Chapter 5 High-quality coal was dug out of poor cave dwellings that lived for decades

This is a hill that runs from east to west. A weir at the foot of the mountain, on the sunny side of the ridge, is the mouth of a coal mine. As in other places, under the hard work of the workers under the pit, this "mouth" is constantly "spitting" black coal into the ground day and night. Not far from the mine, there are several cave dwellings plastered with lime mud, which are considered very elegant in the local area. The walls inside the cave are smooth and seamless, and the whole cave is square and round, dry and pleasant. At a glance, you can find that this is a "classic masterpiece" by an "industry" expert.

The "cave owner" is Li Fulai, and his ancestors built caves for others. Cave dwellings are "cave-style" houses dug by Shanxi people according to the natural environment and conditions, following the soil quality of the mountain. Of course, the biggest disadvantage of this kind of house is the lack of lighting.But the advantages are more obvious: warm in winter and cool in summer.Secondly, the construction cost of the cave dwelling "project" is low.If you fancy a piece of earth cliff, according to the wages at that time, you will pay a few buckets of grain, and after a month or two, a cave dwelling smoothed with white lime mud will be formed.Then "wake up" for a few days, and then you can live.

Shanxi is located on the Loess Plateau. In this ocean of loess, in this world of loess, the simple and dull ancestors silently responded to the natural creation of the ancient prehistoric times.Shanxi people live in cave dwellings, which also confirms the life philosophy and attitude of the ancestors who "live as they meet".From the early days of human beings who lived in the wind and dug the ground as caves to later lived in the mountains and dug caves as kilns, they all benefited from the legendary "breathing soil" under their feet - the Loess Plateau, which stores wind and gathers energy.

Today, in the hearts of Shanxi people represented by Old Man Li, the profound yellow culture and inexhaustible loess resources have provided rich architectural imagination and living creativity for the ancestors who lived here for generations, that is to say, the loess Civilization has been integrated into their spiritual world. Today, there are still many people living in cave dwellings in this area. Of course, with the improvement of building materials and craftsmanship, people have made many improvements to the connotation and form of cave dwellings. Some people build "kilns" with locally fired bricks, and some build "flat-top kilns" with reinforced concrete and prefabricated panels.

According to old man Li, in his generation, no one would ask them to make kilns anymore.In other words, his ancestral handicrafts, until his generation.Facing the four sons behind him, he had no choice but to look up to the sky and pray: "'The old man has no sons—make a plan for yourself', you brothers, hurry up and find another way to live!" There is a saying that time does not live, Feng Shui reincarnation. In the early 1980s, at the foot of the hill where old man Li lived, more than a dozen small private "black hole" coal mines popped up all at once. This unremarkable hill once again attracted people's attention.

Later, people often planed and dug all over the mountains and plains with picks in their hands. Locally, digging coal is not called "digging", but "please". In old man Li's spiritual world, "please charcoal" has become a part of his life. Later, coal came out of the mountain, and there was money in my pocket.As a result, people dragged their families and moved to live on the plateau behind the village, leaving the earthen cave dwellings at the foot of the mountain that sheltered the Shanxi people who lived here for generations. "The coal boss at the foot of the mountain can plow coal in the soil, why can't I try it in an earthen cave?"

On this day, old man Li's third son had a whim, so he "invited" on the wall of his earthen cave. When he was estimated to be three feet away, he encountered a layer of rocks, crossed the stones and "please" back, the scene in front of him stunned him: the black coal layer was approaching the tip of his nose!