What is the history and origin of Jianshui County, Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province?

Jianshui is famous for its ancient culture in southern Yunnan. Jianshui used to be the seat of Lin'an Prefecture. Its ancient culture and ancient buildings are not only in Jianshui City, the political, economic and cultural center, but also distributed throughout the jurisdiction. Tuanshan Village, 13 kilometers west of the county seat, is full of century-old buildings. When outsiders visit here, they are all amazed. ?

Tuanshan Village (Yi: a place with gold and silver) is built on a half-slope. There are more than a hundred households in total, all of which are brick and wood buildings with deep houses and courtyards. They are antique and beautiful. House after house, one after another, it is like a broad and rich museum of ancient architecture. The vicissitudes of history are hidden in it. Visiting here arouses a sense of nostalgia and makes people feel that the passage of time seems to have slowed down here.

Looking at the large courtyards of these hundreds of households, I couldn’t help but have a kind of nostalgia: according to the land reform movement in the early days of liberation, these hundreds of households were undoubtedly big landowners. However, according to the cultivated land area occupied by each household, it does not constitute land wealth. More than a hundred years ago, the builders of these ancient buildings were all poor people. They all made their fortunes by opening tin mines in Gejiu. By the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, they were basically in decline. Their descendants have no wealth other than the luxurious property left behind by their ancestors. What we see now is that people's lives are as poor as those of ordinary mountain people.

Zhangjia Garden

The "Zhujia Garden" in Jianshui City is well-known, but the "Zhangjia Garden" in Tuanshan is rarely known.

Zhangjia Garden is located in the northeast of the village. It was built in 1905, the 31st year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty. It covers an area of ??3495 square meters and a building area of ??2950 square meters. The layout consists of a wall facing the outer gate of the house, and a It consists of the entrance courtyard, the middle courtyard, the third entrance courtyard, the ancestral hall garden and the surrounding bunkers. There are 119 houses and 21 large and small patios, forming a castle-style private residential manor. It is the largest and most brilliant among the ancient buildings in Tuanshan Village. The private residence is also the second largest manor in Jianshui after Zhujia Garden.

The builder of Zhangjia Garden did not have a strong official background like Zhujia Garden, but was a penniless poor man. It is really like "a fantasy" to be able to build such a large-scale and gorgeous garden residence. Such a miracle.

The landlord's name is Zhang Jialin, and he has two sons, one named Zhang Guoyi and one named Zhang Guomin. Because the family was poor and it was difficult to make ends meet, when the two sons grew up, they went out to work in the world and later started small businesses. , after making some money, he returned to his hometown and bought a few horses, and took them to the Gejiu tin mine to carry land for the boss, and received a little reward to support his family. Gradually becoming familiar with the mining environment, the brothers realized that mining was not as profitable as carrying dirt for others, so they abandoned carrying dirt and went mining. At that time, the large mines did not belong to any one family. The ore belonged to whoever had the strength to mine it. Tin ore is of high value and can be sold to smelters. Brother Zhang was mining in Lotus Cave with picks and hoes. He worked tirelessly and was exhausted at the end of the day. The mined ore accumulated day after day, and soon he accumulated more than a hundred stones. At that time, the ore was measured in stone and sold wholesale to smelters, and then went into the cave to continue mining for wholesale sales. After accumulating a sum of funds, he built his own smelting furnace in Xiahegou, purchased ore, smelted large amounts of tin, and sold it, which greatly increased his income. The business is booming and developing year by year. The number of smelting furnaces has increased from one to three, and workers are employed to smelt all year round. When there were too many tin ingots, they hired caravans to carry them to the Manshu Port on the Red River and boarded ships. They were transported by water from the mouth of the river to Vietnam and transferred to Hong Kong. At that time, Ge Jiu opened a trading post in Hong Kong specializing in selling large tin, which was sold to various European countries and made huge profits. When Brother Zhang got rich, he expanded his trade and brought business to big cities such as Kunming and Shanghai, and the money came rolling in. When he got rich, he returned to his hometown in Tuanshan to buy land and build a house. He first built five wing rooms, and then built a three-in-court residence and a garden ancestral hall. Just as Brother Zhang's mining business was booming, his brother Zhang Guoyi suddenly fell ill and died. His younger brother Zhang Guomin buried his brother's body in grief, propped up the entire enterprise, and expanded the business. He successively purchased several mines such as Changlaotang and Gaolaotang, and became one of the rich businessmen in the Gejiu tin mining industry.

On the basis of the original house in his hometown, Zhang Guomin expanded the courtyard house and built a rockery behind the garden to cultivate flowers and plants to beautify the environment. At the same time, he also built a defensive gatehouse and fort, becoming an independent private building complex in Tuanshan Village. The manor is like a hibernating place for a local emperor. Presumably, Zhang's family employed servants to keep them safe.

Brothers Zhang Guomin had traveled around the world to see the world, so they naturally wanted to follow the latest trends in the structure and decoration of their homes. They purchased good wood for the construction of their houses, with brick and wood structures. The wooden house was a two-story house with mortise and tenon joints, and the decoration was fancy and high-end. , He did not hesitate to hire skilled craftsmen at high prices to carve beams and paintings. The eaves of the main hall are engraved with flowers, birds, fish, insects, wild beasts and human figures; the door lintels are painted with colorful paintings, and the windows are inlaid with various patterns and openwork carvings. Local calligraphers were invited to inscribe Tang poems and Song lyrics on the exterior walls, and painters were invited to paint bamboo, chrysanthemum and plum blossoms. and traditional Chinese paintings of landscapes and figures. What a icing on the cake. Beautiful and elegant calligraphy and painting works of art decorate the walls of the house, adding to the splendor and giving off a luxurious atmosphere, like a rich and educated man from a scholarly family. We roamed around and appreciated the carvings, calligraphy and paintings of various houses. Although they were old or damaged, they were all of high quality.

The middle courtyard is surrounded by corridors and corridors, and the residential houses are two-story wooden buildings with roof tiles. The foot of the fence is inlaid with carved bricks. The doors and windows of the house are decorated with exquisite openwork patterns of flowers and birds. The patio is equipped with flower stands and stone jars. The backyard is a "zouma corner building", that is, two rows of wooden buildings connected horizontally to form a right angle. There are ancestral tablets in the building directly connected to the corridor. The garden on the left side of the gate is topped by a platform about two meters high, with stilted buildings on both sides. A large square pond is built below. A number of square stone pillars are erected at equal intervals on the stone fence beside the pond. The upper ends of the stone pillars are carved into I-shaped or rounded tops; some are carved into the shapes of lions and tigers. Facing the stone fence in the middle of the platform, the front and back sides are engraved with the inscriptions "Lively Splashing Land" and "Lively Tianji". It is said that the courtyards were originally covered with all kinds of precious flowers and trees, and the houses had many doors and windows. There is a saying that "one hundred kinds of flowers, one hundred carved doors and windows". The elegance, grandeur and luxurious decoration of its house structure are second only to Zhujia Garden. As you can imagine, such a large manor would require many servants to do environmental sanitation and cultivate flowers and trees.

During the War of Liberation, Zhang Youwu, a descendant of Zhangjia Garden, hated the corrupt rule of the Kuomintang and joined the "Nine-member Group", a united front organization led by the underground party of the Jianshui County Committee of the Communist Party of China. The existing stilted building on the left is It was the venue for the activities of the "Nine-member Group" at that time. Zhangjia Garden is now listed as a county-level cultural relics protection unit.

The house was already empty when we visited. Due to years of disrepair, the building complex has a decayed and desolate scene, and has lost its former splendor; the carvings and paintings on the houses have been covered with traces of time, and some have been damaged and fallen off. The beautiful scenery of Zhengyan no longer exists. Because there is no one to manage it, everything is dirty and messy. While wandering around, I saw many exquisitely carved animal shapes that had been damaged by the "Four Olds" during the "Cultural Revolution" period, showing the catastrophe that had gone through many vicissitudes of life. The spacious house above the pond has been turned into a classroom for Tuanshan Village Primary School. Many plastic bags, drink bottles and various other debris were thrown into the large pond, and the surface of the black water was covered with green moss. Its cultural landscape has been eclipsed.

Due to lack of maintenance and management, some walls of Zhangjia Garden have collapsed, some houses were damaged, and the original perfection and aura have been lost. But through these ancient buildings, we can see the beauty of traditional Chinese architectural style, see the intelligent craftsmanship of the predecessors' craftsmen in building houses, and can also think of the Zhang family's glory when they grew from poverty to wealth. It can be said that this gorgeous and luxurious manor was "packed" from the Gejiu tin mines - a hundred years ago, the Zhang brothers started from scratch and made a fortune by mining and operating the tin mining industry through hard work with their hands, creating such a huge and... A magnificent castle and manor may sound unbelievable, but Zhangjia Garden is a picture of history.

General's Mansion

We were visiting Tuanshan Village and saw a house with a plaque "General's Mansion" hanging on it. It was very eye-catching, so we went in to visit.

The "General's Mansion" is not the official residence of a general, but the residence of a junior officer. The house was built in 1905, the 31st year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, covering an area of ??880 square meters. It has 38 houses and 7 large and small patios.

There are also decorations around the eaves of the main hall, which are more elegant in artistic taste. There are dozens of aphorisms, calligraphy and traditional Chinese paintings inscribed by local celebrities, which can be called artistic treasures.

Entering the Second Courtyard, there is a plaque of "Everlasting Life" written by He Zhangzong, the prefect of Lin'an, the original name of Jianshui, for Hu, and there are "Golden Xuan Yongyin" written by members of the same clan to congratulate Hu on his 60th or 70th birthday. Plaques with red background and gold characters such as "Song Xin He Suan", "Xir Chun Gu", "Hundred Birds Chao Wang", "Debi Fu Guang" and so on express the Zhang family's admiration and respect for the mother's ability to raise future generations in adversity. respect.

Overview These carvings, calligraphy, paintings and plaque inscriptions are all of a very high level. They decorate the "General's Mansion" in a dazzling way, full of style and luxury, and have a strong cultural atmosphere.

As time goes by, the construction and carving techniques of these wooden structures have become obsolete, and some calligraphy and paintings have been damaged and fallen off. The descendants of the homeowners can no longer afford repairs, and the sanitation is not that clean, indicating that the current homeowners no longer have the financial resources and cultural quality of their ancestors. However, what ancient buildings leave to future generations, including people other than homeowners, is a kind of traditional Chinese house construction culture, a page of history, a kind of art, a kind of wisdom, and a kind of spirit for future generations to appreciate and learn from.

After visiting the "General's Mansion" and walking out, we thought of Zhang He, the builder of the mansion. Xie Heng, vice chairman of the Jianshui County Federation of Literary and Art Circles who led our visit, knew where Zhang He’s tomb was, so he took us to visit it. We walked out of the upper end of the stockade, followed the field up a small slope, and entered a vegetable field. In the corner of the vegetable field, we saw several tombs huddled at the foot of the mountain. We searched one by one and found Zhang He's tomb. The tombstone was not big. The inscription inscribed by Cai E was in block letters. He had deep calligraphy skills and neat and elegant fonts. However, in order to accommodate all the text on a small tombstone, it must be compressed and engraved to be small and crowded. Fortunately, the handwriting is very finely chiselled and the brushstrokes of the original work are retained, so that every word is clearly visible. However, the entire tomb was squeezed tightly by the mountain soil and covered with mountain grass, as if it could no longer bear the heavy load. I said with emotion: "Cai E didn't leave much handwriting during his lifetime. This is the first time I saw it here. This tombstone should be protected as a cultural relic." Xie Heng naturally couldn't make the decision, but he hoped to attract the attention of relevant departments in the county. .

Huang En Mansion

We walked to the middle of the village and saw a gold-plated plaque with the three characters "Huang En Mansion" hanging on the gate of a house from a distance. Then he turned around and went to visit.

What is "Huang En Mansion"? According to reports, the builder of the house was named Zhang Shuyuan, who lost his father shortly after he was born. The young mother Zhu suffered a heavy blow; her spiritual support collapsed and she lost her life support. She was in great pain. Women in feudal society were restricted by the ethical shackles of "three obediences and four virtues" and were not allowed to remarry. The only way to survive and to raise babies is to work in the fields. A very young widow, as the main labor force in the family, has to support the lives of four people including her parents-in-law. But the virtuous Mr. Zhu worked hard in the fields without complaint, getting up early and working in the fields late at night. After a hard day's work, he spent the night spinning and weaving to make clothes for the whole family. She has worked hard for many years to support her family, honor her parents-in-law, raise her children with virtue, and live in harmony with her neighbors, earning much sympathy and respect from everyone.

When the young Zhang Shuyuan grew up and became sensible, he saw that his mother was suffering too much, so he followed the villagers to the Gejiu mines to carry back the wasteland in exchange for a small reward to help support the family. In this way, year after year, Zhang Shuyuan worked from childhood to adulthood, living in the mines and living frugally. He worked hard until he was in his 40s. Finally, he accumulated a large sum of money and returned home to build a house to repay his mother.

Zhang Shuyuan, like others, built a house with three squares, one screen wall and four courtyards with five patios. There are three six-eared rooms in the backyard; the three halls are attached to a corner building on the back hill. The house was built in the late Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, covering an area of ??1,885 square meters and a construction area of ??863 square meters. The layout consists of two large patios, six small patios, six aisles and two courtyards. The main building has 37 rooms. Xuantong Yuan Dynasty It was completed in 1909. The flower hall in the front yard is a place for receiving guests. Craftsmen are invited to carve patterns and decorations, which are exquisite and elegant; the "Eight Immortals Offering Longevity" pattern on the eaves of the corridor is creative and novel; there are nine reliefs of nearly 6 inches on the narrow and long wooden planks, with the Eight Immortals arranged on two sides. Congratulations to the birthday girl sideways. The characters are lifelike in shape, with distinct identities and characteristics, and they come gracefully on auspicious clouds and mist, showing a magical and dreamy realm.

Ms. Zhu did not expect that her son was so ambitious and could build such a luxurious house in his middle age. She was already in her sixties, and she knew that her son's life's hard work was no less than hers, and her heart was filled with love and happiness. People in the village admired and respected Zhang Shuyuan's family when they saw that they had plenty of food and clothing. Because Zhu worked hard all his life and supported his own business, he became prosperous in his old age, full of children and grandchildren, praised by everyone, and became famous all over the world. When the county magistrate found out, he was also deeply moved. In order to commend Zhu's virtues, the magistrate of Lin'an submitted a document to the higher-level government. The report was forwarded to the imperial court, and the Qing court awarded him a plaque of "Emperor's Favor" in recognition of Zhu's adherence to the feudal etiquette followed at the time and permission to travel on the avenue. The "Jie Xiaofang" was established to show his virtue.

The Zhang family has prepared materials for this purpose, selected an address and asked craftsmen to lay the foundation stones. People in Zhenlio Village believed that the archway was built at the junction of the two villages, which was not good for Feng Shui and opposed it. Although this matter was explicitly permitted by the imperial court, the Zhang family gave up this project to honor their ancestors in order to take into account the overall situation and follow the family motto of "hundred forbearance" of their ancestors. The prepared stones and a pair of stone lions carefully carved by craftsmen have been stored for more than 80 years. In 1986, when Jianshui County was building the East Gate Garden, Zhang Shuyuan's descendants donated the pair of well-preserved stone lions to the Jianshui County. government.