World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day, or International Day of the Book is on April 23 every year. Countries all over the world advocate reading for all on this day, hoping everyone can respect and be thankful to the masters of literature, culture, science and ideology masters who have made great contributions to human civilization and protect intellectual property rights.
In China, in addition to the meaning of studying, reading is also understood as a process from gaining knowledge to becoming a competent person. For thousands of years, many scholars had been studying hard day and night. In addition to self-cultivation, they also had the hope that they could help build a better society. Gaoming has a long history and culture, known as Place of Literary Style and Scholars. According to statistics, from the Northern Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the population of Gaoming was not big, but the number of ordinary people who became an official reached 200. Therefore Gaoming had quite many scholars and celebrities.
Whenever someone mentions the villages of brilliant literary style in Gaoming, Ruanyong Village will have its place in this toppic. Since the establishment of Ruanyong Village, the atmosphere of reading had been strong. There were 6 Jinshi (Jinshi: a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), and 17 Juren (Juren: a successful candidate in the imperial examinations at the provincial level). Historical celebrities as Ou Chaoyi, Ou Daxiang and Ou Dalun were all Jinshi from Ruanyong Village. In the history of Ruanyong Village, there were many students who got good grades. There were even cases where three generations in the same family (grandpa, father and son) all came first in the exam, or both the father and the son, or brothers got appointed by the emperor. Therefore, people describe Ruanyong Villiage with the compliment "four Jinshi in two dynasties and four literary leaders in one exam".
The protagonist of "four Jinshi in two dynasties and four literary leaders in one exam" was the Jinshi, Ou Daxiang in Wanli period of Ming Dynasty. According to relevant information on the District Archives, Ou Daxiang and his father Ou Yi, brother Ou Dalun were all successful scholars. After Ou Daxiang passed the exam, he got appointed as Shujishi, an official in charge of reviewing the history of the country, compiling the history of the country, etc. He was also responsible for drafting imperial edicts.
Compared with Ou Daxiang's official position that did not seem too prominent, his attainments in Lingnan poetry and literature , however, were second to none. When he returned to Lingnan after claiming being sick, he chanted poems all day long. He was good at writing poems. Once he started, he could write thousand of words but at the same time he carefully chose the words for his poems, which made his works fascinating. He was known as one of the best Lingnan poets in the Ming Dynasty. Throughout his life, Ou Daxiang wrote Tai Shi Poems, Shi Ji, Tu Nan Ji, Hao Shang Ji and other collections of poems. In addition to his talent in poems, Ou Daxiang was also a kind person. He donated money to build the brilliant landmark of today - Linggui Tower.
Besides Ou Daxiang, Ou Dalun also worked as Shaoqing (an official in the old days) of Nantaichang Temple and Zuo Shaoqing of Dali Temple at that time, and helped build academies in many places to give lectures to scholars. The father and son of Ou Chaoyi and Ou Yu, who were also from Ruanyong Village, held important local positions in the Southern Song Dynasty. Now, with the revitalization of ancient villages and the construction of beautiful villages, Ruanyong Village pays more attention to protecting its own cultural history. The stories of many outstanding scholars here are also known by more and more people.
In front of the ancestral halls in many villages of Gaoming, there are stone slabs called Qigan Jiashi. These stone slabs were a base made to fix the flagpole. They were made from fine stone and used to honor tribesmen who were awarded the title of Gongsheng, Juren or Jinshi because they passed the highest imperial examinations. Flagpoles were erected in ancestral halls to show how the villagers took pride in their achievements. The more prominent the official title was, the wider the flagpole base was, and the thicker and longer the flagpole would be. In front of the Lu Family's Ancestral Hall in Liucun Village, there were a row of flagpoles and stones on the left and right, which shows that many talents were from the Lu Family in Liucun Village.
According to the records of Lu's Genealogy and other documents of Liucun Village, there were more than 30 people from the Lu family in Liucun Village who had achieved great fame in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Among them, Lu Guangyu from the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Lu Benren from the Kangxi to Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty and others were more famous. As more and more people did well in the exams and got official titles, there were more and more flagpole stones in front of the ancestral hall in the village. These flagpoles have inspired generations of the Lu Family in Liucun Village to work hard and study hard.
It is worth mentioning that the most eye-catching wok-ear houses of the Lu Family in Liucun Village were also directly related to the scholars in the village.
The wok-ear house is a representative of the traditional Cantonese dwellings in Lingnan. It is called the wok-ear house because its gable is like a wok, and the wok-shaped gable is called the Guanyin pocket in Jiangnan dwellings. Its architectural feature is that the roof of the tile is built on the dragon boat ridge and the gable is built on the top of the wok, which is used to press the top and block the wind. It is generally brick and wood structure, mostly made of blue bricks, stone pillars and slabs. The walls are built with blue brick (granite), the floor is paving with step bricks, the patio is paved with red and white stone slabs, and the outer walls are decorated with flowers, birds, and figures. They are distributed in the Greater Pearl River Delta.
After gaining fame and reputation, the people of Liucun Village would go back to their hometown to help develop the village. As a result, the wok-ear houses, which were shaped like official hats, had sprung up like mushrooms after rain. So far, there are 22 such wok ear houses in Lu family of Liucun Village.
The villagers from Lu family in Liu Village say that the reason why there were so many celebrities in the village is that the village has always stuck to the ancestral motto of Erhu Shize, Jinshi Jiafeng. The villagers said that the first half of this ancestral motto was quoted from famous philosophers in the Southern Song Dynasty, Lu Jiuyuan and Lu Jiuling. Their family name was Lu, so the villagers believed that the village's eagerness to learn was inherited from Lu Jiuyuan and Lu Jiuling when they gave lectures in Erhu Mountain, Jiangxi Province. The second half of the sentence Jinshi Jiafeng is to commemorate the Han Dynasty Ambassador Lu Jia's style of always keeping his promises. The combination of the two has become a good family tradition that has been handed down by the Lu family in Liucun Village. They live by the words of etiquette and integrity to remind themselves to be diligent, thrifty, and filial.
Compared with villages like Ruanyong Village and Liucun Village, Mingcheng Town was also capable of cultivating scholars. In Mingcheng, there is a school with a history of one hundred years, and there is a distinguished family of 4 Jinshi, and a volunteer studying in Peking University who joined the revolution.
When it comes to the relationship between Mingcheng and reading, Dongzhou Academy in Mingcheng must be mentioned. Liao Zhiming, the director of Mingcheng Cultural Station, said that this long-established academy not only taught the traditional Chinese lessons, but also has set up classes such as mathematics, geography, music, etc. to go along with the trends of modern times.
According to historical records, Dongzhou Academy was built during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, and for a long time it was the school at the highest level in Gaoming. In the more than 100 years since the establishment of Dongzhou Academy, this school has survived many closures and relocations. And during this period of time, prominent figures in modern Chinese history such as Tan Pingshan, Tan Tiandu, Tan Zhitang, and Chen Rutang were all graduated from Dongzhou Academy and devoted themselves in different fields for the betterment of the society.
In addition, in Qishe Village in Mingcheng Town, the Tan Family had 4 Jinshi in the Song Dynasty. According to the villagers, Tan Hongzhi, the ancestor of Qishe Village, and Tan Bocang, Tan Weiyin, and Tan Fenlong were all Jinshi in the Song Dynasty. Tan Hongzhi even became an official at a high level. Now every Qingming Festival, descendants of the Tan Family from different places will return to Qishe Village to pay respect to these ancestors.
It is believed that the reason why Mingcheng could cultivate so many talents was partially because of the landmark Wenchang Tower in Mingcheng. According to folk records, Wenchang Tower was originally built by Zhang Zuozhi, the Magistrate of Gaoming County in the Ming Dynasty, in order to reduce the retribution of destroying the fengshui of Gaoming for many times during his reign. The name Wenchang Tower had the meaning of Wenqu Star, the god who was in charge of the world's fame and power. Five years after the completion of the tower, the brothers Ou Daxiang and Ou Dalun of Ruanyong District both passed the highest imperial examinations and became Jinshi. Since then, the era of Place of Literary Style and Scholars had begun.
