The village of Lijiang is full of stones. The American botanist has lived here for 27 years and is unmarried all his life.

In Lijiang, many people only know the ancient city of Lijiang and Mufu, but they don’t know that it is about 18 kilometers away from the ancient city of Lijiang. There is a place at the southern foot of Yulong Snow Mountain called Yuhu Village. The Naxi language of Yuhu Village is called "Wuluken", which translates as " "Yinshijiao" is the village at the foot of the snow mountain.

When it comes to Yuhu Village, we cannot avoid one person, Joseph Locke, who was born in Vienna, Austria in 1884 and later joined the American professor of plant taxonomy.

It can be said that he was the first to spread the Naxi ethnic culture to the West. In addition to constantly introducing Yunnan and Dongba culture to the world, he also brought the world to this small enclosed place in the mountains.

In February 1922, he arrived in Lijiang from Simao. From then until 1949, he was stationed at the foot of this snow-capped mountain for a long time as a writer, photographer and explorer of the Institute of Botany of Harvard University. In this small village, I lived for 27 years.

The third from left is Joseph Locke

During this period, he collected Dongba scriptures and various materials, and later wrote "The Ancient Naxi Kingdom in Southwest China" and "The Naxi-English Encyclopedia Dictionary", and he was known as the "Father of Western Naxi Studies".

But for a long time, his achievements in anthropology were not accepted by the mainstream of American anthropology. In order to study Naxi culture, he broke his family and was never married. In his later years, he relied on friends to help him.

The first from left is Joseph Locke

Regarding Yuhu Village, he once wrote in his book: "Wuluken, a small village with a beautiful environment, Wuluken, located on the slopes of the pure Lijiang Daxueshan Mountains. The main peak of the snow mountain has a steep fan, like a protector. With it".

Even before his death, he still missed coming back here, and in a letter to a close friend, he wrote: "If everything goes well, I will return to Lijiang to complete my work...I would rather return to the flowers of Yulong Snow Mountain I don’t want to stay alone in Hawaii’s white-walled wards waiting for God’s call."

So, what is the charm of Yuhu Village, which makes him linger?

Yuhu Village is known as "the first village under the Yulong Mountain". Unlike most traditional Naxi dwellings in Lijiang, where wooden structures are used, the dwellings of Yuhu Village are mainly made of wood, stone, and soil. Lime glacier eroded rock and pebbles are added to rammed earth to build a thick wall.

The windows on the wall are small and few in number, leaving the cornice far-reaching. Hanging fish is hung on the roof, because fish represents water in the five elements, and water overwhelms fire, which means that the house will not catch fire.

The local courtyard wall is made of a kind of stone that the villagers call "monkey head". The courtyard is deep and wide. The courtyard is closed and flowers and trees support the wall. Vines and moss grow quietly in the gaps between the stone walls. If it is spring, there will be The walls of people's homes will be full of flowers, a scene full of vitality.

Yuhu Village gets its name from "Yuhu", which is an artificial lake dug by Mu's chieftain. Because the snow peaks and forests of Yulong Snow Mountain reflect in the lake, the white snow and the green shade of the forest reflect each other, much like green and white jade, so it is called "Jade Lake".

The lake is clear, the blue sky and white clouds set off the tall Jade Dragon Snow Peak reflected in the lake, and nature seems to be deposited at the bottom of the lake. This is the first of the famous "Twelve Jade Dragon Scenes"-"Jade Lake Reflection".

Yuhu Lake is not big, but there are large grass dams around it. In spring and summer, the grass grows with warblers and wild flowers dot it. In late autumn and severe winter, the grass on the pasture is yellow, which is a vast and bleak scene.

When you walk in the small village at the foot of the snow-capped mountains, what you are facing is the mellow mountain breeze from the snow-capped mountains, and what you touch is the simple and natural century-old stone house.

It is far away from the hustle and bustle, quiet and lonely, without the bustle of Lijiang’s ancient city, nor the noisy traffic. Here you can see the most primitive and traditional Naxi life. This is the original Lijiang.