The important town of the Yellow River, Wuzhi, Henan (1), the demarcation point of the middle and lower reaches of the ancient Yellow River, and the disappearing old county.

Wuzhi County is located in the northwest of Henan Province, southeast of Jiaozuo City, where the Yellow River meets the Qinhe River. In ancient times, it was always considered as the dividing point of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. In 2020 1 1 month, I visited Wuzhi County. Accompanied by local friends, I punched in several historical sites, such as Thousand Buddha Pavilion, Qinglong Palace, Jiayingguan, Miaole Temple Tower and Chenghuang Temple, and had an authentic rice noodle in Wang Laoshang, so I got to know something about this ancient county with a thousand years' history. The history of Wuzhi is almost related to water transportation and water control, and most of the existing historical sites are accompanied by water, which is very rare in northern cities.

Wuzhi County was founded in the 16th year of Emperor Kai of Sui Dynasty (596). Before that, there were two older counties. One is Huai County, which is located near Miaole Temple Tower on the south bank of Qinhe River. In 22 1 year BC, after Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, Huai County was established on the site of the ancient Huai City in the Spring and Autumn Period. In the second year of Emperor Gaozu (the first 205 years), Huai County was upgraded to Hanoi County. After the establishment of Wuzhi County, Huaixian County was revoked and merged into Wuzhi County, and the old city was abandoned. The other is Wude County, located in Dacheng Village, which was built in 2 19 BC and abandoned in the early years of the Western Jin Dynasty.

Wushu in Wuzhi County refers to Zhou Wuwang, which originally meant going up the mountain. According to legend, on that day, King Wu commanded his troops to cross the Yellow River, wiped out the Shang Dynasty and prospered the Zhou Dynasty. Wu Zhi means "the land where King Wu boarded". Xiuwu County nearby is said to be the resting place of King Wu, and Jiaozuo is said to be a town where local people "eat pot paste to welcome Julian Waghann". Why didn't the story of the early Western Zhou Dynasty get its name until the early Sui Dynasty? This is because Emperor Wendi moved to Qinshui Valley all the year round when he unified the world. After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, ministers compared Emperor Wendi to Zhou Wuwang to flatter him.

In 608, in the year of Sui Daye, Yang Guang began to build the Grand Canal as a channel for communication between the north and the south. The Grand Canal in Sui Dynasty is centered on Luoyang and Chang 'an, and its route is in the shape of a recumbent herringbone, starting from Yongji Canal in the north and Tongji Canal in the south, with Wuzhi County as its opening. The reason for this design is that Wuzhi is located at the junction of the Loess Plateau and the North China Plain, with the highest terrain, which is convenient for canal opening and water diversion. There are canyons on both sides of the upper reaches of the Yellow River, and the rivers are relatively stable. However, from Wuzhi County, the Yellow River entered the North China Plain in Ma Pingchuan and became a river hanging on the ground. Therefore, since ancient times, it has been known as "the head of the river hangs down and all rivers flow". In a long historical period, people have always regarded this place as the dividing point of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River.

On that day, after the completion of the Grand Canal in Sui Dynasty, Wuzhi was located at the starting point of Yongji Canal, with Qinshui in the north and the Yellow River in the south. It was an important freight hub with convenient transportation. Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the ground of Wuzhi has been prosperous and rich, and it is a transit point for water transport materials. In addition to the county seat on the south bank of the Qinhe River, the pier town, Muluandian Town, has also been formed on the north bank of the Qinhe River. There are different opinions about the origin of the name of Muluan Store. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was used as a dock for timber transportation. It is said that the original name is Mulan Store, which refers to the timber piled up in the warehouse or the railings enclosed outside.

Wuzhi old county is located on the south bank of Qinhe River. It was built in the fourth year of Tang Wude (62 1). Originally a tucheng, it was expanded into a brick city in the late Ming Dynasty and abandoned after liberation. The city is round, with a circumference of 77. It has three doors: East Gate, East Gate, West Gate and South Gate. There is an urn outside each gate, and the north wall is near the Qinhe levee. Waterproof, no gates. At first, the height of the city was 20 feet and 5 feet. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was gradually heightened, and turrets were built in the north, northeast, northwest, southwest and southeast. There are many streets in the city, including county government in the northeast and Confucian temple in the southeast.

The Qinhe River in the north of the county originated in Pingyao, Shanxi, and meandered through the Loess Plateau, with high sediment concentration and frequent floods in the downstream. After the Yuan Dynasty, Yongji Canal gradually silted up and lost its navigation capacity. In addition, the Yellow River in the south is also a suspended river on the ground. Under the two attacks, the ground between the two rivers increased year by year, and the county town was surrounded by water for many times. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the Qinhe River burst and destroyed the Yellow River levee, and the Yellow River flowed back and reached the North China Plain along the northeast. Pan Jixun, the river chief, made up his mind to eradicate the flood of Wuzhiqin River, and built a golden levee in the east of the county town, blocking the northeast flow of the river. After passing through the old city and Muluandian, the Qinhe River diverted directly to the south and entered the Yellow River from Fangling Village, thus avoiding the mutual influence of parallel rivers.

After the diversion of Qinhe River, Muluandian gained a broad space for development and prospered rapidly, forming a dual pattern of one city and one town. The old county town in the south used to be the seat of the government, while the Muluan town in the north concentrated a large number of merchants, houses, halls and temples, forming main roads such as South Street, North Street and East Street. The famous Thousand Buddha Pavilion was built during this period.

After the mid-Qing Dynasty, the Yellow River levee was higher than the gatehouse in Wuzhi County, and local officials had plans to relocate the county government. At this time, the wooden mound temple also built a wall and surrounded the city with six gates. It was not until the Republic of China that the local government officially moved its office to Muluan Hall. Since then, the old county has been abandoned year by year. 1954, Muluandian was renamed as Mucheng Town and became the seat of the new county. 1982, when the water diversion project of Qinhe Yangzhuang was carried out, two new flood control levees were built in the south of the old levee. Since then, the old county has been completely submerged at the bottom of the river, leaving no trace. The only remaining Chenghuang Temple in the city has been moved to the vicinity of Laonanguan.

Our trip to Wuzhi County started from Miaole Temple Tower and Chenghuang Temple on the south bank of Qinhe River. When we drove across the bridge, we found that the Qinhe River was very weak. After 1990s, Hekou Village and Zhangfeng Reservoir were built in the upper reaches of Qinhe River, and the river was cut off. The road we drove was on the top of the Qinhe levee.

Miaole Temple Tower is located in the former site of Huaixian County on the south bank of Qinhe River. It was built in the Tang Dynasty and was later destroyed by floods. In the second year of Xiande in the Five Dynasties (955), it was rebuilt on the original site. Miaole Temple Tower is a 13-story brick tower with dense eaves, a square plane, a hollow barrel inside and a height of 34 meters. The height of each floor of the tower decreases uniformly from bottom to top, and the outer contour is parabolic, with the radian smaller than that of the Tang tower, which is the architectural feature of the Five Dynasties. The four sides of each floor above the second floor of the tower are hidden in the shape of straight windows. There are niches on the second to thirteenth floors of the south wall, in which bronze buddhas are built. There are wood-like corner beams under the eaves of each floor, and iron wind chimes are hung on the beams.

The most exquisite part of Miaole Temple Tower is the pagoda brake, which is gold-plated in copper and 6.74 meters high. It consists of sumeru, seven wheels, a canopy, a hookah, a sun moon, a triple sphere and a brake tip. There are four chains on the brake post, which are tied to the four corners of the top of the tower and suppressed by four gold-plated bronze masters. All the components of Tasha are cast at one time, without joints or rivets, with exquisite craftsmanship, especially the gold-plated bronze lion, which is unique in shape, ferocious in appearance and well preserved, and is a rare treasure in the country. Twelve lines 169 are cast on the top of the pagoda, which reads "The pagoda was built on February 21st, the second year of Xiande" and records the exact age of the pagoda.

The building quality of Miaole Temple Tower is very good. Although the calendar of Miaole Temple around the pagoda was rebuilt many times, it collapsed in the late Qing Dynasty. The tower has survived thousands of years of earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters and is still intact. In particular, the tower gate part was cast in brass at one time that day. As time goes by, the metal looks black after oxidation. When completed, the top of the tower is golden yellow, shining in the sunlight.

On the way back, we dropped in to see the Old Town God Temple, which is the only architectural relic in the old county, but it was already after the relocation. The Chenghuang Temple in Wuzhi County was built in the Tang Dynasty. It was once the largest Chenghuang Temple in Huaiqing County and was very famous. Destroyed by war during the Anti-Japanese War, it was in ruins. 1982 After the Qinhe River Diversion Project, the villagers collected the components left over from the Old Town God Temple and rebuilt them, which was completed in the early 1990s. Although the temple has been rebuilt, the incense is very strong. Of course, there are no temples in Wuzhi County where incense is not flourishing.

The front door of Chenghuang Temple is covered with corn cobs dried by local villagers, and the west wall is painted with the introduction of the old county seat and the floor plan of Chenghuang Temple. There are many temples in the old county, including the Fire Temple, Mawang Temple, Sanyuan Taoist Temple, Fujun Temple and Kannonji. But they are all gone. We walked around the yard twice and saw several parents burning incense in the back hall with their children. At least the child went to middle school, and it is estimated that he came to fulfill his promise. My sister told me that this folk belief in Wuzhi County is traditional. Young and old believe it, and so does my mother. My brother's job was found by an elder sister when my mother went to burn incense.

Next article:

Yellow River Town, Henan Wuzhi ② Thousand Buddha Pavilion and Qinglong Palace, Shanxi Guild Hall on Flower Shop Street.

Yellow River Town, Wuzhi County, Henan Province (III) Miaohong Jiayingguan, those things about the Yellow River water control.

Video: Miaole Temple Tower