How did the picturesque Yangshuo get its name? It is said that when the county was established in the Sui Dynasty, "Yangshuo" was used as the county name, which is a homophony of the word "Yangjiao" in Yangjiao Mountain. Later generations called Yangshuo Mountain Yangjiao Mountain. Did the county get its name from the mountain? Or is the mountain named after the county? This question must be started from the beginning. How did the picturesque Yangshuo get its name? It is said that when the county was established in the Sui Dynasty, "Yangshuo" was used as the county name, which is a homonym of the word "Yangjiao" in Yangjiao Mountain. Later generations also called Yangshuo Mountain Yangjiao Mountain. Did the county get its name from the mountain? Or is the mountain named after the county? This question must be started from the beginning.
In the first year of Wu Ganlu's reign (256) in the Three Kingdoms period, Xiping County was established as Qianxingping Shiziwei, the predecessor of Yangshuo County. In the tenth year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign (590) in the Sui Dynasty, he moved to the current county seat. The county magistrate wanted to change the name of the county, but it was undecided for a while.
Except for the Liao family behind the county government office, there are pairs of peaks that plunge directly into the green mountains. At that time, there was a lonely child who was herding sheep for the rich man. People called him Sheep Boy. Every day I drove my sheep to graze under this pair of peaks. When I saw the two peaks standing side by side, they looked like sheep's horns, so I named it Yangjiao Mountain. The sheep boy was very smart. His sheep pen was set up next to the private school of the rich man's family. The rich man asked the school teacher to teach his children every year. Taking this opportunity, the sheep boy secretly learned a lot of knowledge. He often composed songs casually and responded to his requests. Therefore, the shepherd boys loved playing with him. He composed a song for Yangjiao Mountain: "The tip of the sheep's horn, the tip of the sheep's horn, the tip of the sheep's horn ascends to the ninth heaven." The shepherd boys took this as a mantra. They would go out early and return home late every day. When they passed behind the county government office, they would always sing loudly.
The county magistrate racked his brains to change the name of the county, but he couldn't come up with an appropriate one. One evening, he went for a walk in the back garden and heard the singing of the shepherd boys outside the wall. He became more and more fascinated as he listened. However, he misunderstood "The tip of the sheep's horn, the tip of the sheep's horn, the tip of the sheep's horn ascended to the ninth heaven" as "Yangshuo moved, Yangshuo moved, Yangshuo moved to the ninth heaven". Why did he cause misunderstanding? Because he moved to the county on the first day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar, October is the Yang month, and the first day of the Lunar New Year is the New Moon day, so he thought that "Yangshuo move" refers to the time when he moved to the county. As for "moving to the ninth heaven", of course it is It indicates that your official career will be prosperous in the future and will skyrocket. So I decided to report it to my superiors and use "Yangshuo" as the name of the county. A notice was also issued to inform the public that "Yangshuo" was the name of the county and was changed from a nursery rhyme.
The villagers read the notice and talked about it one after another. Some said: "What kind of nursery rhyme? It is obviously a Yangjiao folk song compiled by Yangwa"; some said: "Yangjiao" and "Yangshuo" have the same pronunciation, so Can the meaning be derived from sound? The county magistrate felt a little uneasy after hearing the discussions of these people.
One day, the county magistrate changed into casual clothes, rode a pony, and only one officer, went straight to the foot of Yangjiao Mountain. At this time, the sheep and the shepherd boys were resting under the shade of the trees on the mountainside) chatting and laughing. The county magistrate suddenly asked: "Who is the sheep baby?" The sheep baby replied: "It's me." The county magistrate ordered Ma Lai to tell him slowly, "Did you make up the Yangjiao folk song?" Yangwa admitted. The county magistrate was doubtful and wanted to test him, and then said: "Some people say that Yangshuo is a homophone for sheep's horn. Is it such a coincidence? If you can make up songs, you can definitely make a right one. Now I will give you two words to help you, both of which are Yangshuo. It sounds homophonic, but the contrast must be neat." Yangwa nodded. The county magistrate waved the whip in his hand and said: "Horse whip", and the sheep boy said to him: "Sheep rope". The contrast between the sheep's rope and the horse's whip can be considered neat, and the pronunciation of the characters "Yangshuo" and "Yangshuo" are completely consistent. The county magistrate thought for a moment, shook his head and said: "No." You shouldn't reuse the word "sheep" for "ram's horn". It's a fly in the ointment. I'll give you two more words to correct it. The county magistrate pointed at Ya Yong's waist knife and said: "Saber", and Yangwa said to him: "Raise your arms". Yangshuo's sword alignment is more neat, and the pronunciation of "Yangshuo" and "Yangshuo" are exactly the same. The county magistrate couldn't find any more loopholes, and he secretly admired it in his heart.
Since then, the name of the county and the name of the mountain have been inseparable, and they have been passed down as a story through the ages!