages in the country to carry out the action, let our generation of ancient villages haunting the dream, but also in our hands of the ancient villages, we will in what form to save and pass on to the next generation, this is a process in the historical process, but also the process of the return of traditional culture, its key point, should be the return of the soul.
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About the Author
Li Bo (Weilan), a forestry worker, has a love and awe for literature, occasionally writes lyrical prose, and discovers the beauty in life with a pair of pure eyes.