Guannei Wharf Xianggetuo

Guannei Wharf Xianggetuo
Li Bacon
Between the west gate of Daixian County and Xiguan, there is an open area about 100 meters wide, which was called "Xianggutuo" in ancient state chronicles and "Xianggetuo" in modern county chronicles. Whether it's "Xiangku Tuo" or "Xiangge Tuo", the name sounds very awkward, without the traditional charm of ordinary domain names in Dai County. It seems to be referring to a remote small bay in a water town in Jiangnan. There is no clear explanation in historical records about the meaning of the name Xianggetuo, and there are also various folk legends. Some say it is because during the Qing Dynasty, this place was once the place where the state government paid taxes, and officials from two states and five counties came here to lead the procession, hence the name "Xianggetong"; Some say it's because there were several oil mills here back in the day, and when they pressed oil, the strong aroma overflowed, hence it's called "Xianggetong"; Some people also say that it is because there have been several workshops here that make dry goods, and the sweet aroma when baking dry goods is very tempting, so people call this place "Xianggetong"; Some even use sound to think of meaning, saying that this place is called "Xianggeto" because the Dai County snack "Geto" is made particularly sweet and fragrant... All these folk explanations may sound reasonable, but when combined with the actual function of this place in the past, they will feel that these explanations are very far fetched.
So, which interpretation is the true meaning of this place name? To more accurately interpret the meaning of this ancient place name, we should first provide necessary explanations of the literal meanings of the place names in the literature. According to ancient state chronicles, there used to be a small river in this area, named "Xiangkutuo". Obviously, the place name was named after the river. Since it is a river, why is it not called a river like other rivers in Dai County, but called Tuo? The original meaning of 'tuo' in Chinese dictionaries is explained as follows: 'tuo' is a bay where boats can dock. It can be inferred that the place where the ship can be docked is the pier. Coincidentally, before the 1950s and 1960s, when elderly people talked about Xianggetuo, they habitually referred to it as a dock, saying that vegetables used to be traded on the dock. From this, it can be seen that whether explained from the original meaning of the place name or analyzed from the common people's habitual names and actual functions, the meaning of Xianggetuo, which means dock, is undoubtedly accurate.
So, what kind of dock was Xianggetuo back then? Based on the actual situation, the Xianggetuo River at that time was only five feet wide and one foot deep, making it impossible for boats to sail or stop them. Therefore, it could never have been a water dock. But it is located on a transportation hub, where people and logistics can stop or circulate conveniently, so it should be an authentic dry dock within Yanmen Pass. Today, if we want to understand the glory of Xianggetuo Port, we must go back more than 80 years, because in the autumn of 1924, a major flood caused Xianggetuo to suffer a catastrophic disaster. The Xianggetuo we see later has completely lost its original appearance.
According to the memories of the elderly, Xianggetuo was a very prosperous place more than 80 years ago. At that time, there were more than twenty shops located on both sides of the avenue, which was less than a hundred meters long. Among them, there are not only dry goods shops, noodle shops, daily necessities shops, and small shops such as oil shops, wine shops, hotels, and restaurants, but also famous large shops such as Yuanshengxiang, Yichengjiu, and Tongyide. As a port, its main business is wholesale and turnover of goods. At that time, there were two main categories of wholesale and turnover goods: one was goods from other places that traveled north and south, and the other was locally produced agricultural and sideline products. According to the memories of elderly people, during the busiest years of the Yanmen Commercial Road, goods such as fur and meat transported from the north of the desert to the central plains, as well as southern commodities such as tea and salt transported from the central plains to the north of the desert, would stop at Xianggetuo, either for on-site trading, or to switch to pack trucks, or for short-term rest. The dock was busy all day long from morning till night. Usually, before dawn every day, the big and small shops in Xianggetuo become busy. In order to hurry, merchants and donkey drivers heading north and south will get up early to prepare their goods and pack their bags. They will set off on the road when the weather is cool. In the morning curtain, the farewell sounds of merchants, the shouting of donkey drivers, and the crisp bell sounds of caravans would ring in unison. With the activity of merchants and pack trucks, vegetable farmers also carried freshly picked vegetables from all directions and rushed to the dock. In the past, Daixian was also called Caidaizhou, and vegetables were the main traded products in the area. Due to the variety and large quantity of vegetables grown here, they must be picked up at the dock in order to be sold as soon as possible. Every day, when fresh and tender vegetables are placed on the dock, they quickly attract a large number of customers to the food load. Customers who come to purchase include both regular buyers and temporary buyers. Fixed purchasers are usually small vendors active in urban and rural areas. Every morning, they have to sell the vegetables they need from here at the port price, and then go to the county town and surrounding villages for retail. In order to sell the freshest vegetables, they arrive the earliest and trade the fastest every day. Because they all use shelves tied with eight ropes to pick vegetables, they are called "picking eight strands of rope" on the dock. The other large customer group for buying groceries is the traveling merchants from all over the country. After enduring a long period of withering on the desolate commercial road, merchants from the north eagerly purchase their admired Daixian cuisine upon arrival. And when merchants heading north are about to leave the Central Plains and enter the desolate northern desert, they will also make a lot of purchases. In addition to eating delicious food in Dai County, they will also bring some supplies for consumption on the way. Of course, local business banquets, restaurants, and foodies also come here for procurement. Due to the large number of customers, vegetable farmers usually sell out their vegetables quickly, then pick a bunch of bean flour or a few three pointed vegetables from the empty basket, hum a tune and leave the dock. Because most vegetable farmers complete their transactions and generate income before the morning dew sets, they are jokingly referred to as "dew rich old wealth" on the dock.
When goods traveling from south to north are traveling on the Yanmen Ancient Road, there should be many places inside and outside the pass where they can dock. Why do merchants choose to "dock" in the harbor of Xianggetuo and conduct turnover transactions on the dock of Xianggetuo? This is due to the superior geographical location and past primitive transportation capacity of Xianggetuo.
Firstly, in terms of transportation capacity, in the past, the transportation of goods relied on mules carrying horses. From Dai County to the grasslands, the road is rugged with groups of bandits and bandits, and the journey is very difficult. The pack pack troops from the south dare not easily cross Yanmen Pass and boldly venture onto the barren path in the north; Similarly, the hurried men from the north dare not venture into the Central Plains and fight on a path they are unfamiliar with. It can be said that any merchant engaged in north-south trade is unable to transport a shipment directly from the place of origin to the place of sale by a pack truck, and there will be multiple transfers in between. Xianggetuo, as the first stop out of the desert and the bridgehead about to enter the north of the desert, happens to shoulder the heavy responsibility of connecting the south and the north.
Geographically speaking, Xianggetuo is also the best location for setting up a dock. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there was only one official road from Daizhou to Taiyuan, which was to exit from the west gate of the city, pass through Xiguan and Xiaoxiguan, and then go through Qilipu, Mazhan, and Yangmingbao towards Taiyuan. Whether traveling from Taiyuan to Daizhou or from Daizhou to Taiyuan, Xianggetuo is a must pass for all vehicles and horses. Starting from Dai County and heading north to Yanmen Pass, Xianggetuo was the inevitable starting point for the caravan. There are two official roads heading north to Yanmen in Xianggetuo. One starts from the east bank of Xianggetuo, follows the river bank all the way north, passes through the beacon tower on the west side of Balizhuang, and directly enters the south entrance of Yanmen Pass; One route starts from the west bank of Xianggetuo, runs diagonally along the north of two natural villages, Gengou and Shufangyuan, until reaching Xiatian, and then enters the entrance of Xijingguan through Shangtian - Taihelingkou. From the trenches that sank more than a meter deep into the ground, it can be seen that these two ancient roads have a long history of over a thousand years. It can be seen that the carriages, horses, and supplies that have traveled north to Yanmen throughout history all started from Xianggetuo and then traveled north along these two ancient roads.
In addition to the path, the special location of Xianggetuo is also an important condition for it to become a dock. During the Ming Dynasty, Daizhou City was the location of the prefectural government office and the barracks commander's office, while Xiguan was the location of Yanmen Post and the subsidy field. In the era where officials were the most important, a border town could not allow a large amount of circulating materials to circulate and trade within the city. Moreover, the opening and closing time of ancient city gates was strictly limited, and the city gates would never provide convenience for early rising and late returning caravans. Therefore, whether it is a merchant specializing in business or an official living in Yanmen Post and carrying supplies, Xianggetuo has become the best place for them to store, circulate, and trade goods. In addition, the main local product vegetables in Daixian are mostly produced in Xiguan, and setting up a vegetable dock between Xiguan and the state capital is also the most suitable choice.
Xianggetuo, as the largest dock in the border area, has experienced a glorious history of several hundred years from the Ming Dynasty when border trade was allowed until the early years of the Republic of China. In the autumn of 1924, a massive flood formed by the Yanmen Pass broke through the flood control dam of Balizhuang and directly rushed towards Xianggetuo. The merciless flood not only destroyed six or seven businesses and numerous residential buildings such as Yuanshengxiang, Yichengjiu, and Tongyide, but also destroyed the only dry dock in the pass. From then on, Xianggetuo became a desolate place where only three or five households lived. The many buildings we see now are all newly built in recent years. As a dock, Xianggetuo has forever disappeared from our sight.
Fortunately, although Xianggetuo Wharf has disappeared, its soul formed over hundreds of years has not dissipated. In the years after Xianggetuo was washed away, two outstanding figures emerged among the local residents. One is Zhang Guixi, a well-known eight tone artist who not only conquered the audience in the entire county with his superb playing art, but also guided an industry that has always been underestimated onto the right path with his benevolent and refined personality, becoming a respected representative of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in society. Another outstanding figure is the national famous farmer painter Zhang Jun. His paintings absorb the essence of the ancient dock and show the seriousness of Yanmen culture. Not only are they selected into the national compulsory textbooks for primary school students, but also are collected by many domestic and foreign art museums, becoming an artist with great achievements. With hundreds of years of cultural accumulation at the dock, the descendants of Xianggetuo are using their wisdom to continue writing the new glory of the dock.