The story of Kong Xiangyu spending all his wealth to build his hometown

??? "Building a beautiful countryside requires not only the pastoral scenery of green mountains and clear waters, but also the moral and spiritual pursuits with local characteristics." In Dongzhang Village, Dadeng Township, Xiangfen County, there is such an elderly man who has been devoted to this belief for many years, regardless of wind or rain, spending all his wealth, and tirelessly rushing about every corner of his hometown, searching for, excavating, and reshaping the rural culture that had been "lost" for a long time, using his meager strength to provide spiritual enrichment for the mountain village and carry on the cultural lineage of rural culture. His selfless belief was like a spark that ignited the entire mountain village, and gradually externalized into a root-seeking action for the whole mountain village.

He is Kong Xiangyu, praised by the masses as a "rooted" rural worthy of the new era.

Kong Xiangyu was born in Dongzhang Village in 1955. After graduating from junior middle school at the age of 17, he farmed in the village. Two years later, recommended by the village, he went to work in the Linfen Prefecture Cement Plant doing electric welding and repair work. In 1985, he was transferred to the Linfen Grain and Oil Machinery Plant. In 1988, Kong Xiangyu went through the procedures for retaining his position without pay and formally "plunged into business," opening a shop in Linfen to sell stone materials.

Thanks to his flexible thinking and honest work, over more than ten years Kong Xiangyu accumulated some wealth. In 2005, Kong Xiangyu returned to the village, determined to do something for the hometown that had raised him. That year, he took out 150,000 yuan to build roads for the village, green the barren hills, and channel water up the mountain, and also invested 50,000 yuan to build 3 new office rooms and one school gate for the village school. "I just wanted to do something for the village. At first it was building roads, greening, and building the school, but I felt this was only a small part. I should restore what our ancestors left behind even more, so that later generations know where their 'roots' are," Kong Xiangyu said.

Kong Xiangyu has always believed that the village where he grew up has countless ties to Zhang Liang. He remembers that Dongzhang Village has since ancient times circulated the saying that "Zhang Liang's tomb is in Dongzhang Village"; he remembers that when he was young, the broken stele standing at the temple entrance clearly bore the inscription "Hometown of the Han Marquis of Liu." Kong Xiangyu believes he has the responsibility to rebuild the richly connoted "Guishan" culture, so that the brilliance of ancient culture may retain its due glory a thousand years later.

With this idea, Kong Xiangyu prepared to start by rebuilding the Liuhou Temple. The Liuhou Temple is the ancestral hall of Zhang Liang, one of the "Three Heroes of the Early Han Dynasty," and had long stood on Guishan beside the village. According to villagers at the foot of Guishan, Zhang Liang was the ancestor of the Zhang surnamed villagers of seven villages, and Zhang Liang's hometown was in Dadeng Township at the foot of Guishan. Stone inscriptions with words such as "Hometown of the Marquis of Liu" and "Han Liuhou Temple" were also discovered among the people one after another.

In 2005, Kong Xiangyu formally began the arduous journey of searching for stone inscriptions. "If I see a stele, my blood can boil," Kong Xiangyu said with deep feeling. He ran through every nook and corner of nearby villages. Whenever he saw a stele anywhere, he would note its location clearly, in whose house it was found, and what content it had, and then remind the people to protect the stone inscription well.

When the village heard that Kong Xiangyu wanted to rebuild the "Guishan" culture, they let him contract Guishan for 50 years free of charge, but with one condition: if construction did not begin within 5 years, it would have to be returned. Kong Xiangyu did not disappoint everyone. In 2007, the Liuhou Temple, built with an investment of 450,000 yuan, was finally completed.

After learning about Kong Xiangyu's efforts, villagers of the village and neighboring villages offered clues one after another, donated money and goods, and contributed without reservation what they knew and what they had collected. In 2013, Kong Xiangyu again took the lead in building the Dongyue Temple next to the Liuhou Temple, and for this project he raised 800,000 yuan in succession.

Today, the greening trees on Guishan have begun to take shape. More than 4,000 people participate in the temple fair each year, and the villagers have a place to go up the mountain to worship and pay their respects. "I have now found more than 50 steles. As long as I live, I will continue to collect them and excavate 'Guishan' culture. However much strength I have, I must use it all in this life. If one day I can no longer work, then later generations will have to finish it," said Kong Xiangyu, now 61 years old.

Our reporter Cao Xin, correspondent Shen Zongzhen