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Records and questions:

The Malong Mines probably were important in the Ming period and reportedly flourished in the Qianlong to Jiaqing periods (1736-1820). When the conflict between Han and Muslim groups in the mining areas escalated into armed conflict in 1849, these mines were involved. The recorded tax quota dropped from 698 liang in 1707 to 16 liang in 1829. Based on the records, we expected a site of moderate importance, possibly with a long history of exploitation.

 

Fieldwork by Nanny Kim and Yang Yuda, 26 November 2016

Main informants: Mr. Peng 彭, director of the village administration and Mr. Duan Bichao 段必朝, villager of Malongchang

Support by: Mr. Luo Xingfu, party secretary of Dutian sub-county and Mr. Peng of Malong village

 

Malong village is 32 km from Shuangbai (over 1900 m) and some 1000 lower, on the Xiaoshahe 小沙河 (at about 900 m), a branch of the Malonghe. We picked up director Peng 彭主任 as well as a young clerk with her 4-year-old daughter. Reached the administrative part of the village on the northern rim of the valley about 11 am, the descent on the new but narrow concrete road took well over an hour.

Peng is a man of few words, but turned out knowledgeable and helpful. On the descent on the eastern slope into the valley of the Xiaoshahe, Peng pointed out lighter areas on the opposite slope and explained that most of the old mines were on that slope and these were waste heaps. He also stated that the geological team No. 301 had been in the village area for 6 years and blocked up all mines that they identified. There were still quite some that were visible. There was a plant on the northwestern slope about 3 km east of the village administration. Peng said that this was an ore processing plant which operated a huge washing pond. The company had been in the area for about 20 years. They formerly operated a pond lower down, but had to close that because of pollution. According to Peng, they were now washing silver ores with chemicals in the higher pond.

He added that in 2002 and 2003, locals sold old slags. At the time, 20 carrying pole loads were reckoned 1 ton and people were paid several 10 Yuan per ton, several thousand tons were bought up at the time.

The village government building is brand new, with a small settlement behind, but clearly not the old village. The valley is under 900 m, hot and arid. The main source of income is the raising of goats and pigs. After some talking and waiting around, we had lunch and set out. Together with another young member of the poverty relief team of the district and a local cadre, Peng systematically took us to all visible sites of historic mining.

We first drove into a side valley leading straight north. At the upper end of the flat-bottomed valley (1250m), Peng directed us onto a track that ascended the eastern slope. Some 50 m up the slope (1300 m) he pointed out the first slag dump. It reached to the bottom of the valley and extended further up. Peng told us that this entire slope used to be covered in slags. It apparently was the first slag dump that was worked, as it is the closest to the valley and to roads. Part of the slope is redeveloped into terrassed fields, the steeper sections are visibly dug up and covered in grass and sparse bush. According to Peng, the portion we were looking down on was the smaller part, further up there were another 30 to 40 Mu covered in slags, with a thickness of up to 2 m. Most of these were also sold, with digging up lasting about 7 months. [Yuda: an area of 25,000 m2 covered in 0.5 m at a weight of 0.4 kg would mean 25,000 tons of slags for this dump alone].

Above on the slope is a village called Changdacun 厂大村. The slope is very steep of about 200 m in height, before opening into a steep bowl with several streams descending. We reached a shoulder at the lower end of the bowl (1450 m), where Peng had us stop again and pointed out the next slag field. It would have covered the entire eastern slope and reached some way around the bow. From the point where we were standing to a cliff on the northern slope of the opposite shoulder. Peng and the young official pointed out some mine entrances and showed us one just above the driving track, which turned out to be shallow.

The entire slope appeared to be covered in waste rock. Peng stated that the waste rock extended from the point where we were standing (1450) to the gully below (ca. 1350), to the village and up the opposite slope all the way up (1650).

There were some houses in the corner of the track (the main village remained out of sight on a nose further up). We drove further up, zig-zagging up the slope covered in debris. The car had to stop near the top of the ridge (about 1650 m). We walked along the track for a short distance, where our informants showed us a perpendicular mining shaft. It was overgrown with small bushes and relatively narrow. By throwing in stones they demonstrated its depth: It is called ventilation shaft 风洞口. According to Peng, the geological team had let down 12 length of 12 m ropes without reaching the bottom. The mouth was partly blocked to prevent accidents.

A short way along the track, still gently climbing up the ridge, we came across a test drilling site, operated by the mining company involved in ore washing in the main valley. Beyond this point, the mountain becomes wooded, with the peak of 1950 m seemingly quite close. A path around the shoulder got us to Malongchang village. In the fields above the village, Duan Bichao 段必朝 (born in 1951), whom Peng had called earlier, was waiting for us.

Malongchang, at about 1630 m, sits on a small brook in a relatively mild open valley, the level above the dramatically incised slopes. From the shoulder above the village, Mr. Duan pointed out the sites of the former temples. He knew of a Guanyin temple 观音庙 on the southern slope just behind us that used to hold a temple fair on the 19th of the second month, when his grandmother was still a little girl. The Caishen temple 财神庙 used to be near the southern end of the village. In the village were the Guansheng Temple 关圣庙 and the Jinhe Temple 金河寺. On a nose to the east used to be the mosque 礼拜寺, and the Xiyue Temple was on the ridge to the west. On the ridge were also theWapiao Temple 瓦瓢庙 and the Dragon King Temple 龙王庙.

The site of the Guanyin Temple was marked by two old trees just to the SE a short way up the ridge that we were standing on. Mr. Duan took Nanny to show the remains. Behind the two trees is a wall of a foundation terrace. About 5 m behind the wall the small wall in the ridge has partly collapsed. The western corner of the terrace is still standing, almost behind the more westerly tree. The existing wall is 10 to 15 m long and about 10 m behind the two trees. The more easterly is a Huanglianshu 黄楝树 (pistachia chinensis), the more westerly is different and probably younger. [Nanny: the Huanglianshu may have been planted at the entrance or in the first courtyards of the temple, the more westerly probably has grown since the temple was ruined.] Mr. Duan enteres the bush to show a Kongque weiba 孔雀尾巴, a large-leaved ornamental plant that according to him used to grow in the temple courtyard and is quite old. He said that a monk still looked after this temple in the years just after liberation, and that his older brother had still seen him in his hut that was right next to the peackock plant. He added that the temple used to a be very large compound. He deduced that from the fact that in the fields to the east of the site, up to the saddle, they had found pieces of brick and roof tiles.

In the meantime, Yuda had obtained more information from Peng. He stated that the market street in Malongchang used to be paved with large slabs, which eventually had been used in private houses. Peng had also heard that the mine right under the Guanyin Temple used to be extremely productive, and in fact the entire slope was covered in a layer of waste rock that had a thickness of at least 2 to 3 m. however, the mine entrance had never been found.There was another very large mining gallery further down, called Dragon Gate 龙门洞, that was spacious inside, but filled with water. There used to be a great many mines, and some had caves inside as large as a house, presumably where massive amounts of ore had been extracted. He had been inside to hunt boars.

Mr. Peng and Mr. Duan pointed out two slag dumps at the village, mainly on the western bank of the brook and a dell below the village. The dell was left after the slags had been sold. He also mentioned that the red hills beyond the village were covered in grave and that some had marble inscription tablets.

The Caishen temple site was a little way down the path, near the southern end of the village. A recently built workshop showed that the layer of waste rock was at least 2.5 m thick. Part of the walls of a foundation were still standing, the lower wall relatively clearly not quite 15 m long, the depth uncertain.

The main village is densely built. After crossing the brook, Peng pointed out a mine entrance at most 1.5 m above the stream, which went into the mountain gently inclined upwards. The main building of the Guansheng Temple is still standing, though the roof is mostly gone. There is a perfectly preserved inscription on the restoration of the temple in DG 22 (1844), still in its original place in the inner wall of the main hall. The mention of Zhenjun 真君 identified the temple as the Jiangxi guild hall. Remains of one or two broken stelea are lying on the path in front of the temple. The standing hall is 13-15 m wide and 8 to 9 m deep, on foundations that are about 20 m wide and of which 1.5 to 2 m are still standing. Mr. Duan told Yuda that the foundation platform was still complete when he was a child, and that similar foundation platforms existed to both sides of the temple. There used to be side halls on each, with shrines and figures. [Yuda: the original dimensions appear to have covered 1500 to 2000 m2, the restoration in the DG 22 may have been partial]. According to Mr. Duan, the pillars were from “阔松” pines from the Zixi Mountain at Chuxiong 楚雄紫溪山, some 45 cm in diameter, and had been carried here.

As it was already after 3 pm, Nanny went with Peng and the young official to take a look at the graves, while Yuda collected information in the village. In Duan’s house, Yuda was joined by another village elder. He recounted that in former times, 10,000 worked the mines, and the place was very lively. The surrounding villages all grew vegetables to sell here, for this reason they are called Caiyuan and Xinyuan (菜园村、新园村).

On the Xiyue Temple, Mr. Duan said that it used to consist of three terrasses of foundation platforms, that were no smaller than those of the Guansheng Temple. Under the large tree there used to be a stone unicorn that was well visible from the market street in the village. That large tree used to be enormous, but is died and was no more. The trees on the site that we can see now are not very old.

It was said that exploitation began in the Qing period, and that the Cai family was from Guizhou, the Yi family from Hubei, and the Yang family from Nanjing. The present members of these families didn’t know any more about their family histories. Mr. Duan’s grandfather had come from Dali, so he was recent, only the third generation. When his grandfather arrived, mining was waning. He opened as small shop. Later he bought 12 gong of land and rented it out, and therefore was classified a landlord. The arrival of the family would date under 100 years. Duan had hear that when the mines flourished, up to 100,000 lived in the area. Malong was only a branch mine then, the main mine was at Majitian 马家田村, and the temples there were bigger than the ones at Malong. Their courtyards alone were over 100 m2. The mine official resided there. The largest output would have been produced there. But slags were not that much, perhaps ores were transported to Malong for smelting. It took a good hour to walk from Malong to the great temple, which according to what he heard used to consist of 4 or 5 courtyards and was very elaborate.

Mr Duan also remembered that when they levelled the threshing ground behind his house, they found an old furnace. We had a look and indeed found the remains of hardened and burnt red soil, apparently of a separating hearth.

Afterwards, Mr. Duan took Yuda to see the Jinhe Temple. The Hygiene office was built on the temple grounds, a row of 5 rooms, about 15 m wide. The building was obviously erected on the old foundation. There was a single pillar base left, with a diameter of about 45 cm, and 7 to 8 steps with a drainage channel, overgrown and not easy to discern. The floor tiles were ornamented bricks, now used in the toilet. Behind the building no remains could be found. According to Mr. Duan there used to be a courtyard in front of the hall, with large trees, and many people from many places came to worship the Golden River Mother 金河娘娘. The area appeared to be of 300 to 400 m2, a small but probably finely executed temple.

Yuda also had a look at the slope behind the village, where slags and shatiao were abundant, showing that this used to be a smelting site.

According to oral traditions, the mine had its main flourishing period for 40 years and enjoyed prosperity for another 40, and is was people from other provinces who worked the mines.

The charcoal was mainly from Honglishu 红栗树炭 and transported on muleback. There were old charburning kilns in many places.

Mr. Duan had heard that silver ores of Malong had to be smelted with lead cakes that were brought from the Shiyang Mines at Ejia in order to extract the silver. He had not heard of a differentiation between old and new mines around Malong. According to Duan, slag dumps were largest around Malong village, Changdacun would come second, and there were comparatively few around the great temple. [Yuda, later on, Peng told us that this estimate was not correct.] Also, there were no mines around Changdacun. Mr. Duan therefore thought that perhaps the ore was carried there for washing and smelting. In the meantime, Mr. Peng took Nanny and the young officials to the heavily eroded ridge about 500 m NW of the village. On the path leaving the village, slags and waste rock was still abundant. The red soil area beyond is extremely erosive. The ridge reaches about 1700 m. Three small side ridges towards the village are covered in graves, mostly small structures that contain a stone pile. Many on the slopes have been entirely or partly washed down, many are just recognizable by a few stones and some hardy small woody plant that clings to the rocks. Towards the top and to the eastern rim of the ridges, were the gradient is less and vegetation better, different sizes are discernible. Some A good number of graves had stone tablets, but some were made from sandstone and mostly effaced, and some were stolen, leaving only the standstone back. In the less eroded area on the eastern rim, different ages could be made out, with some graves buried at least 0.5 m, and perhaps up to 1 m deep, while the latest were on the surface.

Peng took Nanny to 4 graves with inscriptions, of which one had been lost since his last visit. The largest grave by far dated to DG 23 and its owner was a mine owner. Not for from this grave was another quite elaborate grave of which only the top lintel was still above ground appeared quite old. A double grave of a couple on another ridge was from the same period. And a small grave with just name and date apparently dated to the TZ period. On the way down, Peng showed me the remains of two small domed structures, diameter about 1.5 m, probably small charburning kilns, though possibly separation hearths.

We did not have the time to visit the site of the temples on the ridge above the village. But proceeded to the “New Mines”. A driving track got us over the ridge at a somewhat lower point. The slope descends straight to another arm of the Xiaoshahe. The slope appeared covered in waste rock. Peng stopped us about ¾ up the slope at a slight rill and told us that this used to be covered in a deep layer of slags. Further up the hill, the mining company was exploiting waste rock. A few hundred metres on, he stopped again at a few barracks. In the next easterly rill he again indicated a mostly removed slag dump. The dells were narrow and extended a long way up and down the slope, difficult to estimate the extent in the dusk. According to Nanny’s notes, the first was up to 40 m across and had a depth of up to 5 m, while the second was about 20 m across. The fields of waste rock extended over some 200 m in height and where the road or digging had cut into them the thickness appeared at least 5 m.

The local cadre told us that he had once worked for the mining company for 6 days. They now exploit old waste rock, which they treat in chemical solutions. The pond hold over 20,000 tons and is changed over every 2 months. They have been operating in this fashion for close to 2 years, processing several 100,000 tons. The amount of waste rock on the slope appeared hardly affected.

The site of the “great temple” was on the slope above Majiatian village, a mostly overgrown area. Bits ow wall were visible, but the dimensions could not be reconstructed. We were told that a flight of stairs used to lead all the way up from the valley bottom to the temple, some 3 m wide, and from the temple up the ridge to Malongchang village. Remains of smooth steps and stone walls in fact suggested a very large temple.

As it was almost 6 pm and dusk, we had to leave it at that. Dropping by the village government, ad returning to Shuangbai a bit past 8 pm. Dominik Brod had arrived in the afternoon and joined us for the remaining trip.

 

Results:

The scope of the exploitations greatly exceeded expectations based on the few available records. The huge amount of gangue is evidence of a long period of exploitation, confirmed by the large slag dumps. Due to the steep terrain, older slag dumps quite probably are covered under later layers of gangue. It appears probable that the slope above Majiatian was the main mining area of the Qing period, while Malong was still worked but had shrunk in importance. Exploitation in the Ming period could not be ascertained but appears highly probable.