Ningchang ancient town

Ningchang ancient town is one of the first batch of famous historical and cultural towns announced by Chongqing. It is located in Wuxi County, Chongqing, with beautiful scenery and simple folk customs. It is also one of the early salt producing areas in China.

Most of the buildings in Ningguang ancient town are "Diaojiaolou" supported by inclined wood, which are built near the river, with antique flavor and unique flavor. Ancient buildings and dwellings meander along Houxi river for 3-4 kilometers, commonly known as Qili banbian street. The Queen's village on the hillside in the south of the town and the Peach Blossom Village on the top of the mountain in the west of the town were the bases where Li Zicheng and he Zizhen fought against the Qing Dynasty.

Ningchang ancient town

Located near Wuxi County, Chongqing, Ningchang ancient town is one of the earliest salt producing areas in China. "When Yu and Xia came, Wu Kingdom prospered with salt industry", which is about 5000 years ago. The natural brine spring flows out from Baoyuan cave in the north of the town. Since the salt industry flourished in the pre Qin period, Ningchang ancient town has set up a prison, a prefecture and a county for salt, and became one of the top ten salt capitals in China in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Ningchang ancient town has a history of salt making for more than 4000 years. In ancient times, it was a paradise of "no achievements, no classics, no clothes; no crops, no masts, no food". In Tang Yao period, it was the native place and the first meeting place of Wuxian state. In history, counties, prefectures, and counties were set up. They had the glory of "a spring of white jade, thousands of miles of gold", "Wu Shu goods, salt gathering here", "dividing the Qin and Chu regions, Zepei in the Han and Tang Dynasties".

Ningchang ancient town is the birthplace and cradle of ancient human civilization in the Three Gorges area. It can be called the "ancient salt capital" of the world and the "ancestor" of the world's handicraft workshops. In the history of the ancient town, there have been many uprisings of kitchen stoves. The uprising of Yan Benshu and Liao Hui broke out in 1508, which lasted for five years. The uprising reached 100000 and swept six provinces and cities in Southwest China. It was more than 100 years earlier than the earliest worker uprising in Europe. It should be the source of the world worker movement.

In 2010, it was awarded the honorary title of the fifth batch of "famous historical and cultural towns in China" by the Ministry of housing and urban rural development and the State Administration of cultural relics.

Details of ancient town

Ningchang ancient town is the fifth batch of famous historical and cultural towns in China. Most of the buildings are stilted buildings supported by inclined wood, which are built near the river with antique flavor and unique flavor. The Queen's village on the hillside in the south of the town and the Peach Blossom Village on the top of the mountain in the west of the town were the base areas where Li Zicheng and he Zhen fought against the Qing Dynasty.

The ancient town is located in Wuxi County. It is built by mountains and rivers. The Qingshi street is narrow. The ancient buildings and dwellings such as stilts and cross street buildings meander along Houxi river for 3.5km, commonly known as "Qili banbian Street".

Du Fu in the Tang Dynasty, Li Hong in the Song Dynasty, Su Shi, Wang Shipeng and Luo Hongxian in the Ming Dynasty once left a large number of poems here.

history

Wuxi in Chongqing was founded in the 15th year of Jian'an of Han Dynasty. It is called "Wuxian ancient country, ancient salt capital". Its historical culture and ecological culture are unique. It has the reputation of Three Gorges ecological pearl and Wuba cultural hometown. Along the "Baili Gallery" along the Daning River, you can see not only beautiful water, secluded gorge, strange peaks, strange rocks, hanging coffin, plank road and other landscapes, but also Ningchang ancient town, Cailun style paper mill and other landscapes with rich cultural and ancient style.

Ningchang ancient town is an important town in the north of Wuxi County. It is an early salt making place in the history of our country, and also the birthplace of Wuba culture. Ningchang ancient town is located at the junction of Chongqing, Shaanxi and Hubei provinces and cities in the eastern section of Daba. It is on the Bank of Houxi River, a tributary of Daning River. The buildings in the town are antique, mostly of stone and wood structure. The road is paved with green stones. It is ancient and simple. It is a rare and original ancient village in China. In December 2010, it was rated as the fifth batch of famous historical and cultural towns in China.

In the Qing Dynasty, Wang Shangshan wrote a poem "inscriptions on the walls of daningchang", which said: "four or five miles along the river, Weng Yan built houses and lived in dense communities." About 5000 years ago, salt was found on this land. The clear Daning River, accompanied by the pure white salt spring of Ningchang, has nurtured generations of Ningchang people. In fact, the whole area of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Hubei, with the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River as the axis, depends on the unique Wuxi salt spring. The annual self overflow salt content of Ningchang salt spring is 16000 tons. According to historical records, by the 37th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, there were 336 cooking stoves in the whole town of Ningchang, all of which burned salt to boil. It is known as "ten thousand stoves of salt smoke". Around 1949, there were 99 cooking stoves in the salt factory. There are 68 stove sites in the ancient salt field site, 15 of which are well preserved, and the salt factory is nearly 30000 square meters.

Travel

Across the scissors peak, around the "Eighteen Arhats", across another cable bridge, West into the Houxi River, is the ancient town of Yanquan Ningchang. Ningchang town is located in the deep mountain gorge of Houxi river. The north and South mountains run through the East and West valleys. The street is narrow. It is close to the mountain and the water. It is called "Qili banbian Street" in ancient times. Most of the buildings in the town are of bamboo and wood structure. Many of them are built near the river. There are inclined wooden piles below and wooden buildings supported on the columns. These suspended houses are called "Diaojiaolou" in ancient times The east side is crooked to the west, and there is a risk of collapse. In fact, it is firm and durable, and there is no worry of collapse. Houxi river passes through Diaojiao downstairs, which divides the ancient town into two and has the beauty of Jiangnan Water Town.

When you visit the ancient town, you don't feel her old, you only feel her new, but also feel her strange. The mountains here, the natural beauty, the water here, the natural beauty, the ancient and simple buildings here, are fascinating. In the east of the town, there are Qingshi baixiangyan guarding it, and a group of stone squats that look like human beings but not human beings. They are called "Eighteen Arhats" and are the site of the uprising army of the Bailian cult. The Queen's village on the hillside in the south of the town is the village where Li Zicheng and he Zhen camped for 18 years in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. In the west of the town, a mountain stands like a pyramid. Its name is Erxian mountain, with a cave on the hillside. It is the famous immortal cave far and near. The cave not only has unique scenery, but also has the magical legend of "a game of chess talks about Ranke". Inside the cave are poems by Luo Hongxian, a famous scholar and cartographer of the Ming Dynasty. There is a Taohua village on the top of Erxian mountain, which is the site of Yan Benshu and Liao Hui's uprising during Zhengde period of Ming Dynasty.

At the foot of Baoyuan mountain in the north of the town, there is Longjun temple, which was built in the Han Dynasty and maintained in previous dynasties. Today, the building is of the structure of Chuandou in the Qing Dynasty. The building base and the East chamber still exist. The main building was destroyed by the steel smelting in 1958. Ningchang salt spring is located in Longjun temple. There is a hole embedded in it. There is a stone dragon at the mouth of the hole. The clear spring comes out from the mouth of the dragon. This is the genuine artesian well Bailu salt spring. The Longchi, Longtou and fenlu eye plate were founded by Lei Yue, the governor of Daning in the second year of Chunhua (1991) of the Northern Song Dynasty. In 1989, Longchi and its affiliated buildings were listed as cultural relics protection units at the county level in Wuxi.

It is said that in the pre Qin period, the hunter yuan family chased the deer to this place. The deer disappeared suddenly. There was only a hole, and the clear spring gushed out. The water was thirsty and salty. It was known as the salt spring. When the news came out, people took water to boil salt. Since then, it has become one of the earliest salt producing areas in China. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, there were 336 salt stoves and 108frying pans, known as "Wanhao salt smoke".

Ningchang ancient town has a profound cultural heritage, simple folk customs, beautiful and quiet landscape. It is a new tourism product of Chongqing ancient town culture appreciation tour and a top-quality tourism product of Xi'an Three Gorges north-south tourism channel, It is the highlight of the ancient town in the new Three Gorges tourism, the best ancient town in the junction of Chongqing, Shaanxi and Hubei, the best ancient town tourism on the golden triangle of Fengjie Wuxi Wushan, and the "ancient salt capital and hometown of Wuba" in China.

Historical evolution

In the fifth year of King Shenliang of Zhou Dynasty (316 BC), Ningchang town began to boil salt.

In the seventh year of Yongping in the Eastern Han Dynasty (64th year), an attempt was made to bring Ningchang brine to Wushan, but it was unsuccessful.

In order to consolidate Jingzhou and strengthen the control of salt industry, Liu Bei abolished Wu County and established Beijing County in the 15th year of Jian'an (210) of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

In the sixth year of Kaibao in the Northern Song Dynasty (973), Daning was set up to collect taxes.

In the second year of Chunhua in the Northern Song Dynasty (991), Lei Yue, the governor of Daning, founded the dragon pool. A stone tap was installed at the mouth of Yanquan. The salt spring flowed from the tap and poured into the stone pool. A wooden board was placed in front of the pool and 30 holes were chiseled on it.

During the Jiading period of the Southern Song Dynasty (1208-1224), kongsizong, the governor of Daning, "made bamboo strips to cross the rainbow across the stream." he used bamboo strips to make a pull rope with a thick bowl mouth. The two ends of the rope were fixed on the stone pillars on both sides of the river. Then he hung the rope to transport the brine from the Longchi of Daning salt spring on the north bank to the south bank, so as to solve the problem of brine supply for the stoves on the south bank. From then on the south bank began to boil salt.

During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty (1521-1566), Ningchang town accounted for 20% of the salt production in Sichuan Province. According to the records of Guangji in Shuzhong, there were 120000 refugees in each province who cut firewood for Daning salt well

From the fourth year of Kangxi to the 37th year of Qianlong (1665-1772), Ningchang town reached its peak, with 336 stoves.

In 1935, Daning Changchang office was merged into the salt tax bureau, which was called Daning salt tax bureau. In 1938, Daning salt tax bureau was renamed Daning salt farm office. During the Anti Japanese War, Ningchang town was ordered to help Chu with Sichuan salt and increase salt production. In 1941, seven Japanese planes dropped 35 bombs and bombed Ningchang saltern in an attempt to cut off the supply of salt.

The rise and fall of Ningchang town is an important content of studying the history of ancient Chinese salt industry and the history of Bayu civilization.

Traffic information

It costs 181 yuan to take a shuttle bus from Chongqing passenger station to Wuxi, 260 yuan to take a speedboat from Chongqing to Wuxi, and 5 yuan to take a minibus from Wuxi to Ningchang.

Address: East of Wuxi County

Longitude: 109.62531299571

Latitude: 31.45851391631

Traffic information: take a bus from the South Square of Chongqing north railway station to Wuxi County, and transfer to a minibus for about half an hour to daningchang ancient town

admission ticket

Chinese PinYin : Ning Chang Gu Zhen