Zhangguying Village

Zhangguying Village

Zhangguying village, located under Weidong Bijia mountain and Longxing mountain to the east of Yueyang City, Hunan Province, is located at the intersection of Yueyang, Pingjiang and Miluo. It is about 150 km and 70 km away from Changsha and Yueyang, respectively. It is the most complete preserved ancient residential building community in South China. It has existed for more than 500 years. On June 25, 2001, it was announced as a national key cultural relics protection unit, and in 2003, it was rated as a famous historical and cultural village in China. It is known as "the first village in the world" and "folk Palace Museum".

In February 2020, to pay tribute to the majority of medical workers, from the end of the epidemic to December 31, 2020, the scenic spot will be open to medical workers all over the country for free.

brief introduction

Zhangguying village, belonging to Zhangguying Town, Yueyang County, Yueyang City, Hunan Province, is located at the foot of Weidong Bijia mountain to the east of Yueyang County. Experts believe that Zhangguying village, with its large building scale, unique architectural style and beautiful architectural art, can be called "the first village in the world", which has existed for more than 500 years. More than 1700 Ming and Qing buildings are reserved.

It is said that during the Hongwu Period of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Guying, a native of Jiangxi Province, traveled westward along the Mufu mountains to Weidong. When he saw that a basin was formed around the mountains and the natural environment was beautiful, he had the idea of settling here. Zhang Guying is a geomantic gentleman. After careful investigation, he chose this homestead and built it in a big way. Zhang Guying village got its name from it.

Zhangguying village has been preserved in its original state after many vicissitudes. There are three relatively complete gateways: shangxinceng, Dangdamen and Panjiachong,

Each courtyard with different specifications and connections is composed of four entrances, namely, the hall of passage, the hall of meeting, the ancestral hall, and the back hall, as well as three patios formed with the wing room and the ear room. Looking along the roof, the whole building of Zhangguying village has become countless "Wells". In the hall, there are rows of corridors, patios, neat and rigorous, supplemented by green brick and granite.

Village appearance

Looking from a height, there are green hills surrounding a piece of houses. The Weixi river twists and turns through the village, and there are 47 large and small stone bridges on the river. The walls of the buildings are connected with sandalwood, and the difference is on the stream, forming a pattern of "the stream flows down the steps, and the door opens towards the water". Beside the stream, there is a long corridor paved with a bluestone Road, which leads to all the doors and households along the way, connecting each lane. The tunnels crisscross and reach each hall, with a total of 60. The longest tunnel is 153 meters. The residents can live here "in sunny days, not in the sun, not in the rain and snow, not in the shoes". The designs include magpie, plum blossom, beast and so on.

Zhangguying village is located at the foot of the mountain in the shape of a half moon, with the main house as the gate and the back of the Castle Peak. The Weixi River in front of the gate has become a natural river to protect the village. There is a picture of Tai Chi on the lintel of the gate, which means to protect the peace and wealth of the whole nation. There are two big ponds on the ping in the gate, which are on the left and right. They symbolize the two eyes of the dragon, which are used for fire prevention and strong observation. The Weixi River in the yard twists and turns, passing through the village. There are 47 stone bridges on the river.

The walls of the buildings are connected with sandalwood, and the difference is on the stream, forming a pattern of "the stream flows down the steps, and the door opens towards the water". Beside the stream, there is a long corridor, which is paved with bluestone slabs. Along the way, it can reach all the gateways and connect all the roadways. On both sides of the roadways, there are blue brick walls, which are more than 10 meters high. The wall is high and thick, suitable for fire prevention, and is called fire sealing wall. There are a total of 60 roadways like this in the big house yard. They crisscross and extend in all directions. The longest roadway is 153 meters. All the roadways together, the total length is 1459 meters.

Residents can live here "sunny days without sun exposure, rain and snow without wet shoes". Inside the eaves, the round beams and columns are engraved with Tai Chi pictures, and the delicate deer is carved under the house. Most of the windows, walls and screens are inlaid with carved boards, and the designs are lifelike, such as magpie, plum blossom, beast and so on.

There are 658 households and 2169 people living in Zhangguying village, all of whom are the 26th and 27th generations of Zhang Guying's descendants. Living in this labyrinth like ancient house, the clan abides by its ancestors' motto of "knowing current affairs, following nature, valuing education, and promoting etiquette and righteousness". It works at sunrise and stops at sunset. It has been living and reproducing for hundreds of years.

Village Development

Zhangguying village is a community inhabited by Han nationality. The whole complex is composed of Dangdamen, wangjiayu and shangxinwu. The ancient building complex was first built in the 41st year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, and was continued twice in the Qing Dynasty. At present, there are 62 roadways and 206 patios, with a total construction area of more than 50000 square meters and 1732 large and small houses.

The overall layout is "dry technique" structure according to the terrain. The main hall and horizontal hall are composed of patio as the center unit. Each unit has its own courtyard, and each courtyard runs through as one. Its biggest characteristic is complete drainage facilities, lighting, ventilation, fire prevention facilities.

Zhangguying village people have always respected the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and attached great importance to etiquette and education. The villagers are proud of reading and ashamed of being illiterate. The custom of reading is passed down from generation to generation. In the era of imperial examination, there were 1 Jinshi, 7 Juren, 6 Gongsheng, 1 Gongyuan, 1 Yisheng, 45 Xiangsheng, 33 Taisheng, more than 240 contemporary college students, doctoral students and international students. Zhangguying village people not only love reading, but also master martial arts. Many people have also developed good martial arts.

Zhangguying scenic spot has become one of the important tourist attractions in Northern Hunan.

Scenic spots

courtyard

The largest patio in the big house yard, with an area of about 22 square meters, can provide both lighting and ventilation. There is a flower bed made of granite in the patio. There is a sewer in the corner of the patio. Rainwater can flow from the sewer to the Weixi river. Generally, the houses on the left and right sides of the patio are symmetrical. The reception hall on the front is relatively high, often up to about 10 meters, warm in winter and cool in summer. Behind the main house is a side room, which is used for cowshed, pigsty, firewood house, barn and stacking farm tools. The elderly and children enjoy the cool and play in the courtyard in front of the house.

When the gate

The hub of Zhangguying village is the main gate built in the Wanli period of Ming Dynasty. Although dangmen is not the oldest building in Zhangguying village, its geographical location determines its unique identity.

The so-called "when the gate" refers to the stone drums on both sides of the gate, which is called "when the gate". The bigger the door is, the more prosperous and powerful the family is. The crossbeam above the door is called "Hu", which means a family. When the door is engraved with Tai Chi graphics and the door should echo each other, the combination of the two is called "door to door".

When entering, the gate is not a small courtyard, and there is a pool on both sides of the corridor, which is called "fireworks pool". The water in the pond is rippling, which can be called a landscape. There is another door at the end of the corridor. The entrance is the main door. When the layout of the main gate and hall is "five wells and five entrances", "well" refers to the patio, "entrance" refers to the number of rooms in the hall. Wujing Wujin means that the main gate and hall are composed of five patios and five halls. At the end of the hall is a statue of Mr. Zhang Guying. Every new year's day, the villagers of Zhangguying village hold ancestor worship activities here. The people who participate in the sacrifice wear robes and hats. The ancient ceremony shows the long cultural heritage of the family.

Ancestral hall

There are four big characters "shiye worships Confucianism" on the gold plaque of ancestral hall. Reading and promoting Rites has become the pursuit of people's solid soul in Zhangguying village, and also the spirit and strength of this huge family. As a result, Zhang's genealogy and family precepts earnestly vowed again and again: "don't ask for gold and jade wealth, I hope our descendants hope"; "it's better to leave a son full of gold"; "be loyal and filial to my family's treasure, and study the history of my family's field"; "although my descendants are stupid, you can't read the classics"; "cold can have no clothes, hunger can't eat, and reading a day can't be lost" As a result, Qingyun building, located in the west of the fifth entrance of dangmen, has been a private school in the village since the end of Ming Dynasty. In those days, the "mud legged son" washed his feet outside the door and went to the house. After reading the poems, he picked up the dung pail to work Zhang Zhengguo, 73, is the 22nd generation grandson of Zhang Guying. In his 43 year teaching career, he served as the principal of Weidong middle school.

Longzhushi

The natural giant stone with a diameter of about three meters was left by Nu Wa when she mended the sky. It just corresponds to the Longxing mountain Longkou behind the big house of Zhangguying village, so it is called Longzhu stone. At the same time, it also forms the pattern of dragon playing with beads with the ancient buildings behind it.

Riverside corridor

The riverside corridor, built in the 12th year of Shunzhi reign of Qing Dynasty, is an ancient post road connecting Jiangxi and Yuezhou.

Beside the stream, there is a corridor, in which there is a bluestone Road, which leads to every door and every household and connects every lane. From those ancient buildings and footprints, we can see how prosperous it was.

Baibu Sanqiao

Baibu three bridge is one of the characteristic scenic spots of Zhangguying village, which is also called "Zhangguying bridge". Baibu Sanqiao was built in the Jiaqing period of Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Zhangguying ancient buildings and crosses the Weixi river. In less than 100 steps, three granite slabs and flat bridges are built according to the winding trend of Weixi river. The bridge turns with the water, people pass on the bridge, their feet float on the water; at the same time, the stone bridge crosses the Weixi river for the second time. There are many buildings on both sides of the stone bridge, and the flowing water under the bridge is like a fresh picture of the water town.

Because there are nine sections of the bridge, each section is composed of three strips of stone, a total of 27 long strips of stone, just the old-fashioned stroke of "Zhang Guying" is 27 strokes. The design of this bridge is ingenious and ingenious. It looks like a skill on the stone. It makes holes and tenons.

Main buildings

Shangxinwu, Shimen, Panjiachong

Chinese PinYin : Zhang Gu Ying Cun