The origin of the place name of Caixi Town

The evolution of the place name of the famous "Caixi" in Shanghang is very interesting. More than 700 years ago, the area around Caixi was deep in the mountains and old forests, with gurgling streams and firewood everywhere. The old couple surnamed Liu who first established a foundation here called this place "Chaixi". To this day, the people of Caixi call this ancient foundation of the Liu family Yuankeng. The Yuan is the beginning.

Many years later, a merchant named Chen who was traveling from Yukou City (now Jiuxian County) to Baishi Village (now Changting County) passed through the hinterland of the mountains and forests of "Chaixi" and lost his way. When hesitating, the man was squatting by the stream holding water to quench his thirst. Suddenly he saw a piece of green vegetable leaf floating in the stream. The merchant was overjoyed and thought that "there must be a home for vegetables", so he went up the stream and came to a large black stone house. The Liu family takes a rest. The merchants believed that the dense forests, mild climate and fertile soil of this area would be beneficial to their descendants, so they renamed "Chaixi" "Caixi" as a commemoration.

A few years later, the merchant surnamed Chen really gave up business and started farming. He led his children and grandchildren back to the old place and set up camp to develop Caixi. At this time, he discovered that there was a large stream running across the north and south of the village. Moreover, the name "Caixi" was too tacky, so he changed the name of this large stream to "Caixi" to show that he would get rich and his fortune would shine brightly. To avoid mistakenly calling it due to the same pronunciation, the Cai River discovered a few years ago was changed to Yuankeng River. After one or two hundred years, many immigrants gradually moved from Ninghuanshibi. The population gradually became denser and the number of cottages increased. At most, there were as many as 24 families with surnames. At that time, young men and women in Caixi Village loved singing folk songs. They use folk songs as a medium for intermarriage to express their love for each other. One year, a girl from Xinan Village and a young man from Xibei Village became a legend about their marriage through folk song duets, which caused a sensation in Caixi. Their voices are mellow and their emotions are sincere. On their wedding day, a scholar wrote a couplet on the door of their new house:

A talented woman and a talented man formed a good relationship and danced together with Qingluan

Xinan and Xibei became a couple. Purple Swallows Fly Together

Later, people used the first characters of each couplet as place names, which was Caixi.