Zhouzhi old town

Old Town Village

synonym

Zhouzhi old county generally refers to the old county village

The old county village, also known as foyeping and Foping, is a traditional Chinese village under the jurisdiction of houwanzi Town, Zhouzhi County, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province. It is located in the east of xialongdongwan and the South Bank of Xushui River in Shandong mountain of Taibai, covering an area of 12.10 square kilometers.

The old county village is the only fortress city on the way to Tangluo road. It was once the location of Foping hall in Qing Dynasty. Surrounded by four mountains and flowing with water, it is known as "Shangri La" in northern China. Fopingting old city is a cultural relic protection unit in Shaanxi Province. Among them, the strong and tall stone wall and three gates in the East, West and South are well preserved. The folk culture of the old county village is rich, and houwanzi folk song has been listed in the local traditional cultural heritage list of Xi'an city.

On December 9, 2016, the old county villages were announced as the fourth batch of Chinese traditional villages by the Ministry of housing and urban rural development, the Ministry of culture, the State Administration of cultural relics, the Ministry of finance, the Ministry of land and resources, the Ministry of agriculture and the National Tourism Administration.

Village history

Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, the old county villages belong to youfufeng and Hanzhong counties.

After the Three Kingdoms, the old county village belongs to fufengjun and Liangzhou.

In the Tang Dynasty, the old county village belonged to Jiyang three states.

In Song Dynasty, the old county village belonged to Jingzhao and Xingyuan.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the old county village belonged to Fengyuan and Xingyuan roads,

In the Ming Dynasty, Xi'an and Hanzhong were the two prefectures of the old county.

During the reign of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty, Zhouyang county was set up in yuanjiazhuang, under the jurisdiction of foyeping (now the old county village) and subordinate to Xi'an Prefecture.

In the fifth year of Daoguang (1825) of Qing Dynasty, the county magistrate was abolished, the foreign land of Zhou Dynasty was cut off, and the government office was set up.

In 1913, the Department was abolished and the county was changed.

In 1926, Fuping County government was moved to yuanjiazhuang (now the seat of Foping county government).

In July 1962, houwanzi people's Commune and the administrative village of the old county town were once again under the jurisdiction of Zhouzhi County. Yuanjiazhuang was the new County town of Foping, and foyeping became the real old county town of Foping, which is now the old county village.

geographical environment

Location context

The old county village is subordinate to houwanzi Town, Zhouzhi County, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province. It is located in the east of xialongdong Bay in Taibai Mountain and the South Bank of the first tributary of Han River. It is 108 km away from Zhouzhi County and 185 km away from the ancient city of Xi'an, covering an area of 12.10 square kilometers.

 

Geology and geomorphology

Laochengcun stratum belongs to Qinling fold belt, which is a complex structural belt formed by previous crustal movements in geological history. Under the long-term effect of multi-stage north-south compressional stress, folds and faults are formed, which are mainly arranged in near east-west direction. Fold structure is complex in shape and large in scale, which reflects the intense crustal movement.

 

The old town village is located in the ship type basin in the Qinling Mountains. The main ridge of Qinling Mountains runs across the south of the territory, and the branches meander down from south to north, crisscrossing. The whole terrain is high in the South and low in the north. In most places, the valleys are deep and the cliffs are suspended.

 

hydrology

Located in the north of the old town village, the river is a tributary on the left bank of the upper reaches of the Han River, with abundant water and good water quality.

 

plant resources

Taibai Mountain in Laocheng village is an important medical plant Bank of Chinese herbal medicine. In the list of seed plants, more than 50 species are named after Taibai Mountain. In addition, there are huge ancient pines in songshuping village of the old county.

 

Animal resources

Laocheng village is one of the priority areas in the international biological community. It is rated as the Giant Panda Corridor by the world fund. It is the habitat of Chinese endemic animals, such as giant panda, golden monkey, takin, golden pheasant and blood pheasant.

 

There are also leopard, gazelle, red panda, golden cat, golden rooster, otter, red horned pheasant, Sumen antelope, forest musk deer, leopard cat, rock sheep, blood pheasant, Eagle (kite), harrier (red bellied hawk) and owl (red horned bird) in the old town.

 

Village pattern

Site selection concept

The old town village is located in the ship type basin, with Qinling ridge in the north of the whole city. There is a river as a moat, forming a natural defense system. In the south, it is close to the mountains, Taibai Mountain on the left and farmland on the right. The order of yin and Yang is the order of wind and rain, and it is successful in the preparation of materials. The pattern of "surrounded by mountains, flowing in one water" is in line with the intention of Fengshui site selection when ancient people built ancient cities.

 

spatial distribution

The old county town is well-organized. The three gates are fengle in the west, Jingyang in the East and Yanxun in the south. The Yamen of the old county town faces south in the north, and the Yamen entrance directly faces Yanxun. The surrounding city walls are built by tens of thousands of huge pebbles, and the walls are compacted with concrete. There are qiaolou on the gate of the city wall, battlements and urn on the city wall. There is a stable and complete raceway around the inner part of the city wall. The moat was formed when the city was built on the South and east sides outside the city.

 

Wisdom of building a village

The city walls, moats and other elements of the old county villages belong to the urban defense project, and the construction method reflects the defense concept of the original city. As a defensive City, the main urban functions of the old county village are defense and administration. There are many government buildings and military lands, including martial arts arena, military camp, kendo, General Administration of Ba, additional outsourcing department, inspection department, prison department, garrison department, etc., as well as spiritual places such as Guandi temple and sheji altar, which reflect the defense functions of the old county village.

 

Economic society

population

At the beginning of the establishment and governance in the 1970s, the population of the old county village was more than 370.

 

According to the official website of the February 2020 Digital Museum of China's traditional villages, the old county town is mainly Han, with a registered residence of 172 people and a permanent population of 130.

 

Economics

According to the official website of the Digital Museum of traditional Chinese villages in February 2020, the annual collective income of the villages in the old county is 1.2 million yuan, and the average annual income of the villagers is 7800 yuan.

 

Main attractions

Foping Hall

Foping hall is an irregular rectangle, long from east to west and narrow from north to south, with a circumference of 1197.2 meters. The city wall is rammed with Sanqi lime soil. Both inside and outside the wall are built with natural rubble. The width of the base is 6 meters, the width of the top is 3 meters, and the height is 6.1 meters. It is the most complete and majestic building in the ancient city. There are brick gates on the East, West and south sides of the city wall: fengle gate on the west, Jingyang gate on the East and Yanxun gate on the south. The original Qiao tower on the gate has disappeared.

 

The north gate of Foping hall was abandoned. An east-west Main Street divides the whole city into North and south parts. The north side is the official district and government-run institutions, and the south side is the commercial and residential areas. There are Confucian temple, prison, Mawang temple, Rongju station, etc. in the original city, only one Rongju station is left, which has been rebuilt on the original base site. Most of the buildings have been destroyed, and only the base site is under the houses or cultivated land Some of them were used by local residents to build houses. At present, there are nine villagers living in the city, which is known as "a city with nine families".

 

Baiyun tower

Baiyun tower, built in 1841, is carved with local white marble. The shape is octagonal pavilion structure, a total of seven layers, are carved patterns, couplets, excellent workmanship. It was knocked down during the "Cultural Revolution", but all kinds of components are basically complete and in good condition. Now it has been repaired by the Cultural Management Office of Foping hall in Zhouzhi County.

 

Town God Temple

Town God's Temple is located on the north side of the city gate 400 meters away, covering an area of 2100 square meters, including the theatrical tower, the front hall, the West Wing room base and the East Wing room. Only the brick site is left. The base of the front hall is 100 square meters, the base of the back hall is the same as the front hall, and the opera house base is about 72 square meters. The East and West chambers are 12 meters wide, three door civil construction, covering an area of about 110 square meters, three beams, front and back eaves with single step beams. The East and West Wing houses are in poor preservation condition, the beam frame is inclined, and the roof collapses, especially the West Wing house. The East and West rooms are now villagers' livestock houses.

 

History and culture

Historical celebrities

Sun Peijing

In 1922, sun Peijing, then the magistrate of Foping County, was ordered to come to Foping (now the old county village) to suppress the bandits and stabilize the people. Before that, due to banditry, drought and famine, tingcheng (today's old county village) was desolate and dilapidated, and the people were hungry and cold, so they had to survive. Sun Pei worked hard to eliminate evils and rectify the situation. We will set up a militia to maintain local public order. In order to relieve people's hunger and cold, he bought more than ten stones of wheat and distributed them in person. In order to provide relief for the common people, the local people were given the money to repair the county government, so that they could maintain their lives and save the common people from the death line. In 1923, in order to praise sun gongpeijing as an honest and upright official, courageous and knowledgeable, relieve people's suffering and save people from crisis, the four people in Foping district set up the "honest and upright official first" moral stele to commemorate and praise.

Chinese PinYin : Zhou Zhi Lao Xian Cheng