Seeking Roots in My Native Place (III)
(III) The Old House My old home village of Lijiagang originally had an old courtyard house, famous within a hundred li fifty years ago. This old courtyard house was square in structure, with five rooms on each side. The main house facing south to north was a wooden two-story building, while the other three sides were single-story wooden houses. In the middle of the courtyard was a flat terrace paved with smooth stone slabs, about 400 square meters. At the north-facing corner of the courtyard was a large gate…
(3) The Old House
In my hometown of Lijiagang there was once a traditional courtyard house, known far and wide within a hundred li fifty years ago.
This old courtyard house was square in layout, with five rooms on each side. The main house, facing south with its back to the north, was a two-story wooden building, while the other three sides were single-story wooden houses. In the center of the courtyard was a flat paved area of about 400 square meters, laid with smooth stone slabs. At the northern corner of the courtyard was a large gatehouse with a pavilion on top. Above the gatehouse, three gilded characters were inlaid: Longxi Tang. The horizontal plaque in the center bore the four characters "Bless and Guide Posterity," and on either side hung a couplet: "Seated in Longxi, the Tang house's fame resounds; the Marquis of Ye's prestige, generation after generation." According to the elders, our Li clan originated from Longxi—descendants of Li Yuan, Emperor Gaozu of Tang. After the Tang dynasty, one branch of the Li family drifted to Jiangxi. During the bandit turmoil at the end of the Ming dynasty, an ancestor named Li Maitang wandered from Jiangxi to Muerping in Sangzhi and settled there. After Li Maitang, the fifteenth generation descendant Li Anguo first moved to Lijiagang. Through the efforts of two more generations, Li Xingchun and Li Shengxian, during the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty they purchased a round, cake-shaped plot of land at Lijiagang and soon built the first row of main rooms facing south with their backs to the north, five large rooms in all. At that time, the Lijiagang area was heavily forested, and all the timber for the house was pine. The pillars were as thick as washbasins and stood ten to twenty meters tall. When raising the wooden frames, they invited a famous local carpenter named Zhong to oversee the work and held a grand beam-raising ceremony. Carpenter Zhong first drew a "Taiji diagram" in the center of the beam with ink, wrote the two characters "Fortune and Longevity" on either side, then wrapped it with red silk rosettes. Two long ropes were tied to each end and placed on the central pillars. After adjusting the orientation, he sat down and chanted: "The Yang Bridge is built, the platform is set; the host has asked me to raise the frames. A pair of central pillars stand, a pair of eave pillars stand, relatives and friends stand on both sides. ... In the east a auspicious cloud rises, in the west a purple cloud opens. Auspicious cloud rises, purple cloud opens, Zhang Lang and Lu Ban descend to earth. Lu Ban descends for no other matter, but just as the disciples raise the frames. First seal the sky, no taboo; second strike the earth, no taboo. ... The wooden horse at the head, the disciples see no evil; may the believers prosper, may the believers prosper; the offerings are complete, each returns to its place. One strike of the axe brings ten thousand taels of gold; two strikes bring wealth and honor. Three strikes, all disciples line up neatly. Four strikes, all disciples strive together. Raise—!" Immediately, everyone together heaved the wooden frames upright. After several frames were erected, they then cut the beam mortise and set the beam. The beam-setting chant went: "Since the beam is set today, may the whole household enjoy high office and ample fortune. Climb the ladder and then the beam; the host's gold and silver fill the barns. ... Arriving at the beam's end, I look around and see the host has a fine site: behind comes a small ridge a thousand li long, before stands a matching mountain strong and high. Wealth and honor beyond measure, as long as heaven and earth endure. " After setting the beam, there were more chants for hanging the beam cloth, the ingots, and tossing the beam cakes. The final chant while tossing the beam cakes was the liveliest. Carpenter Zhong stood on the beam and chanted: "Cast aside idle talk, look below at the tossing of the beam cakes. The boys who come are a great crowd, eyes bulging like bowls, claws clenched like nail hammers. Master, I have tossed the cakes. Toss the beam cakes to the east, erect the frames in the east and granaries in the west. Toss the beam cakes to the south, govern the fields in the south and the estates in the north. Toss the beam cakes to the west, gold and silver treasures fill the chests. Toss the beam cakes to the north, all things go smoothly and great auspiciousness. Toss forward eight steps to the sun-facing water, toss backward eight steps to the water facing the sun. Toss left to the Azure Dragon high for ten thousand zhang, toss right to the White Tiger raising its head. Toss a golden boy and jade horse, a three-year-old king; toss a top scholar, second scholar, and third scholar. The beam cakes are all tossed, wealth and honor for ten thousand years. The beam cakes are done, forever pure and auspicious; all descend from the beam, please turn back."
After Carpenter Zhong finished chanting, he threw the prepared sorghum cakes, glutinous rice cakes, and peanuts to the guests in front of and behind the house. At that moment, suona horns and gongs and drums sounded, and firecrackers exploded in a burst. Relatives and friends all happily offered heartfelt congratulations in various words. Many said that the house was built in a good feng shui position, facing the four great mountains in front and backed by the small Shalong hill. Just as the master carpenter praised, "Behind comes a small ridge a thousand li long, before stands a matching mountain strong and high," it would surely bring forth sons and grandsons and allow them to enjoy wealth and honor. After Li Xingchun and his son Li Shengxian built this house, indeed their descendants soon prospered. Li Shengxian no longer had a single heir; he had two sons, one named Li Shiliang and one named Li Shichen. After the two sons, there were eight more grandsons, three granddaughters, and more than twenty great-grandsons and great-granddaughters. The Li clan at Lijiagang thus grew larger and larger. After Li Shichen and his brother married, they expanded the old house into a complete courtyard compound. In the generation of Li Shengxian's grandsons, two capable men emerged. One was Li Chonghua, a student who studied in Japan in the early Republic of China and had joined the Chinese Revolutionary Party led by Sun Yat-sen; later he returned to the county and served as chairman of the county farmers' association and farm manager. The other was Li Longfei, who graduated from the Provincial Third Normal School and in the 1920s served as county magistrate of Cili, Longshan, and Qianjiang. When Li Longfei was magistrate, because the population was too large for the old courtyard house, he built another small courtyard house on a separate plot below the old house, called the New House. This compound also had a gatehouse facing north, with the three characters "Longxi Tang" hung above the gate. Besides the same couplet as the old house, another couplet was written: "Pile gold high as the North Star, accumulate jade full to the South Mountain." After the new compound was built, the Li clan at Lijiagang gathered together, entering a period of great prosperity. Twenty or thirty years later, a stormy change of dynasties arrived, and the Li descendants' clan underwent great division. Those who had been prosperous now suffered misfortune due to class struggle classification. The wooden building of the old courtyard house was soon confiscated and demolished. The gatehouse bearing "Longxi Tang" was smashed. Other houses also changed owners. At that time, my father, having been only a farmer before liberation, was classified as a middle peasant at liberation. Two rooms of the original old house still belonged to our family. I lived in the old house for several years in my early childhood. Later my parents built another house outside the old house, and our whole family moved out of the old courtyard. I lived in my hometown until I was over twenty, then left to study. After starting work, I rarely returned. Now, decades later, the old and new houses have become dilapidated and unrecognizable. The Li descendants who lived in the two compounds have built new brick-and-wood houses, each with their own door, no longer forming courtyard compounds.
Thus the old houses of my hometown, after a hundred or two hundred years of wind and rain, are about to disappear. I, too, have passed middle age. Many warm scenes from under the old house have gradually blurred over the course of my life, but deep in my memory, the old house remains like the finest vintage landscape painting, forever treasured.