Rustic Charm of the Stone Tribe

"Stone Tribe" is its internet-famous name. Its original name is Shichang Village, under the jurisdiction of Jiugao Town, Song County, Luoyang City, Henan Province, located at the junction of Song, Yichuan, and Ruyang counties.

Whether called Stone Tribe or Shichang Village, both indicate its characteristic: lots of stones. You could say Shichang Village sits on a large rock, or that it is a tribe of stones.

More precisely, Shichang Village is built in a staggered manner on a huge gray limestone rock. Therefore, the village is not large, with only over 40 households and about 280 people, which can be called a tribe.

On the stone slope in the middle of the village, there is a pool of clear water that can serve as a mirror. It provided a livelihood guarantee for the ancestors of Shichang Village who first arrived from Shanxi during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. They call it Qifu Pool (Blessing Pool), praying that they can live and work here in peace, multiply, and prosper in both population and wealth.

Viewed from afar, this slope looks like a spread-out large mat, and the Qifu Pool is a crack in this mat. Over time, it has accumulated a lot of rainwater and never dries up all year round. Strangely, there are several such cracks on this mat, but only this one holds water, and it is regarded as a geomantic treasure pool.

The oldest existing building in the village is called Bao'an Tower (Security Tower), first built during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty. It was constructed through the efforts of thirteen generations of the Chai family. It is a large two-story residential building with stone and wood structure. When completed, Bao'an Tower had a total of 36 rooms, including fire prevention pool, underground drainage system, storage rooms, bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, stable, granary, ammunition depot, etc. Currently, Bao'an Tower has 23 rooms: 6 main rooms, 8 side rooms, 4 basement rooms, 4 stone cave rooms, and 1 watchtower room.

Like Bao'an Tower, the village's old farmhouses and courtyard walls are basically built of stone, appearing primitive and pure.

On the contrary, some newly built houses seem a bit out of place, clearly not matching the original style, weird and unattractive. Some effort is needed to make both the new and old present the same tradition and tone.

There are several figurative stones in the village, which convey folk story and fairy tale interest, vivid and lifelike, well worth a visit. For example, the stone below called Liu Xiu's Stove, said to be where Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, once lit a fire to cook while fleeing.

According to legend, one day, Liu Xiu was being chased by Wang Mang, and in panic he fled into the mountains. When he reached a village near Shichang, he was extremely thirsty and hungry. He saw a well, but there was no tool to draw water. So he shouted out casually: 'If you could tilt, let me drink some water, how good that would be!' The well saw that Liu Xiu had the destiny of an emperor, and indeed it tilted before him, clear water gushed out. Liu Xiu cupped the water and drank to his heart's content. To this day, that village is still called Bandaijing Village (Tilted Well Village).

After drinking, Liu Xiu kept running forward without looking up until he could no longer bear the hunger. He sat down on a stone slope to catch his breath, and suddenly found that the stone under his feet was shaped like a stove, perfect for setting up a pot to cook. Seeing that there had been no pursuers behind for a long time, he begged a pot and some grain from the villagers, lit a fire here, cooked a meal, and ate his fill. Today, this figurative stone attracts many tourists to gather around and watch.

In addition, there are also several figurative stones or stone slopes in the village, such as Crocodile Stone, Golden Toad Stone, and Divine Turtle Stone, which are also worth seeing.

However, personally I think that no matter how many stones there are in the village, there are still more outside. The wild mountains outside the village are the real Stone Tribe. There is a Lover's Valley outside the village, but I really didn't feel any flavor of a lover's valley; it's all kinds of stones everywhere, very much the taste of a stone tribe.

The scenic area calls this a stone forest, but it's still a bit different from the impression of a stone forest. So just call it whatever. As long as we find it interesting.

In the valley, the villagers have built terraced fields layer by layer with stones. During the Autumnal Equinox, it's harvest time, and the golden corn makes you joyful just by looking at it.

This is the Stone Tribe. If you like rustic charm, come and take a look.