When mentioning Heilongjiang, many people will think of the Harbin Ice Sculpture Exhibition and so on. However, today’s popular tourist attractions are often places where prisoners were exiled in ancient times, such as Jeju Island in South Korea and Heilongjiang in China.
In the Qing Dynasty, places such as Ningguta, Qiqihar, Mergen, Sanxing and Bukui in Heilongjiang were famous places of exile in the Qing Dynasty. The exiles suffered hardships and struggled, and intentionally or unintentionally brought the advanced education standards, farming techniques and lifestyles of the Central Plains to the bitter cold areas of the Northeast, thus promoting the vigorous development of local culture. Today it is known as the “Heilongjiang River”.
“Human Culture” began to be re-recognized because the local archives launched the “Flower Culture” series of special topics for the first time.
According to Cao Yue, the third-level chief clerk of the Heilongjiang Provincial Archives: “Most of the immigrants who came to our Heilongjiang area have relatively high cultural literacy. They educated the villagers here and spread some advanced farming and textile technologies. Open schools, private schools, etc.”
In ancient times, scholars were particularly respected. Although they were exiled to Ninggu Pagoda, local officials and local people still respected them very much. The exiles in Ninggu Pagoda, although they are prisoners, are still free.
Everyone from the general to the deputy commander, assistant leader, and assistant leader are willing to make friends, and the literati can often get together. For example, the poet Wu Zhaoqian in the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty was exiled to Ninggu Pagoda in the “Dingyou Examination Case”, so that he could open a local library and teach students.
Later, General Bahai specially hired Wu Zhaoqian as secretary and tutor to teach his two sons E Sheng and Yin Sheng to read.
The immigrants who came to Ninggu Pagoda also brought with them the developed commercial culture of the Central Plains, that is, “encouraging Manchus to farm and do business”. Famous people in this regard include Yang Yue. Yang Yue served as the deputy commander-in-chief of Jingkou (Zhenjiang) in the late Ming Dynasty. Due to the Tonghai case during the Shunzhi period, he was granted the land of Ninggu Tower in October of the first year of Kangxi (1662).
He is described as a big man with a big face, big eyes, a big beard, a big voice, and a generous man. He walked from house to house, talked with people, put forward his opinions, explained farming techniques to the Manchus, and taught people how to do business. When he first arrived in Ningguta, there was no rice for cooking, so he set up a street stall and exchanged his belongings for food with the locals. Yang Yue’s wife Fan has excellent cooking skills.
The couple opened a pastry shop and made Shaoxing-style snacks, which attracted a large number of customers every day. Yang Yue and Wu Zhaoqian were neighbors, and they had a close relationship. They “talked to each other until midnight every night”, and they also “singed together in the snow cellar and drank together in the ice” with other exiles. When someone asked for his skills, he had no reservations.
He exchanged the cloth and silk wadding he brought from his hometown with others, and taught the locals how to trade ginseng and mink skins in the market.
Ningguta was rich in ginseng and mink skins. More and more merchants came from Beijing, Shengjing (today’s Shenyang) and other places. Commercial and trade activities prospered. A cross-regional trade system was established, and it was connected to the other side of the Tumen River. North Korea established trade relations.
“Liubian Jilue” records: “People from Ningguta go to Huiningfu in Korea once a year to trade with each other, also in August. However, they are ordered to send officials to monitor them, and they only go there in November every year. Those who trade in Huining mostly use sheepskins. Coats and pieces of cloth were exchanged for cattle, horses, paper, cloth, and urns, and books were particularly expensive. In the early years of Kangxi, Yao Zhuo used “Ming Ji Yiwen” to exchange cattle.
It’s a scene of a big market, rare goods produced in the south, sixty-seven out of ten, the streets are full, and the cars and sedans are shining.” In order to develop transportation, facilitate trade, and develop the economy, Sabusu personally measured the mileage from Ninggu Pagoda to Jilin and established a post station. There was an endless stream of merchants.
Wu Zhaoqian wrote in “Returning to the Thatched Cottage Slips”: “In the Ninggu Pagoda area, the gentry and everyone are treated with the same exemptions and exemptions as in China (inland).” In order to change the situation of the local people, “there are few cultivators and no houses,” he actively spread the word about the Central Plains The region advanced farming techniques and taught people to “make houses out of broken logs and cover them with skins (animal skins).”
Set up a “Reading Thatched Cottage” in your own home, use the “Five Classics”, “Historical Records”, “Hanshu”, and “The Complete Works of Li Taibai” as teaching materials, and teach and educate people on a voluntary basis. General Bahai invited Yang Yue to teach Chinese studies to his two sons at his home. After being inspired, he founded Longcheng Academy, which became the first official school in Ningguta.
You could also say it was a blessing in disguise! Refugees do not have to work as errands or pay food in Ninggu Pagoda, and they can also receive relief when their lives are difficult. Refugees are often guests of officials, often accompanying them to banquets and drinks. Whenever generals and deputies have important errands, such as patrolling Before going to the border, fighting, or going to Beijing for an audience, Wu Zhaoqian would write poems as gifts.
There are many such poems in “The Collection of Qiuji”, such as “Drinking with the Lords at the General’s House”, “Sending Off General Anbe Haidong”, “Sending Off Azuo and Envoy Heijin”, most of which describe seeing off officials. We can also see that there is a strong connection between them. During his more than 20 years of exile in the ancient pagoda of Ning, Wu Zhaoqian saw that this place was rich in products and had many specialties.
Years later, he could not forget that drinking ginseng water could strengthen the body. Various animals and plants often appear in Wu Zhaoqian’s paintings.
There is a passage in “The Chronicles of Ninggu Pagoda”. After Wu Zhaoqian returned to the south, when he was seriously ill, he still wanted to make soup with the mushrooms he picked outside the humble house where Ning Guta lived. At the same time, he also saw that the local Manchu people had very simple folk customs.
Guan Zhiping wrote in the article: “The mountains, rivers, customs and customs of the bitter cold land are all captured in the poet’s writings. Reading his “Autumn Jia Collection”, you will feel the golden swords and iron horses in the white snow, and the beautiful scenery of the sunset on the river. A magnificent picture, looking up at the heroism in the eternal sorrow, and examining the emotions of each branch.”
The exile of Qing Dynasty scholars to Heilongjiang was originally a personal tragedy, but the interesting thing about history is that the ending is often unexpected. The refugees lived a new life in Heilongjiang and brought advanced Central Plains culture to the bitter cold land of Heilongjiang, vigorously promoting local economic and cultural development.
