Zhanglin ancient port

Zhanglin ancient port

Zhanglin ancient port, located in Dongli Town, Chenghai District, Shantou City, Guangdong Province, was built in 1556, covering an area of 2 square kilometers.

Zhanglin ancient port is the largest port in eastern Guangdong in history. In Tang Dynasty, it was a seaside fishing village. It was named after the forest of camphor trees. In 1684, due to the formal lifting of the sea ban, merchants of Zhanglin port built ships one after another. The commercial scale with "six communities and eight streets" as the center was formed, namely, eight streets in the harbor center, including Xianqiao, Changfa, Guxin, Guangsheng, Shunxing, qiaxing, Yongxing and Shangyuan, and six village communities, including one east, one west, one south and one north, and Tangxi and Xinlong, surrounded by three streets, with a total of hundreds of shops. Among them, Xianqiao street and Changfa Street are the most prosperous. There are more than 60 shops and workshops in Xianqiao street, so the reputation of "jinxianqiao, yinchangfa" has been handed down to this day. At that time, the tax money collected from five people in Chenghai accounted for one fifth of the total amount of the province, and zhanglinkou ranked first among the five people.

Later, due to the opening of Shantou port and the replacement of wooden boats by iron boats, the ancient port of Zhanglin gradually became silent.

On April 19, 2019, the people's Government of Guangdong Province announced "Zhanglin ancient port" as the ninth batch of cultural relics protection units in Guangdong Province.

Historical evolution

Zhanglin ancient port is the largest port in eastern Guangdong in history. In Tang Dynasty, it was a seaside fishing village. It was named after the forest of Zhangshu. In Song Dynasty, the salt industry flourished, and the famous Xiaojiang salt farm envoy was set up here. It was specially responsible for the taxation of fishing and salt industry in coastal areas. In Ming Dynasty, it was an important coastal defense area, and it was an important hub of water and land transportation between Fujian and Guangdong.

In the third year of Hongwu (1370), after Zhanglin port was looted by thieves, the Ming army built a stone city, set up a water stronghold, trained the water army and defended the border. At that time, the tributary of Hanjiang River had already penetrated into the area, which was a place where rivers and seas met. All kinds of businesses were flourishing, and ports were gradually formed.

During the Wanli period of Ming Dynasty (1573-1620), Zhanglin became a famous coastal fishing port in Chaoshan area.

Chenghai was forced to move within 25 kilometers due to the land exclusion in the early Qing Dynasty, and Zhanglin port was destroyed in the war, almost in ruins.

The prosperity of Zhanglin port began in 1668. After Chenghai county was restored in 1669, the people returned to their homes, rebuilt the stone city, moved the Donglong River berth to the stone city, and set up the customs office, Youying garrison department and other institutions. The fishing, salt and shipping industries of Zhanglin recovered rapidly. In the 23rd year of Kangxi (1684), the ban on the sea was officially lifted, and merchants from Zhanglin port built ships one after another. At the end of the reign of Emperor Kangxi, the rice trade with Siam was allowed, and the cause of ocean navigation came into being, which changed from fishing port to commercial port.

In 1860, Shantou port was opened, and iron boats replaced wooden boats, so the ancient port of Zhanglin gradually became silent.

Architectural pattern

The commercial scale of Zhanglin ancient port is centered on "six communities and eight streets", that is, the eight streets of Xianqiao, Changfa, Guxin, Guangsheng, Shunxing, qiaxing, Yongxing and Shangyuan in the center of the port, and the surrounding six villages and communities, namely east, West, South and North communities, Tangxi and Xinlong. Among them, Xianqiao street and Changfa Street are the most prosperous. There are more than 60 shops and workshops in Xianqiao street.

Main buildings

Xinxing Street

Xinxing street is the only street built and preserved in Zhanglin ancient harbor after the construction of three additional streets in liushebajie. The street was built in 1802, which has a history of more than 200 years. The whole street is 200 meters long.

The shops along the street consist of 54 two-story warehouses. Each warehouse is 5 meters wide and 10 meters long. The trestle houses are made of thick boards, fine gray walls, solid and durable, practical and scientific, and can store a large number of goods. The front door of the trestle is facing the street, and the back door is connected with the inner port. Near the inner port, there is a stone gate, a sluice and a small wharf, which are convenient for water making and goods loading and unloading. When the cargo berthed on the red head vessel in the outer port is to be transported into the inner port, it is loaded by boat directly to the small wharf, and then moved into the trestle, which saves time and effort and is unobstructed.

There is a tall building in the southeast of Xinxing street. The plaque on the front door of the building reads "Yongding building". Covering an area of about 800 square meters, the building is a practical building for cargo storage and navigation aids. It is said that in those days, red lights were hung upstairs, and red headed ships could be seen when they entered the sea of Nan'ao. At the entrance of the street, there is a small stone archway. The plaque of the archway reads the name of "Xinxing Street". On the side of the inner street, it also reads "Ziqi Donglai". In the middle of the street, there is a big wharf with stone gate and wooden gate to make water. On the other side of the wharf is Nanshe. On the east side of the pier, there is a small temple, commonly known as "Aung Temple", dedicated to the South China Sea Guanyin. According to word-of-mouth, there are four stone archways at the south exit of Yuanjie street, one of which is a famous calligrapher Wu Dianbang's handwriting "Introduction Sijing", and the existing exit is one. There are two buildings with rich historical value in the trestle: one is "Anping stack", which is well preserved with one brick and one tile, one couplet and one column. The three characters of "Anping stack" are clearly visible on the plaque in front of the door, and there is a tablet in the stack to explain the construction time and capital. The rest of the structure layout remains intact, and the ancient style still exists. The second is "Zangzi building". It is said that it is the residence of Cai Yan (Yanggang people in chenghaicheng), the owner of the red head ship, and it is also a dual-purpose building. It records the economic, political, cultural and folk customs of Zhanglin ancient port in the early 18th century, which is the historical witness of Zhanglin ancient port.

Notre Dame Temple

Tianou Notre Dame temple in Zhanglin ancient harbor is a historical building with central axis palace structure, covering an area of 10 mu. It was completed in 1767. Liu Yong, the Prime Minister of the dynasty, in order to praise the Chaozhou people's great achievements in external expansion and domestic economic prosperity, he made an exception to give this Haiyu temple a four character plaque with the word "peaceful waves of the sea". Since then, Zhanglin port has become even more famous. Professor Yi Meikai of Guangzhou Academy of fine arts has also repaired the temple of Notre Dame. According to the literature and the actual site, he restored a three-dimensional rendering. The square in front of the original temple is very wide. The red sun and blue waves are painted on the wall. Around the square, the flagpole is high and the gray lion is guarding. The main body of the temple is divided into three parts: the front is built with "wufengmen" and the back is built with "dressing house". The East and West chambers are lined up, and the rest pavilions, pavilions, worship pavilions and theatres are mixed. Liu Yong's handwritten four character plaque "haiguoanlan" is hung on the back of the "wufengmen" building, opposite to the main hall Mazu God, which can be called "the best in East Guangdong". The construction of "goddess of Heaven Temple" in Zhanglin is actually an important symbol of the rapid development of the "red boat" business founded by Chaoshan people and the establishment of the historical status of Zhanglin port. According to Zhang Yingqiu's Zhanglin ancient harbor talk and Li Shaoxiong's Zhanglin vicissitudes record, there were many industries in Zhanglin. Such as Xianqiao street, there are such industries as iron making, stone making, firewood and bamboo shop, Huolong, pawnshop, jewelry, dried fruit, medicinal materials, oil farm, restaurant, fish shop, opera garden, Xingbu, medical bureau, midwifery, slaughtering, cloth dyeing, etc.

Xitang Garden

Xitang garden is located in the west of zhanglintang, Chenghai. It was built in 1799, three years earlier than Xinxing street in Zhanglin harbor. It is the first typical Suzhou garden in Chaoshan. Zhongshan Park in Shantou is one of the five famous gardens in China. The "Xitang" in Chenghai and the "Xiyuan" in Chaoyang are gardens of the Qing Dynasty. The three famous gardens were all built by generations of famous teachers of Suzhou. Xitang covers an area of more than one mu. When you first enter the outer gate of the garden, you are welcomed by a bank of green bamboo. In front of the main gate, you can see that the plaque of the gate tower is engraved with the word "Xitang" in regular script, which is signed as "Jidan in June of the fourth year of Jiaqing", without signature. Entering the main gate, the ground is the pattern of "red and black rain flower stone" composed of "Red Phoenix and peony". In the distance of the courtyard, a rockery is half exposed in the moon cave gate. Along the winding mountain path, climb over the Qintai tower, and you can see the panoramic view of "Xitang". Bow, you can see there is a cave, known as the "crane nest.".

"Xitang" garden is another evidence of Zhanglin port's economic prosperity. Its original owner is Lin pan. During the reign of Emperor Guangxu, it was purchased by Hong Yuanji, the "red head ship" owner of Nanshe township. After the purchase, the Hong family specially sent people to Suzhou to look for the descendants of the original architects. They made a new and refined work, and the vicissitudes changed. Today, the garden site survived, and the old scenery is still vaguely recognizable.

History and culture

Red headed ship

During the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1736-1795), the government allowed merchants to purchase rice in Siam (now Thailand). Chaozhou government then developed an ocean going sailing team to Siam. The bows of these sailing ships were painted red, so they were called "red headed ships".

Zhanglin port is located at the confluence of the river and the sea. It can be connected with the dense freshwater channel in the middle and upper reaches of the Hanjiang River, directly to the hinterland of the plain, and then to the sea. Therefore, after the ban was lifted, merchant ships from all over the world came in droves, shuttling and gathering in the port all the year round, which was spectacular. Every summer, merchant ships either go north to Suzhou and Tianjin to sell cotton cloth, colored cloth, dried fruits and medicinal materials, or go south to Siam, Indonesia, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries to transport rice and wood.

More than 100 years ago, Chaozhou, Chenghai, Raoping and Nan'ao met in Zhanglin. Zhanglin ancient port, with its unique geographical location, has become a major port for Chaoshan, eastern Guangdong and southern Fujian to go to sea. It has been prosperous for more than a hundred years. At that time, letters from foreign countries could be delivered as long as "China Zhanglin" was written. With more and more frequent trade, it has naturally become the destination of immigrants from eastern Guangdong and even neighboring provinces

Chinese PinYin : Zhang Lin Gu Gang