Travel notes of Yong Dong's hometown

Dongyong's Tomb, Henan Province is located in the southwest of Xiaodong Village, Xiaodong Township, Wuzhi County, Jiaozuo City, close to the Qinhe levee. You can't find it on the map. You can ask the locals. When you see a street leading to the Qinhe levee with a banner of "Hometown of Yong Dong", you will find it. Let's take a look with the camera.

In the distance, you can see the mountain gate with the title "Yong Dong's Former Residence" hanging on it. It says "filial piety is passed on to future generations". The words "loyalty and filial piety" are written above the left and right side doors, and only the right side door is opened. The gate is a brick wall, painted with gray-black walls and decorated with eaves. On both sides of the gate are ordinary houses. Judging from this, this "former residence" is similar to an "exhibition hall".

On the south side of the mountain gate, there is a monument wall with the theme of "Ode to Xiaodong", which records the history of Xiaodong Village and the origin of Dong Shi. Xiaodong village was built in the early summer of Dayu period, with a history of more than 4000 years. In the Han Dynasty, after Yong Dong became the world's dutiful son and treasure champion, four Huai medicines were cultivated and processed here, which was located in the traffic artery of the Central Plains and gradually developed into Dadong Town.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Sima Yi managed water in Huaichuan, diverted the Qinhe River and built a dam along the river. After that, Dadong Town entered a commercial boom period of more than 3,000 years. At the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, wars continued and people lived in poverty. The villagers in Dadong Town fled to various places to take refuge, and the surname of Dong was greatly reduced. At this point, Dadong Town began to decline. Judy, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, ordered him to emigrate from the locust tree in Hongdong, Shanxi. So far, Dong, Sun and their surnames live and work here. In the meantime, due to the small population of Dong, it was renamed Xiaodong Town during the Kangxi period, which has been in use ever since.

Wuzhi belongs to Guhuaiqingfu area and has a long history. Any existing village has a history of thousands of years and a profound cultural heritage. After a general understanding, we took the side door and visited the hospital.

There are 3-4 houses in the whole yard. The house in the north is a tile-roofed house, an ordinary house with a stone incense burner at the door, which burns incense every day. It can be seen that there are gods enshrined in the house. There is a locust tree in the center of the courtyard, surrounded by four Zhou Tie bars; Banners were hung on the wall of the West Courtyard, and a monument wall was built inside.

There are two houses on each side of the side door, and stone tablets are built in the wall adjacent to the mountain gate. The tablet computer is a "merit tablet computer". The content of the monument is to record the enthusiastic people who donated "Yong Dong's former residence" that year. Some donors carve the tablet separately according to the amount of donations, so that future generations can remember it.

There are several stone tablets on the wall of the West Courtyard, namely Dongyong's Tomb Story, Dongyong's Tomb, Legend of Yong Dong and Dong Yongchuan, which introduce the life of Yong Dong and the earliest building scale in Dongyong's Tomb. So far, I can only see this stone tablet engraved with "Dongyong's Tomb".

Yong Dong's story spread in Hubei and Shandong, similar to that in Henan. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yong Dong lost his mother when he was young, and his family was poor. After several floods in my hometown, the only Dong Fu who lived alone died one after another. In order to bury his father, Yong Dong had to entrust himself to the rich people in the village as slaves, working hard during the day and guarding his parents' graves at night.

Yong Dong's story touched the jade emperor's seventh daughter. The seven fairies secretly descended to Yong Dong, the owner of the house, to pay their debts. Using the skills of the fairy family, they could weave a hundred silks and satins in a blink of an eye. The seven fairies and Yong Dong got married under the big pagoda tree at the edge of the village, and the big pagoda tree became a witness of faithful love.

When the jade emperor learned that the seven fairies had secretly descended to earth and become mortal wives, Yan Long was furious and forced the heavenly soldiers to take them back and put them in prison. However, the seven fairies have firm faith and eternal heart, and vowed to live and die with Yong Dong and never part. The Jade Emperor couldn't bear it any longer, and agreed that the seven fairies would return to earth and marry Dong Yongyong. In the legend of Dong Yong in Henan Province, local characteristic elements were added. According to legend, Rehmannia glutinosa, Chinese yam, Achyranthes bidentata and chrysanthemum were brought from heaven by the seven fairies to benefit the people of Huaichuan.

After seeing the wall engraved with stone tablets, let's take a look at the main room in the yard. There is a couplet at the door, the first part is "the reputation of the seven immortals is spread in XX", and the second part is "Dong Gongxiao is the foundation of filial piety". The seven fairies are beautiful and brave, and dare to pursue their own love. As the eldest son, Dong Gong naturally wins the favor of fairies.

The structure of the house is an old-fashioned tile house with wooden beams. This is an old house in the 1980s. When I went in, some villagers were chatting, but I didn't quite understand the dialect. There are statues of Yong Dong and the Seven Fairies at the door, and there are boys and girls on both sides of Yong Dong and the Seven Fairies. Judging from the scene setting, Yong Dong was a happy family.

There are many banners hanging on the wall of the room, the content of which is "Send a child to make meritorious service" and "Unlimited meritorious service". All the banners have specific names and times, indicating that it has become a necessary place for pilgrims to pray for family happiness and prosperity. Although local customs are different, everyone's pursuit of the future is the same.

Yong Dong's story has been passed down through the ages, and Yong Dong's filial piety quality has been compiled into Twenty-four Filial Pieties, which belongs to the traditional culture of the Chinese nation and conforms to the current social JZG. According to the legend of "Dong Yong and the Seven Fairys", later generations adapted it into a love story of "Fairy Descending from Earth", which was widely celebrated.

After coming out of the Seventh Fairy Palace in Yong Dong, you can see an altar dedicated to Sophora japonica on the north side of the mountain gate. It is a very effective marriage venue.

After coming out of my hometown in Yong Dong, I felt a lot. Later generations took pains to build temples, warning us that there are two core ideas in Yong Dong's story. The first is to spread filial piety, and the second is to encourage everyone to bravely pursue their love, be faithful, love their country and family, treat others sincerely and do things seriously. As long as there is goodness in my heart, I will definitely wait for everyone's "seven fairies".