The Wangs Courtyard

"Wang's return does not look at the courtyard" is worthy of the name, no one is not deeply attracted by its exquisite carving art and atmospheric spatial pattern.

Known as "the first residence in China", this Shanxi Merchant compound is a luxury residence built by Jingsheng Wang family for half a century. Wang's courtyard is bigger than most people think. It is composed of two relatively closed courtyards, Gaojiaya and hongmenbao. Between the two courtyards is connected by a slender bridge, and the rest is composed of countless quadrangles.

Gaojiaya, a closed Castle style building, also known as "Chinese Folk House Art Museum", is the most worthy to savor. It is built close to the mountain and is magnificent. There are 26 courtyards and 212 houses, which can be divided into front and back courtyards. The overall layout inherits the structure of the front hall and back room in ancient China, which not only enhances the safety, but also widens the space of the courtyard. The front yard is a social place. From the door to the interior, exquisite brick carvings, stone carvings and wood carvings can be seen everywhere. The backyard is the host's living area, still decorated with various carvings, exquisite and elegant. Hongmenbao and Gaojiaya face each other from east to west. Because the gate is red, it gets its name. The stone carvings with distinctive features and rich connotations in the castle are a model of carving art in the Qing Dynasty.

The Wangs Courtyard

Wangjiayuan is located in Shengzhen, a famous town of Chinese history and culture, 12 kilometers east of Lingshi County, Shanxi Province. It is 35 kilometers away from Pingyao ancient city and 4 kilometers away from Mianshan mountain.

Wang's courtyard was built by Jingsheng Wang's family in Ming and Qing Dynasties for more than 300 years, including five lanes, six castles and one street, with a total area of 250000 square meters. It is also an architectural art museum with traditional cultural characteristics. It is a national key cultural relic protection unit and a 4A level scenic spot.

In February 2020, novel coronavirus pneumonia was widely opened to medical practitioners. The area was open to health care professionals from December 31, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

Courtyard pattern

Overall pattern

The architectural pattern of Wang's courtyard inherits the courtyard style of front hall and back bedroom formed in the Western Zhou Dynasty. It not only provides enough space for foreign exchanges, but also meets the requirements of internal private atmosphere. It has the characteristics of high and low rank, orderly growth and development, different men and women inside and outside, and has all kinds of living functions, which fully reflects the dignity of the official family and the regularity of patriarchal system.

There are 35 courtyards and 342 houses in Gaojiaya building complex. The main courtyard, Dunhou house and Ningrui house, are three in four courtyard. In addition to the ancestral hall and embroidery buildings on both sides, each courtyard has its own kitchen courtyard, family school courtyard, and shared academies, flower courtyard, long-term Institute of labor and Wai courtyard. The surrounding fortress walls are tightly surrounded, and the four gates are located in selected places. The courtyards are a perfect combination of large and small courtyards. There are as many as 65 gates connecting the upper, lower, left and right, and they are also independent.

Courtyard features

The hongmenbao complex is a castle, like a city, built on the mountain. From low to high, the four storey courtyards are arranged symmetrically, with a main road in the middle, forming a very regular "Wang" shape. At the same time, it implies the shape of "dragon". Each of the 88 courtyards has its own characteristics.

Scenic spots

architectural art

The architecture of Wang's courtyard has the characteristics of "exquisite but not beautiful, novel and elegant, delicate and artful". And condensation of natural simplicity, fresh and elegant, bright and simple local flavor.

Three carving art

The brick carving, wood carving and stone carving in Wang's courtyard are rich in themes and skillful in techniques. They adopt a large number of symbolic, metaphorical, homophonic and even taboo art forms recognized by secular concepts. With the joint participation of literati, painters and sculptors, they carve flowers, birds, fish and insects, mountains, stones and water boats, allusions and legends, opera characters in brick, stone or wood, reflecting the architecture of Qing Dynasty The style of decoration integrates Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and traditional folk culture.

Architectural decoration

The architectural decoration of Wang's courtyard is the epitome of "slender and dense" in Qing Dynasty. The decoration of structural accessories is gorgeous, exquisite and elegant. For example, the wood carvings on the porch, such as the Dou Gong, e Fang and que Ti, the stone carvings on the column foundation and wall cornerstone, and the couplets and plaques in the courtyards are various in form and excellent in workmanship, which reflect the architectural characteristics of "solid, practical and beautiful" in ancient northern China.

History and culture

Family history

Lingshi Jingsheng Wang's family originated in Taiyuan. During the reign of emperor Renzong of Yuan Dynasty (1312-1313), Wang Shi moved to Jingsheng Village. Jingsheng Wang's family started from farming and bean curd business. From agriculture and business, from business to government, family business gradually expanded, family wealth gradually increased, and fame gradually increased. It was a common thing to mention it before, and then build houses. The Wangs first built houses near Huaishu in the west of the village. Later, they gradually expanded from west to East, from low to high, and built a huge building complex, such as "three lanes, four forts and five ancestral halls", with a total area of more than 150000 square meters. According to the inscription on the origin of Wang's family in Jingsheng Village, during the reign of Qi, some of the clansmen were no longer based on farming and reading, some did not continue to develop in business, some were satisfied with their official duties, and some were happy with their fine clothes and food. Many of them had neither the ambition to inherit their careers nor the heart to keep their foundation. Some of them became thieves, beggars, or "villains" who would not hesitate to sell their children. The Wang family entered the Qing Dynasty from the 13th. It flourished during the reign of Kangxi, Qianlong and Jiaqing. At that time, in addition to building houses, ancestral halls, tombs, shops and workshops, there were also charitable schools, granaries, bridges and roads, water storage and canals, disaster relief and poverty relief. After the 18th century (the reign of Daoguang in Qing Dynasty), it gradually declined. No one lives in the compound

Cultural Studies

Couplets and plaques

Couplets and plaques contain profound cultural connotations. For example, "Yingkui" and "Guixin" are looking forward to the success of the scientific examination of their descendants and being outstanding; "watching me" and "seeing the shoes" are warning people to regulate their behavior at all times; "looking at the clouds in the sun" shows the glory of visiting the Emperor. As a symbol of culture, couplets and plaques make the Wang family rich in business have a certain taste, and imperceptibly influence generations of descendants to transform themselves, understand the etiquette and observe the system, abide by the instructions of their ancestors, guide them to make a difference in a given way, and constantly promote the prosperity of the family.

 

Treasures

1、 Imperial edict: This is an imperial edict issued to the Wang family during the Jiaqing period after generations of preservation and voluntary donation. This imperial edict is not only a precious material material left by the ancestors of the Wang family, but also has reference value for the study of the evolution and development of Qing Dynasty history, document system, official system, calligraphy, knitting and other aspects.

2、 Qiangong bed: the Qiangong bed placed in the "bridal chamber" in the backyard of Dunhou residence adopts various decoration techniques, such as carving, inlaying, depicting and painting. The red color which can best reflect the festive atmosphere is used as the main color, and the bright Chinese red is used to highlight the rich gold paint, showing its unique style as a "wedding bed".

3、 The whole picture of the reign of the Qing Dynasty: the "whole picture of the reign of the Qing Dynasty" displayed in Ning Ruiju hall is a printed edition, but it is a valuable scientific material for studying the historical changes of China's territory and administrative region.

4、 Other furniture: a bookcase style Duobao pavilion with mother of pearl inlaid in the middle of rosewood and preserved completely, as well as many exquisite classical furniture made of precious hardwood such as mahogany, pear wood and beech wood.

 

Film and television culture

Many films and TV productions are shot in Wang's courtyard, such as "autumn of Yuyang", "woman of swordsman family", "Tie Li Hua", "biography of heroes in Lvliang", "Sha hukou", "ancient town river", "one hundred years of vicissitudes" and so on.

 

Honors

 

tourist guide

Reference fare and opening hours

Tourist routes

Wang's courtyard is 140 kilometers away from Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province, with convenient transportation.

Car line

a. Take a long-distance bus (Taiyuan Lingshi) from Jiannan bus station in Taiyuan to Lingshi bus station, and then transfer to No.1 bus to get to Wang's courtyard. (bus No.1 takes 8 minutes, 2 yuan / person)

b. Take a long-distance bus (Taiyuan Jiexiu) from Jiannan bus station in Taiyuan to Jiexiu bus station, and then transfer to bus No.11 to get to Wangjiayuan. (bus No.11 takes 20 minutes, 5 yuan / person)

Train route

You can also take the train directly to Lingshi or Jiexiu, and then transfer to the bus to Wangjiayuan.

 

Self driving route

Free policy

In February 2020, novel coronavirus pneumonia was widely opened to medical practitioners. The area was open to health care professionals from December 31, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

 

Address: Wang's courtyard, 011 Township, Lingshi County, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province, China

Longitude: 111.874601

Latitude: 36.896148

Tel: 0354-7722122; 0354-55

Official website: http://ww

Chinese PinYin : Wang Jia Da Yuan