Nangang Millennium Yao Village

Nangang Millennium Yao village, located more than 20 kilometers southwest of Liannan Yao Autonomous County, Guangdong Province, with an altitude of 803 meters, covers an area of 159 mu. At its peak, there were more than 700 residential buildings, more than 1000 households and more than 7000 people. It is known as the leader platoon. The ancient village is built in accordance with the mountain, the houses are stacked in layers, and the stone roads are crisscross, with clear priorities. The village was built in the Song Dynasty and has a history of more than 1000 years. According to experts, Nangang is the largest, oldest and most distinctive Yao village in China and even in the world. It is also known as "the first village of Yao nationality in China". The Yao people living in the village now have four surnames: Deng, Tang, pan and Fang. In the Yuan Dynasty, they established the "Yao Lao system" of democratic election and formed a sacred and strict "customary law" to strictly manage the Shanzhai. After the founding of the people's Republic of China, there are only 200 people and 368 ancient houses built in Ming and Qing Dynasties, including gate, wall, stone road, sarcophagus tomb and stone arch bridge.

Nangangpai has a dangerous terrain. It used to have three gates and relatively intact walls. It was mainly used to defend against the suppression and attack of foreign forces, especially the ancient government. The houses in the village have uniform architectural style, neat layout, neat streets and perfect water supply facilities, leaving obvious traces of historical era everywhere, which is a relatively complete historical ancient village community heritage.

Nangang has a magnificent atmosphere, beautiful natural scenery, simple and kind Yao people, magical and unique ethnic customs, and rich and colorful folk art. Walking into the ancient village, people can feel the long history of Yao nationality and the "classical beauty" of traditional culture. By visiting the Millennium Yao village in Nangang, Liannan, I believe you will have a better understanding of the traditional culture of the Yao people in China and the lifestyle of ordinary people in ancient times.

Nangang Millennium Yao Village

Nangang Millennium Yao village is located 27 kilometers southwest of Liannan County, Qingyuan City, Guangdong Province, covering an area of 159 mu. It was built in the Song Dynasty and has a history of more than 1000 years. It is a national AAAA scenic spot, a famous historical and cultural village in China, and one of the top ten most beautiful ancient villages in Guangdong Province.

In order to show respect for the majority of medical workers, the scenic spot will provide medical workers with free tickets, consumption discounts and other preferential services after the end of the epidemic and the resumption of operation (the specific preferential details are subject to the announcement of each scenic spot).

Development history

Nangang Yao village has a long history, reliable and accurate, and its historical origin is still unclear, which needs further investigation. But at least it originated in the Song Dynasty and has a history of more than 1000 years. According to historical records, the ancestors of Nangang in Liannan (including the other bapai Yao) are considered to be part of the Wuling barbarians in Changsha during the Qin and Han Dynasties. The Yao first lived in the north of Dongting Lake. Later, because of the war and discrimination, they gradually migrated to the border of Hunan, Guangdong and Guangxi. During the Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties, the Yao gradually migrated to Guangdong Province in different ways, and the Ming Dynasty was the most prosperous. It is said that the Yao people in the eight rows of Liannan moved from Daozhou and Jianghua in Hunan Province.

According to experts, Nangang is the largest, oldest and most distinctive Yao village in China and even in the world. Yao people living in Shanzhai now mainly belong to four Clans: Deng, Tang, pan and Fang. In the Ming Dynasty, they established the "Yao Lao system" of democratic election and formed a sacred and strict "customary law" to strictly manage the Shanzhai. At present, there are only 200 people and 368 ancient houses in Ming and Qing Dynasties, as well as gate, wall and stone road.

Yao people usually live in deep mountains, "there are no Yao people in the south of the five ridges". This is to avoid the national persecution and discrimination of the feudal rulers for a long time. Moreover, Yao people generally live in the middle of the mountain, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. In the history of Nangang Yao village, it has successfully resisted the attack of officers and soldiers and other hostile forces several times depending on the mountain situation.

Nangangpai, as the largest Yao village in the eighth row of Liannan, can be said to reflect the ancient traditional culture of the Yao people in Liannan and even in China. Nangang has classical residential communities, primitive bamboo water supply system, collective meeting place, yaolao system, gupanwang temple, wanposhan, dragon culture, and relics of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

Scenic environment

Nangang ancient village is built on a steep slope with an altitude of 803 meters. The houses are close to the mountain and close to the slope. Often the roof of the house in front and the floor of the house behind are flat and high. There is a corridor between them. Horizontal streets and straight alleys, local materials, paving with stones, connected each household, formed the pattern of Yao Pai.

Main attractions

Gate and wall

The gate and wall of nangangpai ancient village. In the past, Nangang row had two gates and solid walls. The first gate and wall was one Li outside the village. The wall was 6 meters high and 1 meter wide, and was made of huge stones. No one could enter the village without permission. After liberation, the gate and wall of the village were destroyed, which was later repaired. The function of the gate and wall of the village is to defend against the invasion of bandits and officers and soldiers.

Yaowang house

Yao Wang is the highest leader of Nangang platoon. According to historical records, he had different titles in different periods. From Yuan Dynasty to the 12th year of Daoguang in Qing Dynasty, he was called "tianchanggong". After the 12th year of Daoguang in Qing Dynasty, he was called "Yao Chang". Yao people and Han people called him "Yao Wang". The Yao king is in charge of all kinds of affairs in the village, dealing with all kinds of disputes, maintaining social order, and dealing with foreign affairs. In case of war, he is the highest military leader in the platoon. Everyone follows the command of the Yao king. As long as the Yao King orders, all the Yao people in the platoon will unite and fight bravely until victory. The king of Yao has a high prestige among the Yao people. In case of any contradiction or dispute, everyone has to comply with the ruling of the king of Yao.

Yaolian house

"Yao practice room". Yao Lian was born in the Qing Dynasty. He is the deputy of Yao chief (Yao people call him Yao Wang). His main duties are to assist Yao Wang in dealing with all kinds of platoon affairs, investigating and hearing cases, arresting and guarding prisoners, organizing and leading public welfare labor and religious activities. In the Yuan Dynasty, Nangang Pai established the "Yao Lao system" organization composed of "tianchanggong, leader Gong, zhangmiao Gong, Shaoxiang Gong, Fangshui Gong" and old people of different surnames. Tianchanggong is the leader, and the leader is the deputy. Zhangmiao Gong is responsible for guarding the Pangu king temple and organizing religious activities. Shaoxiang Gong is responsible for burning incense in the Pangu king temple every festival and on the first and the 15th of every month. The water releasing Gong is divided into two parts, namely, Guanshi Shui Gong and guantian Shui Gong, which are responsible for managing the water distribution of Nangang Pai's domestic waterways and farmland irrigation. All the members mentioned above should be democratically elected by the whole platoon. In the 12th year of Daoguang reign of Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty set up the system of "Yao Changyao training" in Paiyao area to strictly manage the villages. The owner of this house is Yao Lian.

Getangping

This 9-meter-wide and 9-meter-long Daping is the activity center of Paiyao people in Nangang. All major activities held in the Shanzhai, such as holding a meeting of Paiyao people, dealing with offenders according to the "customary law", getting close to the hall, crossing the state (a religious activity of Paiyao people), playing song hall and playing God, are held here. On New Year's day, it is also a place where Yao people play gongs, blow horns, sing Yao songs and dance long drum to enjoy themselves. Therefore, it is called "getangping". In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, after the state allocated funds year by year to help Yao people emigrate to live in the mountains, this "Getang Ping" could only be used as an annual "shuogtang" place. The Yao people call it "zuogetang", which is a collective activity. Every year, the day is chosen in the festival of June 6, usually after October 16 of the lunar calendar. At this time, the autumn harvest is over, and it is relatively idle. On the one hand, playing song hall is a religious activity, on the other hand, it is also a mass festival to celebrate the harvest.

Nangang ancient temple

The ancient temple is built on the position of "dragon head". From the middle gate to getangping, to the ancient temple, this is the dragon vein trend of the whole village. The reason why the ancient temple is built on the top of the dragon head is to protect the Yao people in the village and their faithful men and women. The original ancient temple was destroyed during the cultural revolution. Today's ancient temple is based on the original, according to the previous architectural style maintenance. Paiyao's temple is dedicated to Pangu king and Pangu Wang Po.

Sarcophagus tomb

Sarcophagus is a special funeral in Nangang Pai. No sarcophagus has been found in other Yaopai in Liannan. Sarcophagus burial is a symbol of power, only the king of Yao can enjoy the sarcophagus burial. Among the existing sarcophagus tombs in Nangang, there are two Ming Dynasty sarcophagus tombs engraved with inscriptions, cultural totems of Chu people and the legal name of the tomb owner "Dadao" (Dujie) hou'an, which indicates that at least there were sarcophagus tombs in nangangpai in the Ming Dynasty, and Taoism may have been introduced into liannanpai Yao area at that time. Here are the spare sarcophagus and accessories of the last Yao king. After the founding of the people's Republic of China, the Yao King's thought progressed and he volunteered not to use the sarcophagus for burial, so the sarcophagus was preserved in the village. Because the sarcophagus was destroyed by the red guards during the "Cultural Revolution", only part of the remains can be seen now.

festival activities

Yao people have eight festivals every year, such as the Spring Festival, the year of playing, the ploughing Festival, the singing Festival and the Pangu King Festival.

Kaigeng Festival

The second day of the second lunar month is Paiyao's "Ploughing Festival", also known as "outing Festival", which means the beginning of spring ploughing. On that day, the Yao family killed chickens and ground tofu, worshipped the God of land and ancestors, prayed for good weather and good harvest. Some Yao platoons asked their husband to choose a good day for the "Ploughing Festival" in the platoon. When it was time to decide the schedule, the whole platoon went out at the same time and fired guns to plough.

Opening day

Chinese PinYin : Nan Gang Qian Nian Yao Zhai