In the Han Dynasty, our village was still a very small village. It would be better to call it a village. It would be more appropriate to call it a deserted island in a lake. It could be seen from the landscape from decades ago. Our village didn't have a proper main street. Probably in the prehistoric era of the Han Dynasty, there was no need for a main street. Therefore, the current location of the main street was a deep ditch. After this ditch reached the back of my house, it divided into three ditches that went north, south, and west. The topography of our village is high in the east and low in the west. The ditch from the east was two and a half meters deep before it split. The terrain on the west side was level with the bottom of the ditch. The ditch in the west was connected to the ditch in the east, so it was two and a half meters deep even if it extended westward. Therefore, there was a water level difference here. When the water flow was high, it looked like a waterfall from afar, so people called this place a water dustpan. The ditch on the west side was connected to the ditch on the south side. The ditch on the west and the ditch on the north were also connected. I think this is probably the trace left by the ancient river during the Han Dynasty.
There was a temple on each side of the water dustpan. There was a platform outside each temple wall. People liked to chat here at night during the hot summer to avoid the heat. During winter, they liked to bask in the sun and chat. Therefore, people called this place the Twin Temples.
A mile further west, there was a pond that was about ten acres in size. If one measured the depth of this pond along the bottom of the ditch, it would be more than ten feet deep. People called this place Halfway Ravine. Later, due to the old scholar, this place was renamed Half-Calamity Ravine. As for why the predecessors called it Half-ditch, I don't know. I think it's probably because of the location of this place. This place is located in the middle of the west and east of our village. Our village was four li away from the village in the east and ten li away from the village in the west. At that time, the distance between the east and west of the village was about three li. After the ditch that ran from east to west reached here, it was flat with the bottom of the ditch. There was a platform that was nearly two meters wide along the walls of the pond on both sides. It was like a road, but it was actually a road.
This ditch ran from east to west. During the dry season, it was a traffic artery that led from the western mountains to the eastern plains. Due to the existence of ditches or rivers, the layout of the village seemed to be scattered. The main ones were the Guo family in the northernmost corner, and the Sun family in the east and north of the ditch. The Zhang family on the edge of the ditch in the southeast, and the hundreds of families with mixed surnames in the southeast corner. North ditch, north of Shang clan, northwest corner of Zhang clan. To the south, the Du family on the edge of the south ditch went south to the Guo family at the southernmost end. The Lei family on the westernmost side of the north ditch, the Wang family on the north, and the Sun family on the westernmost side of the south ditch. This was the basic distribution of people in the village. There were about 600 to 700 households in the village. However, a family surnamed Sun lived next to the north ditch. There were two families living next to the south ditch. One family was surnamed Liu, while the other was surnamed Wang. These families were scattered among other surnames and lived together. Moreover, they were all at the westernmost end of the village. As for the two families with mixed surnames on the south side, the Liu family was on the east side, and the Wang family was on the west side. At the place where the river diverged, the west side was divided into the north and south by the river that led to the west. The river in the east was also divided into the north and south. It was also at this place where the river diverged that there was an obvious difference in the terrain between the east and the west. It was also here that the surface of the east and west fell vertically. The western platform was three to four meters lower than the eastern platform. And all the houses were on the eastern platform. The first family on the west side of the river was surnamed Sun. The first family in the south and west was surnamed Wang, and the second family was surnamed Liu. Therefore, as long as people could see and understand what was happening in Half Calamity Ravine, it would not escape the eyes of these families.
The origin of the name Half-Banded Ravine is even more than the origin of our village. How did the name of the village come about without a version? However, there were three versions of Half-section Valley's history. The first legend was about the Great Tang's Yuchi Gong. It had already been said before, so I won't repeat it here.
The second legend was about Yang Liulang of the Song Dynasty. He fled here after being defeated in Youzhou. In a desperate situation, he used his spear to dig out half of the ditch. In an instant, all the water in the ditch was gathered in half of the ditch, blocking the pursuers and saving the lives of himself and the soldiers. As for Half-ditch, it described Yang Liulang's spear as a treasured spear, and the person as shen power.
The third legend was about a king of an unknown dynasty (possibly the Han Dynasty) who wanted to build a tomb on a mountain not far away, but the mountain was surrounded by water and could not be built. Therefore, someone suggested that they should dig a large and deep ditch in this place to divert the water around the mountain. The prince did as he was told, and the water really came. When the tomb was completed, Wang Ye thought that it was inappropriate. The entrance to the tomb could not be opened in a conspicuous place or close to the tomb. That would make it easy for theft. Therefore, the exit of the tomb was in the middle of the ditch. He also killed all the people who built the tomb and threw them into the pond in Banjiegou.
By the early 1920s, the river here had ceased to exist. Only in the summer when there was sufficient rain could the water from the Hetao in the western mountainous area flow into Banjiegou continuously. The water from the east was intermittent. This was because the water flowing from the east was mainly rainwater and sewage.
It was also during this era that the people in the village saw a very strange scene in Half Calamity Ravine. That was, he could see a crazy old woman almost every day at the same time. Although she was called a crazy old woman, she was actually a woman in her forties. She had a flowery bag slung across her body and a flowery headscarf wrapped around her head. Moreover, she had short hair. He held a big broom in his hand and sang as he walked. And the cross step, which was now known as the Yangge step, was sung as follows: "The sun rises in the east and brightens in the west. With the moon, the stars will lose their light. The Republic of China changed its course, tearing down temples and building schools."
It was this crazy woman who appeared on time at the northern edge of the easternmost river ditch every day. She sang, danced, and walked. Moreover, that big broom kept sweeping. He muttered,"Strange, strange, strange, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful." This world was really wonderful. Men's braids were gone, but women had to enlarge their feet. Every household did not celebrate the new year, but they fired cannons every day, running around, running around, and paper money floated everywhere on the streets. It was better to do good deeds, and evil deeds must be repaid by heaven.”These few sentences were recited as if they were reciting an allegro. And when she was reciting these lines, she didn't dance anymore. She just walked and swept along with the rhythm. After he finished reading, he jumped three steps forward and then repeated the Yangge dance and lyrics. The rhythm and frequency of each time would not be messed up, and the time of the day would not be wrong. Every morning at six o'clock, this woman would appear on time from the easternmost ditch to the north. After that, they would pass by the village and disappear at Half Calamity Ravine. It would take a total of two and a half hours. When they arrived at Banjie Ravine, they repeated the same three rounds of talking, singing, walking, and dancing. However, no one had ever seen how it disappeared in the end. In any case, after walking three rounds here, this person disappeared. Some people said that this place was deep in the ditch and dense in the forest. The vegetation was lush, and they rolled into the grass when people were not paying attention. Some people said that there was a secret passage in the Half Calamity Ravine and they had walked through it. Moreover, there were many versions of this woman. Some people said that this woman was a lunatic, while others said that this woman was an immortal. Otherwise, how could he be so accurate! Indeed, within a few years, almost every temple and temple in the village had been transformed into a school. The so-called private schools in the past were also abolished, and public schools were established. The Keeper's research was different from the previous version."I don't admit that this legendary woman is crazy, nor do I agree that this woman is an immortal. I think this woman is a former representative of the revolutionary party. This was because the 1911 Revolution, which had been initiated by the Guomindang at that time, was not thorough. Just as our great leader Mao said, the mobilization of the masses was not thorough, and the role of the peasants in this movement was ignored. Therefore, as a village far away from Guangzhou and Guangzhou; Such a remote and unknown village would not be affected by any new ideas. Therefore, I believe that this woman, at that time, was using the identity of a madman as a cover, but in fact, she was promoting for the National Party.
It was this woman who had disappeared from an unknown place, and no one knew exactly when she had disappeared. Anyway, in the village at that time, whether it was in legends or records, there was no accurate time. Everyone only knew when they had not seen this woman again.
However, not everyone could not tell the exact time. In this village, there were only two people who could say it. However, these two people disappeared almost at the same time as this crazy woman, and they did disappear at the same time. However, the people in the village could not tell the exact time when these two people disappeared. Only a few people knew the exact time when these two people disappeared. The second house on the west side of the ravine, the mistress of the Liu family. Other than her, even the three-year-old son of the Liu family could not tell the exact time when his father disappeared. Then there was the first house on the west side of the ditch, the mistress of the Old Wang family. One of the two people who disappeared was Liu Zhentian, the head of the Liu family. One was the eldest son of the Wang Clan, Wang Wenhai. Liu Zhentian and Wang Wenhai were old relatives. Liu Zhentian was old, but his seniority was low. He had to call Wang Wenhai, who was twelve years younger than him, uncle. When the two of them disappeared, Wang Wenhai was sixteen years old and Liu Zhentian was twenty-eight years old. Why did we use the word 'disappeared' to describe these two people and not other words? This was because both the Liu family and the Wang family only knew the exact time when the two of them disappeared, but where did they go? To do what? Indeed, no one knew.
The villagers were discussing the sudden disappearance of the two people without any warning. One spread to ten, ten spread to a hundred. Although the legends were all different, there was still one thing in common. People often said,"Liu Zhentian left without saying a word because his family couldn't make ends meet and he owed too much debt. Firstly, he could get rid of his debts, and secondly, he could save himself the trouble of staying at home. But why did the eldest son of the Wang family leave?”"Sigh! Who said it wasn't! Liu Zhentian originally had some family business, but he did not live up to expectations. Eating, drinking, whoring and gambling all day long ruined the scenery. But now that he was gone, how would the orphans and widows survive? The reason why the eldest son of the Wang family left was really troublesome. The Wang family was rich! The eldest son of the Wang family was also someone who had studied in the residence. People are smart and intelligent. How did she end up with Liu Zhentian? It takes a lot of effort." "What do you know! Aren't the two families relatives? Moreover, wasn't Liu Zhentian also someone who had studied in a prestigious school? People who had studied in university were willing to stay with people who had studied in university. However! If it wasn't for the Wang family helping Liu Zhentian, Liu Zhentian's family would have starved to death. Even if Liu Zhentian left, Liu Zhentian's wife and son would not suffer. The Wang family would not sit idly by. The Wang family had such a large family business, and Old Master Wang was a big timber merchant! She still has a reputation in the residence! There were still hundreds of acres of fertile farmland in the east of the village, so there was no need to add one or two more mouths. Moreover, the second daughter and the second son of the Wang family still needed someone to take care of them! Moreover, the second son of the Wang family was almost the same age as Liu Zhentian's son. At most, Liu Zhentian's wife would become a mother for the Wang family. Anyway, the two families were relatives and neighbors.”
Discussions were discussions, legends were legends. Just two years before the two of them disappeared, it was indeed as people said. Liu Zhentian's daughter-in-law had indeed become the Wang family's mother. Firstly, she had to take care of the Wang family's second son and second daughter. At the same time, she also took care of her child. After all, the two families were relatives. Moreover, the mistress of the Wang family was honest and kind. He did not treat Liu Zhentian's wife and children as outsiders. He ate the same food as his family and used the same food as his family. He had never treated Liu Zhentian's wife and children as his own.
However, in the third year, things took a turn for the better. From the third year after Liu Zhentian and Wang Wenhai disappeared, at the same time every year, a person would ride a fast horse to deliver money to the Liu family. No one knew the number of gifts, but everyone knew that it was quite a lot. This was because Liu Zhentian's woman was no longer the Wang Family's nanny. It was also from then on that she started to purchase properties, land, and fields. They also began to use long-term and short-term workers. In the late 1920s, due to a special incident, the Liu family became a magnificent house in just a few years, and servants were used in the house. Liu Zhentian's wife and son also wore silk. In the countryside at that time, especially in our village, only extraordinary families could have such an imposing manner! His family business was almost on par with the Wang family.
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