Taiping Street in Changsha: Millennium Ancient Rhyme on the Stone Road

Looking for the taste of old Changsha, we have to take a look at Taiping Street with a history of thousands of years. Changsha, which has a long history of 2,000 years, has experienced war and change, but Taiping Street has retained its unchanging feelings for thousands of years.

Passing through the tall stone square on the corner and walking on the ancient Ma Shi Road, the small blue tiles, sloping roofs, white tile ridges, embankment walls, wooden doors and windows, and antique street lamps on both sides seem to attract more attention than selling along the street. Jia Yi's former residence, Changhuai well, Ming Fan Ji Wang Mi west archway ruins, the former site of the Revolution of 1911, the former site of Sizheng Society and other historical sites are all over it, so this ancient street with a total length of only 375 meters is enough for you to play for a long time.

Jia Yi's former residence standing on the street is known as the source of Huxiang culture, the oldest monument in Changsha and the most historic building in Changsha. Despite various wars and historical changes, the architectural style and cultural relics have preserved a relatively complete "temple-to-temple" viewing system. It was built during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Western Han Dynasty and was the residence of Jia Yi, the wife of the King of Changsha. At that time, the whole of Hunan was within the scope of Changsha, and Jia Yi was the highest official sent by the central government to Changsha. Since the first year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty, Jia Yi's former residence has always been a pattern of integration of temple and house. The tablet is the last ink of Mr. Zhao Puchu, and both sides of the tablet were written by the governor of Hunan in Qing Dynasty. Huxiang people have repaired and rebuilt Jia Yi's former residence 100 times over the years.

Taiping Street, such an old street that is neither long nor wide, developed into an important commercial street in the provincial capital in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, bearing the charm of Huxiang culture and embodying the folk customs of traditional businesses. At that time, Taiping Street was crowded with businessmen and dentists, mainly engaged in grain, oil, salt, aquatic products and southern goods, and mostly engaged in wholesale business. In the alleys on both sides, rich businessmen's mansions are one after another, plus halls, theaters, restaurants and money houses. The whole street is crowded with people from morning till night.

Taiping Street a few decades ago, although its facade was rather shabby, it was still very lively. There are those who sell straw sandals, those who work while the iron is hot, those who make spiritual houses, those who buy incense sticks and paper money, those who fry dried fruits, those who sell sesame candy, those who shave their heads and pedicures, those who visit fortune-teller, and those who dress up as Shiro and sing nocturnes. There are also soy sauce makers, shadow puppeteers, knife makers, ceramic chamber pot sellers and so on. It is said that the bumpy and rocky pavement on Taiping Street has been trampled by many generations for hundreds and thousands of years.

According to the elders, there was a beautiful legend in Taiping Street in the old days: at the northern end of the street, there was a small shop specializing in making paper houses, and the little girl in the shop was as beautiful as a flower. In order to find a talented son-in-law for his daughter, the father asked for a bride older than Wen. So, he posted a couplet on the door panel of the shop: "The spirit house is covered with paper, so you can't keep out the wind and get wet. Ghosts want it. " Tell everyone that if someone can match, they will betroth my daughter to him and never break their word.

Many celebrities and poets came when they heard the news. Although each has its own merits, it is always unsatisfactory, and it is all in vain. "chamber pot, mud burning, one can't hold wine, the other can't hold tea, and it uses eggs." A few months later, this couplet was actually made by a person who sold urinals in the street. I don't know if I really married a woman who sells ghost houses. But this bottom line seems vulgar, but it is true and absolute.

The crowd is bustling, you come and I go. Order stinky tofu, have a big sausage, open your mouth to eat the sugar and oil Baba handed over by your friend, and have a big bite of "tea noodles". Between the blue tiles and white walls, we walked on the stone road, as if through the Millennium.

A city, without a few mossy old houses and battlements, a few stone streets and hutongs, lacks too many carriers to look back at history. Nowadays, there are few old houses, old streets and old hutongs left in Changsha, and Taiping Old Street has become a native exclamation point among these "few left". We sigh, stop, look back here and move forward here.

Text/Mu Qing