Shangyue ancient dwellings

Shangyue ancient dwellings

Shangyue ancient residence is located in Shangyue village, Longshan Town, Fogang County, Guangdong Province. It was built in the Southern Song Dynasty and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It has a history of more than 720 years. In 2006, it was rated as "the most beautiful village demonstration site in Guangdong". In 2008, it was listed in the first batch of ancient villages in Guangdong. Now it is planning and renovating according to the standard of "famous historical and cultural villages in China". There are more than 4000 villagers. Covering an area of about 45000 square meters, the ancient buildings are magnificent and well preserved. The village is composed of 18 "Li". The architectural style of the village has a strong Lingnan style. There are 37 108 ancient dwellings in the village. The architectural style of the buildings is from blue brick to the top, with walls. The gables are ear shaped, which is called guoerlou. The eaves and ears are engraved with various patterns. The village is surrounded by East Building, West building, South Building and North building. It is responsible for monitoring and resisting the invasion of foreign bandits.

Basic introduction

The characteristics of Shangyue village originate from the ancient dwellings of Shangyue. Located in hengweipian village of Shangyue village committee, it covers an area of about 45000 square meters. The architectural style of the ancient residence belongs to Lingnan School of Ming and Qing Dynasties. The layout of the building complex is clear, rigorous, well arranged, magnificent and well preserved. The whole ancient residential building is composed of 18 "Li", there are 37 108 ancient residential buildings, each of which is carved with beams and painted with its own characteristics. The buildings are made of blue bricks to the top, the gables are ear shaped, and the eaves are engraved with various patterns. Looking from a distance, you can see 50 or 60 pan ear type firewalls and hard hilltops neatly arranged, very spectacular.

History of ancient village

The history of Min'an Shangyue village can be traced back to the end of the Southern Song Dynasty. The traditional houses here are well preserved. The whole village is about 200 meters long and 50 meters deep. There are more than 6000 people of Zhu clan living in this small village. It can be seen from their genealogy that the Taizu of this family was Zhu Wenhuan (the sixth generation grandson of Zhu Xi), a famous general of the Southern Song Dynasty who fought against the Yuan Dynasty. In the last years of the Southern Song Dynasty, the family fled south with song Gong emperor, and chose this quiet and remote place to live in today's war.

According to the records of Guangdong general annals and Qingyuan county annals, in 1278, Zhu Wenhuan fought against the yuan soldiers in Beijiang, and stood alone in jiuhengshi at the junction of Qingyuan and Britain and Germany. Although he was seriously injured, he still beat drums to command the resistance, fought hard for two days and two nights, and finally died for his country. After more than 100 years, the sixth generation of Zhu Wenhuan's grandson Yinggong moved to Shangyue village to breed. So far, there are more than 6500 people of 32 generations.

Historical coordinates

Shangyue village, named after its back to Yueshan, is an administrative village under the jurisdiction of Longshan Town, Fogang County. There is Shangyue Guwei village in the village, which is a well preserved ancient architectural complex of guoerlou in Qing Dynasty in the whole province. Built in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, Shangyue Guwei village flourished in the Qing Dynasty. It is the residence of the descendants of Zhu Wenhuan, a famous general who fought against the Yuan Dynasty in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Shangyue Guwei village is surrounded by mountains and water, surrounded by green hills outside, and constructed according to Fengshui layout inside, reflecting the characteristics of ecological harmony. At present, there are 37 buildings and 108 blocks of ancient dwellings, with "Li" as the residential unit. There are 18 Li in the whole village, and 18 ponds are distributed in each Li. Most of the buildings in the village are of brick and wood structure. The roof is mainly of hard mountain style, covered with gray tiles, and the clear water wall and pot ear wall are made of pure blue bricks, commonly known as "pot ear building". Each building has two patios and rooms have windows to help with ventilation and lighting. The overall layout of the residential buildings is standard, neat and unified, with typical architectural characteristics of the house yard and unique construction technology.

In October 2008, Shangyue Guwei village was recognized as the first batch of ancient villages in Guangdong Province by the Provincial Federation of literary and art circles and the Provincial Association for democracy and people's livelihood. In 2008, it was named "characteristic village of Guangdong Province". In July 2010, it was rated as "China's famous historical and cultural village" by the Ministry of housing and urban rural planning and construction and the State Administration of cultural relics. In 2012, it was rated as a provincial cultural relics protection unit by the Provincial Bureau of cultural relics.

Local Customs

Grab fireworks

On the 17th day of the first lunar month, the villagers of each "Li" would gather together to grab "fireworks". "Fireworks" are numbered and divided into the first gun, second gun, 24 gun, tail gun and some other small guns. After seizing the first gun, it will bring good luck and prosperity.

Shengong Opera

Every six years after the autumn harvest, the villagers of Shangyue village invite the troupe to sing opera, which is called "Shengong opera". It means celebrating the harvest, thanking the gods and praying for another harvest in the coming year. At the same time, the villagers also practice fast and hold activities to relieve the poor.

Sacrifice to the well God

Shangyue village still retains the culture of well sacrifice. Every solar Festival, the villagers of Shangyue village go to the well to worship the well God. For the convenience of sacrifice, the villagers also set up a shrine beside the well. This kind of well sacrifice culture is very rare in China.

Top, middle and bottom

Shangyue village mainly has 18 Li (Note: five families are one neighborhood, five neighbors are one Li), among which shangguirenli, zhongguirenli and xiaguirenli are the most well preserved ancient buildings. There is a gate tower in one of them. At first sight, the plaque on the gate tower is nothing special. If you look at it carefully, you will be surprised. The first one is "Gui", and the second and third "Gui" are missing one horizontal and one horizontal respectively A skim. According to the villagers' introduction, the three Guiren Rio were built in the Qianlong period. Because of the different construction time, the ancients came up with this method to distinguish them.

The gable of the house is the famous wall of the pot ear. It is named for its shape similar to the handle of the pot. In the yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the wall was not built by the common people at will, and the people who had the reputation had the qualification. The size of the official position determines the height of the pot ear. Some pot ear walls are carved with dragons and painted with Phoenix on the forehead, which shows the prominent position of the house owner in that year. There is also a popular saying among the people: repairing the wall of pot ears can protect the descendants from becoming officials, and it contains wealth, auspiciousness, rich clothing and enough food. The wall behind the pan ear is also called "the top wall", which has the meaning of "taking the lead".

Simeilou, also known as Yinzhuang, is the strongest building in the village. The exterior wall is thick, and the gate is an iron grating as high as the porch. In case of war or banditry, no one can help but close the gate. Along the wooden ladder of the main hall to the second floor, there are two square holes on the front and side of the wall. Through the square holes, you can look around the village. It is not only a lookout for observing the enemy situation, but also a shooting port for defending against external attacks, and it can be ventilated. The history of Yinzhuang was not smooth sailing. Granny Chen, 91, said that during the Anti Japanese War, the villagers demolished the top floor because they were worried that the Yinzhuang floor was too high for Japanese bombing.

A century old well

The three ancient wells in the village have a history of more than 100 years, and the well water is fresh and sweet. It all depends on the special structure of the ancient well, such as a modern light bulb. In the hot climate of the south, this structure makes it difficult for the well water to evaporate rapidly, and can maintain the temperature of the well water. It is amazing that the villagers a hundred years ago had such ingenious creativity.

According to the old people, they usually wash clothes, cook meals, shower and make tea with the water from the ancient well. How many years have passed, and things are different in the ancient village, but the ancient well is still there, and the well water is still sweet. Shangyue village people who come back from other places for the festival will drink a cup of well water to relieve their homesickness.

Be destroyed

Damage

On April 2, 2013, a strong wind with a force of 12 swept through Tangtang and Longshan towns in Fogang County. Many ancient trees were uprooted and blown down, and Shangyue ancient dwellings were also hard to escape.

According to the preliminary statistics of the village, there are 5 collapsed houses in the ancient building complex, nearly 30 roof "Dragon Boat ridge" were damaged, more than 40 "pot ears" were damaged, and countless tile surfaces were damaged. Although some ancient buildings did not collapse, the walls were tilted and faced with the danger of collapse. Most of the houses in the whole ancient building complex were damaged.

repair

In order to reduce the loss to the minimum, on April 10, 2013, the county cultural relics management department has organized forces to participate in the post disaster self rescue work. At the same time, planning, housing and other departments have been involved in the rescue, reinforcement, maintenance and protection of ancient dwellings.

Transportation guide

It is 16 kilometers away from Fogang County. There are provincial roads passing by, so the traffic is convenient. Drive northbound from Guangzhou along Jingzhu road to Tangtang entrance of Fogang County, then turn to national highway 106, then drive to Longshan Town in Guangzhou, then turn to County Road 376, and walk for 15 minutes to reach ancient dwellings. Guangzhou City as the starting point, the whole time is about 1 hour.

Address: Shangyue village, Longshan Town, Fogang County, Qingyuan City

Longitude: 113.3487701416

Latitude: 23.803800582886

Chinese PinYin : Shang Yue Gu Min Ju