Reading Xiangxi (Phoenix Town I)
From Sangongqiao to Fenghuang (County Town). The drive from Sangongqiao to Fenghuang takes only an hour, and there are many vehicles; buses from Jishou depart every half hour, and this small mountain village is a required stop. For local country folk, however, minibuses are a luxury, so most ride small market trucks similar to those at La'ershan, mostly Futian mini four-wheelers. As for the passengers...
This article has been compiled from historical materials on 'Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network' (33519.com · Specialty Foods / Cuisine / Customs section). Prices, business hours, administrative divisions, and statistical data mentioned in the text may already be outdated. Before traveling, please refer to the latest announcements from merchants, scenic areas, and local competent authorities; the parts involving folk legends and folk customs are local historical and cultural anecdotes, provided for cultural reference.
From Sangongqiao to Fenghuang (the county town)
From Sangongqiao to Fenghuang is only an hour's drive, and there are plenty of vehicles—the shuttle bus from Jishou runs every half hour, and this small mountain village is a required stop. Yet for the local country folk, a minibus is a luxury, so most ride the small market trucks similar to those at La'ershan, mostly Futian mini four-wheelers. As for the passengers, more are going to the Jixin market, fewer into the city (Fenghuang)—who goes to town if there's no meeting or work to report? If you're lucky enough to squeeze into the cab, it's like sitting in first class on a plane; if you can't get into the cab, you have to sway in the back of the truck, mingling with chickens, ducks, rice bran, cabbage, and garlic—quite a scene of idyllic rural charm. I love riding in such trucks; everyone seems to be an old acquaintance. When you climb aboard, no matter who's sitting on the outer edge, they'll pull you up. Once on board, no matter how crowded, they'll shift half a buttock's space for you. The rough and outspoken will curse the driver for being greedy, but space will always be made for a fellow sufferer. The cursing isn't real cursing, and the driver won't truly take offense—everyone's an acquaintance, maybe even from the same village. The driver chuckles a couple of times and continues circling to pick up those carrying poles and baskets along the road, while the people in the truck have already turned to chat with one another. "Did you go to the Gan Zhou market last time? Oranges are dirt cheap." "No, at the Jixin market they're one yuan for five jin. It's a good year—tangerines aren't worth much. Even a jin of garlic costs two jiao." Everyone who can get a word in joins the conversation—tangerines, oranges, chickens, ducks, fish, meat, all topics of discussion. When there are too many people and no room to sit, three or five young fellows grab the horizontal bar above the truck bed and stand in a row on the open tailgate, like a wind-blocking wall, their clothes and hair flying in the wind—free and rugged.
The New Generation of Xiangxi People
This time we were riding a Futian mini four-wheeler, swaying in the back. When we got on, there weren't many people yet. A Miao woman wearing a headscarf, her face like a silver platter, sat toward the inside with her eyes closed, resting. I kept suspecting she was the spirit medium who had performed the "gang xian" ritual the night before. I looked carefully at her luggage—just a cloth bag, and an empty one at that. Spirit mediums collect not only money but mostly rice; country people have little money but no shortage of grain, so paying with rice is quite normal. It seemed I had mistaken her. The truck continued through the slanting wind and fine rain, and a young man of seventeen or eighteen jumped aboard, dressed in a suit and leather shoes, with a handsome head of black hair and fine dark eyes. As soon as he sat down, his eyes darted about. The woman collecting fares asked him: "Lao Er, where are you headed?" "Sister-in-law, I'm going to the Jixin market." He answered quite cheerfully. He was the youngest, the handsomest, the most fashionable in the truck, and he truly was happy. I couldn't help smiling as I watched him, watching his confident exuberance. The woman called out again: "Aren't you working away from home? Made some money, dressed up like a monkey—slippery as can be." He grew a bit shy: "What money? Just scraping by." "Don't lie. Working in a factory, you must make at least a thousand yuan a month. Put that here, and you're a rich man." He raised his slightly dark face and chuckled. "It's actually really hard, sister-in-law, you don't know. I work in a motorcycle factory, ten hours a day, my head is spinning." "So you don't want to go back?" "Of course I do—how could I not? However hard it is, it's better than farming. A lifetime facing the yellow earth with your back to the sky, herding cattle and plowing fields—I can't bear that hardship anymore." He was cheerful. But the day was cold and the wind strong. He wore only a T-shirt under his suit, and shivering, he wrapped his arms around himself, pulling the suit tight, losing some of his panache. Seeing that I seemed to be laughing at him, he blushed slightly and said to the woman: "The weather changed today, so cold, I dressed too lightly." The woman said: "I told you, you're like a monkey." He chuckled again, still unbearably happy.
The Vanishing Xiangxi
I see the new generation of Xiangxi people choosing to leave and let go without any painful struggle. Though they will eventually return to their native soil, what they continue is no longer the fate of their fathers and grandfathers. Years from now, when travelers from afar come here, they will no longer see Miao people in Miao attire. They replicate the suits and leather shoes of the city, and teach their children Chinese beyond the Miao language. Civilization seeps in bit by bit, just as we can no longer see hunters in headscarves chasing beasts in the mountains, nor young girls in embroidered shoes playing in the woods.
The Xiangxi of old will grow ever closer to the outside world. The primeval forests are long gone—uprooted for road-building, reclaimed into farmland during the "Learn from Dazhai" campaign, burned to the ground in the frenzy of backyard steelmaking. What else can escape being buried and abandoned? The Miao ritual master in his bright red ceremonial robe no longer has scriptures to chant; his forty-year-old disciple can no longer learn his flowing dance steps, nor blow the smooth ox horn. His daughter stands proudly at a middle school lectern teaching geometry; his son, whose arm was blown off blasting mountains for roadwork, can no longer carry on his calling...
The Road to Fenghuang
I love this road to Fenghuang—it is far more charming than the one to Jishou. On one side winds a river; on the other, verdant peaks and fields of blooming rapeseed flowers stretch as far as the eye can see. It happened to be after the rain that day, and a thin mist wrapped us in the cool, moist air of early spring. The air we breathed was the scent of flowers mixed with green grass and soil—the smell of the countryside I had long missed. I savored it, sweet as honey. Small courtyards with bamboo and peach blossoms seemed to greet us with faint smiles, then fade behind us as if bowing their heads and turning back to sniff green plums. Occasionally a farmer in a bamboo hat and rain cape would appear in the middle of the road, shouting "yah, yah" to drive his blocking cattle to the roadside, their tails swinging like pendulums, unhurried, gradually disappearing from view. As the scenery unfolded along the way, when the exposed earth on the hills suddenly turned from yellow to red, that was the sign that Fenghuang was near. The soil of Fenghuang is red, and so are its stones. What we usually call bluestone streets must be renamed in Fenghuang—they should be called red stone streets. Yet the passage of time has worn away the vividness of the red; only after rain, when the dust is washed into the ditches, do the ancient stone slabs, wet and glistening, reveal their faintly red original hue.
Qiliang Cave
Qiliang Cave is the largest underground karst cave in Fenghuang County, 10 kilometers from the county town, 40 minutes by car from Sangongqiao, and 20 minutes from Jixin. Before it was developed, it was a refuge for the country people—whenever there were wars or disasters, the townspeople would take shelter here, and it is said it could hold ten thousand people. The stalactites inside are varied and wondrous: above is Heaven, below is the Dragon Palace. Climb to see the forest of snow in Heaven; take a boat to see the thousand mountains reflected in the Dragon Palace. So extraordinary are the sights that people say, "Having seen Qiliang, no other cave is worth seeing." Today the cave houses the wine cellar of the famous Xiangxi liquor "Jiugui," located opposite the scenic spot "Rain-Washed New Lotus"—wine fragrance and lotus beauty, a wonder on earth.
Fenghuang Is One of the Two Most Beautiful Small Towns in China
Almost every person in Fenghuang knows that Fenghuang has been called one of the two most beautiful small towns in China. The person who gave Fenghuang such a proud appraisal was Rewi Alley. He lived in China for decades, originally from New Zealand, and the other most beautiful small town he spoke of is Changting in Fujian. Many people can dispute the judgment of "most beautiful," but what puzzles me most is that I simply cannot imagine the background against which this statement was made—it was the craziest year in Chinese history: 1966. When almost all Chinese people were enveloped in that unprecedented, reason-abandoning political fervor, this New Zealander came to Fenghuang. In this remote place, he leisurely enjoyed the echo of his heels tapping on the red stone slabs in the county town. He also visited the Guyuetan Hydroelectric Station and the ancient city of Huangshiqiao. Whether it was the verdant Nanhua Mountain that moved him, or the clear and tranquil Tuo River that intoxicated him, in his eyes there was only scenery and no political shadow. He said with delight: "Fenghuang is one of the two most beautiful small towns in China."
His journey to Fenghuang was like a perilous adventure. He arrived in Fenghuang in July 1966. On the 20th of that month, Fenghuang established the county office of the "Cultural Revolution" Leading Group and launched the "Cultural Revolution" throughout the county. In August, schools "suspended classes to make revolution," and everywhere the Four Olds were destroyed. Any architecture, furniture, or steles carved with dragons, phoenixes, flowers, birds, or historical stories were smashed to the ground. The ancient paper-burning pagoda by the river in front of Wanshou Palace was also listed among the "Four Olds" and demolished. In less than a month, Fenghuang had been utterly transformed.
Rewi Alley did not witness the moment when Fenghuang lost its reason. This ancient small mountain town was thus able to establish a good reputation through a foreigner.
The Historical Evolution and Stories of Fenghuang
The history of Fenghuang can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty. Opening the county annals, one reads: "In the third year of Chuigong of the Tang, Weiyang County was established."
The Tang Dynasty is a dynasty that stirs the imagination—the most splendid dynasty in Chinese history. It is the Tang of poetry, the dynasty in which the Poet Immortal Li Bai and the Poet Sage Du Fu dominated the poetic world, the Tang that left later generations countless commentaries and sighs, bearing the soul-stirring love of Emperor Ming of Tang and Consort Yang, and the various merits and faults of Empress Wu Zetian. But the center of feudal imperial rule had nothing to do with Fenghuang. In the thousands of years that followed, Fenghuang repeatedly tried to be incorporated into cultural orthodoxy. Fenghuang's gradual emergence from the history of the remote frontier was in fact the history of conquest and counter-conquest between the Chinese orthodoxy and the Wuling Man.
This is a place that was once a land of barbarians, later overrun by bandits, and finally called a place of outstanding people and spiritual terrain. Its administrative evolution is very clear: in the third year of Chuigong of the Tang (687), Weiyang County was established; afterward it was variously subordinate to Zhaoyu or Mayang, with frequent changes, until the Song Dynasty when a native chieftain system was established. In the third year of Longqing of the Ming (1659), in order to keep watch over the native chieftains, a military camp was set up at Luochaojing near the present-day Fenghuang county town. Because there was a high mountain there shaped like a phoenix, called Phoenix Mountain, the camp was also named after the mountain and called Phoenix Camp. In the thirty-ninth year of Kangxi of the Qing (1700), Fenghuang Ting was established, with its seat at Zhen'gan Town (present-day Tuojiang Town). In the second year of Jiaqing (1797), the scattered ting was elevated to a directly administered ting. In the second year of the Republic (1913), the ting was changed to a county, called Fenghuang County, which has continued to the present.
Yet these brief written records do not provide us with much more to imagine—only the skeleton of Fenghuang, not its flesh and blood. To trace the history of Fenghuang, we must discuss it against a larger backdrop, or rather, discuss it together with Xiangxi.
The Full-Bodied Concept of Xiangxi
Ling Yu's Biography of Shen Congwen, before tracing the life of this literary master, first gives us a relatively full-bodied concept of Xiangxi:
"If you happen to have a map of China at hand, you will notice on the reverse side that the thick blue line marking the Yangtze River winds from west to east, connecting with Dongting Lake. To the right of the lake, along the river, stretches the Wu Mountain range. To the southwest of the lake, the Wuling Mountains and Xuefeng Mountains stand like two barriers, cutting off connections with the Dongting Lake marshlands and central Hunan. Crossing the Xuefeng Mountains into Guizhou, the Dalou Mountains and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau rise to the southwest. This triangular region surrounded by great mountains is the border area where Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, and Guizhou meet. The part belonging to Hunan is the Xiangxi that was established as Qianzhong Commandery in the Qin and Wuling Commandery in the Han. The history books say: 'The southwestern corner of Huguang was the Wu and Qian Commanderies during the Warring States period. Shinan and Rongmei in Hubei, and Yongshun, Baojing, and Sangzhi in Hunan are closely connected, situated between Yue, Chen, Changde, and Yichang, bordering Ba and Kui in eastern Sichuan, reaching Guizhou to the south and Shu to the west.' A vast, jagged mountain region, a closed geographical environment.
"Until the early years of this century (the author notes: referring to the 20th century), roads were not open here and trains did not run. Only two rivers frequently appearing in classical verse—the Yuan River and the Li River—rushed out from the mountains and poured into Dongting Lake, becoming the main routes of communication between Xiangxi and the outside world. The upper reaches of the Yuan River and its tributaries—You, Wu, Wu, Chen, and Yuan—are the famous 'Five Streams' often seen in historical records. They are like blood vessels in the human body, extending throughout the entire Xiangxi region. These rivers are densely strewn with rocks, full of dangerous rapids, with raging waves roaring, flowing eternally. Mountains stand on both sides of the rivers, perilous peaks blocking the sun, dense trees shrouded in mist, grotesque rocks baring their teeth, clouds and fog dark and gloomy. In the mountains there are also mountain paths crawling in all directions. If you are strong and bold, can eat coarse rice and drink sour soup, and can rent a sweat-soaked quilt to wrap yourself in and spend the night on a straw mat crawling with lice and fleas, then you can travel to Xiangxi by land. Walking for hours on end through deep mountains without a trace of human habitation during the day, you will have the chance to understand what is meant by the sounds of nature and earth—loneliness will choke your throat and make your heart pound. Beside the road, suddenly a burned house, a decomposing corpse, a patch of tragically red wild berries; before or behind you, a large snake suddenly crosses the path—tension makes your hair stand on end. Before dark, if you come upon an inn, you must quickly settle in, for beyond it are dozens more li without a household. Waking at midnight, you will hear the howling of tigers and wolves, the shrill cries of venomous snakes fighting with toads, as if right in front of or behind the house. Setting out the next day, on the rain-soaked muddy path, you will see the huge footprints of a tiger that passed by. If you are lucky—even in broad daylight—you may encounter bandits blocking the road and robbing, or a duel with broadswords... The people living on this land, 'in language and diet, are utterly different from Chinese customs; they are called Miao, called Man.'"
From such descriptions, though we may be drawn by the detailed mystery and primitiveness, we cannot help but feel a new-born fear at its wildness and backwardness. And the rulers of successive dynasties, toward this place that civilization could hardly reach, also wavered endlessly between conquest and abandonment, unable to find peace.
The Ancient Peach Blossom Spring
Located in Duwu Village, Jixin Town, 25 kilometers north of Fenghuang county town, this place has recently been inferred and corroborated by some experts and scholars as the location of the "Peach Blossom Spring" described by Tao Yuanming of the Jin Dynasty, and is called the "Ancient Peach Blossom Spring." In March, when peach blossoms are in full bloom, following the stream lined with peach trees on both banks upstream for more than ten li, passing a dilapidated water mill, and then traversing a mountain path of about 300 meters, one reaches a basin of two square kilometers. Within it, fields overlap and peach blossoms are scattered about, giving one a sense of being transported to another world. In the basin lives a branch of the Tujia people who call themselves "Linka." Their ancestors are said to have come during the reign of King Zhao of Qin, unable to bear the rule of the Qin king, traveling over mountains and rivers from Yuanling, and living in isolation from the world for six or seven hundred years.
The stilted houses along the Tuo River are gradually showing signs of age and decay.
General Fubo's Campaign Against Wuling
The most famous event in history was the campaign of the Eastern Han General Fubo, Ma Yuan, against the Wuling Man. Xiangxi in the Han Dynasty was then Wuling Commandery, and its inhabitants were the Wuling Man who had migrated from the Central Plains to the towering mountains.
In the twenty-third year of Jianwu of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han (47 AD), the Wuling Man, led by Xiang Dancheng, rose in rebellion. The following year, General Weiwu Liu Shang led more than ten thousand troops to attack the Wuling Man. Xiang Dancheng held the strategic passes, and the Han army advanced recklessly and deeply, resulting in the annihilation of Liu Shang's entire force. The next year, Ma Yuan of the Eastern Han led the middle generals Liu Kuang, Ma Wu, and Geng Shu with a total of forty thousand troops south to campaign against Wuling, killing more than three thousand Wuling Man. In March, the army advanced to Hutou Mountain. The Wuling Man held the heights and guarded the passes; the Han army could not advance by land, and by water the river was too swift for boats to go upstream, so they were finally trapped at Hutou Mountain. Adding to this, the weather was scorching and plague spread through the army, and many soldiers died of illness. General Ma Yuan, who had declared, "A man should die on the frontier, wrapped in horsehide for burial," ultimately died in the army from illness and exhaustion. The court and the country were shocked, and they had no choice but to adopt a policy of pacification toward the "Wuling Man," mutually agreeing to withdraw troops.
During his military campaigns, Ma Yuan once composed a poem titled "The Deep Journey to Wuling": "How deep and vast is Wuling's flow, where birds dare not cross and beasts dare not go. Alas, how Wuling teems with poison and woe." This celebrated general of the Han Dynasty, who struggled up from his sickbed and staggered onto his warhorse for a distant expedition, vanished like smoke in the nightmare-like sighs of his campaign, thus fulfilling his vow to "return wrapped in horsehide." Though Xiangxi defeated Ma Yuan, Ma Yuan to a certain extent demonized Xiangxi. The relationship between the Tujia and Miao cultures of Xiangxi and Han culture was no longer one of center and periphery, but had become a tense opposition. Ma Yuan was not Qu Yuan. As a poet, what Qu Yuan saw during his exile was a spirit-world of fragrant flowers and angelica herbs, but as a conqueror, what Ma Yuan saw was a perilous land where birds and beasts would not venture, and where civilization could hardly reach.
Eight Hundred Years of the Tusi System
After Ma Yuan, Ma Xifan, the King of Chu of the Later Jin, who claimed to be his descendant, once again clashed with Peng Shichou, the Prefect of Xizhou. This time Ma Xifan prevailed, but following his ancestor's example, he declared that the war against Xiangxi was neither for wealth nor for land, and thus reached an agreement with Peng Shichou, adopting the ethnic policy of "using barbarians to rule barbarians." And so the Tujia region of Xiangxi began eight hundred years of the tusi system—
In the late Tang Dynasty, a Han Chinese family surnamed Peng from Jiangxi entered Xiangxi and, through stratagem, murdered the Tujia leader "Old Barbarian Chief" Wu Zhuchong, becoming the local emperor of the Tujia region in Xiangxi. In the fourth year of Tianfu of the Later Jin (939 AD), Peng Shichou, Prefect of Xizhou (present-day Yongshun), led over ten thousand people from the minority groups of Jinzhou, Jiangzhou, and Xizhou to attack Chenzhou and Lizhou, rebelling against the tyrannical rule of the King of Chu. King Ma Xifan of Chu dispatched Liu and Liao Kuangqi with five thousand troops to suppress them. Peng Shichou was defeated and fled to defend his mountain stronghold. The mountain was surrounded by sheer cliffs on all sides; Liu used ladder-planks to encircle it, and Liao Kuangqi died in battle. The following year (940 AD), Liu attacked the stronghold with fire arrows; Peng Shichou fled deep into the mountains and sent his son Peng Shisong to lead the Tujia chieftains in surrender. Liu withdrew his troops and took Peng Shisong back to Changsha as a hostage. Both sides suffered heavy losses. Ma Xifan and Peng Shichou concluded a covenant and erected a bronze pillar at Xizhou. The pillar was cast from five thousand catties of bronze, hexagonal in shape, hollow, and inscribed with 2,118 characters of text, among which it says: "The King said: 'In ancient times, those who rebelled were attacked, and when they submitted they were pacified. Their wealth was not seized, their land was not coveted...' We attack the rebellious and treat the submissive with virtue—how dare we not follow the ancients? To seize wealth and covet land is truly not what we do. Therefore, in accordance with the previous memorial, Peng Shichou is appointed Prefect of Xizhou; his sons, generals, and officials shall all be restored to their posts, with rewards distributed according to rank, so that they may be settled in their land..." From then on, the Peng family established in the Tujia region of Xiangxi a hereditary tusi dynasty that lasted through nine dynasties from the Five Dynasties to the Qing, spanning over eight hundred years. The central regime also used the tusi forces to subdue the Tujia people and to control the Miao region. Thereafter, whenever conflicts between Miao and Han occurred, the tusi would serve as the vanguard for the throne, "and the state relied on them for punitive expeditions, so the troops of Yong and Bao were renowned as the mightiest."
Ming and Qing Policies Toward Xiangxi
By the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, in order to guard against the Miao, a "border wall" (now known as the Southern Great Wall) was built along the edges of the Miao region, while implementing a policy of ethnic segregation—"outsiders shall not enter the caves, Miao shall not leave the territory." At the same time, the Miao were divided into "raw Miao" and "cooked Miao," and a strategy of gradual assimilation was pursued—attacking the "raw Miao" while "pacifying the cooked Miao, so that they might gradually come to know assimilation."
However, the self-governing tusi mini-dynasties, on the one hand, gradually intensified their contradictions with the various ethnic peoples; on the other hand, their conflicts with the central regime grew increasingly acute, ultimately becoming a threat to the heart of the central dynasty: "Now after several hundred years, the practice of using barbarians to rule barbarians has continued, leading to using bandits to rule bandits." Thus, during the Kangxi and Yongzheng reigns of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing court implemented the policy of "replacing tusi with regular officials" (gaituguiliu) in the southwestern minority regions. From the fifth year of Yongzheng (1727 AD) to the thirteenth year (1735 AD), the "gaituguiliu" in Xiangxi was completed, dividing the former tusi territories into the counties of Longshan, Baojing, Sangzhi, Yongshun, Shimen, Cili, and Anfu. In the Miao regions, the directly-administered sub-prefectures of Fenghuang, Qianzhou, and Yongsui were established, along with the scattered sub-prefecture of Guzhang, under the Chen-Yuan-Yong-Jing Circuit. The Qing army added garrisons, patrol posts, guard stations, and military farms in the heart of Miao territory, stationing troops to guard them—a sentry post every ten li, a garrison every forty li. In Fenghuang Sub-prefecture alone, there were 848 forts and checkpoints.
From then on, the central dynasty began to establish feudal rule over Xiangxi politically.
Heavenly King Temple
Also known as the Three Marquises Shrine or Three Kings Temple, it is located at the foot of Guanjing Mountain southeast of the city. One can climb a hundred stone steps from the East Gate Well up the mountain to enter the temple. According to the "Fenghuang Sub-prefecture Gazetteer": "In the third year of Jiaqing (1798 AD), the sub-prefect Fu Ding constructed three main halls, one front hall, two side rooms on the left and right, one theater stage, three second gates, and three first gates." This is a complex of exquisitely crafted ancient buildings. It is said to have been built to honor the three brothers Yang Yinglong, Yang Yinghu, and Yang Yingbao—eighth-generation descendants of Yang Ye of the Song Dynasty—who "commanded thirty-six men and killed nine thousand Miao," loyally served the court, brutally suppressed their Miao brethren, were each enfeoffed as marquises by the emperor, and were ultimately poisoned by the court.
The Tomb of the Martyrs Who Shed Blood for the Restoration of Han
On October 27, 1911, Tang Shijun and others led several thousand Miao, Han, and Tujia patriots from La'ershan, Changping, Longtan, Maoping, and other places to attack Fenghuang county town in response to the call of the Xinhai Revolution. Because the attack was launched ahead of schedule, contacts inside the town could not be reached, and the Qing army had strengthened its defenses, the uprising forces failed in their assault; 170 were killed in battle or captured and executed. In August 1914, Tian Yingzhao, the garrison commander of Xiangxi, along with officials and gentry Zhang Shengcai, Teng Daichun, Tian Yingquan, Tang Shijun, and military and civilian representatives, gathered the remains of 72 martyrs originally buried separately at Leishao Slope, Jinsheng Garden, and Baozi Bay into a single grave at Leishao Slope, "mounded into one great tomb." The martyrs' tomb is on the mountainside of Leishao Slope in the northern part of the county town. The tomb is 2.5 meters high, 5.6 meters wide, and 6.4 meters long. It is enclosed by bluestone, with a tombstone inscribed "Tomb of the Martyrs Who Shed Blood for the Restoration of Han," flanked by polished stone tablets listing the names of the fallen.
The "King of Wu" Raises the Banner of Righteousness, Shaking the Qing Dynasty
But even so, this land did not achieve true tranquility. The Miao uprising in Guizhou and Hunan during the Qianlong reign shook the throne of the Qing rulers right here.
In the fifty-second year of Qianlong (1787 AD), several merchants trafficking in oxen were robbed near Goubu Village in Fenghuang. The authorities, without distinguishing right from wrong, implicated the entire village of Goubu, provoking resistance from Miao people including Shi Manyi. The authorities sent troops to suppress them, burning three villages of Goubu and burning to death over 100 people including Shi Manyi. The Goubu incident further inflamed the Miao people's ethnic hatred. Soon, over 100 village chiefs from Miao villages along the Hunan-Guizhou border gathered and swore to "kill Han officials and expel settler migrants." After eight years of preparation, in the fifty-ninth year of Qianlong (1794 AD), Shi Liudeng, Shi Sanbao, Wu Bayue, and others smeared blood in oath at the home of Wu Longdeng, the hundred-household chief of Yabao Village, vowing to fight for their ethnic survival. In the first month of the sixtieth year of Qianlong (1795), Shi Liudeng was the first to raise the banner of righteousness, calling for "expelling settler migrants and recovering our former lands," rising simultaneously in the four sub-prefectures of Yongsui, Fenghuang, Qianzhou, and Songtao in Guizhou, with over 200,000 participants. The uprising army at one point occupied vast territories across six prefectures and thirteen sub-prefectures and counties along the borders of four provinces.
The Qing court was greatly alarmed by this uprising. As soon as the banner was raised, the Qing Dynasty urgently summoned Fukang'an, Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou, as supreme commander, and Helin, Governor-General of Sichuan, as deputy commander, leading 180,000 troops from seven provinces in a four-pronged encirclement of the uprising army. Under the leadership of Wu Bayue, the uprising army won repeated victories. The various units unanimously acclaimed Wu Bayue as "King of Wu," and devised the tactic of "the officials have ten thousand soldiers, we have ten thousand mountains; when they come we go, when they leave we return," dealing heavy blows to the Qing forces. Fukang'an and Helin both died in defeat. Later, due to betrayal from within the uprising army, the uprising failed. This uprising tied down 180,000 Qing troops, and in the three sub-prefectures of Yongsui, Qianzhou, and Fenghuang alone, plus Songtao Sub-prefecture in Guizhou, over 200 senior and mid-level Qing officers—including governors-general, provincial commanders, brigade generals, colonels, and lieutenant-colonels—died in this campaign. Hunan Province alone expended over seven million taels of silver on the war.
The Miao people also suffered devastating casualties: in the sixtieth year of Qianlong (1795), the three sub-prefectures of Fenghuang, Yongsui, and Qianzhou had a total of four thousand Miao villages and a population of nearly 400,000. By the thirteenth year of Jiaqing (1807), only 1,200 Miao villages remained, with a population of just over 115,000—a reduction of more than 70%. The Miao territory shrank by more than 80%.
In the hundred years that followed, although Miao uprisings continued to erupt in Xiangxi, the ethnic vitality was so greatly depleted that they could never again mount a large-scale effort.
Xiangxi as a "Bandit Zone" During the Republic of China
In modern times, with the fall of the feudal dynasty, central authoritarian rule here became even more tenuous. The Xiangxi Autonomous Government established under the leadership of Tian Yingzhao and Chen Quzhen maintained an ambiguous relationship with the Kuomintang central regime, and the local armed forces that sprang up in various counties were not subordinate to the county governments. These local armed forces killed and plundered, kidnapped for ransom (targeting mostly local wealthy landlords or outside merchants and administrative officials), but also protected the territory and its people, not allowing outside forces to encroach. Chiang Kai-shek therefore declared Xiangxi a "bandit zone," and the Kuomintang sent troops to Xiangxi multiple times to "suppress bandits," all ending in defeat.
This is history from several hundred years ago. In present-day Fenghuang, only a section of city wall from the North Gate to the East Gate remains—the broken remnants of what Shen Congwen mentioned in "Fengzi" as "that round city built of rough yet solid and massive stones." And those "five hundred or so forts and two hundred or so garrison posts" that were "distributed on average within several hundred li across the surrounding three counties" to "deal with the Miao rebellions in the borderlands who retreated to a corner and frequently rose up in revolt"—all that remains are some ruined memorials. As for the "border wall" built during the Wanli period to guard against the Miao, it has already been submerged in the green mountains and yellow earth, and the people on both sides of the "border wall" have long since merged together.
Shujiatang Ancient Castle
This is an ancient castle village. In 2000, when Dr. Henry of the United Nations visited Shujiatang, he said: "I have never seen a castle more ancient, more complete, or more beautiful than Shujiatang." Shujiatang is located in Huanghe Township of Fenghuang, only seven or eight li from Tingziguan, the starting point of the Southern Great Wall. It consists of three villages—upper, middle, and lower. According to Professor Luo Zhewen, who discovered the Southern Great Wall, the castle has a history of at least 800 years. The castle has large bluestone gates and wooden buildings, showing the passage of time. Ninety percent of the households here bear the surname Yang. They claim to be descendants of the Yang family generals, and on the first page of their now tattered genealogy, it boldly states: "First generation, Feishan Gong Yang Zaisi." The subsequent dozens of generations are recorded without a single omission.