Deartourists
WelcometoYueyangTower,oneofthethreefamousbuildingsinJiangnan.
NowstandinginfrontofyouisYueyangTower.Thethreecharacterhorizontalplaqueof"YueyangTower"hangingonthetopofthebuildingwasproposedbyChairmanMaoZedongin1961andaskedtobeinscribedbyMr.LiMoruo.YueyangToweris21.35metershigh,withfourcolumns,threefloors,cornice,helmettopandpurewoodstructure.Inthemiddle,thebignanmucolumncarriesmostofthegravityfromthegroundtothetop,andthen12"goldcolumns"areusedastheinnerwalltosupportthesecondfloor.Aroundtheperiphery,20eavescolumnsareusedtorestraineachotherandformawhole.Thecornicesandtheroofuseumbrellashapedframetotransfertheload.ThethirdfloorislinedwithRuyiDouarches,whichsupporttheroof.Thereisnotasinglebrickinthewholebuilding.Allofthemaremadeofwood.Thedoorjointsandtenonsaremadeofstrictstructure,exquisiteworkmanshipandsolemnmodeling.Eavesandroof,arecoveredwithyellowglazedtiles.Therearefourridgesontheeavesofeachlayer.Thefirstridgeisdecoratedwithlotusandlotuspods,andtheheadupisPhoenix;thesecondoneistheheaduptap;thethirdoneisdecoratedwithrolledgrass,andtheheadupisHuiwenRuyiXiangyun.Thewholepavilionhasdoubleeaves,lockedwindows,carvedbeamsandpaintedbuildings,redpillarsandcolorfulcouplets,whichareresplendentandmagnificent.Inparticular,thetopofthethirdfloorisverysimilartothehelmetofanancientgeneral,whichiscalledthehelmettop,whichisquiterareintheancientarchitectureofthiscountry.ThewholeYueyangTowerhasmadeamazingachievementsinaesthetics,mechanics,architectureandtechnology,soithasbeenknownas"YueyangWorldTower"sinceancienttimes.
Youcan'thelpbutask,sinceit'safamousbuildingintheworld,whyonlythreefloorswerebuilt?It'ssaidthatthebuildersatthattimechosethetime,thelocationandtheharmonyofpeople.ThepredecessorofYueyangTowerisYuejuntowerofLuSu,ageneraloftheThreeKingdoms.Morethan1700yearsago,inthe20thyearofJian'anintheEasternHanDynasty,inordertocompetewithLiuWuforJingzhou,SunQuanoftheeasternWuDynastysentLuSutoleadtenthousandsoldierstogarrisonthestrategicareaofBachu,whichistodayYueyang.LuSupracticedthewaterarmyinDongtingLake,builtastrongcityinthewestofthecitynearthemountainsandrivers,andbuilttheYuejuntowertocommandandinspectthewaterarmy,whichisthepredecessorofYueyangTower.DuringtheTangDynasty,Yuejunbuildingwasexpanded,whichbasicallyhadtheoriginalarchitecturalartandhistoricalstyle.Now,pleasefollowmeintoyuelou.
Deartourists,thefirstthingthatcatchesoureyeshereisthecarvedscreenofYueyangTower,whichiscomposedof12piecesofredsandalwood.Aswesaidearlier,thenameofYueyangTowerwasonlyusedintheTangDynasty.Duringthisperiod,LiBai,DuFu,LiuYuxi,LiShangyinandothertalentedcelebrities,oruninhibitedemigrantscameoneafteranother.Theywentuptothebuildingtolookintothedistance,wentboatinginDongting,andworkedhardtowrite.
However,YueyangTowerwasreallyfamousintheworldafterTengZijingrebuiltitintheNorthernSongDynastyandFanZhongyanwroteYueyangTower.InthefourthyearofQingliperiod,TengZijing,whowasfalselyaccused,wasdemotedtobethemagistrateofYuezhou.Afterhetookoffice,heorganizedthreemajorevents:first,hebuiltYanhongdikeunderYueyangTowerLaketopreventthewavesofDongtingLake;second,hesetupcountyschooltocultivatetalents;third,herebuiltYueyangTower.TherebuiltYueyangTowerismagnificentinscale.TengZijingisamanofbothcultureandmartialarts.Hethinksthat"Louguanisnotareporterforalongtimewithoutwords.".Suchapavilion,youmusthaveatitlerecord,inordertobeimmortal.SohethoughtofFanZhongyan,agoodfriendofhisown.ThenhewroteaBookofQiuji,whichintroducedthestructureandmomentumofYueyangTowerafterrepair,pouredouthiseagernesstoaskFanZhongyantowritearecord,andaskedsomeonetodrawapictureofautumneveninginDongting,whichtranscribedthepoemsandOdesofYueyangTowerchantedbycelebritiesofalldynasties,andsentthemtoDengzhou,HenanProvince,whereFanZhongyanwasdemotedatthattime.FanZhongyanisafamousstatesman,litterateurandmilitaristintheNorthernSongDynasty.LikeTengZijing,hewasrejectedandattackedforadvocatinginnovationpoliticsandwasdemotedtoDengzhou.AfterreceivingTengZijing'sletter,hereaditagainandagain,conceiveditcarefully,andfinallywrotethefamousstoryofYueyangTower.Althoughthefulltextofthisarticleisonly368words,itisbroadincontent,profoundinphilosophy,majesticinmomentum,andsonorousinlanguage.Amongthem,"firstworryabouttheworld,thenenjoytheworld"hasbecomeafamoussentencehandeddownfromgenerationtogeneration.Asamatteroffact,thereasonwhyYueyangTowercanbepraisedinthepastdynastiesisthatitskillfullyandvividlyintegratesamajorideologicalpropositionintothedescriptionofbeautifulscenery.Itenlightenspeople:"don'tbehappywiththings,don'tbesad",andshowstheloftyphilosophyoflifethat"worryabouttheworldfirst,andenjoytheworldlater".Theauthor'snoblesentimentandbroadmindcannothelpbutmakepeoplesigh.Itinspirespeoplefromgenerationtogenerationtothinkaboutlife,honoranddisgrace,andknowtheirmission.AsanaccumulationofthenoblepersonalitycultureoftheexcellentintellectualsoftheChinesenation,thestoryofYueyangTower,withitssupremeideologicalcontentandartisticcharm,hasbeenhandeddownforthousandsofyearsandisimmortal,nourishingpeople'shearts.Sincethen,YueyangTower'sfamehasbeengreatlypublicizedbothathomeandabroad.Thisiswhatpeoplecall"thetextispreservedbythebuilding,andthebuildingisnamedbythetext".ItissaidthatTengZijingwasoverjoyedwhenhereceivedFanZhongyan'sYueyangTower.HeimmediatelyaskedSuShunqin,agreatcalligrapher,towriteitandShaosong,afamoussculptor,tocarveitonawoodenplaque.Asaresult,Lou,Ji,calligraphyandsculptureareallcalled"fourwonders".Unfortunately,whatweseenowisnotthe"fouruniqueplaque".ItwasdestroyedinthefireintheShenzongperiodoftheSongDynasty.ThecarvingscreenweseeiswrittenbyZhangZhao,afamouscalligrapherandMinisterofpunishmentinQianlongperiodofQingDynasty.
Now,let'spayattentiontothefourbignanmupillarsinthefirstfloor.Thefourcolumnsrunfromthebottomofthebuildingtothetopofthebuilding,supportingthewholeweightofthebuilding.Then,12columnsreplacetheinnerringtosupportthesecondfloor.Around20woodencolumns,theyrestraineachother'sboltjointsandtenons,formingawhole.ThewholeYueyangTowerisofpurewoodstructure,andnoironnailcanbefound.Youcanalsoseethatonthefourwallsofthebuilding,therearemanypairsofwoodenplaques,whicharecoupletsofYueyangTowerchantedbyancientandmodernmasters.ThecouplethanginginthemiddleofthehallwaswrittenbyheShaoji,agreatcalligrapherintheQingDynasty.ItisthelongestcoupletinYueyangTower.Thiscoupletis:
Onthefirstfloor,what'sstrange?DuShaoling'sfivecharactermasterpiece,fanXiwen'stwowordsaboutlove,TengZijing'sallkindsofwaste,andLVChunyang'sthreetimeswillmakehimdrunk.Shiye?Ruye?Liye?Xianye?Noancientsbefore,whichmakesmesad.
Pleasehavealook:Dongting,jixiaoting,Hunan,theYangtzeRivertothenorthofwuxia,balingtothewestoflaishuangqi,YuezhoutotheeastofYanjiang.Hewhokeeps_,whoflows,whostands,isthetown.Thereisarealmeaninginit.Whocanunderstandit.
Thefirstcoupletstartswith"what'sstrangeonthefirstfloor",whichliststheachievementsandtraditionsofpoets,famousConfucians,virtuousofficialsandwineimmortalsleftinYueyangTower,expressingtheauthor'sregretforthepastandthepresent;thesecondcoupletintroducesthefamousmountains,Dachuan,Xiongguananddangeroustownsofbaling.Ifyouwritedownthiscouplet,youwillhaveageneralunderstandingofYueyangTower.
(onthesecondfloorofYueyangTower)
Assoonaswecametothesecondfloor,weimmediatelyfoundthatacarvedscreenofYueyangTowerwasalsohungonthesecondfloor.Why?Thereisarealstoryinit.DuringthereignofDaoguangintheQingDynasty,amagistratesurnamedWucametoYueyang.Assoonashetookoffice,hetookafancytothescreencarvingofYueyangTower.Hebribedafolkartsculptorwithalargesumofmoney.Hespent17monthscarefullycopyingandsecretlycopyingthescreencarving.Twoyearslater,takingadvantageoftheopportunityofbeingtransferredfromYueyangTower,Wuzhicountytookadvantageoftheopportunitytostealthebeamandchangethecolumn,andfledonastormynightwiththecarvedscreenofJiaxiaoandZhangZhao.Ididn'texpectthatsoonaftertheboatwassailing,thewindandrainweresostrongthattheboatwasoverturnedinthejiumazuisectionofDongtingLake.Thecarvedscreenalsodriftedwiththewaves.Becauseitwasmadeofredsandalwood,itallsankintothewater.Later,thelakewasdryandshallow,andtheoriginalcarvingscreenofYueyangTowerwassalvagedbylocalfishermen.Duringsalvage,theword"Gehu"ontheeighthscreenandtheword"Le"onthetenthscreenweredamaged.Afterhearingthenews,WuMinshu,alocalscholar,boughtbackthecarvedscreenfromthefishermenwith120grainsilver.IttookthreeyearstocopyZhangZhao'shandwritingbeforeheaddedthedamagedthreewords.Asyoucansee,thereareobviousmendingmarksonthecarvingscreen.Nearly120__later,whentheYueyangTowerwasrenovatedagain,localofficialsused120piecesofoceantoredeemthescreenfromthedescendantsoftheWufamilyandhangitonthesecondflooroftheYueyangTower.Asfortheoneonthefirstfloor,althoughitisafake,ithasahistoryof120__years.Ofcourse,itisaculturalrelic.Twosetsofcarvedscreens,onetrueandonefalse,arejustlikealistofmeritsanddemerits,revealingtofuturegenerations,whichisworthpondering.
(upperthirdfloor)
NowweareonthethirdfloorofYueyangTower.Inthemiddleofthehall,thereisawoodcutscreenofChairmanMaoZedong'spoem"climbingYueyangTower"writtenbyDuFu.Du'spoemreads:"onceIheardtheDongtingwater,nowIamgoingtoYueyangTower.InthesoutheastofWuandChu,heavenandearthfloatdayandnight.Thereisnocertaintybetweenrelativesandfriends.Thearmypassesthemountainnorth,dependingontheXuantearsSiflowHiscalligraphystyleisboldandunrestrained,rigorouslayout,vigorousandstraight,andhasbothformandspirit.HisbrushstrokesaresimilartothoseofwildgrassofhuaisuinTangDynasty.ThisisanimpromptubookwrittenbyChairmanMaoonthetrainintheautumnof1964whenhereturnedtoBeijingbytrainfromChangshaandpassedbyYueyang.Onbothsidesofthescreen,thereistheshortestcoupletofYueyangTower,onlyeightcharacters.Thefirstcoupletis"thesamecolorofwaterandsky",andthesecondcoupletis"boundlesswindandmoon".Signedas"ChangGengLiBai".Whenwestandonthethirdfloorandlookoutfromthewindow,wecanseethatthewaterandskyofDongtingLakeareinthesamecolor.Whenthewindisclearandthemoonisboundless,andthemountainsandlakesgatherinthebuilding,canwegetthefeelingthat"thewaterandtheskyareinthesamecolor,andthewindandthemoonareboundless"?Finally,pleaselookupattheroofagain.Thecoloroftheroofisrichinnationalandlocalcharacteristics.TheRuyiDougongisstackedagainsteachother.Itbearstheload.Thearchsupportstheroofandusestheumbrellaframetocarrytheload.Likethehelmettopstructure,itisalsorareinourexistingancientbuildings.
Inordertodeepentheconnotationofthefamousbuildingandenrichthecontentofthescenicspot,YueyangTowerisspeedinguptheconstructionofthescenicspotandhasmadeplans.I'llexplaintheintroductionofYueyangTowertoyou.WelcometoYueyangnexttime.Iwishyouapleasantjourneyandapleasantjourney!