Community property jianhongse inn

Desert, solitary smoke, post station and beacon tower are often seen in Tang poetry and Song poetry. Beacon towers can still be seen in some rural areas, and there are really not many left.

But in Nandong Village, Xiluo Town, Shouyang County, Shanxi Province, I really saw the "red" post station, because this is a typical Taihang Mountain area. The post station is built with red stones unique to Taihang Mountain, and the whole station is red. Let's call it "Red Post Station".

The post office is located in the east of the village. A row of seven-hole caves made of stone stands neatly in front of people. The cave sits west facing east, with a courtyard, which is quiet and quiet. Standing in front of the post station, looking eastward, you can see the lush and continuous mountains and valleys, which are spectacular and breathtaking.

The villagers told me that there was an ancient road not far from the opposite side, which was clearly visible. There must be many traces left by pedestrians. Back in those days, people bid farewell to their relatives in their hometown, went out to make a living, camped out in the wild, went in and out of the mountains, or suddenly saw a unique post office in hot summer or cold winter. What should it feel like? I must have experienced a series of surprises. It is reasonable to hurry here, make a sharp one, spend the night, wash away the dust, and then walk on the road in high spirits the next day. Such a thought, in front of my eyes, seems to see an ancient unicycle, coming from far and near, lingering in my ear is the sound of vicissitudes. ...

Looking back carefully, the building materials used in the post station are all common red stones in Taihang Mountain area. This kind of stone has slow weathering, clear texture and durability. Taihang Mountain is everywhere, and every family needs to build a house. Even the sheepfolds and toilets are made of red stones. It's really common, it's really an old saying, relying on mountains to eat mountains.

Judging from the appearance of the post station, this is a typical Taihang residential style. These caves are made of stones from the ground to the top. It can be said that the stones are interlinked and crowded with each other. What is even more peculiar is that there is very little soil used, and some places even have no traces of soil, which is clean. Except for the stones, the only difference is that there are gaps between the stones, but they are not leveled with mud. They are completely original and completely stone kilns!

Looking at the internal structure of the cave, it does have its strangeness, tall, spacious and bright. It is much higher and more spacious than the present house, and the windows are semicircular, which conforms to the mechanical principle. A person walks in it, humming softly, and the echo is very loud, which makes people feel insignificant. Moreover, the walls are very thick and the wall columns are extremely strong. Really can be called indomitable spirit, as steady as Mount Tai.

The villagers said that the biggest feature of these caves is that they are warm in winter and cool in summer, especially in winter, because the stone walls are thick and people don't need to make a fire when they live in them. A few years ago, there was a hole in the village where there were five-guarantee households, and there was a kang shared by farmers.

The time of building the cave is engraved on the front wall outside, which is carefully identified as "February of the 30th year of Guangxu". According to this calculation, it should be February of the lunar calendar in AD 1904. That is to say, this station is 1 18 years old. How long does it take to build such a big cave? When I was working in Taihang Mountain area, I once asked the old farmers in the village. They said that an ordinary cave needs 300 workers from stone mining to completion. In this case, the post station in front of me needs more time and more workload, whether it is the floor space or the height and width of the building. We have to admire the superb wisdom and perseverance of our predecessors.

Regrettably, a few years ago, the village transformed the stone-paved ground into floor tiles, which seemed like a good thing, but in fact it was self-defeating, destroying the original ancient meaning and style, and it was a big failure. What's the difference between this and tearing down the old city and building a new city?

Perhaps when our predecessors built the post station, they would never have thought that an ordinary cave could make future generations draw so many surprises today. However, history is a silent teacher, and as time goes by, he will give a fairer judgment than a teacher with a voice. Therefore, in front of the historical old man, each of us is a primary school student who will never graduate ... rather than looking at the post station, it is better to say that it is silently examining, and each of us has passed by it!