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Oil mill treasures found in village courtyard
By Wing Tan |
March 14, 2009, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THREE sets of stone oil mills, dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), have recently been discovered in Pandian Village in Fengxian District.
The oil mills found in the villager Gao Yunshan's courtyard are made up of six giant stones, two in one set. The largest stone is 163 centimeters in diameter and 45 centimeters high, while the smallest one measures 120 centimeters in diameter and is 40 centimeters high. All of them are intact.
Each stone weighs more than two tons, so heavy that, as Gao says, it needs two strong buffaloes to pull it.
The 82-year-old Gao says the stone mills had been there before his grandfather was born. "We just thought they were some ordinary stones from the days of yore, nothing special and not of historical value," he says. "There are still some small stone mills under my house."
Gao's current residence was once the financial center of the village in the Ming Dynasty, and experts says the place was probably a large oil mill factory during that time.
Gao's 62-year-old nephew Gao Renzhang reveals that last year a construction businessman from Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, wanted to buy the stones, each for 20,000 yuan (US$2,924), but was refused.
"My father told me the stones cannot be moved. If they are moved, bad things will happen to the family," Gao Yunshan says.
The stones are now listed as district historical heritages and further preservation work will be carried out.
The oil mills found in the villager Gao Yunshan's courtyard are made up of six giant stones, two in one set. The largest stone is 163 centimeters in diameter and 45 centimeters high, while the smallest one measures 120 centimeters in diameter and is 40 centimeters high. All of them are intact.
Each stone weighs more than two tons, so heavy that, as Gao says, it needs two strong buffaloes to pull it.
The 82-year-old Gao says the stone mills had been there before his grandfather was born. "We just thought they were some ordinary stones from the days of yore, nothing special and not of historical value," he says. "There are still some small stone mills under my house."
Gao's current residence was once the financial center of the village in the Ming Dynasty, and experts says the place was probably a large oil mill factory during that time.
Gao's 62-year-old nephew Gao Renzhang reveals that last year a construction businessman from Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, wanted to buy the stones, each for 20,000 yuan (US$2,924), but was refused.
"My father told me the stones cannot be moved. If they are moved, bad things will happen to the family," Gao Yunshan says.
The stones are now listed as district historical heritages and further preservation work will be carried out.
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