Sister in law tower

Sister in law tower

Gusao tower is located in Baogai mountain, Shishi City, also known as "longevity tower" and "Guansuo tower". It was built in Shaoxing of Southern Song Dynasty and has a history of more than 800 years. Gusao pagoda is close to Quanzhou Bay and faces the Taiwan Strait. It is also called "guansuota" because of the momentum of locking the water mouth and guarding the southeast. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Quanzhou port was one of the largest trade ports in the world. Its foreign trade was very prosperous and it had business relations with more than 70 countries and regions. At that time, sister-in-law tower became a navigation mark for ships on the sea.

brief introduction

Gusao tower covers an area of 325 square meters, 21.65 meters high, octagonal five story, imitation Pavilion style granite hollow stone tower. There is an arched stone gate in the northwest of the first floor. There are two openings in the second to fifth floors. The corner is in the shape of plum blossom, and the dome shaped bucket arch is placed on the top. The tower body shrinks from bottom to top layer by layer, and each layer overlaps the eaves. Outside there is an ambulatory fence around, inside there are stone steps around the top of the tower. On the forehead of the second floor, the four characters "longevity pagoda" are engraved. On the outer wall of the top floor, there is a square stone niche. In the niche, two female figures are engraved, which are the images of aunt and sister-in-law. This legend is also recorded in the book of min written by he Qiaoyuan in the Ming Dynasty, which shows that the story of Gusao pagoda has been handed down as early as the Ming Dynasty.

Facing the Taiwan Strait, Baogai mountain stands aloof and rises from the ground; on the top of the mountain, aunt's tower is towering and tall. Climb overlooking, Spring South shape victory, sea and sky scenery, panoramic view. Gusao tower has become a navigation mark for ships entering and leaving Quanzhou port and a symbol for the hometown of overseas Chinese in Southern Fujian.

Legend

It is said that a long time ago, there was a peasant family at the foot of the stone lion Baogai mountain. After their parents died, the brothers and sisters depended on each other. Later, brother a married a wife. The wife is very virtuous and kind to her sister-in-law. Although the three members of the family lived a miserable life, they also lived a plain life without lack of happiness.

There was a year of drought, no rain, no grain. Since ancient times, there have been few fields and many people in Southern Fujian, and when people encountered disasters, they were unable to make a living, so they went to Nanyang one after another. Brother a had to discuss with his wife and sister and follow his fellow countrymen to Nanyang. Brother a went to Nanyang, but he didn't go home for several years and didn't send a letter. Whether he is dead or alive, good or bad, is really worrying for both of them. My sister-in-law and I often go up to the top of Baogai mountain and look at the sea, but each time we can only see a gray sea. How can I have brother a's sail?

In order to get a better view of the sea, they carried stones again and again, piled them up and became a high platform. They stood on the stone platform, stood on tiptoe and kept looking forward to it. But after one month, another year, another year, brother a still didn't come back. One day, my sister-in-law and I saw the children flying kites. They thought that they could write a letter, tie it to the kite and let the kite fly to Nanyang with the wind. But to fly a kite, you have to have a kite rope. They cut off their long hair and twisted it into a kite string.

The kite, tied with a letter from home, flew over Nanyang and fell down. The letter tied to the kite was picked up by the fans and passed to brother a. It turns out that brother a didn't find a good way out after he arrived in Nanyang. He was out there and had no face to write to his family. After reading the blood and tears written by his aunt and sister-in-law, he wept bitterly and hurriedly packed up and went back to his hometown.

This day, the weather is fine, the aunt and sister-in-law two people boarded the platform of Baogai peak, overlooking the sea. After a while, Guifan appeared in the sea, and the gathering of relatives was in front of us. However, in this moment, the strong wind, waves, the ship capsized. My sister-in-law watched as her husband and brother were buried in the sea. She cried bitterly and jumped to the cliff to commit suicide. Later, in memory of the two sisters, the villagers built a stone pagoda, called sister-in-law pagoda, at the place where sister-in-law and sister-in-law piled stone platforms. Of course, this is a legend, but the legend of Gusao pagoda is a historical witness of the emigration of overseas Chinese and a record of the deepest feelings in the world.

Historical records

In Min Shu written by he Qiaoyuan in Ming Dynasty, it is said: "in the past, my sister-in-law was a merchant's wife, and she was a merchant in the sea. After a long time, my sister-in-law looked at it from the tower, just like looking at her husband. Two female statues carved in the tower... " It is also said that in ancient times, there were two aunts and sister-in-law, who were eager to see their relatives across the sea. They built a tower to worship them when they were sad and died.

Gusao pagoda was built in Shaoxing of Southern Song Dynasty. According to historical records, it was from that time that a large number of ancestors from Jinjiang and Shishi migrated to the Philippines. According to the records of Quanzhou Prefecture, in the 650 years from the first year of Chongning (1102) of Song Dynasty to the 23rd year of Qianlong (1758) of Qing Dynasty, there were 11 droughts in Quanzhou, which resulted in such tragic situations as "many people starved to death", "many people wandered", "people could not grow into the soil, and people ate each other". In the chaos of war, natural and man-made disasters, a large number of villagers traveled across the ocean, leaving their homes to make a living in the Philippines. Due to the fact that they lived in the Republic of China and settled abroad, their hometown called overseas Chinese "Fanke", which refers to the guests who returned from "foreign countries" to "Tangshan".

He Qiaoyuan, a famous scholar of the time and Dynasty, said in the complete works of Jingshan: "Huaqiao" all deviated from his family, or returned at the end of more than ten years, then his son grew up and did not know each other. Cover the difference between the newly married, married to a few days away. "This shows that the villagers of Jinjiang and Shishi generation went abroad to make a living.

In the early days, the villagers were forced to leave their hometown. Many people who go to the Philippines to make a living have certain agricultural and handicraft production skills. They work in the Philippines, get along well with the Philippine people, develop the Philippine island together, and teach them all kinds of skills. Dr. sadi, a Philippine historian, said: "Chinese bring their motherland's excellent civilization, patience, diligence and long history of national crafts.". According to relevant historical works, Jinjiang, Shishi and Taiwan have been related by blood since at least the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period. Because of the close geographical location, it is convenient for the early Shishi people to immigrate to Taiwan. At the same time, the close political and economic ties also became an important social factor for Shishi people to move to Taiwan in the song and Yuan Dynasties.

building structure

Gusao tower is a hollow stone tower made of granite, which imitates the pavilion style. The tower has five floors and is 21 meters high. According to the mountain situation, it is particularly towering. It is backed by Quanzhou Bay, facing the Taiwan Strait, and has the potential to control Dongming by controlling Southern Xinjiang. There is an arched gate on the west side of the first floor of the tower. There are two openings on each floor above the second floor. The corner of the tower is in the plum blossom shape of a column. The top of the tower is equipped with a protective bucket. The tower body shrinks upward layer by layer, and each layer overlaps the eaves. There is a fence outside the tower on each floor, and there are stone steps inside the tower, leading to the top of the tower. "Longevity pagoda" is engraved on the forehead of the second floor. There is a square niche on the outer wall of the fifth floor, in which there are stone statues of two girls. It is said that the two girls are aunts and sisters. There is a poem in Su Zixi of Ming Dynasty: "Qiong tree comes out in the sky, flying sails take the moon away. Two imperial concubines ring, autumn is Xiaoxiao This poem is about sister-in-law tower.

historical significance

The story of Gusao pagoda is of course a legend, but it is a witness of the miserable life and miserable experience of the people in the hometown of overseas Chinese, and also a witness of the history of the people in the hometown of overseas Chinese emigrating abroad. Shishi City is a well-known hometown of overseas Chinese in South Fujian and an area closely related to Hong Kong and Taiwan. By 2014, there were more than 300000 overseas Chinese, foreign Chinese, and compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao. The family members of overseas Chinese accounted for 80% of the total population of Shishi City. Overseas Chinese in Shishi are mainly distributed in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Japan, the United States, Canada and other countries. Shishi and Taiwan Strait face each other across the sea, with a long geographical and blood relationship. There are more than 300000 Taiwan compatriots whose ancestral home is Shishi City. At present, there are two or three hundred Taiwan compatriots living in Shishi City.

Gusao pagoda is not only a witness of the early Shishi villagers leaving their hometown and moving to other countries, but also a witness of today's overseas children returning home to participate in the construction of their hometown and benefit the people of their hometown.

Urgent protection

According to reports, Gusao pagoda was overhauled during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, and has been repaired many times since then. In May 1961, Fujian Provincial People's Committee announced that Gusao pagoda was "the first batch of provincial cultural relics protection units". In 2006, the pagoda was rated as a national cultural relics protection unit. As for the problem of the broken and missing ring-shaped stone guards and iron bars on the second, third and fourth floors of the tower, the person in charge of the municipal museum said that experts who carried out the maritime Silk Road investigation activities a few years ago mentioned that fixing the iron bars on the ring-shaped stone guards by mechanical drilling is only an expedient measure. In fact, they can not effectively protect the stone guards and the ancient pagoda . The iron bars attached to the rock protection were set many years ago. The reporter noticed that due to the long history of wind and rain erosion and oxidation, the iron bars had already turned black and rusted. So what is the reason for the broken stone and iron bar and the lime falling off? Industry analysts believe that, on the one hand, it is affected by natural conditions, on the other hand, it is closely related to man-made destruction. Some tourists do not know how to cherish the cultural relics and facilities, sit on the stone protection to watch the scenery and talk about the world, causing the stone protection and iron bars to be crushed and damaged; some people steal the iron bars as a means of making profits, making many iron bars broken or lost.

In addition to graffiti, some people, including those who go to the mountain to exercise in the morning or evening, discard scraps of paper, drink bottles, leftovers and other household garbage on or around the ancient pagoda after visiting the pagoda. Some people climb the pagoda at will and deliberately destroy the facilities inside and outside the pagoda. Such uncivilized behaviors reflect their low quality. Cultural relic conservationists said that it is particularly important for tourists to develop the habit of civilized tourism, especially for tourists and the city

Chinese PinYin : Gu Sao Ta