What is the Henan "enclave" in Hubei Province?

Exploring the "enclave" in Nanyang, Hubei Province

Perhaps many people don't know that there is a unique "enclave" in Henan. It is a village with only 278 people, with an area of only 1.400 mu. The village flew to Hubei like a mythical flying carpet. The residents of the enclave make a living by eating the water, taking the road and marrying girls in Hubei. How is it formed? Where do the villagers come from? What's the situation now?

Henan "enclave" is surrounded by Hubei villages.

Anyone who has been to Jingziguan Town, Xichuan County, Nanyang City, says that its "one street in Qing Dynasty" and "three provinces and one foot" are very interesting; When we went to interview, Lu Peng, a town cadre, said, I'm afraid many people don't know that there is a more interesting place here. The only "enclave" in Henan is completely in Hubei.

This "enclave" is actually just a natural village called Shicaogou Village, which is eight or nine kilometers away from Jingziguan Town.

After the reporter arrived, Director Jia of Shicaogou Village led the reporter to climb the western hill of the village, and the terrain of the whole village was seen more clearly: surrounded by mountains on three sides, it actually became an independent whole, much like a complete space dropped by Henan in the hinterland of Hubei.

How big is this space? Director Jia said: "A few years ago, satellite positioning measured the village's land area of 1.400 mu, with 340 mu of cultivated land and the rest barren hills."

Standing at the top of Xishan Mountain, you can see Sigou Village, Bailang Town, Yunxian County, Hubei Province at the foot of Xishan Mountain. The two villages are bounded by a bright field path at the top of the mountain, and turmeric is planted on both sides of the road. Director Jia said that Nanshan is adjacent to Dayugou Village in Bailang Town and adjacent to Donggou Village in Bailang Town in the southeast. There is no clear dividing line between them, but the natural path on the ridge is the boundary.

More than 30 years ago, because of the border issue, there were frequent conflicts with Donggou Village. Helpless, they planted rows of cypress trees on the ridge of the field, and now they are as thick as a bowl, and they can be seen from far away from the western hills.

A legend makes Henan an "enclave"

How did this isolated site become an "enclave" in Henan?

Director Jia said that there is no exact record in history, only a legend passed down from generation to generation, saying that there was a Hongmen Temple at the foot of Longtou Mountain where their village was located at that time, and a group of monks with high martial arts lived in the temple. They run amok in this area, making the local people miserable. At that time, it was under the jurisdiction of Yunxian County, Hubei Province, and the people repeatedly reflected to the Yunxian government that they wanted to eradicate these traitors. Yunxian county government is 90 kilometers away from here. When they sent troops, the monks got the news and ran away. After the troops retreated, the monks returned to continue their evil deeds.

Later, a minister of North Korea learned that since the Hubei government was unable to manage it, it was better to hand it over to Henan. At that time, Jingziguan Town was a commercial town with developed land and water transportation. The government stationed a large number of troops. After receiving the order, the local troops acted quickly, and the monks were caught off guard, and Hongmen Temple was stripped to the ground. Since then, residents can live and work in peace and contentment. In order to thank Henan for its help, Hubei put the Hongmen Temple area under the jurisdiction of Jingziguan Town.

Is there any basis for this legend? Director Jia said that there used to be a Hongmen Temple here, just in the Beishangou of Shicaogou. According to the old people, bricks were dug out from there. The stone trough is still lying in the waist opposite the green hill. When it rains in summer, you can take a bath in it, which is full of water.

The "enclave" existed during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty.

When Shicaogou Village was included in Jingziguan Town, was there anyone living here?

The 80-year-old Jia Suilin said that when he was a child, he heard the old man say that there was no one living here, just a barren ditch. No one has lived here since their Jia family and Wang family came here.

Jia's ancestral home is Hongdong County, Shanxi Province. During the immigration tide in the early Ming Dynasty, they were forced to leave their homes and move to Shigang, the inner town. Because of the poor local living conditions, a young man surnamed Wang and a young man surnamed Jia secretly moved to Chengwa Village, Jingziguan Town with their wives.

Young man and young man Jia are cousins, and they both know carpentry. During the slack season, they often make furniture for people to supplement their families. One day, when they came to Donggou Village, Hubei Province to chat with their employers, they lamented that Donggou Village had a good geographical location, not only good fields, but also no need to worry about being flooded.

The employer is also kind, saying that there is a barren ditch directly above the mountain ridge, and no one has lived there. You can move there. The two brothers went to have a look and thought it was a good place, so they moved in and settled down. Because there is a stone trough on the mountain and a ditch in the village, they named this village Shicaogou Village. "Because the land is under the jurisdiction of Jingziguan Town, they began to pay taxes to Jingziguan Town after they moved in." Jia Suilin said.

How many generations have Jia and Wang lived here? Director Jia said that the two families did not leave a genealogy, so it's hard to say. But the Jia family still has some physical evidence to prove that they really lived here for a long time. In Jia's home, there is still an ancient stone mill and a horizontal plaque handed down from his family. This horizontal plaque is engraved with the words "Cihui Yongnian", and has a preface that it was given to the 73-year-old respected grandmother in the village at that time, and it was signed by Daoguang for 23 years.

Psychological attribution of "enclave" villagers

Living in Hubei, whether traveling or living, has many inconveniences.

Wang Youlin, a villager, said that when the road was not repaired, the biggest headache was that there was no way out in the village. When they left the village, they all went out with the water in the ditch. They went to jingziguan town to pay the public grain, all of them were carried by others, and bicycles and shelf cars were not needed at all. It is also inconvenient for children in the village to go to school, because there is only one primary school, and it is also a compound class for grades one to four. The child went to jingziguan town in the fifth grade junior high school. "In fact, there is a school in Hubei nearby. Because it is not a province, it cannot enter other people's schools." In addition, all calls to Henan are long distance.

Even so, the villagers are still unwilling to be placed under the management of Hubei. Wang Youfang, a villager, said that in the early days of liberation, government workers in Yangxi Township (now renamed Bailang Town) in Hubei Province found villagers in Shicaogou Village and mobilized them to belong to Huigou Village in the township, which made it easier to pay public grain, hold meetings and send their children to school, but they were resolutely opposed by the villagers. The villagers said: "Our ancestors were all from Henan. How can it be classified as Hubei? "

Wang Youfang said that because their ancestors were all from Henan, they have a greater sense of identity with Henan both in terms of customs and psychology. Although surrounded by Hubei villages for a long time, more than 80% of the daughter-in-law in the village are from Hubei, but their living habits are still different from those in Hubei. They still like to eat noodles or listen to Henan opera, and the principle of life is different from that of Hubei people. It is for this reason that although more than 80% of the daughters-in-law married in Shicaogou village are Hubei girls, the girls in Shicaogou village are reluctant to marry Hubei people, and they basically choose Henan people.