In the southern section of the Jiukoumen Great Wall, a middle-aged man sells wine known as “Hero’s Bowl-Smashing Wine,” which leads us to this story of the stone-carved dragon.
The devout blacksmith
Jiukoumen is the border between Hebei and Liaoning provinces. The man’s family lived in a mountain village in Hebei, near Jiukoumen. His grandfather was a skilled and kind-hearted blacksmith. Due to the village’s remote location, it was challenging to travel outside, so the man’s grandfather crafted and repaired all the farming tools and construction equipment needed by the villagers. He was always eager to help whenever the neighbors required assistance.
After 1949, even the remote village was swept up in various political movements, causing unrest. The man’s kind-hearted grandfather saw the villagers suffering from internal conflicts and said: “If this continues, the people will go hungry.” After that, he quietly worked for a while. One day, he called the man’s father, saying: “I won’t live much longer. While I can still move, I’ve made some tools. Keep them safe; the villagers will need them.” Shortly after, the grandfather passed away, and the tools he left behind greatly benefited the remote villagers.
Because the village highly regarded the man’s grandfather and father, the man’s father was elected as the production team leader after implementing the People’s Commune system. He worked diligently and selflessly. When the village wanted him to join the Communist Party, he said: “I believe in gods and the principle of retribution for good and evil,” and firmly refused.
Later, the movement to destroy the “Four Olds” and eliminate superstition began during the Cultural Revolution. The village’s ancient artifacts and statues were destroyed, which was incomprehensible to the villagers who had believed in gods and valued virtue for generations. However, a few mischievous villagers took advantage of the situation to cause trouble.
On the village’s mountain was a clear spring next to a stone-carved dragon. No one knew when or by whom it was carved. The spring was on a rock, small in area, with no visible source, yet it never dried up. As a child, the man often played by the spring with his friends.
During the Cultural Revolution, a red guard went up the mountain and smashed the dragon’s head by the spring, throwing it into the dragon pool below. Soon after, a flood occurred, submerging the road from Hebei to Liaoning, making it impassable. Locals set up a cableway between the mountains for people to cross. One day, the person who smashed the dragon’s head used the cableway. Many people had crossed before him, but when he was in the middle, the cable broke, and he fell to his death.
The believer who restored the dragon head
After the dragon’s head was smashed, the spring dried up. The man’s father was troubled by this, saying: “The dragon is a deity; how can it be bullied?” So he went to the dragon pool to find the dragon head. However, the water was too deep to retrieve it. He traveled a long way to Liaoning to borrow a water pump, drained the water, carried the dragon head back up the mountain, and respectfully reinstalled it.
Hearing that the dragon head was restored, villagers came to the spring to worship. A child, playing mischievously, slapped the dragon head’s face. At the time, no one paid attention, but on the way down the mountain, a swarm of wasps suddenly appeared, ignoring everyone else and stinging the child who slapped the dragon’s head. The child, unable to escape, fell off a cliff in panic and died.
The spring began to flow again
In the late 1980s, many rivers and ponds dried up during a severe drought, and the fields had no water. Many wells were drilled in the area, but none produced water. The man’s father also drilled a small well in their yard, just two inches wide, producing sweet, cool water endlessly. Neighbors from nearby villages came to fetch water, alleviating their urgent needs.
Later, during the so-called reform and opening up, the man’s family began using the well water to brew wine, known as “Hero’s Bowl-Smashing Wine.” Its fragrance and richness became famous, bringing substantial income to the family.
The story concludes, and the wine is finished. With a rosy face, the honest man proudly sums up: “This is what they call ‘good begets good, and evil begets evil.’ One must do good and accumulate virtue!”
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