Chapter 70 Shanxi Merchants' House

Originally, after inspecting Guangsheng Temple, their mission for this trip was considered over.But when they read the county annals of Zhao County, they unexpectedly found that there was a Xingtang Temple built in the Tang Dynasty in Huoshan Mountain, thirty miles east of the city.From the map, Xingtang Temple is only 20 miles away from Guangsheng Temple.But after inquiring later, I found out that there is no way to go from Guangsheng Temple to Xingtang Temple. You have to go down the mountain and go around, and then turn back to Huoshan and go up the mountain 20 miles east to get there.However, since they have already arrived here, and it is another Tang Dynasty building that they have been looking for for a long time, how can they let it go in vain.So after they finished the inspection of Guangsheng Temple, they set off for Xingtang Temple without taking a rest.

It was 9 o'clock in the morning when we left Guangsheng Temple and went down the mountain.They walked on the winding mountain road for a whole day, and it was already 9 o'clock in the evening when they re-entered the mountain!It was dark in the valley, and the mountain wind was blowing in all directions, and the peaks ahead approached like a huge barrier.The sky was narrowed by the mountains, and a star or two shone ghostly in the narrow sky.Huiyin, Sicheng, and Fei Zhengqing were walking on the mountain road on foot, and the porters drove their mules with their luggage behind them.He was holding the mule with one hand, groping the rocks with the other, and he could only hear him muttering incessantly: "Bodhisattva bless you." Sicheng and Huiyin were too tired to speak a word, and they could only hear each other's heavy weight in the darkness. gasp.But they dare not stop and rest, because they know that once they stop, they may not want to go forward even a step.The road gets harder and harder.Dangerous rocks scattered on the cliff, dead branches slanted, and they saw the faint lights among the pines and cypresses from a distance. They thought they had reached their destination, and rushed to the light.It looked like this was a temple, and when they entered the temple, the monks told them that this was the mountain temple of Huoshan, several miles away from Xingtang Temple.A group of people were discouraged, so they had to make the mistake of staying here.

The next day, they arrived at Xingtang Temple, and all their hopes were dashed.Although Xingtang Temple is hidden deep in the mountains, it is unknown when it was destroyed.The present monasteries were all rebuilt later, with modest temple gates and a few Qing-style small halls. The statues in the halls are very modest, and some of them have glass covers, which look very vulgar.There is not a single building in the entire Xingtang Temple that is worth investigating and recording.This is not the first time something like this has happened during the investigation.I often heard that there was such an ancient building somewhere, and after a lot of hard work, I rushed there, but I was disappointed and returned disappointed.

They didn't run in vain along the way. Along the way, they inspected the folk houses in Shanxi.Farmers in the Yellow River Basin mostly lived in cave dwellings, but to the surprise of the Fairbank couple, there were majestic and pristine gatehouses and courtyards facing the rows of cave dwellings.There are two or three such courtyards in one Zhuangzi.Sicheng and Huiyin told them that these courtyards were the residences of Shanxi merchants who had a huge impact on China's financial industry in the 19th century --- Shanxi merchants who made their fortunes by opening banks and inverting bills of exchange.In the eyes of Fairbank and Fei Weimei, these neatly arranged courtyards with high crenelated walls on the narrow streets are like transplants of medieval Italian urban architecture.

They went to Changjiazhuang in Lingshi County and lived in a compound.Walking into the high wall, there is a courtyard with upper and lower floors and four entrances inside and outside.The courtyard is surrounded by carved beams and painted buildings, the eaves of the corridor are complicated wood carvings, and there is a closed back garden in the depths of the yard. Although it is a fake mountain and fake water, it is also readily available. Huiyin didn't like such a building.Everything here has a gloomy and solemn atmosphere.The tall courtyard walls and shadowed rooms look full of vigilance and hostility. It is a kind of fear and hostility that arises after getting rich and facing the desperate poverty and disparity that can be seen everywhere.In the gloomy courtyard, the long and narrow bluestone corridors appear narrow and tense, and once entering the courtyard without any changes, it appears monotonous and dull.In such an architectural space and spiritual space, how can there be the mind of Shifu Township and benefiting future generations?How can modern life philosophy and business philosophy come into being?It is no wonder that these wealthy and powerful Shanxi merchants at that time will be silently annihilated in the long river of history.