Cultural characteristics of folk houses in southern Anhui

The site selection, layout and architectural form of ancient residential villages in southern Anhui closely integrate elegant Ming and Qing residential buildings with nature to create a scientific and interesting living environment, which is the essence of traditional residential buildings in China. The unique water system in this village is a model of water conservancy project combining practicality and aesthetics, which profoundly embodies the outstanding wisdom of human beings in using and transforming nature. Its "exquisite layout, ingenious structure, exquisite decoration, exquisite construction and profound cultural connotation" is rare in ancient Chinese residential buildings. Hongcun is the most representative of many Huizhou-style residential villages in southern Anhui. From the overall appearance, Hongcun is a strange cow-shaped ancient village in the Peach Blossom Garden of the ancient Miao nationality, which has both the wild interest of mountains and the scenery of water towns, and is known as the "village in Chinese painting". Every household in the village is connected by waterways, and the gurgling spring water flows from every household. Buildings and lakes and mountains are stacked together, with scenery everywhere, step by step, and the feeling of leisure is fascinating.

Hongcun is the place where Wang lived. There are hundreds of ancient buildings in the village, among which Chengzhitang is the best preserved ancient building in Yixian. The wood carvings on the beams, arches, flower gates and window sills in the main hall are exquisite in craftsmanship, complex in levels, numerous in figures, different in face shapes and different in spirit shapes, and can be called the fine wood carvings in the "Four Carvings" art of Huizhou School.

Hongcun Chuan Mei Mountain Show has a pleasant climate. Because of the high terrain, it is often foggy here, sometimes like splashing ink, and sometimes like painting a long scroll, which blends natural landscape with human landscape.

Wang Jiu of Hongcun is a descendant of Hua Wang, the King of Yue in the early Tang Dynasty. There are hundreds of ancient residential buildings with white walls and blue tiles, especially Chengzhitang, Jingxiutang, Dongxiantang and Sanlitang, which are called "Folk Forbidden City" for their exquisite carvings and flying gold. They are the same as the mirror-smooth Moon Marsh and the rippling South Lake. There are deep alleys and quaint shops beside Qingshi Street, which are on Leigang. By the Qing Dynasty, Hongcun was already "a metropolis with thousands of fireworks and buildings", and it was still the seat of Hongcun Town People's Government. On June 30, 2000, Hongcun was listed on the World Cultural Heritage List by UNESCO.

In the village, with the main street as the center, the buildings are stacked, the streets are winding, and the road surface is covered with monochrome bluestone; Most of the houses on both sides are binary units, with courtyards in front, fish ponds and gardens, and railings beside the pond. "Cattle intestines" moisten fish with water and smell of flowers and trees. Horsehead walls fall layer by layer, and wood carvings on foreheads, sparrows and arches have different postures and vivid images; There is a spectacular building in Nanhu Academy on the south bank of Nanhu Lake. It is said that Jiang Dayun (Hongcun), the premier of the early Republic of China, studied here in his childhood and is now the former site of Nanhu Central Primary School.

There are more than 140 well-preserved Ming and Qing houses in the village. Chengzhitang's "three sculptures" are exquisite and magnificent, and are known as the "Folk Forbidden City". Other famous scenic spots include South Lake Scenery, South Lake Academy, Moon Marsh Xiao Chun, Niuchang Water Town, Shuangxi Shadow Wall, the tree in front of the courtyard, Leigang Sunset, Shu Ren Guild Hall and the Ming Dynasty Ancestral Hall Lexiu Hall. There are many famous landscapes around the village, such as Luoshan Woodcarving Building, Shu Qi Lake, Tachuan Autumn Colors, Mukeng Bamboo Sea and Wancun Ming Temple "Aijing Hall".

Mr. Feng Shui believes that from the perspective of Feng Shui, Yuetang, as an "inner yang water", needs to be combined with an "outer yang water" before the village can really develop. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, a hundred acres of fertile land in the south of the village was dug into the South Lake, which was another "cow stomach". The design and construction of Hongcun "Niuxing Village" lasted 130 years.

Nanhu Lake, located in the south of Hongcun Village, was built in the third year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1607). Hongcun, from Yongle to Wan Li, is crisscrossed by buildings, and its population has doubled. It is not enough to store water only by the moon pool. In the third year of Wanli, the village was dug with hundreds of acres of fertile land in the south, and the surrounding embankment was made of stone, imitating the style of autumn moon in Pinghu, West Lake. The lake is in a big bow shape, and the dike is divided into two levels. The upper floor is 4 meters wide. The ancient trees are towering and green, the trunk is wrapped with green vines, the birds are singing, and the weeping willows are graceful, like a girl dressing up in the mirror and sprinkling her hair on the lake. The green lotus on the lake is swaying, and ducks are splashing in the water, which is another scenery. The reflection of the whole lake is floating, the water and sky are the same, the mountain peak is far from the house, and it falls into the lake. In addition, the interaction between the depth of shade and sunlight is harmonious, and the exercise is appropriate, which makes it look deep, quiet, fresh and bright. In the history of Nanhu Lake, it has undergone three major overhauls. 1986 it's fun to rebuild the middle dike and build a "painting bridge" to row from east to west.

In the autumn of Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty, Wu Xilin, a famous person in Qiantang, Zhejiang Province (now Hangzhou), visited the South Lake and wrote: "Hongcun South Lake is as prosperous as Zhejiang West Lake", so South Lake is also called "Little West Lake at the foot of Huangshan Mountain".

Many poets and painters in ancient and modern times have made many poems and paintings after visiting South Lake. "The continuous drizzle wets the spring mud, and when it is foggy, it smells birds singing; With a pink face and a smile, the willow is singing and crossing the West Bridge in the painting. " With the high praise of this poem, the atmosphere of South Lake is stronger.

Yuetang, called Yuetang by ordinary people, was built in Yongle period of Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1403-1424). At that time, Wang Siqi walked out of Hongcun, and he found a natural spring in the village, which kept flowing in winter and summer. Wang Siqi hired Mr. He Keda from Haiyang County (now Xiuning County) three times. Formulate the blueprint for the expansion of Hongcun base and the overall planning of the village, draw Xixi water around the village houses, and its "cow intestine" water is deeply compromised in the twists and turns, and pump water in the natural Jing Quan in the center of the village to build a moon marsh pool to store sunshine water for fire prevention and drinking. Later generations of Sheng Wang invested more than RMB 1 10,000, and continued to dig holes into a half-moon pond, completing the unfinished "moon marsh" of predecessors. The moon pool is evergreen all the year round, the pool surface is like a mirror, bluestones are laid around the pond and swamp, and the blue walls and tiles are arranged neatly around. Blue sky and white clouds fall into the water, old people are chatting, women are washing handkerchiefs, and urchins are playing.

In fact, the Moon Pool has become an open-air stage for people to enjoy space and customs, during which villagers spontaneously gather. Gooses dance in the pond, ducks play in the clear waves, the smoke in the air is dense and the breeze is gentle. Isn't this a beautiful folk painting in southern Anhui? So some people call it "the country in Chinese painting".

Chengzhitang, located in the middle of Shangshui Town in Hongcun Village, was built in the fifth year of Xianfeng in Qing Dynasty (AD 1855) and was the residence of Wang Dinggui, a big salt merchant in the late Qing Dynasty. The whole building is made of wood, and the interior is richly decorated with bricks, stones and wood carvings, with a total construction area of over 3,000 square meters. It is a well-preserved large-scale residential building. The whole house has 9 patios, 60 rooms, 136 wooden columns and 60 doors and windows. The whole house is divided into inner courtyard, outer courtyard, front hall, back hall, east room, west room, study room, fish pond hall, kitchen and stable. There are mahjong tiles "Paishan Pavilion" and opium addicts "Swallow Yun Xuan", as well as bodyguard rooms and male and female servant rooms. There are ponds and wells in the house, so water can't leave the house.

The front hall is the most important part of the whole house, and there is a magnificent middle door behind the front door. It is said that Wang Dinggui donated the title of "five products know each other" after he made a fortune in business. With this honor, Wang Dinggui felt that he had jumped out of the original class, so he added a middle gate with the majesty of the official family (the middle gate is also called the instrument gate, originally designed for the official department), which is generally only available on major festive days or when dignitaries come. Above the two side doors of Yimen, a "Shang" shaped pattern (like an inverted ingot, which means that financial resources are rolling in) is skillfully carved. Although Wang Dinggui made a fortune in business and donated officials, in ancient times, business was still a basic industry outside the ninth stream, which made the owner feel resentful, so he came up with this strategy, which meant that people who came in and out from the side door, no matter what occupation you were engaged in, went. But above the middle gate, the master did not dare to make any idea, but hung a word "Fu" high, because in his view, being an official is higher than doing business, which is why many Huizhou merchants still spend a lot of money to donate officials after making a fortune.

On the top of the word "Fu" in the middle gate is a woodcarving painting of "Hundred Children Making Lantern Festival", which depicts the scene of 100 little boys celebrating the Lantern Festival. There are boatmen and dragon lanterns, and there are different shapes of festive atmosphere. This is a vivid portrayal of the ancient traditional concept of "many children and many blessings". There are carved "South and North" God of Wealth above the arch, and there are garrisons above the "South and North" God of Wealth. Here, Wang Dinggui designed four wooden pillars for "fishing and plowing", representing four ancient occupations respectively.