Explore the castle above Yungang.
Liu Junxi
1980 summer vacation, internship in Datong thermal power plant. Some students went to Yungang happily, and the road was muddy. Step into the grottoes, don't open a hole, shock, look up, and be strong. There is movement across the grotto river, but I don't know anything.
Staying in the third cave for a long time, although a half-baked project, is still amazing to the ancients, which may be the reason for later settling in Datong. After that, I accompanied the guests for many times until 20 15 entered the Yungang grottoes opposite. It turned out to be Jinhua Palace National Mine Park. After going down to the mine to explore, I accidentally climbed up the Buddha worship platform. Yangfotai is the highest point in the park. Looking north from here, you can see the panoramic view of Yungang Grottoes, a world-renowned cultural heritage at home and abroad. The towering green Wuzhou Mountain extends eastward, and the winding Shili River spreads westward to the east. This is surrounded by mountains and water, and it is even more surprising to find an old castle above Yungang Grottoes.
Holding the arbor, you can only look at the outline for a long time, just above the head of the open-air giant Buddha, which everyone knows on earth. The beacon tower to the east of the castle is also conspicuous. Look around, this place is very high. Looking at Yungang from here, don't look up and worry about your neck. Out of politeness, it is natural to say that you admire the platform of Buddha. Just looking up, actually it is better to look down slightly. It would be great if you brought a telescope. You can see from here that part of the castle can be seen under the cliffs of Yungang Scenic Area and Grottoes. Looking down from the Buddhist platform, there is a pool of water, which is actually called Jinyang Lake.
First, approach Yungang.
Yungang is located in Yungangyu, the southern foot of Wuzhou Mountain, about 0/6 km west of Datong City. It was founded in the Northern Wei Dynasty and was the first cave in Tan Yao. Later, more than 200 caves were gradually opened. The grottoes are dug along the mountain, stretching for 2 miles from east to west. There are 45 existing main caves, which were listed on the World Heritage List in 2006 54 38+0 65 438+2 65 438+04. Further west are Gaoshan Town, Zuoyun, Youyu and Shahukou (Xiguan), which is the famous Shenhe Ancient Road leading to Mengsui, the Xiguan Ancient Road and a part of the "Wanli Tea Ceremony" that rose from the Ming Dynasty. Kangxi took this road when he conquered Grdan twice. Yungang and the opposite mine park face each other across the river and are connected by a bridge.
The ancient road of the arrow is more common in local chronicles, and it is called Yungang Valley (ditch) by the people. Of course, Yungang Valley is shorter than Ginseng and Sagittarius.
I hurried down the mountain and crossed the bridge to Yungang open-air Buddha. Sure enough, on the flat ground in front of the grottoes, you can see the castle, the splayed wall and the urn when you look up. Sigh, pain, so many times, how can you turn a blind eye?
Shenhe Ancient Road is Provincial Highway 339, and there are many coal cars in Yungangyu Coal Mine. Due to the serious pollution in the grottoes, in 2009, Provincial Highway 339 was diverted to Yungang Houshan.
I saw Jiaoshan Temple in Gaoshan Town and returned to Houshan Road. I was pleasantly surprised to meet Yungang Castle in the car. Stop, get off, walk past Wuguantun Village, and see a tall, thick and long cement wall. The old resident said, "This is the back gable of Yungang Scenic Area. It is an old castle, but you can't get in. There is a west gate nearby, and you will definitely not be allowed in. " I won't give up walking along the fence to the northeast, thinking that such a long fence may have a gap or something.
Outside the fence is a broken ditch. Someone dug out a fence as big as a millstone and planted tomatoes, beans and cabbage.
Suddenly I heard a dog barking. Looking back, I couldn't help it. A big dog followed me. I ran in a hurry, and intuitively I was sure I couldn't outrun the dog. I picked up a wooden stick, stopped to concentrate, squatted down, closed my abdomen and lifted my anus, and opened my posture. Sure enough, the dog stopped staring and barking. During the stalemate, I saw a broken porcelain basin next to it and the crowbar exploded. The dog ran sideways trembling and turned around and barked without taking a few steps. At this moment, I heard someone yelling at the dog. I started walking back. I saw that the dog didn't follow, and I was relieved to move on. Only in this way can we understand why Japanese ronin carry iron umbrellas and rural beggars carry wooden sticks.
Yungang's head has expanded so much? Walking along the fence for a long time, they are all the same height and thickness.
Walking too much for nothing is really tiring.
Second, the head of the eastern Yungang Grottoes.
This year's tourism day, in the small full season, closed mountains for afforestation for many years, banned bird hunting, and restored the vegetation in Yungang Valley, which was quite effective. Not only the roads are lush, but also the local trees and flowers grow naturally in many small canyons. There are yellow thorn plum, dandelion and white hydrangea everywhere in Huang Cancan. I saw oak, boxwood, Chinese pine and rehmannia growing in a ditch. Yungang Cliff Scenic Area is full of vitality, crowded with people, lush trees and beautiful papaya flowers, which are particularly eye-catching. Even the old poplars are green and spit cotton.
Walking into a hillside, how can there be a small stone tower here? It should be the lonely monk pagoda. Climbing over a mountain ridge, except for a little wind, it was quiet and beautiful, and no one was there. Suddenly, I saw a large pot of crawling flowers, colorful and dazzling. Looking closely, wow, isn't this a wolf poison flower? Poisonous, this flower has a well-developed root system, which can quickly absorb the surrounding water and dehydrate other plants to death. Clusters, many, are proud and gorgeous. There is almost no grass around Stellera chamaejasme, only rye that has been crawling for many years.
Took a photo and carefully bypassed the road.
There's a beacon tower ahead, high and looking in all directions, huh? Isn't this the beacon tower on the top of Yungang?
The top of Yungang? When I was a child, I came to Yungang to plant trees. I saw this beacon tower, and I also saw it from Yangfo Pagoda. Isn't this the way for Bingxin Zheng Zhenduo to go up the mountain? Pat your thigh. It's okay. Forget it. To the east is contiguous Pinus tabulaeformis, which is obviously planted.
1934, at the invitation of Shen Changzhi, director of Pingsui Railway, an 8-member "tour group along Pingsui" was organized to go to the northwest area along Pingsui for social investigation. Arrived in Datong on July 10, accompanied by Zhao Chengshou, commander of cavalry of Jinsui Army, and drove to Yungang. Bingxin (1900- 1999) and Zheng Zhenduo (1898- 1958) recorded the castles on top of Yungang sporadically.
On the ancient Shenhe Road, there are some almost flat-topped mountains with a large area and a thick layer of sand on the top. Some of them are called platforms, such as Ersi and Yungang Grottoes.
Two ditches are naturally cut at the top of the grottoes, and the grottoes are divided into three parts according to the terrain: east, middle and west. There are 4 caves (1-4 caves) in the east, including 9 caves (5- 13 caves) and 32 caves (14-45 caves) in the west, of which 20 caves are open-air giant buddhas.
This beacon tower is located on the east side of the top of the grottoes, with a base length of 12 meters and a residual height of 9 meters. There are many beacon towers around Datong, and the distance between beacon towers is generally three miles. Sure enough, you can see that the ancient Shenhe Road is covered with cotton. The beacon tower burns wolf dung and wormwood, so there is often a saying that "wolf smoke is everywhere" in storytelling. In ancient beacon towers, smoke was burned during the day and fire was made at night. On rainy and snowy days, flags are raised during the day and lights are lit at night.
I can vaguely see the old castle in the west. I saw a dirt road there, and new seedlings grew under the withered weeds. Obviously, no one has left for a long time. Seeing Longwangmiao is Longwangmiaogou, which is the dividing line between East and China. This ditch is relatively wide and deep.
Also called a stream, but there is no water.
Third, enter the central area to see the ruins of Liao Jinfo Temple in the Northern Wei Dynasty.
After crossing Longwangmiaogou, you will reach the middle of the grottoes. According to Zheng Zhenduo's records, there are "three tombs of monks, one in Wanli, one in Kangxi, and the inscription on one is not clear", but I didn't see any tombs. Suddenly I saw a site, probably on the top of caves 5 and 6. The fifth and sixth grottoes are known to all people in China. Facing the main entrance of Yungang, there are five grottoes with four floors and magnificent wooden pavilions.
The site is the site of Liao Jinfo Temple in Northern Wei Dynasty, which was excavated on 20 1 1, and there are remains of tower foundation, stone pillar foundation, casting platform, melting furnace and water well. The center of the square rammed earth tower in the middle of the tower foundation is the relic of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the octagonal frame around it should be built by Liao Jin. The iron melting furnace surrounds the platform of the casting well, with a tuyere at one end and a fixed bellows at the rest. There are iron slag and crucible fragments in the furnace, which is the earliest crypt casting well platform in China. According to the shape, it may be the translation site of Yungang or the living area of senior monks.
There are also relics from the Northern Wei Dynasty, a large number of residual tiles, many glazed tiles, and tiles with the words "Endless Pass" clearly written on them, as well as a small amount of pottery fragments, as well as some stone Buddha statues and donor fragments.
This foundry was not only discovered at the top of Yungang Grottoes for the first time, but also for the first time in China. No wonder it was successfully selected into 20 1 1 China Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries.
I turned around and saw a hare, with ears erect, staring at each other for a while and jumping away. There are some apricot trees scattered here, with thick bowls, which should not be old, but vicissitudes.
Further west, you will see the old castle. In front of it, there are many new volcanic rocks and some old tiles and stones. Mayor Geng Yanbo is going to repair this old castle and build it together with Yungang Grottoes. But the noise was a bit loud, which alarmed National Cultural Heritage Administration. After being interviewed, the project stopped, and then suddenly transferred, and these stone building materials stayed here.
Fourth, walk into the castle above Yungang Grottoes.
After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the remnants of Meng Yuan who retreated to Mobei always waited for an opportunity to go south. Datong is often harassed and threatened by Kyoto. Datong has built many castles and towers, and also built many places on the ancient Shenhe Road.
Over the past 400 years, Yungang has built two military forts. There is a bunker in the south of the open-air giant Buddha, named Xiabao, which was built at 1558. You can see it when you have been to Yungang. On the top of the open-air giant Buddha, there is a fortress called Shangbao (called Castle in this paper), which was built in 1574. The connection between the upper and lower castles is getting closer and closer, which can effectively guard the ancient road, resist the invasion of foreign enemies, and ensure the supply of coal, food and other items in cities and towns.
At that time, the garrison was stationed for many years. When it entered the Qing Dynasty, the disaster in the north disappeared and the castle became a residential village.
I was shocked, and a half chicken flew up to the castle, setting off a cloud of dust. Half a chicken didn't fly high or far, but it was caught off guard and made a lot of noise. It was really scary.
At this time, two people in the south of the castle seemed to be tidying up the yard. It's nice to have someone. If it is a dead castle, I really dare not venture in.
I walked into the east wall of the castle, and there was a gap in the southeast corner. Looking around, both of them were busy with their work, and neither seemed to look at me, so they approached the gap.
Yungang Xiabao was almost completely annihilated, leaving only Yingxun Gate and part of the fort wall. Yungang Castle (Upper Castle) is inconvenient to get water. It is estimated that it was uninhabited by the middle of Qing dynasty, and the remains were relatively complete, damaged but outlined.
The length of the castle is about 190 meters from east to west, and about 150 meters from north to south, which is rectangular. Only the Nanbao wall is opened in the center of the fort, and an isolated urn is built outside the fort. The urn is opened in the west gate, and an enlarged splayed wall is built outside the urn. The west, north and east walls of the castle are all closed. A platform is built in the middle of the castle wall, and the four corners of the castle wall are built with corner platforms.
According to the observation of the collapse section of the wall in the southeast corner, the lowest layer is the rammed earth abutment, which is13m wide, light brownish red and contains white ash, which is very strong. For a long time, soil and lime have been used as wall foundations, and some villages are still using them now. This wall is about 9 meters wide and 9 meters high. Climb the east wall, the wall is spacious, 4 meters wide. The east wall is the most complete, the south wall, urn and splayed wall are still good, and the north wall is the most damaged. There are cracks and gullies in the whole wall of the fortress, and the wall surface is weathered into strip holes, and the wall foundation is weathered and eroded.
The back hill is a gentle slope, from which we can see the necessity of building a military fort above the grottoes.
The castle is built on the flat ground, and the castle walls should be the same height. There is no brick in the earth building, only the castle door is brick, but the top of the castle wall and the female wall are brick. Now, the bricklaying on the castle wall has long disappeared, and the crown of the castle door has disappeared. Only some bricks can be seen on the walls on both sides of the castle doorway, and the female wall has disappeared.
There are cracks and gullies on the wall of the fort, and grass with high chopsticks. Go south carefully along the east wall. There is no one in the city, some apricot trees are scattered sporadically, and there is a foundation in the center of the fort.
Arriving at the southeast corner of Baocheng, you can already see the tourists under the cliff. Seeing a big rush at the bottom of the fort not far from the Nanbao wall, I climbed over and walked down the ravine. It is not difficult to get off the bus according to the path children play in their early years.
According to historian Zheng Zhenduo, "there is not even a broken house in the fort, but it has become a vegetable garden and a wheat field". It is true that the fortress is cultivated land. Can you grow vegetables? It's hard to say that wheat should not be planted. Naked oats are ok, and Datong is rich. But now there are no crops, only some old corn stubble can be seen.
Apricot trees are thick, too. Many of them seem to be transplanted, bearing apricots, neither too much nor too little, and they are not ripe yet. There are also some elms, which are not big and should be wild.
In the castle, clusters of old Artemisia annua and dog tails are shivering, some roots are green, and some thistles climb out of the ground. Obviously, it's deserted and the vegetation is late.
Fortunately, there are dirt roads connecting the inside and outside of the fort. You came all the way from Wengcheng, and you came all the way from the gap in the southwest to see the rut marks, such as horses and chariots passing by.
There is a square altar in the center of the castle, which was obviously rebuilt on the old pedestal. It should be nine stone steps, but I don't know where the stone steps went. There is only a big incense burner made of volcanic rock in the middle of the altar, which seems to be stuck on it. It is very strong and engraved with the words "Blessed to heaven". Fine carving, it should be a modern work at first glance. On the east side of Taitung, many clusters of small elms hold a big elm, which is still lush, and there are still fallen elms on the ground. Some wormwood and green oil were drilled at the bottom of the altar.
Going north, there are five big gaps in the north fort wall, some of which have architectural traces, which is obviously man-made damage. The residual height of the fort wall is six or seven meters. Outside the wall of Beibao, there is a gentle slope downward, and the castle has no backing. The wall of Beibao should be high and thick. As a result, how can it be better inside the castle?
Climbing up the corner platform from the gap in the northwest, I looked around alone, but I could really see the northwest facing Wugongtun Village, and I couldn't help shivering when I heard the dog barking. There are scattered apricot trees outside the fort. Strangely, there is no Daphne in the central and western parts of Yungangding. Most of them are hairy weeds, rye, Artemisia annua and Artemisia annua, but they are not completely covered. Generally speaking, the vegetation above Yungang Grottoes is worse than that below the cliff ditch, and the central and western regions are worse than that in the east.
Looking at Mercedes-Benz vehicles from a distance is like the wind blowing from the jaws of death. The ecology of Datong was good in the Han Dynasty, otherwise the Northern Wei Dynasty would not have built its capital in Datong for nearly a hundred years. In the Ming dynasty, the north suffered from scratching its heart, burning trees to make it far away, burning wasteland to eradicate nomadism, and the ecological damage was great. The sand buried in Youwei City (the old town of Youyu County), and Youyu County was forced to move 50 miles south is conclusive evidence.
Go back to the door of the castle. Huge volcanic rocks on both sides form the bottom five layers, and nine layers of bricks can be seen on the stone strips at the entrance. The doorway (north-south) is14.7m long, and the doorway (east-west) is 6.7m wide.
Wengcheng is about 30 meters long from east to west and 25 meters wide from north to south. There is masonry at the base of the south wall. There are many cracks and gullies on the south outer wall of the west gate of Weng city.
The walls of the urn castle are still intact and windy; The splayed wall outside the castle gate is closed to collect the air in the sun. It can be seen that these two places are overgrown with weeds.
The top width of the splayed wall is slightly narrower and higher than that of the fort wall. The east eight-character wall is 80 meters long and basically intact, and the west eight-character wall is 107.5 meters long, which is seriously damaged and collapsed in one place.
The whole exit of Wengcheng is downhill. I saw a very high earthen platform, which looks like a beacon tower, but it is actually the Jade Emperor Pavilion.
According to Bing Xin, a professor at Yan University, there is a Jade Emperor Pavilion on the stage with broken doors and windows, but there is no one inside. Judging from the inscription on the clock, it was cast in the last year of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty (1644). When the bell rings, the national symbol has been changed! "Obviously, in 1934, there are not only pavilions but also clocks on the stage.
You can see the Jade Emperor Pavilion under the cliff. Look at the old photos of the Republic of China. There are jade emperor pavilion and pedestal on the stage, and there are no three holes on the east side. It is estimated that this cave was built in the late Republic of China and later. In fact, there is another hole to the east of the three holes. Looking at the stone self-closed cave, it is suspected that there is no slurry, so there are many caves in Kouquanyu and Yungangyu.
Walking into the cave, there are stains, broken stoves and rotten bricks on the cave wall.
There is a gully slightly to the east in the eight-character wall, and under the gully is the 12 hole, which is the channel for the cliff to take water and communicate with the upper and lower castles, and this is the boundary between the central and western regions.
Then turn back and pass through the gap in the west eight-character wall, which is the biggest gap in the southwest corner of the castle. Looking back at the castle, the urn is round and high, and it is the most powerful.
V. Wei Temple Site in Northwest China
It's almost the end to the west, when I hesitated, I suddenly saw a site. It suddenly occurred to me that this is a site of West Temple discovered on 20 10, which is located slightly east of the top of Cave 33. This is a relatively complete temple site in the Northern Wei Dynasty, including North Gallery, East Gallery, West Gallery, South Gallery, Taki and Brick Kiln. Among them, the site of Beilangfang is 6 1.5 meters long and consists of 15 rooms, with 12 column foundations in front of the house. The remains of West Gallery House are13.5m long, with 2 rooms. There are about 18m relics of the East Corridor, with 3 rooms. The square tower foundation is about 14 meters long, and there are two brick kiln relics.
Confirmed by authoritative experts in China, this temple site and the temple site at the top of Caves 5 and 6 are the ruins of the Northern Wei Dynasty, which is the earliest existing Buddhist temple site in China.
I thought that Yungangding was so vast and the Northern Wei Dynasty was so powerful, there must be such a relic. Maybe digging a hole will reveal one.
Further west, you will reach Xiyatou, which is the sharp turn of Shili River. Swallows are roaring and looking forward to life. It can be said that there is sound on the river, and thousands of feet is the most dangerous.
Trees are towering under the cliff, flowers are in full bloom, and everywhere is full of vitality and green.
Later, I heard that the ruins and sites of the Northern Wei Temple on the top of Yungang Mountain were buried and protected, and Yungang Mountain became a restricted area, which was necessary for the continuous flow of cold springs in Shigu and the sustainable development of Yungang Scenic Area.
Postscript: Zhao Zhuo, an old classmate, spent more than ten years in Yungang in his early years. He used to be the deputy mayor of Yungang Town and the deputy director of Yungang Management Committee. Committed to Yungang repair, planning the big Buddha event. He said that there was a drought in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and Yungang without rain was the most effective way to ask for rain. These are unknown, but they will be stationed around Wu Zhou.
About the author: Liu Junxi, a native of Tongchuan, northern Shaanxi, has lived in Datong for a long time, is a senior lecturer and a member of Datong Writers Association. Mainly engaged in the construction and teaching of thermal power generation, like to explore the trees and stars of literature and history. See Shanxi Workers Daily, Datong Daily, Dianjian, Taiyuan Road and other media.