What does Huaixiang mean?

Hongdong Big Sophora Tree

The ancient Sophora japonica tree, also known as the Hongdong Big Sophora japonica tree, is located in the Big Sophora japonica Park on the west side of Jia Village, two kilometers northwest of Hongdong County. , although there are no magnificent buildings in Hongdong here, no matter it is a cold winter or a scorching summer, there is an endless stream of tourists. Some of them wrote poems and inscriptions to express the sentiment of "drinking water and thinking of the source", and some looked up at the ancient locust trees and lingered in nostalgia for a long time. Refuse to leave.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Yuan government continued to use troops abroad and implemented ethnic oppression at home. In addition, continuous floods and famines occurred in the Huanghuai River Basin, which finally triggered the Red Turban Army uprising that lasted for more than ten years. The Yuan government brutally suppressed them, and desperate battles for territory occurred from time to time. Seventy-eighty percent of the people in Lianghuai, Shandong, Hebei, and Henan died. The wounds of the war in the late Yuan Dynasty had not yet been healed, and the "Battle of Jingnan" in the early Ming Dynasty followed one after another. The regions of Hebei, Shandong, Henan, and Anhui were severely affected and became almost uninhabited land. During the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Shanxi, the "mountain and river outside and inside" ruled by Chahan Timur and his son, the armed Mongolian landlords, had a different scene. It was relatively stable, with good weather and good harvests year after year. Compared with neighboring provinces, Shanxi's economy is prosperous and its population is prosperous. Furthermore, a large number of refugees from other provinces also flowed into Shanxi, making Shanxi a densely populated area. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, in order to consolidate the new political power and develop the economy, eight large-scale immigration activities were organized in more than fifty years from the early years of Hongwu to the fifteenth year of Yongle.

Southern Shanxi is a densely populated area in Shanxi, and Hongdong was the largest and most populous county in southern Shanxi at that time. According to records, during the Ming Dynasty, there was a Guangji Temple on the west side of Jia Village, Erhuali, north of Hongdong City. The temple was grand, with majestic buildings, many monks, and endless pilgrims. Next to the temple, there is a Chinese locust tree, which is "several in size and provides shade for several acres." The avenue of carriages and horses passes under the shade of the tree. The old harriers on the Fenhe River beach build nests in the trees, which are dotted all over the place, which is very spectacular. The Ming Dynasty government set up a bureau in Guangji Temple to handle immigration, and the place under the big locust tree became a gathering place for immigrants.

In late autumn, when the locust leaves fall, the old crow’s nest looks very eye-catching. When the immigrants were leaving, they stared at the tall ancient locust trees. The old harriers perched among the branches of the trees kept wailing, which made the immigrants shed tears when they left their homeland. They looked back frequently and couldn't bear to leave. In the end, they could only see the big locust trees. The old crane's nest. For this reason, the big locust tree and the old crane's nest have become symbols of immigrants' farewell to their hometown. "Ask where my ancestors came from, it's the big locust tree in Hongdong, Shanxi. What's the name of my ancestor's hometown? It's the old bird's nest under the big locust tree." This folk song has been widely circulated in many areas of our country for hundreds of years. (According to the villagers in my hometown, our village was moved from Dahuaishu at that time to strengthen the northern border defense. It was also from that time that the family tree in the village was remembered.)

From the early Ming Dynasty Immigrants from Hongdong, Shanxi and other places are mainly distributed in Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Beijing, Anhui, Jiangsu, Hubei and other places, with a small number moving to Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia. Immigrants who moved from Shanxi to the above-mentioned places later moved to Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Xinjiang and the Northeastern provinces. Organized large-scale migration over such a long period of time and over a large area is rare in the history of our country, and this is just one example of dispersing people from one place to other places. The Ming government implemented the policy of immigration to reclaim wasteland and revitalize agriculture. Although its purpose was to consolidate the rule of the feudal dynasty, it objectively eased social conflicts, mobilized farmers' enthusiasm for production, gradually restored agricultural production, consolidated border defense, and stabilized society.

In the second year of the Republic of China, Jing Daqi, a native of Jia Village in Shandong Province, retired and returned to his hometown. He raised funds to build a stele pavilion, teahouse, etc. The stele pavilion was built on the site of the original ancient locust tree. Although the pavilion is not large, it is exquisitely decorated with carved beams and painted pillars, cornices and brackets. There is a bluestone tablet erected in the pavilion, engraved with five official characters "at the ancient locust tree". On the back of the stele pavilion, there is an inscription engraved on it, briefly describing the immigration story. On the west side of the pavilion, there are three teahouses built for tourists seeking their roots to have a rest and drink tea. The lintel plaque of the teahouses has the inscription "Drinking water and thinking of the source". There is an archway built more than 20 meters south of the monument. The banner is engraved with "Yu Yanjia tree" and the other side is engraved with "Shade all living things". In the early 1980s, the Hongdong County Government renovated and expanded Dahuaishu Park.

There are also some stories about migration circulating here. After the Revolution of 1911, Yuan Shikai ordered Shanxi Governor Zhang Xiluan to lead Lu Yongxiang's Third Town Army to attack the Shanxi Revolutionary Army and plunder wherever they went. After arriving at Hongdong, the soldiers came to the ancient locust tree, dismounted their horses and bowed to each other, saying to each other: "I have returned to my hometown of the big locust tree." Not only did they not rob, but they also donated their belongings under the big locust tree. The large locust tree is praised for its role in "preventing disasters".

It is said that when the immigrants immigrated, the officers and soldiers used a knife to cut each person's little toenail as a mark. To this day, the little toenails of all descendants of immigrants from the big locust tree are compound (two petals). "Who is the immigrant from the ancient Sophora japonica? He took off his shoes to check the shape of his little toe." If you are interested, you may wish to check it out yourself.

At that time, in order to prevent the immigrants from escaping, the officers and soldiers tied them up behind their backs, connected them with a long rope, and escorted the immigrants on the road. People turned back step by step. The adults looked at the big locust tree and told the children: "This is our hometown, this is our hometown." To this day, the descendants of immigrants, no matter where they live, all say that the place where the old locust tree is is their hometown. . As the immigrants' arms were tied for a long time, their arms gradually became numb, and they soon got used to it. Later, most immigrants liked to walk with their hands behind their backs, and their descendants also followed this habit.

During the escort process, due to the long journey, people often needed to urinate and had to report to the officers and soldiers: "Sir, please relieve yourself, I need to urinate."

"The more times you use it, the more verbal requests tend to become simpler. As long as you say "Master, I relieve myself", you will understand that you need to urinate. Since then, "relieve" has become synonymous with urination.

When the immigrants arrived in a new place of residence, they had to use their hard-working hands to build houses and cultivate land. No matter what they did, they would be reminded of the mountains and rivers of their hometown. In order to express their longing for their hometown, most of them were placed in their new homes. Sophora trees are planted in the yard and at the gate to express nostalgia and nostalgia for their hometown. Some immigrants named their villages after their place of origin, such as Zhaochengying, Hongtong (Hongdong)ying, and Pu in the suburbs of Beijing. Zhouying, Changziying, etc. indicate that these residents moved from Zhaocheng, Hongdong and other places.

There is a "surname list of the descendants of ancient Sophora japonica" posted in the ancestor worship hut. There are 450 surnames in the country, and their tablets are enshrined, which is much more than the 100 surnames. They all immigrated to all parts of the country six hundred years ago. They have been collected and published on the wall for the purpose of tracing their roots. In recent years, people in mainland China have been competing to compile family trees, and overseas compatriots have searched for their roots and worshiped their ancestors, and have inquired about their blood relationship with the giant locust tree.

Over six hundred years have passed, and the ancient locust tree from the Han Dynasty has ceased to exist and disappeared. Amidst the dust of history, the third-generation locust tree growing next to it has lush branches and leaves, full of vitality. The descendants of locust trees have spread across more than 20 provinces and more than 400 counties across the country, and some are still far away. Some countries and regions in South Asia

Thinking back to the time when our ancestors supported the old and the young and left their hometowns. When they looked back frequently to look at the big locust tree and the old pigeon nest, they shed many sad tears. I wish the big locust tree and the sea Compatriots at home and abroad are always connected by roots and hearts.

Couplet of the big locust tree

The incense sticks are left in the lapel to drink quickly;

The ancient road of Yinqing leans against the setting sun.

Tea can relieve drinking, and the green milk and clear fragrance can bring out the taste of the world;

The pavilion can be seen as a building, and the green locust trees line the road to recognize the nostalgia.

When the willows come to visit the locust tree, you should feel a sense of leaving the country;

The water source is woody, and the kindness of your hometown is still felt today