Although Yangzhou is just a prefecture-level city, it still has quite connotation. Yangzhou has several world cultural heritage sites. The Slender West Lake I saw two days ago belongs to the world cultural heritage. Today I went to visit another place, which was the famous Geyuan. The red slogan at the entrance of the park says that it is one of the four famous parks in China. I don't know how it got the title. I know that the four recognized famous gardens in China refer to the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units announced by the State Council in 1961. There are four gardens included in the category of "Ancient Buildings and Historical Memorial Buildings": Suzhou Humble Administrator's Garden, Beijing Summer Palace, Chengde Summer Resort and Suzhou Lingering Garden. Yangzhou Geyuan was the third batch of national key cultural relics protection units in 1988. Among this batch was Yangzhou Heyuan.

Yangzhou Geyuan is located on the most prosperous East Street in the old city of Yangzhou. It is the most prestigious private house on this street. There is not only a shadow wall in front of its gate, but also an eight-character shadow wall.

Not only is the shadow wall powerful, but what is even more powerful is that it has a tall courtyard wall.

Even the big wall of the Yangzhou government is probably not as tall as his home. In fact, the door of his house is not too exaggerated.

It is either a Guangliang gate, or an ordinary wall gate, with rich peony brick carvings on the lintel. There are many signs hanging in front of the door, indicating that it has many heads up. The "National Key Parks" are given by the Ministry of Construction, the "AAAA Tourist Attractions" are given by the State Tourism Administration, and the Jiangsu Province Tourism Administration also gave a "Recommended Attractions." A world heritage sign stands on the other side of the gate. It turns out that Geyuan is included under the "Grand Canal" project in the world heritage. In addition to the river course, there are 58 related buildings under this project, including Yangzhou's Slender West Lake and Geyuan. There are several other places to talk about later.

Geyuan is classified into the category of the Grand Canal because its owner is Huang Zhiyun, the chief leader of the Salt Gang on the Grand Canal. It is widely spread now that this homestead used to be Shouzhi Garden in the Ming Dynasty, but later Huang Zhiyun sold it in and renovated it for his own use. Shouzhi Garden and its owner were erased from history by unknown person, but there is no evidence now. Some people say that its owner was not the Ming Dynasty, but Anqi in the early days of the Qing Dynasty. He also sold salt to get rich and liked calligraphy and painting. It is said that An Qi is a close relative and relative of Nalan Pearl. He uses the Pearl's money to sell salt and make money. He is a very high-profile person and owns several streets in Yangzhou. During the Kangxi period, An Qi was implicated in the Mingzhu cliques case and almost died. Since then, he has become low-key, donated a lot of money to the Kangxi family, and gave up selling salt and changed to collecting. An Qi gradually changed to selling Yangzhou mansions to buy calligraphy and paintings. Huang Zhiyun found an opportunity and used money to deprive Anjia Shouzhi Garden of the property rights. There is a big gap in time in this story. An Qi died in the ninth year of Qianlong (AD 1744), while Huang Zhiyun was admitted to Shouzhi Garden in the twenty-third year of Jiaqing (AD 1818), with a gap of eighty years. Can An Qi's descendants survive by selling paintings until the Jiaqing years before selling their houses?

This Huang Zhiyun is an amazing man. His hometown is Zhejiang and was born under the famous Zhaozhou Bridge in Hebei Province. He met the Lianghuai Salt Administration in Beijing with a letter of introduction written by an uncle. He then went to Yangzhou to serve as the Lianghuai Merchant Administration and finally settled in Ganquan County, Yangzhou Prefecture. You see, this is the pioneer of curve making a fortune. After he earned his first bucket of gold, he did not use it to loan usury, nor did he buy private equity funds for financial management. Instead, he donated it to Emperor Jiaqing to save the victims from the flood and fire. Emperor Jiaqing appointed him as a salt transportation envoy, awarded him a first-class crown and wearing a flower feather, entered the palace to eat a royal birthday banquet, and entered Yuanmingyuan to listen to royal dramas. In fact, he donated the birthday banquet he went to eat, and he may have sung the royal drama in Yuanmingyuan on stage himself. In any case, Huang Zhiyun was a red-topped businessman in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. Later, although the Yangzhou Salt Gang was not as prosperous as it was in its heyday, Huang Zhiyun died amid applause in the 18th year of Daoguang (1838 AD). In the late Qing Dynasty, Hu Xueyan learned from Huang Zhiyun and became a second-class red-roofed merchant wearing a flower feather. However, Hu Xueyan finally ended up being dismissed from his post and confiscated, and no one applauded him. The red top of a red-topped merchant means that not only does it have a top with a red hat weft, but the top beads on it are also red. The crown bead of a first-class official is a ruby, the second-class official is red coral, and Huang Zhiyun and Hu Xueyan are both first-class red corals. Were there any red-crowned merchants with ruby beads in the Qing Dynasty? Yes, King Chi of Yunnan in the late Qing Dynasty. In 1900, when the Empress Dowager Cixi escorted Emperor Guangxu westward to avoid the eight bandits, Wang Chi provided her with unlimited interest-free credit. After returning to Beijing, the court awarded her the title of a fourth-rank Taoist and awarded Dr. Rong Lu a second-rank crown, giving her the title of "Three Generations and One Products", and a first-grade ruby crown. China's first hydropower station was the Shilongba Hydropower Station built in Kunming by Wang Chi in 1910 after buying German Voith turbines and Siemens generators.

The Huang family declined after Huang Zhiyun and sold Geyuan to the Li family. The Li family did not owe much debt to Xu Baoshan, the owner of Xu Garden in Slender West Lake, but Xu Baoshan forced him to use the garden to pay off the debt. After Xu Baoshan was overthrown by the Revolutionary Party, the Li family did not live in Geyuan for long. They were all sold among the salt gang bosses. New China's private gardens were nationalized and opened to people to visit in turn after renovation. No, it's my turn to visit in March of the Xin Chou Year.

Although the south-facing gate of the garden is inconspicuous, just by looking at its eight-character shadow wall and high wall, it is estimated that the inside is very impressive. Entering Damen East Road is a patio with short corridors on both sides.

Behind the patio is a lobby facing north and south.

The lobby has three rooms wide and two rooms deep. It has a beam lifting structure, doors and windows, and partitions are draped horizontally. The same lattice flowers are rich and not luxurious. This should be Master Huang's living room, where he receives visitors and people. The horizontal plaque "Qingmei Hall" is on the screen in the Ming Dynasty, and in front of the screen is a square table with imitation red sandalwood strips. This is the main guest seat, and on both sides are the delegation members 'seats. This is standard in Chinese living rooms.

There are screen doors on both sides of the screen that lead to the backyard. The door covers are of the same style and different patterns as the separate doors.

Private houses in the south are not like courtyards in the north. In the south, courtyards are used to form front and back separation. Behind Qingmei Hall is also a patio, with verandas on both sides, the same layout as the front yard. The main room is called the "Nanmu Hall".

According to the introduction, this hall is built entirely of golden nanmu. The original gold silk nanmu must be its true color, otherwise the gold silk would not be visible. The surface should be brushed with a thin layer of varnish to protect the surface and also have anti-corrosion effects. Everything painted is not nanmu. Look at the bright door post below.

This is painted with red paint on the outside, and there is putty underneath the red paint. You can see the pillar wood where the paint falls off, like fir. But if you look at the door frame, threshold, door leaf, door shaft, and even the door pillow are all wood color. If it is introduced that it is nanmu, then it is nanmu. Anyway, it's too old to see its original appearance. You have to remove the corruption layer on the surface to see the essence inside. Gold-silk nanmu is a very precious wood. If it is used as building materials, it has been used exclusively by the royal family since the Ming Dynasty. Only the Imperial Palace Hall can be used. The Taihe Hall of the Forbidden City in Beijing is the golden nanmu hall. After being burned repeatedly by fire, the reconstruction of Taihe Hall in the Qing Dynasty could no longer find great nanmu materials, so they had to use Northeast Korean pine instead. There are only a handful of existing golden nanmu halls, even royal buildings. Dare to use golden nanmu in folk buildings is a violation in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and a death penalty. There is a large nanmu house in the mountains of Hubei. It is in a secluded place and the government does not know it. In this prosperous and prosperous environment in Yangzhou City, if you dare to use nanmu to build a house, you will definitely have to take a lot of risks. Guizhou's nanmu production area is already scarce and is closely guarded by the Royal Guard. Where did Lao Huang's family or original owner get so many nanmu materials?

Go inside and have a look.

There is a back screen in the Ming Dynasty, and in front of it is routine furniture: red sandalwood table, square table and chair. On the back screen is a sloppy black painting picture, with the words "Drinking volume is more than just drunk; Elegance means wandering immortals" written on both sides, which is also written by Jin Nong. It turns out that this is a dining room. In the middle of the hall is the main table with Huanghuali pears inlaid with marble; there are accompanying tables on each side with Huanghuali pears on top. The main table must be seated by the master and wife, the accompanying table are the children and grandchildren, the left hand is the children and grandchildren of the eldest family, and the right hand is the others. After eating, the masters and wives sat on the armchairs behind them to drink tea, so that the women in each room could come out to the table for dinner. There were also several pictures hanging in the hall, filled with flowers and birds. The birds were not eating the flowers, but were looking at the owner in the hall. I call them "Bird View Lao Huang Eating Set".

This is a large family with many tables. If there is only one table, the master, wife and men will eat first, and the women will eat later. The ladies of well-behaved families do not come to the table and go to the kitchen to eat. Where is the kitchen? It is the main room where you enter the hospital at the back. It cannot be too far away, otherwise the owner will not be able to eat hot tofu.

This kitchen is the same as the two halls in front, with three rooms wide and two rooms deep, with a slightly shorter span in depth. There were many people around the door. It turned out that a regiment commander was introducing the Huang family's three meals to her team members. I heard what she meant to drink Wensi tofu soup for breakfast, boiled dried shredded silk at noon, and Huaian tea dumplings at night. The Huang family's food is really vegetarian. I remember that when Ouyang Xiu met his friends in Pingshantang, they all ate stewed fish belly in piles and boiled chicken heads in rows. It seems that there is still a big gap between the recipes of the official and the folk.

Look at the Huang family's old stove.

In "Shajiabang", Aunt Aqing said,"Build a seven-star stove and cook Sanjiang in a copper pot." Her stove has seven fire eyes and can be stewed, stewed, simmered, warmed, steamed, roasted and stir-fried at the same time. Huangjiazao has five fire eyes, and can only be ignited together by frying, boiling, broiling, stewing, and boiling.

After singing the above sentence, Aunt Aqing sang the next sentence,"Set up the Eight Immortals Table to entertain sixteen parties." Look at the Huang family's Eight Immortals Table.

Look, the two Eight Immortals tables are really entertaining sixteen parties. The upper hall is full of mahogany furniture, and here is old elm wood painted with yellow paint. Of course, old cucumbers painted with green paint cannot be used in the vegetables. The sixteen people sitting at the Eight Immortals table were the male servants and maids of the Huang family, and there must be a pair of them. You are like Zhou Rui, the housekeeper of the Jia Mansion in "Dream of the Red Chamber", and the "Zhou Rui's family" also became a servant girl in the Jia Mansion.

The Huang family is prosperous. This east road is public facilities. There are also middle and west roads, which are houses for small families. Since Master Huang has an official hat on his head, he must act like an official and cannot do nothing all day long. The Qing Dynasty also implemented an imperial examination system under which one could become an official if one was successful in learning. Before becoming an official, one had to read enough poetry and books. Although Master Huang's official position is largely donated, he still has to act as if he has something to do with it. Aren't those articles really in your stomach? The articles in your stomach can't stay in and will be excreted. Articles should be stored in the library building, and people should be asked to borrow books from time to time, or people should be asked to draw a picture of "Huang Sou Reading at Night". Master Huang's library is in this small courtyard.

The building is very ordinary, with two floors above and below, three rooms wide and one room deep. There is a door in the open room on the first floor, and there are separate windows in the second room and the second floor. This partition window is very high-class. It used to be called a yarn-sandwiched partition. There is a layer of spun yarn sandwiched between the two layers of wooden lattice, which is the same as the second layer. After the advent of glass in modern times, the yarn was changed into glass, which is the appearance of one layer. This kind of gauze divider in the room can be well decorated, and you can paint and write on the gauze or paper. The building is an old building, and the plaques and couplets are all newly written ancient sentences. The plaque of "Book Series Building" was written by contemporary Yangzhou calligrapher Zhang Bingwen, and the couplet is an ancient couplet written by Jiangsu calligrapher Zhou Zhigao."The clear air is like orchids, and the empty mind is like bamboo; the joy is in the water, and the tranquility is the same as the mountains." This couplet should follow the meaning of Wang Xizhi's "Preface to the Collection of Lanting","There are mountains and mountains here, lush forests and bamboo trees, and clear streams that flow around the left and right."

In the past, large Zumen households all had houses in front and back gardens. The size of the households was because they had gardens. A red-roofed businessman like Huang Zhiyun is definitely a big family. His family is already very low-key without having a red door. How could he not be arrogant? The unique character of Geyuan is that its garden is quite large, and every small door leads to Geyuan. Hmm? By the way, the one in front is called the Yellow House, and behind the Yellow House is a garden.

There is a small square in front of the Moon Gate in Geyuan, with lush forests and bamboo trees on both sides. To the south is the high wall seen on the street, which is very crowded.

In addition to this main entrance of the Geyuan, there are also side doors elsewhere.

There is such a left way when entering the side door.

The shady ways are often not serious. I'm not talking about that being serious, I'm talking about not being serious. I'd better take the right path. Entering from the Moon Gate of Geyuan is a rockery with stacked rocks. Because of the bamboos around it, this mountain is called "Spring Mountain". There is a curve in the middle and Sunshine Avenue. On the front is Yiyuxuan, the social center of Geyuan.

Yiyuxuan has a width of three rooms and a depth of two rooms. It has a beam lifting structure with gray tiles and single eaves on top of the mountain. There are glass partitions on all sides with a circle of eaves corridors. Why is it a social center? Look at the couplet on its front eaves column in the Ming Dynasty,"It's appropriate to tune the piano in the morning and to drum the zither in the evening; the old rain is right, but now the rain is coming." The first couplet says "The Book of Songs","I have guests, playing the zither and the piano." The second couplet tells that Du Fu's "Autumn Notes" includes "In autumn, Du Zi was sick and traveled to Chang 'an. It rained heavily, fish and moss fell. He was often a guest of chariots and horses. In the past, the rain came, but now, the rain does not come." Du Fu was talking about the fact that in the past, there were many cars and horses, and guests came even when it rained, but now no guests come on rainy days. Later, everyone used the old rain to refer to old friends, and the current rain to refer to new friends. Therefore, this couplet is used to indicate that this pavilion is not for listening to the rain, but for gathering old and new rain. Yiyu Pavilion is the most suitable lobby for receiving guests.

Look at how many tables and chairs are in this hall? There is no problem with three tables of Mahjong, and it is enough for people to sit on the sidelines.

Yi Yuxuan sits on a two-foot-high platform, and the upper and lower steps are also stamped with hanging belts, but the hanging belts are stacked with stones, which is very unique.

Between the eaves columns of the eaves corridors around the surroundings is a circle of upside down lintels, there are railing lintels at the front and back below, and there are beauty cushions on the left and right.

This kind of armchair for beauty is a feature of Hui style architecture and is usually located under the eaves porch on the second floor facing the courtyard. A bench with a gooseneck back on the outer edge. The beauties of the past can easily stay locked in their boudoir without leaving the door or stepping through the second door. Sitting sideways on such a bench, boudoir beauties can spy on the various activities of their loved ones and relatives in the courtyard, and also show them their demeanor. There is a famous ancient beauty who once sighed to herself,"Lonely and deep in the boudoir, soft intestines are full of sorrow." Spring is gone. What time is the rain? Leaning all over the stem, but without emotion. Where are people? The withered grass hangs in the sky, looking for the road back."You must know who she is. Later, this kind of back-backed bench under the eaves corridor spread around with the Hui-style architectural style, and also descended from high above to the lower level of Xuantang Pavilion, giving the beauty of the flat land a graceful place.

There is a pool behind Yiyuxuan, with rocks flying, piled and stacked by the pool. There is a first floor on the north bank.

The building has seven rooms wide, with two floors and a eaves corridor in front. There is a paper plaque hanging on the second-floor eaves corridor with the words "Hutian from Spring". This is taken from "Ge Yuan Ji" by Liu Fenghao, a talented scholar in Jiangxi Province in the Qing Dynasty. Liu Fenghao won the palace examination during the Qianlong period. During the Jiaqing period, he served as a memorial wine for the Imperial College, and served as assistant ministers of various ministries and grand secretaries of the cabinet. Liu Fenghao returned to his hometown after illness in his later years. Later, he went to the old Chinese medicine doctor in Yangzhou to drink medicine. Finally, during the Daoguang period, he moved from an old Chinese medicine doctor in Yangzhou to the west. During the interval between drinking the second dose of medicine, Liu Fenghao went to Lao Huang's house to have wine. After drinking, he walked into the back garden and wrote "The Story of the Garden." "Hutian" comes from the alchemy in the "Later Han Dynasty". It is a pot that "hangs pots to help the world", not a pot that "the sun and moon grow long in the pot". Hutian refers to a private garden like Geyuan. Although the entrance is small, the interior chamber is large, and there is water in the mountains. There is no shortage of plum blossoms, bamboo chrysanthemums, tigers, leopards, wolves, insects, ants, birds and birds. There is a couplet under the plaque,"The ancient famous capital of Huaizuo is recorded in the ten miles of pearl curtains and the bright moon; the garden is a resort, and you can see the thousands of poles of cold green and smoke on all sides." The ten-mile bead curtain in the first couplet is the same source as the title mentioned in "One" of my Yangzhou travel notes, which is Du Mu's poem "Farewell". Two points of the bright moon are also poems from the Tang Dynasty. It is said in Xu Ning's "Yi Yangzhou" that three points of the bright moon night and two points of Yangzhou. The thousand poles of cold green in the second couplet refers to the bamboo in the garden. Why is the bamboo cold green? Because of Fei Lengcui! Smoke haze refers to the morning mist that pervades the bamboo forest at sunrise.

This building is called the "Baoshan Building". The mountain that is being held can only be imagined and cannot be described in words. It is the flying, piled and stacked rocks in front of the building. Although these rocks are chaotic, they are still in a very orderly manner, which is the kind of way to "look horizontally at the sides of the peaks and form ridges". Where is the ridge? They are the weak rocks on the north and south sides of the pool water; the peaks are the high rocks on the left and right sides of Baoshan Tower. These two peaks cannot be underestimated. The peak on the left is called "Qiushan", with a dark yellow stone color and a Qiu Pavilion on the mountain; the peak on the right is called "Xia Mountain", with a bluish white stone color and a crane pavilion on the mountain. There is also a "Winter Mountain" in the garden, southeast of Yiyuxuan, with snow-white stone color. Therefore, this area is called the Four Seasons Rockery. There are four mountains in spring, summer, autumn and winter. In the center of the mountain peak is Yiyuxuan. Like Wutai Mountain in Shanxi, there is a Taihuai Town in Wutai.

I went upstairs and saw that the eaves corridor was so long.

The lighting room is decorated, and this is also the living room.

There is no back screen on the main seat, nor is it a square table and an armchair, but a Huanghuali Arhat bed. This shows that this place is not a place for receiving foreign guests, but a place for relatives and friends. If this is reorganized according to the layout of the past, then this building is likely to be the residence of the Huang family's old lady. There should be a Buddhist hall in the left hand room in the building. After walking around, I didn't see it, but they were all selling souvenirs.

Stand under the eaves and look forward.

The old lady of the Huang family can stand here and observe who is sitting in Yiyuxuan making a loud noise, and can also call Huang Guan's son here: "My grandson, come and massage my back." The guests inside heard the voice of the old lady upstairs behind them, so they came out quietly and walked under the back eaves to bow to the old lady, saying,"The old lady is lucky." The old lady looked and said,"Oh, Lao Wang next door, did you bring me squirrel mandarin fish?" Lao Wang said helplessly,"I have it, please take it all right", and then quickly ordered a takeout.

Do you see the roof of Yiyuxuan in front of you? This Baoshan Building is a bit of a deal. I walked to the Xiashan Crane Pavilion and looked back at the Baoshan Building. Although it was also a gray tiled mountain top with single eaves, the mountain flowers were completely blank. Why should you draw one fish, two bamboos and three peach blossoms?

There is a verandah downstairs in Baoshan. There is a set of engraved steles embedded in the wall. This is the "Ge Yuan Ji" written by Liu Fenghao mentioned earlier, written by himself.

Beyond Baoshan Tower and further north, there is another rockery, and behind the mountain is a larger pool. This can't be called a pool. It's too big. It has to be called a fish pond. There is a winding plank road made of stone slabs in the fish pond. I call it the fishing plank road. Master Huang built a pavilion, a pavilion and a corridor on the north bank of the fish pond. The pavilion was called Bufang Pavilion, the pavilion was called Yingbi Water Pavilion, and the corridor was of course called Lianlang.

There is a seal couplet hanging on the front eaves column of the Yingbishui Pavilion, which comes from two Tang poems. The first couplet is Du Fu's "Dark Water Flower Path", which talks about the flower path and the Cottage in Du Fu's Cottage in Chengdu. The second couplet is Cui Dong's "Breeze Full of Bamboo Forests", which tells about Wang Xizhi's orchid pavilion with lush forests and bamboo trees. Yingbi Water Pavilion is now a teahouse. This idea is very good and it matches neatly with the couplets in front of the door. You must know that although Wang Xizhi and the others brought wine from the winding wine, what Du Fu drank in the Cottage was tea.

Look at the mountain flowers on the top of the mountain reflecting the blue water pavilion. Although they were built later, they have embossed lotus flowers and grass here, which is very auspicious.

Tourists from the south should drink a pot of tea, whether they are thirsty or not. First, I would like to experience the artistic conception of Du Fu standing in the Cottage with a teapot in hand and chanting "Dark water flows and flower paths, spring stars bring the Cottage". This is called liyin, which is different from Qu Yuan's singing. When Qu Yuan was singing along the swamp, his color was haggard and haggard. Tourists walked here from the South Gate looked almost like this. Second, after I came here, I went to Yangguan in the west and had no friends. There were no more buildings and halls in the north. The only houses were a tourist service center and the other was a convenience room.

After it's convenient, you can walk out of the North Gate. This gate is now the gate of Geyuan because it is more spacious than the south gate. The street outside the north gate is called Yanfu East Road, which should be the north wall of Guangling City. The river on the north side of the road should be the moat in the past. In this way, the Huang family's private house covers an area that stretches from the east street in the center of the city to the north city wall. It's really impressive! This also explains from another perspective that although the first red-topped merchant in the Qing Dynasty had no wealth and could defeat the enemy, he was still a rich country.

Private houses in the south pursue elegance, which is different from the north pursue burly people. Geyuan has this intention. Although the Huang House is not exquisite, the garden is very wonderful. Sigh! Sigh when you need to sigh.

(To be continued)