Xishan is the general term for the mountains surrounding the west of Beijing. It is not as majestic as Mount Tai, as steep as Mount Hua, and as beautiful as Mount Huang. However, its rolling hills are like a city wall protecting the capital. Under the layers of mountains, there are rich historical and cultural landscapes. For thousands of years, the footsteps of emperors, generals, dignitaries, and literati have spread all over Xishan, as if there is a story behind every rock, every clump of vegetation, and every stream, and the most famous one is Cao Xueqin and his "Dream of Red Mansions".
Cao Xueqin lived a life of rich clothes and fine food in his childhood, but his family was in decline. He used to teach for a living, and returned to his ancestral home in Zhengbai Banner, Xishan in his later years. Cao Xueqin lived a poor life in his ancestral home, and suffered from the loss of his wife in middle age and son in his later years, but it was also here that he created the handed down work "Dream of Red Mansions" which is "full of absurd words and tears of bitterness".
The former residence of Cao Xueqin is in the Beijing Botanical Garden. It is always bustling to see flowers in spring and leaves in autumn, but the former residence of Cao Xueqin, which is in a corner, looks desolate and lonely, just like the scene before his death.
There is a mountain path from Zhengbai Banner in front of Shouan Mountain to Baijiatuan in the back of the mountain. Since the Qing Dynasty, the people of the two places have come and gone frequently. When Cao Xueqin lived in front of the mountain, he often went to the back of the mountain to visit friends and see a doctor for the common people. Through this road, he went to and from the front of the mountain, so it was called Cao Xueqin trail. Over the years, fans of "Dream of Red Mansions" have often spontaneously searched for this trail and followed in the footsteps of the master.
The Cao Xueqin Trail starts from Zhengbaiqi Village (Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall), passes through Donggou Village, Shifang Pujue Temple (Reclining Buddha Temple), Tuigu (Cherry Valley), Sanzhuxiang, and arrives at Baijiatuan Village. On the way, there are diversion stone canals, watchtowers, ancient wells, Longwang Temple, Shifang Pujue Temple, Guanghui Temple, Longjiao Temple, Shouanshan Stone Carvings, Sun Chengze Tuigu Villa, Shishangsong, Yuanbao, Guangquan Temple Ruins, There are many historical attractions and relics such as Wuhua Temple, Xiaoshiqiao Ruins, and Xianwang Temple.
In folklore, many scenes on the path are prototypes in the story of "A Dream of Red Mansions". Red scholars listed eight of them as "Eight Views of the Former Residence", namely: "Ancient Huai Youxia", "Gudun Overlooking", "River Wall Yanliu", "Gujing Microwave", "Yuanbao Remains", " Marriage of Wood and Stone", "Guangquan Ancient Well", "Punch and Stone".
Since the publication of "Dream of Red Mansions", Cao Xueqin's family life, as well as the village site and residence where he "authored the book Huangye Village", have been the subject of exploration by red scholars and lovers of red studies. In April 1971, an old-fashioned dwelling with several groups of poems on the wall was found at No. 39, Zhengbaiqi Village, Xiangshan District, which was considered by some experts as the place where he wrote books. In April 1983, 8 hectares of land was opened in the Beijing Botanical Garden (where the original Zhengbai Banner was located), and the Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall was built, borrowing the name "Huangye Village".
The small wooden gatehouse at the entrance of the village is simple and elegant.
In front of the gatehouse, there is a sentence written by Mr. Zhou Ruchang, a red scholar, from Duncheng to present Xueqin: "I advise you not to play the diner's clapper, and advise you not to shut the door of the rich. The leftovers are cold and virtuous, so it is better to write a book on Huangye Village." This poem is considered to be evidence that Cao Xueqin wrote a book here. Duncheng is the fifth grandson of Nurhaci's twelfth son Azig. He has an older brother named Dunmin. Dunmin, Duncheng and Cao Xueqin are poet friends.
Stepping into Huangye Village, a huge granite boulder stands in front of you. On the front are the six characters "Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall" inscribed by the calligrapher Mr. Qi Gong (the ninth grandson of Emperor Yongzheng).
On the back is "Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall", which briefly describes Cao Xueqin's life and contributions, as well as the whole process of the establishment, addition, and repair of the memorial hall. At the end of the article, he praised and said: "The genius of the world, the strength of character is always there, the writing style is vivid, and it will shine for thousands of years."
Eight Views of the Former Residence "Ancient Huaihuai Youxia"
Among the many trees, the pagoda tree is deeply loved by the old Beijingers. Its tenacious character and vigorous vitality seem to be particularly suitable to accompany this ancient capital that has gone through many vicissitudes. Therefore, Beijing has the custom of "building a house first, then planting pagoda trees". There are three ancient locust trees in front of the main gate of Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall, which have a history of more than 400 years and are listed as famous locust trees in the capital.
The first ancient locust tree on the west side of the main gate is 20 meters high, with a trunk circumference of 5 meters;
The second trunk has a circumference of 3.7 meters;
The most famous one is the "crooked pagoda tree" on the east side of the main entrance.
There has always been controversy over the authenticity of Cao Xueqin's former residence, but according to local elders, there used to be a ditty about Cao Xueqin's former residence in the Xiangshan area: "Ancient locust tree in front of the gate, a small bridge with flowing water and wild parsley." There are a lot of wild celery growing on the hillside here. Cao Xueqin often used it to treat the common people, and named himself "celery". The scene in front of the memorial hall coincides with Xiaoqu. Especially in midsummer, the old pagoda trees in front of the gate block out the sky and the sun, just as Cao Xueqin wrote: "The western suburbs of Lujie are unique and secluded".
The memorial hall is a three-entry courtyard, and the words "Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall" on the side of the door were also inscribed by Mr. Qi Gong.
The gate is already mottled, but the lion bolts on the gate are still majestic.
The first courtyard you enter from the gate is facing a screen wall of brick and wood, a row of houses on the west side, offices on the east side, and an old pagoda tree with overgrown branches in front of the gate on the north side.
The second courtyard is the exhibition hall, with the main room and east and west wing rooms. In the courtyard, there is a small bamboo forest and a few persimmon trees, and a few blue persimmons are scattered on the branches.
Sitting next to the bamboo forest, Mr. Yang raised his head, frowned slightly, and looked into the distance. There was a glass of wine in front of him, as if he was drinking alone under the moonlight.
The exhibition hall mainly exhibits cultural relics related to Cao Xueqin's life experience, as well as material materials related to the Dream of Red Mansions.
The brocades that Jiangning weaves and pays tribute to are exquisite and luxurious.
Cao family genealogy table
The inscribed poem on the peeling wall reads: "The rich and the near and the poor meet in the world with propriety, but few relatives and slow friends disperse because of wealth."
The third courtyard is "Qinpu Xuefang", which is divided into two gardens, east and west. In the garden to the east, to the north is a row of low houses, with a plaque on the door saying "Qingpu Academy", a green mailbox in front of the door, and a plaque on the window sill saying "Dream of Red Mansions Post Office". This is the only one in the country. Dream of Red Mansions Bookstore.
The bookstore has an elegant environment and sells books and cultural and creative products related to Cao Xueqin and "A Dream of Red Mansions".
The cultural creations here are diverse and exquisite.
In the store, there is a famous sentence by Mr. Yang Jiang about reading: reading is like "visiting invisibly". To meet a teacher you admire or pay a visit to a famous scholar, you don't need to say hello in advance to ask for a meeting. You just open the book and break into the door, and you go into the room after turning a few pages.
There are no houses in the garden to the west, only two millstones.
This is the west gate of the memorial hall.
In addition to the memorial hall, there are also teahouses, wine shops, ancient piers, water wells and vegetable fields in the village, which is a simple and natural pastoral scenery. The ginkgo trees planted in the village are green and tall. In mid-autumn, the fallen leaves are colorful and the ground is golden, which is intoxicating.
Eight Views of the Former Residence "River Wall Smoked Willows"
The river wall is a diversion channel built during the Qianlong period to ensure the water needs of Qingyi Garden, Yuanmingyuan and other gardens. Along the way, rocks were chiseled to form grooves, covered with stone tiles, and the grooves were placed on the stone wall in the low terrain in the north, commonly known as "river wall". Because there are many willows planted on both sides of the stone canal, the catkins are flying and the mist is misty, so it is called "Smoky Willows on the River Wall". There are two remains of the river wall, one is on the west side of Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall, and the other is in Yingyinggou.
"Gudun Autumn View" of the Eight Views of the Former Residence
During the Qianlong period, in order to quell the rebellion in the Greater Jinchuan area, the Qing government built watchtowers between the banner camps in imitation of the residential buildings in the Jinchuan area. There used to be 68 watchtowers in the Xiangshan area, but now only 6 and a half remain, one of which is located on the west side of Cao Xueqin's former residence, and there is a stone carving "Invitation Platform" at the stairway. Cao Xueqin often went to the watchtower with his friends, gazed into the distance, drank and wrote poems to express his feelings. Dun Min wrote a poem titled "West Suburbs for Tours and Views", in which the poem goes: "The autumn scenery calls people to the ancient pier, the westerly wind rustles and opens up the plains. There are thousands of white cloud trails in the distant mountains, and the yellow leaf village with the sound of a clear chime...".
There are two red cannons on the south side of the watchtower. Cao Xueqin's great-grandfather once participated in the project of casting red cannons.
"Gujing Microwave" of the Eight Views of the Former Residence
There is an ancient well on the north side of the memorial hall, which is the only well left in Zhengbai Banner for daily drinking water for villagers. It has a history of more than 300 years. The well is more than 20 meters deep, and the well water is sweet and clear. When Cao Xueqin lived here, his drinking water was taken from this well, and he used the water from this well to grind ink, "read it for ten years, added and deleted five times" to write "Dream of Red Mansions".
The Xiangshan area is rainy in summer and is prone to floods. In order to pray for peace, most villages along the canyon have Dragon King Temples. In front of the Dragon King Temple to the north of the memorial hall stands a giant locust tree with a trunk circumference of nearly 5 meters, known as "Dragon King Locust tree".
Shifang Pujue Temple was first built in the Zhenguan period of Tang Dynasty. Because there is a huge bronze statue of Sakyamuni Buddha Nirvana in the temple, it is also called "Reclining Buddha Temple".
The ancient cypresses in front of the temple are towering and block out the sun, like mighty soldiers standing on both sides of the road holding swords and long halberds.
The glazed archway in the temple was built by Emperor Qianlong when he expanded the Reclining Buddha Temple. On the front of the archway, the four characters "Tongcan Mizang" are engraved on the front plaque, and the four characters "Juzujingyan" are engraved on the back, both of which are written by Emperor Qianlong. Such a high specification demonstrates the lofty status of Shifang Pujue Temple in politics and religion in the Qing Dynasty.
There is a ruins of Guanghui Temple in the courtyard of the Bee Research Institute on the west side of the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Guanghui Nunnery was built in the Ming Dynasty. It was originally a private house and later converted into a temple. Guanghui nunnery has three entrance courtyards, followed by the mountain gate, Dharma protection hall, middle hall, and back hall. There are steles from the Wanli period in the nunnery, as well as incense burners and iron bells cast in the Qianlong period.
Continuing northward from the ruins of Guanghui Temple is Cherry Valley. Cherry Valley is a canyon between two mountains. It starts from the source of the water and goes down to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. It is named after the "pair of cherries". Cherry Valley is also known as "Tuigu" and "Zhoujia Garden". During the period of the Republic of China, Zhou Zhaoxiang, Minister of Finance of the Beiyang Government, bought it and built it as a residence.
There is a garden on the hillside at the entrance of Yingyinggou. In the garden, there is a bamboo forest and "Shizhu Pavilion" inscribed by Zhao Puchu. This is the site of Longjiao Temple.
Longjiao Temple is a temple built by Deng Keng, the eunuch of the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Xianzong Zhu Jianshen of the Ming Dynasty bestowed the name "Longjiao" on the temple. Today, only two steles remain.
On the opposite side of the stele is an ancient locust tree, with luxuriant branches and leaves, and a thick trunk, which can only be embraced by three or four people.
The roots of the ancient locust tree exposed to the ground are shaped like dragon claws, powerful and mighty.
Going out from the west gate of the Longjiao Temple site is a stone road leading to the canyon, and not far away is another river wall.
In Cherry Ditch, there are towering ancient trees, strange rocks all over the bottom of the ditch, gurgling streams and singing birds. In addition to cherries, there are also flowers and trees such as jasmine, apricot, and crabapple in the ditch. When the flowers bloom, the mountain flowers are blooming, just like a paradise.
Walking along the stone road, you can see the stone carvings of "Shou'an Mountain" on the cliff. This place used to be the entrance of Yingyinggou, with huge stones as the road. The original three characters "Shou'an Mountain" were inscribed by Yan Song of the Ming Dynasty. Today, the three characters "Shou'an Mountain" are inscribed by the famous calligrapher Shu Tongfu.
There are overpasses, waterfalls and "Wenshan Pavilion" under the stone carvings. The front plaque of the Wenshan Pavilion reads "Wenshan" and the back plaque reads "Zhiyuan".
Crossing the bridge is a large metasequoia forest. Walking in the forest, there are tall and tall metasequoias beside you, and a gurgling stream under your feet. The sun shines into the forest, forming patches of mottled tree shadows, and the air is filled with the warm scent of trees.
At the end of the metasequoia forest, there is a small white marble stone bridge across the stream, which was moved from Duanwang Mansion.
Walking along the east side of the stone bridge is the relic of Wuhua Temple. The temple was built in the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty, and now there are only two remnants of steles and a few stone components. Up the stone steps on the west side of the stone bridge is "Luyan Jingshe", also known as "Zhoujia Garden". The courtyard is full of trees, bamboo shadows whirling, elegant and quiet.
The "Ru Li Pavilion" in the courtyard is named for its resemblance to a bamboo hat. Song Luo, a native of the Qing Dynasty, had a poem that said: "Before the Li Pavilion opens to the valley, the four mountains gather green and fall to the top."
Going up the stone steps on the side of "Ru Li Pavilion" is Sun Chengze's villa. Sun Chengze was a Jinshi in the Chongzhen Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty. After the Qing soldiers entered the pass, he served as the Minister of the Ministry of Officials. He is familiar with Beijing's geography, folk customs, and anecdotes, and has edited books such as "Tianfu Guangji" and "Chunming Meng Yulu". The name of the villa "Water Flowing Clouds Lives" is taken from Du Fu's meaning of "the flow of water does not compete with the heart, and the clouds care about it too late", reflecting his state of mind of a hermit who does not compete with the world. The villa has now been turned into a tea house.
Sun Chengze also built the "Stone Cypress Book Nest" and "Tui Weng Pavilion" in Yingyinggou, where he recited poems and enjoyed paintings all day long, met friends with literature, and wrote books and made stories.
There is a "January 9th Movement Memorial Pavilion" in Yingyinggou, which was built to commemorate the anti-Japanese national salvation demonstration held by Peking University and middle school students on December 9, 1935.
The memorial pavilion is composed of three triangular kiosks. The idea is: the triangle is the epitome of the camping tent when the military summer camp was held during the "12. Unity is the determination to resist aggression; the tall and straight architectural lines symbolize the vigorous and positive spirit of youth. The eight bright red characters of "Don't forget the national humiliation, realize the dream of China" are particularly dazzling in the sun.
Cherry Valley is the place where the Peking Student Union and the Pioneers jointly held summer camps during the "December 9th" Movement. From 1936 to 1937, three summer camps were held here, with five or six hundred young students participating. The students left four big red characters "Defend North China" on the big bluestone beside the ditch.
Eight Scenes of the Former Residence: "The Alliance of Wood and Stone"
On the hillside not far from the "Defend North China" stele, there is a condescending boulder. Surprisingly, there is an ancient cypress growing on the top of it. Although the ancient cypress is not big, it is four or five hundred years old. "Stone on the Stone". According to folklore, Cao Xueqin often wandered here, and inspired by this scene, he created the story of Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu's "before alliance between wood and stone" in "A Dream of Red Mansions".
In the Xiangshan area, there has been a little song: "The pine on the rock in Tuigu is called the edge of wood and stone. The huge rock is rugged and treasured, and the sweet spring overflows with sweet water. The crazy monk cave on the mountain, and the Bailuyan rock at the foot of the mountain. Cao Gongsheng's brush, Baodai will be passed down forever."
"Yuanbao Remains" of the Eight Views of the Former Residence
Not far in front of "Stone on the Stone", there is a huge stone shaped like an ingot. The bottom of "Yuan Gemstone" is suspended in the air, and a couch is built inside. There is a hole on the couch, which is built into a window shape, through which light and air can pass. Historically, monks practiced here. According to legend, in the Liao Dynasty, an immortal came here riding a white deer and lived in a cave in the rock, so this cave is also called "White Deer Cave".
According to folklore, this stone is the prototype of the stubborn stone under the Qinggeng Peak of Wuji Cliff in Dahuang Mountain in "A Dream of Red Mansions". The first chapter of "A Dream of Red Mansions" says that "the shape is a treasure, but it has no real benefits", which refers to this stone, so Cao Gong called it "Jia (false) Baoyu".
"Water source" is the end of Cherry Ditch and the starting point of Cherry Ditch spring water. Back then, there was a steady stream of spring water here, converging into small pools. The spring water was clear and sweet, rich in minerals, and people came here to fetch water every day. As early as the Ming Dynasty, the source of water was a tourist attraction for literati. Emperor Qianlong also visited here and wrote a poem "Shibi Lintianchi".
There is a "Tuigu Pavilion" on the hillside above the "source of water", and the pillars of the pavilion are engraved with Wang Wei's poem "Walk to the poor water, sit and watch the clouds rise". Mr. Yao Xiang wandered in this secluded valley in those days, watching strange trees and rocks up close, and watching the wind and clouds in the distance. He must have been leisurely and happy.
"Guangquan Ancient Well" of the Eight Views of the Former Residence
Guangquan Temple, halfway up the mountain from the water source, was abandoned in the late Ming Dynasty. There is an ancient well in the temple, the water quality is sweet, it is one of the two ancient wells in Xishan. During the period of Sun Chengze, there was still water from the ancient well, but it became a dry well during the Republic of China, and now only the ruins can be seen. Cao Xueqin and his good friend Zhang Yiquan have been here before, and left poems to sing in harmony.
Eight Views of the Former Residence: "One Punch Rock"
"One fist stone" is named after its shape like a fist under the Langfeng Pavilion in Xiangshan Park. The "One Fist Stone" on the stone was inscribed by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, which means "the ancestors hold the fist (right)".
The walking and writing of a generation of writers has revived this originally barren mountain road. During the walk, every plant, every tree, every stone, every word, every house and every pavilion around me seems to have left the footprints and figure of Mr.
