September 29, 1974, is a Sunday, and the next day coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival. Therefore, this day is the most appropriate day for the two disciples of Master Yu to hold the "Teacher Examination".
As for the location of the wrestling match, "Wrong Leg Feng" came forward and, through his friends, decided on the Fayuan Temple in Jiaozi Alley.
Fayuan Temple can be said to be the oldest and oldest famous temple in Beijing. This temple has a history of more than 300 years since its establishment.
When the temple was built in the Tang Dynasty, this place was given the name "Minzhong Temple" by Wu Zetian. Zhao Huan, Emperor Qinzong of the Song Dynasty, was captured by the Jin soldiers and went north, and he was imprisoned here. It was not until the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty that the temple was rebuilt and it was changed to the present name.
Named "Fayuan Temple".
Setting the location here was actually a careful consideration by Wrong Leg Feng, not just because it was convenient to have acquaintances responsible for visiting the temple, but also because of the other two benefits.
First of all, the location of Fayuan Temple is particularly good. Although it seems relatively remote from the perspective of the whole city, it is the center of Xuanwu District.
Not only is it close to Yuye’s residence, it has an overpass to the east, Niu Street to the west, Xuanwu Gate to the north, and Baizhifang to the south. The places with the most wrestling enthusiasts in Nancheng happen to be located right here.
There are many places around, so for most people, there is no more convenient place to gather than here.
Secondly, the environment here is also very quiet, and it is blocked by the courtyard wall, so the privacy is very good. Within the temple, no matter how much you roll around, it will not attract ordinary people to watch and cause unnecessary trouble.
You know, although the overall social atmosphere has relaxed a lot now, the dictatorship is still very sensitive to gatherings with too many people. If it really attracts their attention, they might slap you with a political label.
Hats off, give you a good look.
But then again, if it hadn't been for the "movement", the "four olds" would have been smashed to pieces, and all the monks in Fayuan Temple would have been driven away, making this place a place sealed and locked. They
How can one be so lucky to be able to walk in such a spacious, suitable, and solemn place?
Therefore, everything has its pros and cons, and you can never be too absolute when looking at a problem.
Come on, let’s be serious.
Now that the date has been decided and the location has been decided, the next step is to organize the venue.
What's going on?
Hi, Fayuan Temple has been abandoned for a long time. Except for the pines and cypresses, which are still lush and green, the rest of the temple is in ruins and has been ruined for a long time. If you want to really hold a wrestling match here, you have to do it in advance.
Just something simple to arrange.
So the master and apprentice of "Wrong Leg Feng" and their friend who was the gatekeeper found a pushcart and started three days in advance to build a two-foot-square loess platform with loess in front of the Tianwang Hall.
In addition, the gatekeeper also found several big red flags that had been abandoned by the Red Guards in the temple, and planted them in the lawns on both sides of the platform. This added a bit of liveliness to the originally deserted and dilapidated Tianwang Hall.
It's a festive scene, and it looks like that.
Don't think it's too crude, to be honest, the specifications are really quite high.
Because this loess platform is actually the "wrestling altar" that is regarded as a holy place by all wrestlers in old age. According to the old rules in the wrestling industry, usually all the fights have to be in the wrestling pit, and there are only serious competitions.
, are allowed to go to the altar.
In this way, everything was ready for the competition. In the wrestling industry in Beijing, as long as they lived nearby, most of the prominent figures had received the message from "Wrong Leg Feng" in advance. So on September 29, from early in the morning, As soon as I got up, people came one after another.
By mid-morning, hundreds of people had gathered in Fayuan Temple. The older ones were already gray-haired, and the younger ones were in their twenties.
When it comes to the backgrounds of these people, they can be roughly divided into two groups.
Eighty percent of them are Nancheng wrestlers who have been taught wrestling skills by Tianqiao's twin heroes "Shen San" and "Bao San", or have worked hard to earn a living with them.
The other branch with a smaller number of people are the three "treasures" of Niujie who were powerful in Nancheng at that time (namely, "Divine Wrestling" Shan Debao, "Wrestling to Death" Yin Guibao, and "Kick to Win in Defeat" Tang Bao. The three of them were all good at wrestling, and Qian Sanzi, who was good at wrestling with oxen, was known as the "iron hook" Qian San. These were the disciples and grandsons of these famous Hui wrestlers.
You must know that the Niujie area is a gathering place for the Hui people, and the wrestling style flourished much earlier than that in the Tianqiao area. Even in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, the habit of practicing wrestling skills in four wrestling grounds in the southeast, northwest and northwest was still maintained all year round.
For example, the west court is located in Laojundi or Shuangjing area. The east court is located in Jiaozi Hutong. The south court is located in Wanshou West Palace. The north court is located at the west gate of Guang'an Market.
Of the above wrestling grounds, except for the east and west arenas, which are independent and only allow Hui people to participate, the other south and north arenas are open to everyone and anyone can participate.
Therefore, in addition to the Hui people, the wrestlers who came to the South and North Fields also included Manchu and Han wrestlers from nearby and Tianqiao areas. They made progress together through competition. Over time, they accumulated a relatively deep friendship with each other.
So no matter where you come from, "Wrong Leg Feng" has some kind of friendship with everyone here today. In addition, many people have not seen each other for many years, so they seem to be even more intimate with each other.
For this reason, he specially waited at the gate of the temple to greet someone in return. No matter who it was, he would bow to them solemnly and thank them for giving him this face.
Master Yu was not from the same family as these people, and he had been isolated from the wrestling industry for a long time. Naturally, he had no close friends. He was waited on by Coach Ma and rested on a chair behind the mountain gate to drink tea. However, he watched from behind the mountain gate. The way "Wrong Leg Feng" is radiant and chatting with people is not immune to his emotional influence.
Suddenly, he seemed to see the scene of opening a wrestling gym when he was young again.
It was also so lively that day.
Mr. Wan Ba, Mr. Rui, Wu Ergun, Shan Debao, Tu San... and Liu Boqian and Li Yaochen, all good friends and big brothers who are familiar with each other, are here.
Everyone also clasped their hands and fists, said auspicious words, and smiled at him...
The two children, Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan, are neither as busy as "Wrong Leg Feng" nor can they feel the sadness of Master Yu. But they are not idle either. Each of them is holding a fried yellow rice stuffed with bean paste in their mouths. Okay, I'm watching the fun in front of the Heavenly King's Palace.
It's a pity that these wrestling artists from Lao Tianqiao never see each other, so once they get together, the mood becomes a bit overwhelming.
They either found old hands who were familiar with them and followed the routines of the year to engage in "Hua Jiao" (a jargon term for fake wrestling with a performance nature), which is known as "Martial Arts Crosstalk". Or they practiced sticks and played stone locks. , to show that he is still going strong.
There was even an old man who was over 60 years old, and he put up the Chinese flag and went on the stage, and started playing with "wow" and "wow".
Now he does the "Overlord Lifts the Cauldron", now he does the "Er Lang Carrying the Mountain", now he lets the flag fall behind his back and does the "Su Qin Carrying the Sword". Now he catches it with his lower jaw and does the "Tai Gong Fishing". It's huge.
In his hands, the central flag was like a clothes pole at home. No matter how much he fiddled with it, it would come up with tricks.
The entire front of the Tianwang Hall also seemed to turn back time, showing the prosperous old scene of the old Tianqiao Wrestling Ground in the early years of the Republic of China. Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan's heads were turning left and right like rattles, and they didn't know.
Let's see where it goes.
As for the fried cakes in the mouths of these two children, Master Yu specially took them to Niujie to buy them early in the morning.
This was originally due to the old man's love for his disciples, so that they would have enough energy to deal with their opponents when they entered the wrestling ring. But what was annoying was that this boy Hong Yanwu not only showed a trace of gratitude to his master, but was also greedy.
This kid actually rolled his eyes when he was buying fried cakes and shamelessly complained that Mr. Yu was stingy. He said, "No, I have to eat three of them. One of them is not enough to fill the gap between my teeth."
As a result, his frank "virtue" not only earned him a kick from Master Yu on the spot, but also earned him an extra scolding from him.
"You brat, do you still have gong? Meimei! If you want to disgrace me today, you can eat whatever I want and spit it out for you!"