Chapter 57 Suddenly Carefree

  But my stomach was not cooperating, and it kept growling at this time. Pengpeng looked at me and laughed. But I still endured it, I always felt that keeping this half root of ham would have a big use.

  Now we may be at the edge of the entire Yongdao, this tens of meters long Yongdao has several stone carvings of horses, sheep and tigers on both sides. This gate is open at a position that may be the top or the bottom. I walked out and saw these life-sized stone animals, feeling somewhat familiar. They are similar to those in Yuewang Temple in Hangzhou, where there are also three pairs of animal carvings in front of Yue Fei's tomb, carved during the Ming Dynasty, which represent the words "Loyalty, Bravery, Righteousness". However, tourists often take pictures with them and sometimes use them as stools to rest. Over time, these animals' bodies have been smoothed by human touch.

  According to this, this place must be a tomb, and it's an extraordinary person, I couldn't help but think:

  "The green mountain is fortunate to bury loyal bones, while the white iron is innocent of casting treacherous officials."

  "What's wrong with you, brother-in-law? What's gotten into you?"

  "It's nothing, I just remembered when I went to Yuewang Temple with your sister, and felt a bit sentimental. There were animals like this in front of Yue Fei's tomb, but there were fewer than here."

  Friends didn't say anything, just urged me to move forward, passing by rows of stone horses, stone sheep, and stone tigers. I felt as if I had narrowed the distance with ancient times, and a familiar feeling rose in my heart. There should be twelve pairs, I counted silently in my mind, but unfortunately, the coffin was not there, or else I could ask him what this represented.

  As I was lost in thought, a face suddenly appeared before me. When my face was only 0.01 cm away from his, it wasn't until a quarter of the time of burning incense that I was pulled back by Pengpeng. It was then that I realized this passageway had suddenly turned left at a 90-degree angle, and at the corner stood a stone monument indicating direction.

  What is 'Weng Zhong', he was a person of the Qin Dynasty, with the surname Ruan and the name Weng Zhong. It is said that he was seven feet tall, born with divine strength, exceptionally brave. After the Qin unified the six states, he was ordered by Qin Shi Huang to garrison in the area of present-day Gansu Province's Tao River, shaking the Xiongnu, and was therefore enfeoffed as Lin Tao General. After his death, Qin Shi Huang cast a bronze statue of him, placed on the palace square of Xianyang. The Xiongnu people saw it and were all impressed. Therefore, later generations referred to the bronze and stone statues standing in front of palaces, temples, and mausoleums as "Weng Zhong" statues. Sima Zhen's 'Suoyin' says: "Each weighs a thousand stones, sitting two zhang high, called Weng Zhong."

  We immediately changed direction, and indeed, on both sides of this path stood many stone statues of men, just like the ones I saw at Yuewang Temple. Behind the animals were civil and military stone statues. The civil statues were on the left and the military statues were on the right, lined up in a row, with the military statues holding precious swords and the civil statues holding scepters. Each one was life-sized, and their expressions were all different from each other.

  "Brother-in-law, why are there such stone guys?"

  "In fact, this Weng Zhong is actually the totem of the Xiongnu people for worshiping heaven, which was introduced during the Qin and Han dynasties as a decorative object in palaces. Initially made of copper, it had many names such as Golden Man, Copper Man, Golden Di, and so on. Later, it became a stone statue of civil and military officials placed in front of mausoleums and along the sacred way, an essential part of our ancestors' burial and sacrificial activities. Apart from human statues, there are also animal and auspicious beast statues like the ones we saw earlier."

  "By the way, Pengpeng, about this Wengzhong, I remembered a joke, do you want to hear it?" It seems like I've recalled many things.

  "Alright, go ahead and talk. Anyway, this corridor is unusually long, saying a few words will break the quiet atmosphere."

  "It was during Qianlong's younger years, when he inspected the Imperial Academy and saw that a candidate had written 'Wengzhong' as 'Zhongweng'. He asked the candidate what 'Zhongweng' meant, and the man replied 'Second Master'. Qianlong smiled upon hearing this and wrote a poem for him: 'How can Wengzhong be called Zhongweng? Ten years of hard work under the window have been in vain. Nowadays you are not allowed to become a Lin Han, instead you will be sent to Shanxi as a judge!'"

  "Does this poem have any implication?" Pengpeng asked.

  "The last two words of each poem are reversed. Zhong Weng, Fu Gong, Lin Han, Pan Tong, laughing at him."

  "Oh, I see, haha, but don't mention it was him, if you didn't say, I would have thought it was the Second Master's intention too, how could a person die and let the Second Master guard the door, haha. By the way, who is that unlucky kid?"

  "Governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, Li Shiyao." I said.