Where are the Nanyang Bridge cliff carvings located?

The Nanyang Bridge cliff carvings are cultural relics protected units in Hunan Province.

The cliff-carved tombstones in Zhuyuanchong Village, Nanyangqiao Township, Zhuzhou County are among the ninth batch of provincial-level protected cultural relics. They have been buried deep in the mountains and green forests for a long time and were discovered during the third national cultural relics census.

“It is called a cliff if it is carved out of the mountain.” This is a more authoritative definition of cliff carvings. In layman's terms, it generally refers to the use of natural stone wall inscriptions to record events. When I went to famous mountains and rivers, I became interested and became poetic. I composed a poem or an essay and carved it into a stone, which became a cliff. Therefore, it is common in scenic spots. For example, the famous Huangshan cliff carvings are so brilliant that even Emperor Kangxi couldn't help itching his hands. With a wave of his pen, he ordered his talents to be carved into the stone for the world to admire.

Of course, the stone carvings on the cliffs are not necessarily all inscribed with poems and inscriptions. There are also statues with pictures. From the content to the form, they can be in various shapes, and they all vary according to people and events. The cliff stone carvings that appeared in Nanyangqiao Township, Zhuzhou County actually used natural stone walls as tombstones with inscriptions. This is obviously an alternative and rare in the entire province.

This stone wall as a tombstone belongs to the granite type. It is fine and hard in texture, durable and has a flat surface. It is like a piece of gray paper without writing, inlaid in the center of the green mountain. It is about 20 meters high and 15 meters wide. It is rectangular in shape and tilted at an angle of about 75 degrees. It can climb people. In the past, children often liked to climb up and down to play here, regardless of adults' warnings. When it rains, the rainwater on the hillside pours down the stone walls, which is very beautiful.

This piece of God-given “blank paper” that has not yet been “written on” seems to be waiting for someone to “write” on it. This person is Yi Shijun, a Jinshi awarded by the Qing Dynasty. His epitaph, which was buried in the tomb but has been unearthed, gives a relatively clear introduction to his life. His ancestral home was Taiyuan, Shanxi. In order to avoid disaster, his ancestors moved their family south, first to Liuyang, and then to Liling, which is now Nanyangqiao Township, Zhuzhou County. By the time of Yi Shijun, 13 generations had passed, that is to say It should be at least more than 150 years ago. From this, it is estimated that his ancestors moved southward in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. As for what kind of disaster they were avoiding, there is no clear record, so it is not known. I only know that the head of the family died in the disaster. People, and their families moved thousands of miles to avoid disaster, so the situation was very serious.

Judging from their well-off family background, the Yi family has been either rich or noble since their ancestors. From this, it can be inferred that the ancestor who was killed should be a member of the government, because businessmen are generally not in danger. A disaster for the whole family. On the contrary, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, eunuchs had exclusive power, fierce party struggles, and the swords and swords in the officialdom. When they were favored, they were proud of the spring breeze, and when one person achieved enlightenment, chickens and dogs ascended to heaven; but once they lost power, they would plummet to the bottom of life, or face imprisonment in the worst case, with their lives in danger or even blood splattered all over the door. ! Judging from the serious events that occurred in the Yi family, a more reasonable explanation is that the Yi family lost the official power struggle, which not only cost the life of the head of the family, but also affected the entire family, so they fled in a hurry and traveled thousands of miles from the big city to He lives in seclusion in an inconspicuous village in Hunan, and moves again and again whenever there is any disturbance.

Because of his well-off family, Yi Shijun was able to read poetry and books and was keen on fame. He also got his wish, passed the Jinshi examination, and became an official from the seventh grade of Xuejun, which is roughly similar to today's officials. County Education Director. Yi Shijun, who was rich and noble, could finally enjoy life happily. He first married his first wife, Liu, and then his stepwife, Liu. Marrying an older man and a younger one was considered a "low match" according to the standards of the time and his status and financial strength, because most squires married 3456 wives. After all, he was an education director with a Jinshi background, so of course he could enjoy 3456 more. Such a "high profile". But Yi Shijun does not have "3456", which shows that he is still very different from ordinary intellectuals and local tyrants. He is not debauched. It can be seen that the Neo-Confucianism of the Ming Dynasty had a greater impact on him.

Two ladies surnamed Liu gave birth to 4 sons for him. Except for 0 who died young and never married, the other three all became officials. The eldest and the third were both officials, and the fourth became a servant. A sixth-grade state official is one level higher than my official rank.

Both father and son were officials in the same dynasty. In an era when officials were scarce social resources, the Yi family had achieved a rare success, and it was considered a family of officials. Under his education and influence, all three sons only married second wives as "standard". His three sons gave him four grandsons, and his four grandsons gave him six great-grandchildren. At that time, in addition to power and money, the criterion for measuring a wealthy family was whether or not there were descendants. If there were no successors, it would be humiliating, and a wealthy family would not be "big". Therefore, the Yi family, which has seats, money, and a large group of sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons, is a wealthy family worthy of pride and bragging.

When Yi Shijun’s first wife passed away, as the wife of an official and his wife, the Yi family held a grand funeral. He spent a lot of money to invite the most famous local Feng Shui master to choose a burial place for him and his wife. At that time, a respectable and wealthy family like his would strictly follow the feudal etiquette to bury husband and wife together. Therefore, the place where his original wife is buried is where he will be buried in the future, and his step-wife will be buried with him. , and the center position must be reserved for him as the husband. The tombs of the first wife and the second wife are arranged on his left and right sides, with the first wife on the right and the second wife on the left. The order of the left and right must not be reversed. It is a major violation of ethical principles.

The feudal era was very superstitious and Feng Shui was popular. The essence of the popularity of Feng Shui is the popularity of good luck. In a feudal society with blocked upward channels, power is hereditary and power resources are scarce. Therefore, success may not be achieved by hard work alone. The key is to rely on "God's help". Therefore, people hope that good luck will soar into the sky and become a blockbuster, and they will be a farmer in the morning and ascend to the emperor's palace in the evening; wealthy officials hope to use good luck to pass on their wealth to future generations. Because of this, regardless of whether you are rich or poor, people are very superstitious about Feng Shui. Once a place is said to be a Feng Shui treasure, it is a big deal. They all want to take it as their own, and they will be hit by great luck.

Feng shui is so important. How could Yi Jinshi, who was "successfully selected" from thousands of scholars, not pay special attention to it? Therefore, he did not hesitate to spend a lot of money and invited the most famous local Feng Shui master to choose a place for him, hoping to use the power of Feng Shui treasure land to protect and maintain his family's hard-won glory of being a "superior". The Feng Shui master who received a heavy reward also reciprocated his love and gave him the only Feng Shui treasure land in the area called "Tiger Leaping Stream" because the tomb hill looks like a tiger and there is a pond at the foot of the mountain. This kind of terrain is Feng Shui. The "tiger leaping into the stream" is rare to see within a hundred miles, so it caused a sensation in the local area at that time.

Yi Shijun was naturally so happy that he couldn't describe it. He even forgot about the pain of losing his wife for a moment, and proudly stood on the graveyard to check the feng shui. It was at this time that Yi Shijun accidentally discovered that the stone wall on the slope in front was a perfect match for his own cemetery, and it looked like a large natural tombstone erected specifically for his own cemetery! This made him even more elated. He thought that this was really a rare Feng Shui treasure land. Even God had given him an unusually large tombstone! And he also thought that as the most famous family in the local area, he really needed to erect a matching large monument to strengthen his famous family! At the same time, as an intellectual, he also has a unique problem, that is, he likes to show off his elegance everywhere. He traveled to many famous mountains and rivers, and saw many dignitaries and celebrities carving their talents into stones. Although he believed that his talents were not inferior to others, after all, he was just a petty official and a small local celebrity who was not in the mainstream. He dare not be arrogant and cannot be arrogant outside, but in a small place like his hometown, he is the leader, a first-class talent and a socialite, so he can still be as arrogant as he wants! So he became more determined in this idea that seemed almost whimsical to outsiders, and decided that he, the most talented person in the area, must write the inscription in his own hand, so that people in his hometown could appreciate his calligraphy and pass it on to future generations.

Later, when his wife passed away before him in the 55th year of Qianlong's reign, he felt that he was getting old and worried that he would be unable to hold a pen if he didn't write anymore, so he took action immediately and personally used a big pen. He wrote an inscription for the two ladies, and then spent a lot of money to hire the most famous local stonemason to copy the inscription on the stone wall.

This is how this rare cliff-carved tombstone was born! On the right side of the tombstone is engraved "Yuan Youpei Liu Liu's grave is on top", and on the left side is engraved "Husband Zhu Yi Shijunkan", with 14 characters per digit. The font is more than one meter horizontally and vertically, and the extremely difficult large-stroke regular script is written by Yi Shijun in a strong, powerful, dignified and elegant way. It can be seen that he does have a pen as big as a rafter, and his works do have high artistic value and are worthy of appreciation and play.

Yi Shijun was born in the Guisi year of Kangxi (1713) and died in the Dingsi year of Jiaqing (1797) at the age of eighty-five. After his death, as the husband's master, he joined his two wives. His tomb was located in the middle of the two ladies, and the two ladies served him on the left and the right.

Later, his descendants moved to Liling for some reason; and later, there was a strange incident that someone else buried his tomb to seize the feng shui. It’s just said that the tombs that were snatched up later were “not yet buried”, and the Feng Shui treasure land of “Tiger Leaping Stream” was accidentally turned into an “iron cage to imprison a cat”. Because it was “imprisoned”, the family’s descendants No one in the class is good. In fact, for the sake of feng shui, they would go to any lengths to bury someone else's ancestral grave. Can the descendants of such an unscrupulous family get better?

About 1971, the tomb was destroyed, and the stones and tombstones on the tomb were used to build water conservancy projects. Later, the tomb was stolen, and only a white marble epitaph was left in the cemetery. After many twists and turns, it was later removed by the county The Cultural Relics Bureau found and collected it in residential buildings.

According to the epitaph, Yi Shijun, a scholar, was not good at managing wealth and expanding his family property, but he was not a miser or a miser. He was charitable and performed many righteous deeds throughout his life, including building bridges where he lived. , built Confucian temples and academies, and devoted himself to public welfare undertakings to benefit the people of the area. Therefore, although he was a prominent family in the local area, he was highly respected and had a good reputation. Even in this family, he always takes the lead in resolving problems and takes on responsibilities whenever he encounters them. Therefore, as long as he is present, all the troublesome matters can be straightened out and all the difficult things can be solved. It can be done. Upon closer inspection, it's not that he has any clever methods, it's just that he can always take the lead in breaking through the fetters of interests and lead everyone to do rational things; it's just that he has the courage to take responsibility and takes the initiative to fulfill his responsibilities, that's all.

This seems simple, but in fact it is really difficult to do. This shows another side of the traditional intellectuals shaped by Confucianism that is extremely lovely and valuable. Confucianism advocates "cultivating one's moral character, regulating one's family, governing the country and bringing peace to the world", and taking self-cultivation and managing one's family as the moral basis for governing the country and bringing peace to the world. Therefore, true Confucian intellectuals have good moral cultivation, moral integrity and moral responsibility; they all value justice over profit, and sacrifice The small family takes care of everyone; they all value reputation and integrity, and pursue the lofty realm of life of "fame before and after life, standing between heaven and earth", without shame. This is the precious wealth of Chinese traditional culture, this is the soul of outstanding traditional Chinese intellectuals, and it is the soul of our country! The good thing is that we can see this kind of soul in Yi Jinshi, so Yi Jinshi has the character of a national scholar to a certain extent! It is precisely because of this that the cliff-carved tombstone and its epitaph have exceeded the value of historical cultural relics in the general sense, and have a lasting brilliance that can travel through time.

In fact, Yi Jinshi’s spirit has been well passed down by his descendants. Even after moving to Liling, his descendants still hired high-level stonemasons several times to carve the tombstones that were damaged by wind and rain. It was under the meticulous maintenance of his descendants that they were eroded by wind and rain for more than 200 years. The tombstones carved on the cliff are still well preserved. After hearing that their ancestors' tombs were stolen and their epitaphs were missing, their descendants worked tirelessly to find them and finally found them at the Zhuzhou County Cultural Relics Bureau. Because it was a cultural relic, I couldn’t take it home, so I had to take photos of my ancestors’ relics and keep them. This kind of spiritual pursuit of respecting ancestors and transcending material things is the inheritance of the excellent traditional cultural spirit of their ancestors. This is very valuable.

China's excellent traditional culture needs to be carried forward and passed on from generation to generation.

Nanyangqiao Township: Nanyangqiao Township and Zhouping Township were merged and established as Nanzhou Town. During the Ming Dynasty, Deng's surname was in the township. There was a bridge built in the township, named "Nanyang Bridge", and the township was named after it. . Originally belonging to Liling County, it was incorporated into the suburbs of Zhuzhou City in 1959 and belonged to Zhouping Commune. In 1961, it became Nanyangqiao Commune. In 1965, it was placed under Zhuzhou County. In 1984, it was changed to Nanyangqiao Township. Nanyang Qiao Township is located on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River and the south bank of the Lujiang River, facing the county across the Lujiang River. The total land area of ​​Nanyangqiao Township is 56.1 square kilometers, with a total population of 22,300. It governs 17 administrative villages