Riding the wind of rebirth

After descending from Lingxiao Tower, head west for about ten minutes, and you will arrive at a small park comprised of guild halls and gardens.

It was quite rare for a county to have a small park in this era, mainly because the area was originally a water prison for a command post during the Ming Dynasty. In the late Qing Dynasty and early Guangxu period, it was renovated into a private garden by Ma Jiantian, a local scholar, and named "Xiao Yingzhou". Later, it was taken over by several provincial guild halls and underwent its first large-scale renovation, adding public facilities such as tea gardens and a public education center, and was officially named Yingzhou Park.

Therefore, the history of this small park is longer than the history of the People's Republic of China. In 1980, the county designated it as a cultural relic protection unit and carried out renovations, restoring the previous Zhuhe Pavilion, Jinjing Pavilion, Ouxiang Bridge, Yuhua Pond, etc., and renaming it Yingzhou Park.

The area isn't very large. To the west is an open space, a place for activities, but there's no such thing as square dancing here yet, so it looks very peaceful. To the east are buildings and artificial hills.

The moat is right behind it.

Between the two is a small pond called Yuhua Pond. Decades later, this name became an insult because "Yuhua" means "white lotus".

Today, Yuhua Pond is just an empty pond with stagnant water, and the water is even a bit dark. This is a common problem in many parks nowadays. The park is built, but the maintenance is not done well, and the details are not carefully considered.

Speaking of which, I must praise the koi pond in Wuhou Temple, which was specially built by the Japanese for the koi carp sent to Chengdu. After the whole set of equipment was running, the water in the huge pond remained clear and beautiful.

However, it seems that this practice was not maintained for some unknown reason.

A small single-arch stone bridge spans Yuhua Pond, and the bridge railings are carved with lotus root patterns, hence the name Lotus Fragrance Bridge.

After crossing the Lotus Fragrance Bridge, you'll find the architectural complex. The first thing that catches the eye is the hexagonal pavilion with a pointed roof on the artificial hill, inscribed with the name "Zhuhe" (meaning "Standing Crane"), suggesting it was originally a gathering place for literati.

Next are two large buildings. One is the Grand Theater. According to the description, this Grand Theater was not originally in this garden, but was originally the City God Temple Theater. It was moved here from the ancient City God Temple in 1978 when the protection of ground cultural relics was coordinated. It is an original Qing Dynasty building.

An even more important building is the Jinjing Pavilion, which was also built in the Qing Dynasty. It is a three-story wooden pavilion with a double-eaved hip roof. Unlike many restored pavilions that have been rebuilt with reinforced concrete and glazed tiles, the Jinjing Pavilion still retains its original appearance.

The so-called preservation of the original appearance means that the restoration of the Golden Mirror Pavilion is completely faithful to the original style and level, rather than the absurd restoration methods of many later restoration projects, which are obviously absurd and would have resulted in the extermination of the entire clan if they had been restored in ancient times.

Although Jin Jing Ge has put a lot of effort into the roof, with the finial and roof ornaments in the middle of the ridge being exquisitely carved, the materials and style are not superior.

What's even funnier is that, despite being a hip roof style, the gable ridge is designed to be extremely exaggerated, with the four corner eaves extending upwards, squeezing the sloping ridges closer to the temple, leaving them only for decoration and losing their structural function.

This gives the building a lively and playful feel. If a proper hip-roofed building is like a dignified and solemn adult, then the Golden Mirror Pavilion is like a teenager who is still growing.

The inscription on the plaque is also written in a cute style, with four characters: "Little Yingzhou".

The roof is just an ordinary tiled roof, but the wood carvings and lacquerwork are extremely exquisite. This is because, constrained by the system, they couldn't transcend the limitations of architectural style, yet still wanted to show off their wealth, so they focused on these details. Undoubtedly, this approach also brings great beauty to the small Jinjing Pavilion, making it quite rare among ancient buildings, and quite novel to the group accustomed to the architecture of the capital and Chengdu.

Upon entering the Golden Mirror Pavilion, Zhou Zhi discovered an unexpected surprise: more than thirty stone tablets were stored there, many of which featured exquisite calligraphy.

Upon careful reading, the most impressive piece is the poem and prose inscribed by Yang Shen (Yang Shengan), which everyone discussed at the North Tower City Gate.

It seems that this unfortunate top scholar, during his exile in central Yunnan, frequently passed through this area to sneak back to central Sichuan for a "vacation."

In addition, there are inscriptions by Weng Tonghe, tutor to Emperor Guangxu, and inscriptions by cultural figures such as Huang Yanpei and Guo Moruo in modern times.

Zhou Zhi carefully photographed the couplet stele handwritten by Weng Tonghe, and then said to Mai Xiaomiao, "This can be sent to Mr. Weng. It seems that this one is not in his research materials."

The calligraphy works of modern celebrities such as Huang Yanpei, Guo Moruo, and several revolutionaries were all important figures who passed through Huili during the revolutionary journey.

In this way, the entire stele forest spans a period of five hundred years. Although the ancient city is remote, many historical events have taken place there. These poems and inscriptions have become historical labels, making Zhouzhi very interesting.

However, Xu Anxin and Li Laosan weren't interested in any of that and kept urging Zhou Zhi to go out and find dinner.

Once you leave Xiaoyingzhou, there is a small alleyway with the name "Xicheng" written on it.

The two characters "Xicheng" were inscribed on a wooden archway. Calling it an archway is a bit of an exaggeration, because the alley is not wide enough for a small car to pass through. So it was just two wooden beams sandwiching a wooden plaque, with a simple tiled roof on top. But this thing looks very original and belongs to the standard style of alleyways in the Qing Dynasty, which is equivalent to the function of a "doorplate" in modern times.

There was a shop in the alley that seemed quite lively, brightly lit upstairs and downstairs, standing out from the surrounding environment. Upon closer inspection, the three characters "Xinghua Village" were written in running script. Zhou Zhi immediately liked the calligraphy: "May I ask where the tavern is? A shepherd boy points to Xinghua Village in the distance. This must be a restaurant!"

Upon entering the courtyard, it was indeed a restaurant, and business seemed quite good. The rooms surrounding the courtyard had been converted into private rooms, and the decor was quite elegant.

When guests come in, no one comes over to greet them. This is the standard reception mode for many restaurants in small towns nowadays. In small towns, most people are familiar faces. The owner or his wife just smiles and greets them from behind the counter. If you really want to build a relationship, you have to wait until the guests have started their meal and then go over to offer them a couple of drinks. This is completely different from the lively way restaurants in big cities welcome guests when they come in.

As for new customers, they have to go to the counter themselves and tell the owner that they want to eat.

When I went to the front desk to ask the owner for a menu, she actually took out a thick catalog: "Guests, please see what dishes you would like to order."

Zhou Zhi was surprised that a restaurant in a small county town could have such an exquisite menu. After opening the catalog, he exclaimed in astonishment, "Five pressing tables, three stacks of water, thirteen dishes, and ten large pieces—is this a continuation of the imperial cuisine?" (End of Chapter)