Quanzhou West Street

West Street is the earliest developed street and area in Quanzhou. As early as the Song Dynasty, it has symbolized the prosperity of Quanzhou. It is also the most complete ancient street area in Quanzhou City, with a large number of buildings with original historical appearance. At present, there are more than 20 cultural relic protection units at all levels in the West Street area, which belong to various categories, such as ancient buildings, ancient sites, stone carvings, etc., and some are not listed in the level but not listed There are 12 well protected ancient buildings and dwellings.

Quanzhou West Street

Quanzhou West Street is located in Licheng District of Quanzhou City. It is the earliest developed street and area in Quanzhou. As early as the Song Dynasty, it has symbolized the prosperity of Quanzhou. It is also the most complete ancient street district in Quanzhou City, retaining a large number of buildings with original historical appearance.

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At present, there are more than 20 cultural relic protection units at all levels in Xijie District, which belong to ancient buildings, ancient sites, stone carvings and other categories. There are also 12 ancient buildings and dwellings that are not included in the level but are well protected, and there are scenic spots such as Kaiyuan Temple, East West Tower, suqingmen, etc.

For more than a thousand years, this ancient street area is like a string of dazzling pearls chain, which has run through many colorful cultural relics and ancient dwellings in Quanzhou since Tang and Song Dynasties, as well as the anecdotes and folklores attached to them. In addition to Kaiyuan Temple, East West Tower, city center tower, celebrity houses and modern western style buildings, there are also a large number of unique ancient houses and antique wooden buildings. It is a living architectural museum, which not only contains the rich historical and cultural accumulation of the ancient city, but also tells the great changes of the ancient city in the past century.

Characteristic architecture

In May 2014, Fujian Province announced the list of the first batch of nine provincial historical and cultural blocks, and Quanzhou West Street was on the list.

If the Jubao street and Qinglong Lane in the south of the city are the most prosperous economic and trade business circles in ancient Quanzhou, then the West Street focuses on the largest treasures and the most dazzling gathering of talents in Quanzhou, a treasure city. Xijie used to be the political, economic, cultural and religious center of Quanzhou in the early Tang and Song Dynasties, with extremely rich historical and cultural relics. It is the most authentic and complete historical block in the ancient city of Quanzhou.

In the West Street buildings, in addition to the ancient houses, modern arcades and Western style buildings, there are also many celebrity houses shining in the deep alleys. According to statistics, there are 20 or 30 sites of historical celebrities' former residences in Xijie district. Since Ouyang Zhan of Tang Dynasty, almost every dynasty has had great figures associated with Xijie.

For example, Zeng Conglong's residence is in ZENGJING lane; Ouyang Zhan's former residence is in Jiadi lane; Liuzheng, the Prime Minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, has been a prime minister for three consecutive dynasties, and sanchao lane is named for him. The West Street was the most prosperous in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. For example, Li tingji's residence is in Gantang lane; Cai Qing's former residence is in Xiaogan lane; Yang Tingxiang, Shaoqing of Taipu temple in Wanli, Ming Dynasty; Zhuo Huguang, deputy envoy of tixue, Guangdong, and Chen Minghua are in Wenkui lane.

There used to be another kind of characteristic building in the old street: the memorial archway in feudal society for commendation of meritorious service, Kedi, virtue and loyalty. According to historical records, from the end of the Qing Dynasty to the beginning of the Republic of China, the remaining memorial archways in Zhijie street from xijietou to Wuta Xiangkou include Zaoshi archway, Duoshi archway, huikui archway, Jinshi archway of Chengen brothers, Jieyuan archway of Mingxian in the Qing Dynasty, Jinshi archway, Zhuangyuan archway, etc.

Liao house, No.35, Wuta lane, two falls and five bays, well preserved. There are corridors on both sides of the beech head, and the wooden windows are of circular structure, which is quite characteristic; Yan house, No. 58, Huitong lane, has three rooms, three falls and three bays, the eaves wall has brick carving wall, the patio and two beech leaves three rooms, the front hall is built with bricks and stones, and the brick walls on both sides have a flower leaky window, which is well preserved.

historical origin

As the earliest developed street and area in Quanzhou, West Street has been "built into a street" since Tang Dynasty, and it has been built for more than 1300 years.

According to historical records, liewucheng Street began in the Kaiyuan period of Tang Dynasty (714-741 A.D.), from shuangmen in the East (under today's bell tower) to sujingmen in the West (at today's Xiaogan alley). In the second year of Guangqi in Tang Dynasty (886 AD), Wang Chao brothers came to Quanzhou. In order to strengthen the defense, they built a sub city in Quanzhou, and set up four gates in the sub City, namely Xingchun gate, Suqing gate, Chongyang gate and Quanshan gate. Among them, suqingmen was the west gate of Zicheng at that time, between today's West Street Xinjie and Peixiang.

In 905, when Wang Yanbin, the governor of Quanzhou, governed Quanzhou, he expanded the scope of the urban area, and the West Street extended to today's Gantang alley due to the expansion of the city. During the Baoda period of the Southern Tang Dynasty in the Five Dynasties, the Jiedushi of the Qingyuan army built a heavier version of Quanzhou City, and the west gate (then called "Yicheng gate") was moved to today's intersection of the west end of the West Street and the West Ring Road. The total length of the West Street was greatly extended. So far, the West Street route has been basically finalized. In 1923, the road was renovated, and the buildings along the West Street gradually became the status quo with the change of time.

Since the completion of the street, more than 1300 years have passed. The earliest block in the ancient city, once full of merchants and pedestrians, has become a symbol of the prosperity of the ancient city. In ancient times, Quanzhou started from the West Street and gradually developed outward.

Cultural security unit

Some people say that the beauty of the West Street lies in the simple, natural and fresh fragments left behind by the stubborn resistance to time -- the powder carvings of ancestral halls in the Tang Dynasty, the patterns of Hinduism in the Yuan Dynasty No, in the flood of time, this ancient street area is like a string of dazzling pearls chain, which runs through many splendid cultural relics and ancient houses and pagodas in Quanzhou since Tang and Song dynasties. Every cultural relic here makes Quanzhou people proud.

Only Kaiyuan Temple, a national key cultural relic protection site, has a lot of treasures and stories to tell. No wonder Dong Biwu came to the spring in 1960 and left the reputation of "two ancient pagodas in the East and the west, one street in the South and one street in the north". This ancient temple of the Tang Dynasty, the lotus palace, the Buddhist temple, is full of color and gold, and the Erythrina trees cover the ancient banyan trees. Zhu Xi, a master of surrogate studies, wrote a joyful inscription here: "this place was called the Buddhist kingdom in ancient times, and the streets are full of saints"; master Hongyi, a generation of eminent monks and "twenty articles startling the sea", once lived in the temple in his old age. His former residence, Zunsheng temple, Kaiyuan Temple, left many classic ink treasures; the world-famous East-West Pagoda in the temple is the tallest pair of stone pagodas in China, standing tall in the 8-magnitude earthquake of Ming Dynasty, It is the most prominent urban landscape of the ancient city and the symbol of Quanzhou. It can be called the "treasure of town" of Quanzhou ancient culture

In addition to Kaiyuan Temple, East West Tower, city center tower and modern western style buildings, a large number of unique ancient houses and antique wooden buildings on the West Street constitute a living architectural museum, which not only contains the rich historical and cultural accumulation of the ancient city, but also tells the great changes of the ancient City in the past thousand years.

According to archaeological statistics, there are more than 20 cultural relics protection units at all levels in Xijie District, which belong to various categories such as ancient buildings, ancient sites and stone carvings. There are also 12 ancient buildings and dwellings that are not included in the grade but are well protected. There are 34 ancient houses, 3 foreign buildings, 1 ancestral temple and more than 20 ancient streets and alleys that can be developed.

Pindu West Street

If a city is regarded as a work of art, generations of residents are its sculptors and creators. There are always some streets and lanes in the city, which have a long culture, historical events, architectural features, or life atmosphere. They have become bright notes and brilliant landscapes of the city, which make visitors linger and forget to return. There are always endless lively topics for the neighbors to talk about in their spare time. West Street is such a street in Quanzhou.

The history of 1300 years is old enough. In fact, most of the oldest buildings are only hundreds of years old. The history of urban development is a history of continuous transformation of the old city. It is obviously unrealistic to protect every ancient house and brick. Taking guests to the West Street, facing the low and dilapidated shops and the daily necessities commonly seen in rural fairs, they have many times come up with the idea of demolishing and reconstructing the old city style area. This image is not commensurate with the identity of Quanzhou, a famous hometown of overseas Chinese and an area with developed private economy.

It was not until I brought Mr. Mao huaisu to the West Street for sketching that my naive view was changed.

Knowing that I like fine arts, Xiao Lin, a classmate working in Licheng Hotel, told me that a Shanghai painter came to Quanzhou to paint from life and recommended me as a tour guide. I excitedly rushed to meet: neat blue cloth clothes, faded big bag, clear face, gray hair, as kind as a retired teacher, he nodded, smile can feel self-restraint and kindness. As soon as I said, "Hello, Mr. Mao", Xiao Lin immediately interrupted and said, "he's deaf and dumb." I was stunned for a moment, "call someone else, I don't know dumb." Mr. Mao seemed to see my attitude, and there was a trace of helplessness in his smile. Kobayashi suggested that you can use paper and pen to communicate.

The sky is blue and the autumn sun is warm in the afternoon. Turning from Nanjun lane to East Street, you can see the milky white bell tower nearby and the bronze twin towers in the distance. Mr. Mao was overjoyed. He took out a piece of white paper and quickly wrote a few words in pencil. I took them and saw that they were "too beautiful". It seems to convey a hint, and I carefully look at the scene in front of me - although the noise of the city, the confusion of people and cars, all kinds of thick and thin wires and drying clothes are randomly "carved" and "painted" on both sides of the street, plus the sun umbrellas of the shops that occupy land and the medical advertisements floating in the back seat of tricycles, the street scenery is not elegant at all, but red bricks and white stones, ancient streets and pagodas, multi culture and traditional folk customs Full of energy

Chinese PinYin : Quan Zhou Xi Jie