The history and culture of Daiyao Town

Daiyao Town in Xinghua City has a civilization history of two thousand years. It was originally named "Zaochan". Later, due to the rapid increase in the Dai family's population, it was renamed "Dadaizhuang". Dai kiln has a profound heritage. In the Tang Dynasty, it was called "Zaochan" and in the Song Dynasty, it was called "Dongcun". At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Shicheng "eighteen poles went to the Daijiakiln all the way to Xinghua Village"; because most of the kilns were fired by the Dai family , it was renamed "Dai Kiln" to this day. In the early Ming Dynasty, Liu Bowen traveled to Dai Kiln. He was worried that there would be talented people here competing with the Zhu family for power, so he ordered 72 wells to be dug and 72 kilns to be built in Dai Kiln, which would break the feng shui of Dai Kiln.

As early as the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Shicheng, a famous peasant leader in the late Yuan Dynasty, was born into a humble family and made a living by selling illicit salt. During the difficult process of making a living, I came to Dai kiln many times and met many merchants and kiln workers. Organizing the kiln workers, the farmers raised the banner of uprising in Dai Kiln, gathered tens of thousands of people, and conquered Xinghua City, Gaoyou City, and Dai Kiln in one fell swoop. There is still a folk song circulating today: "Eighteen men came together to Dai Kiln, marching all the way to Dai Kiln." Take Xinghua City directly and take Gaoyou Prefecture along the way." And with Gaoyou as the capital, the founding name was "Dazhou". Zhang Shicheng calls himself "King Cheng". In 1356 AD, Zhang Shicheng went south and occupied Pingjiang (now Suzhou), Hangzhou, Shouxian County, Anhui and other areas, and moved the capital to Pingjiang. Later, he was defeated by Zhu Yuanzhang and surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty. In 1363, Zhang Shicheng made a comeback, calling himself "King of Wu" and became powerful. However, due to Zhang Shicheng's brothers' arrogance and extravagance, they were busy enjoying themselves, neglecting political affairs and slacking off in fighting, so their strength declined day by day. In 1367, Zhu Yuanzhang conquered Pingjiang, and Zhang Shicheng was captured and sent to Jinling to hang himself. In order to commemorate him, the people of Dai Kiln specially made a large brick with embossed characters engraved in memory of Zhang Shicheng. The brick is 42 cm long, 20 cm wide, 13 cm thick and weighs 18 kg. This brick was collected from Yuan's home in Dai Kiln, Henan. It was bought in March 2000. After research, it was found that this large brick was used to build Zhang Shicheng's tomb after his death.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368), Zhu Yuanzhang’s military advisor Liu Bowen traveled to Dai Kiln and saw that Dai Kiln was built in Henan with Qinglong Bridge, Bagua Pond, and crisscrossing rivers. The scenery was beautiful, the water stirred clear waves, and the ground steamed with clouds. , it has become brilliant and has the potential to be like a crouching dragon and a phoenix. Think about the time when Wu King Zhang Shicheng held an uprising here and competed with Zhu Yuanzhang for power, so Liu Bowen ordered: Dai kiln to build 7 kilns in Xiajiazuizi, 8 conjoined kilns to be built in Baguadi, 4 kilns to be built in Lijiazui, Zhang There are 5 kilns built in Jiazui, 15 kilns in difficult terrain, 5 kilns built near the town, plus 72 kilns in the west and north kilns of the original Dai kiln in Hebei Province, and 72 wells. The good feng shui that destroyed Dai Kiln and made a comeback. Unexpectedly, the people of Dai kiln relied on their hard-working hands to make bricks and tiles, and the smoke from the kiln never went out. Although the dream of fictional fantasy was burned away, brick and tile carving artists with superb skills and exquisite carvings were born.

Since the early Ming Dynasty, the people of Daiyao Town have circulated a folk song: "Daijiayao, Daijiayao, three bridges from north to south, seventy-two kilns, Zhu Hongwu built the city wall in Nanjing, and an imperial edict arrived. Dai kiln". There is indeed solid evidence for this statement. In February 1973, Dai Kiln Brick and Tile Factory dug out five large city bricks at the old kiln site. The words were highlighted and read "Yangzhou Prefecture Promotion Officer Tongzhi Zhuxiang Secretary Tao Xu, Gaoyou Prefecture Promotion Officer" Ji Heng, the official of Changsong, and Fan Hongdao, the official of Xinghua Tiedao, and Zhao Zong, are engraved on the reverse side with the words "Year, Month, Day, Potter Hu Shiyi". The brick is 44 centimeters long, 21 centimeters wide, 12 centimeters thick and weighs 18 kilograms. It was found that the 21st city brick on the third floor facing south from the north gate of Zhonghua Gate in Nanjing City, and there are two bricks opposite the Tibetan Soldier Cave in the city wall, are exactly the same as the city bricks unearthed from Dai Kiln.