Mengfeng Town, Qingxu County, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province

Mengfeng town

Mengfeng town of Qingxu County, located in the southeast of the county, is one of the famous ancient towns in history, with a total area of 75.82 square kilometers and a permanent population of 31738 (2017). Located in the South Gate of Taiyuan City, it has a long history and is known as the "capital of Yao". With a land area of 75.82 square kilometers, the town governs 25 administrative villages and has a permanent population of 31738 (2017). The town is rich in resources and convenient transportation. National Highway 208 passes through the town, and roads around the town connect 25 administrative villages. The town has complete water and electricity facilities, and postal, communication and limited television networks cover the whole town. The economic foundation of the town has developed well, forming a main economic development pattern integrating agriculture, industry and trade.

Regional information

Mengfeng town is famous for its high-quality food crops, pollution-free vegetables and livestock and poultry breeding. Its industry has formed three economic sectors: vinegar, Mengfeng cake and animal products. They are food processing, casting and building materials. In 2004, centering on the development idea of "taking the lead, building a base, strengthening the brand and enriching the people", Mengfeng town achieved a total agricultural output value of 100.91 million yuan, a total enterprise output value of 29.158 million yuan, a fiscal revenue of 7 million yuan and a per capita net income of 4300 yuan.

geographical position

Mengfeng is located in the center of Taiyuan, Jinzhong and Luliang. It is about 90 li away from Taiyuan, the provincial capital, 40 li away from Qingyuan, 30 li away from Xugou Town, 40 li away from Qixian County, 30 li away from Taigu County, 90 li away from Yuci, the capital of Jinzhong, 50 li away from Jiaocheng County, and 60 li away from Wenshui County. Xiaodian can reach the provincial capital by passing Xugou in the north Taiyuan leads to Beijing and Tianjin, passes through Qixian and Pingyao in the south, reaches the Yellow River Ferry, and leads to Shaanxi and Henan. It is the only place that the famous (North) Beijing - West (an) Daguan Road (today's national highway) must pass through in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Historical evolution

Mengfeng town is located 40 miles southeast of Qingxu County in Taiyuan city. It is one of the six famous ancient towns of Qingyuan, Gaobai, Mengfeng (ancient taotang town), Xugou and Dachang. Mengfeng town has a long history. According to Zuo Zhuan, in the 28th year (514 BC), Duke Zhao of Lu destroyed the Guo family in Jin Dynasty and Wei Xianzhi was the government. It was divided into seven counties. Mengfeng was the city of Mengfeng at that time, so it was named Mengfeng. Up to now, it has a history of 2520 years. The superior geographical environment created the prosperity of Mengfeng town. At that time, there were many merchants and shops in Mengfeng village. The old people only remember liuheqing, qianhengshun, dongshengheng, yongfaxing, qingfengxiang (later wanhetai), Liuquan grain store, and most of the shop owners were from Mengfeng village; dachengdian, Yiheyuan, dehecheng, baojuxing, Heji, etc; The drugstore was changed to guanghengmao after Xiesheng was promoted to Thailand; there were two shelves (furniture) shops, one tianyicheng and the other unknown; there were two carpentry workshops for making carts, one Shiji carts shop (owned by beidongshe, later living in Mengfeng), one Zhangji carts shop (owned by Qixian); there were yongjidang and qianshundang pawnshops; there were Yiheyuan, tailaiji and deheyuan pawnshops; In addition, there are five or six pastry shops, two meat shops, vinegar shop, flour shop, and food processing workshops. There are thirty or forty shops in the village, and most of them are around Huacheng temple. With the development of Commerce, a large number of merchants, workshop craftsmen, porters, doctors, chefs who hold red and white banquets, Mr. Yin and Yang who build houses and watch geography and geomantic omen, Mr. fortune tellers and magicians came into being. It also brought up the prosperity of Mengfeng. the eighth day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the day when Mengfeng village was transformed into a temple meeting. Because Mengfeng is a big village in the southeast of the county, it has been a village fair since the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty. At this time, vendors from surrounding counties gathered in the village. The streets and alleys near the temple in the village are full of stalls selling all kinds of daily necessities, agricultural and sideline products, farm tools, cattle, horses, pigs and sheep (the temple fair on the eighth day of the first lunar month mainly sells all kinds of fireworks and firecrackers). There are a lot of people in the village. The streets are crowded with people, and there are cries of traders, bargaining and the screams of mules, horses, donkeys, pigs, dogs and chickens Sound, one after another, constantly in the ear, Sha is lively. in the center of Mengfeng village, there is a large temple, that is, "Huacheng Temple" mentioned above. According to Qingyuan county annals compiled in 1661, Mengfeng Huacheng temple was built in 1312, which is 700 years old. Buddhism prevailed in the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, the temple was full of incense. Every Buddhist Festival, good men and women gathered to burn incense, worship Buddha and make a wish to pay tribute. According to the old man, the last monk in the temple was Jinliang. Master Jinliang's garden was quiet in the temple, from 1936 to 1937, when Japan did not enter Qingyuan. Without the monk, Huacheng Temple became the political center of Mengfeng village, the residence of the village office. Later, the temple became the complete primary school of the villages around Mengfeng, with two primary schools, junior primary school and senior primary school. All the senior primary school students in the nearby villages studied here. Huacheng temple is divided into three parts: the front, the middle and the back. There are two floors of bells and drums in the East and West corners of the front hall. The front door is divided into three parts. The left and right side doors are open for a long time. The middle door is often closed. The middle door is opened to welcome guests only when important ceremonies or dignitaries come to visit. The main hall at the back is the Mahatma hall, which worships the past, present and future Buddhas. The rest of the halls and the world have no knowledge of them. due south of Huacheng temple, there is a stage with considerable scenery. In front of the stage, there is a vast theater. Near the north of the theater and the main street, there is an elegant and simple archway with three buildings. When the monkey opera naokaigong of Fenyang Gufen troupe was sung in May 4th, it was demolished and rebuilt because of its low platform. A few years later, it was moved to the west of sigeduo, and the old theater was built with dwellings. The demolition and construction of the stage fully shows that people in Mengfeng area love and yearn for the cultural life of drama. As early as the 10th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, the "xiaoliyuan" troupe founded by Cheng Ying, a native of Dongluo village, produced a group of famous Jin opera artists, such as sanshenger (Meng Zhenqing), tianguidan (Wang Chunyuan, Wang Dacun) and zishengdan. In the year of Guangxu of Qing Dynasty, Mengfeng villager Liu Xiangsan and sanersheng set up a "xiaorongliyuan" baby class in Mengfeng village. In 1928, Liu Xiangsan hired famous actors to join the class. At that time, there were shisanhong (Zhang Jingyun), gaitianhong (Wang Bushan, born in Hebei Province, whose mother came to Wangda Village), Wang Guixiang (stage name Er nvze), daniniuniu, Xiaodan, xiaoguitao and Maomao Dan et al. at that time, the park was known as the first class of Bangzi in Shanxi middle road. It was famous for a time and was popular in Taiyuan and Jinzhong counties. Later Xugou's Xiao Zi Cheng Yuan and Xiao Rong Li Yuan were merged in Mengfeng. Most of the teachers of Xiao Zi Cheng Yuan were from large classes, including shizihei (Qiao Guorui, a native of Sili village in Taigu), shuoshuhong (Gao Wenshu), shiqisheng (Dong Jinfu), dazhuzhu (Hu Linwang) and Zhuoxin Dan (Huang mianze, a native of Dingxiang). Liu Zhilan, a famous actor of Jin opera, was from this class, and nanlusheng Zhihai and Hualian Zhizhong were outstanding; Beitian Dan (Yuci Beitian Village), Wang zhengkui is from Mengfeng "Xiaorong pear garden" baby class. Mengfeng village is low-lying, and the land outside the village is higher than that inside the village. Therefore, the villagers built high weirs around the village. On August 2, 1977, the North Wuma river burst in Dongluo village. (on June 18 of the lunar calendar, because I took part in the flood control, I slept on the Wuma river beach for two nights at night, so I remember it very clearly.) the river overflowed everywhere, Mengfeng village organized villagers to protect the village, and the river almost came from the southeast of the village The south of the village entered the village. Therefore, in the west of Huacheng temple in the village, close to Huacheng temple, there is a large pool, commonly known as "sigedu", which is the place where the streets in the village retreat and collect rainwater after the rain. Strangely enough, the water in sigeduo has never dried up even in the year of drought. There is also a legend, can't remember what year and what generation, the world drought disaster, even the Fen River also drop water. In the main hall of Huacheng temple, there lived a big snake. There was no water to drink everywhere. One night, he put his body and tail on the hall and put his head into the Geduo of the temple to drink enough water. This legend is still widely spread. In the 1930's, it was said that sigedu was miraculous and the water well smelled of borneol, which was the reason why the Dragon (snake) came. Superstitious people asked God to see a doctor and took the water from sigedu as medicine. It was said that it really cured many people's diseases. Therefore, people from dozens of miles away also came to seek medicine by riding a sedan chair. There was another time in the 1960s, but there were far fewer superstitious people. There is also a famous place in Mengfeng village, which is located in the northeast corner of the village (the threshing farm of the former three teams in the southeast of Mengfeng middle school). The main god of the Jade Emperor Pavilion is of course the Jade Emperor of Taoism. The Jade Emperor pavilion has novel architectural design, tight structure and exquisite cornices. According to the folk legend, the tower of shiziying County in Jinzhou is not as good as the Jade Emperor Pavilion in Mengfeng, It can be seen that the style of the Jade Emperor pavilion was really charming. the loft is generally rectangular, with upper, middle and lower floors. The height is about 15 meters (the villagers say it is four or five feet high). The God Pavilion is on the second and third floors. The back of the second floor is a large platform with exotic flowers and plants on it. It is said that in a repair more than 130 years ago, when a three-story building was built on a two-story platform, for some unknown reason, it was always built in front of the building and collapsed in the back. As a result, only the front hall was built and a large platform was left in the back, forming a kind of wonder

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