Washihe Town, Longshan County, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hunan Province

Washihe town

Washihe, a famous town in Western Hunan. Tujia residents, wash river flows through the ancient town. With mild climate and beautiful scenery, there are exquisite Tujia stilted buildings, Tujia folk art and world-famous Tujia brocade, forming a cultural landscape with strong Tujia customs centered on the car washing river.

Washihe town is located 65 kilometers southeast of Longshan County, adjacent to Tasha Township in the East, zanguo Township in the west, miaoertan town in the South and Luota Township in the north. During the period of the Republic of China, it belonged to Wuzhai township. In 1950, it belonged to Kedong, Caogou, Xiwu and mailong. In 1956, the district was removed and the car washing office was built. In 1958, the car washing commune was built. The car washing commune was established in 1961. In 1984, the commune was withdrawn to build a town. The total area is 1.76 square kilometers (2017). 13562 (2017). It is the settlement of Tujia nationality.

On January 9, 2019, washihe town was selected as the "hometown of Chinese folk culture and art" in 2018-2020 by virtue of Sheba day.

Historical evolution

During the period of the Republic of China, it belonged to Wuzhai township. In 1950, it belonged to Kedong, Caogou, Xiwu and mailong. In 1956, the district was removed to build a car washing office, the car washing commune was built in 1958, and the commune was removed to build a town in 1984.

Town scale

The total area is 1.76 square kilometers (2017). There were 13562 people in the town (in 2017). It is the settlement of Tujia nationality. The highest altitude is 910 meters and the lowest is 313 meters. It mainly produces rice and corn, and flue-cured tobacco is the main economic crop. The forest is dominated by pine and fir. It has jurisdiction over 19 villages and 1 neighborhood committee, including car washing, Xinjian, Miaoxi, Ganxi, Zamu, Yongjiu, Xiwu, Caogou, Laodong, Tianjingping, laomu, Kedong, sangebao, Muyou, Erdong, Laoxi, Yalong, xishaping and shuitong. There are 1 middle school and 13 primary schools.

geographical position

The topography of Longshan County is long from north to South and narrow from east to west. When dividing the region, people used to take the middle line as the boundary, calling it the South half county and the north half county. It's on this central axis.

natural environment

Washihe is located in Longshan County, Hunan Province, washihe, the territory of mild climate, four seasons such as spring, beautiful scenery, is a famous town in Western Hunan. Hongyanxi River and Mengxi River meet here to form a car washing River, which flows through laoche and miaoertan, and then flows into Youshui at Longtou. The lowest point is 237m above sea level. Before Yonglong highway was opened to traffic in 1958, there was no highway for hundreds of miles around. This river, which connects Chenyuan, has become one of the main water transportation channels in Hunan Hubei Chongqing border region. The two rivers are clean and transparent, and the small river is particularly beautiful, with green mountains and green water flowing. The ancient town of liaohongzhibai, guifulanfang, is known as "Xiangxi". Within three miles of the street, there are squid cave, rhinoceros cave, Wangjia cave, Xiangjia cave, several springs and a hot spring called "jishitan". "Chicken excrement pool" has a strong smell of sulfur. The water temperature is boiling. It has strong decontamination power. It can clean sweat stains without soap, cure scabies and maintain skin health. Squid in the river is tender and fat. Before the beginning of winter, they dive into the cave against the water to start the winter. Two or three days before the beginning of summer, they come out in groups with the summer flood. Villagers set up a net trench at the entrance of the cave. They just need to "wait for the rabbit" to get a rich harvest. Before the 1970s, it sometimes took hundreds of Jin a day. There are many rapids in the small river, which is an excellent place for rafting.

architectural composition

The ancient town of washihe has beautiful scenery. Several bridges constitute the unique scenery of the ancient town. Among them, the Liangting bridge of the car washing bridge was built in 1887 (the 13th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty), the Banlong highway bridge of the car washing river was built in 1976, and the other highway bridge of the car washing river was built in 1997. The Linglong pavilion bridge is like a double dragon lying in waves, and the majestic highway bridge is like a rainbow double span. It connects the three banks along the river and forms several main streets, including Dongping street, Yanhe Avenue, Xiaohe street, Wanzi street and Pozi street.

Human customs

The town of washihe is within the boundary of the southern half of Longshan County, but for several centuries, "catching up with washihe" has become a major event in the people's life in the northern half of Longshan County. At every stage, people come and go over mountains and mountains, carrying loads. The reason is that the car washing river is the only small Wharf in the Longshan fiefdom, which is located at the intersection of hongyanxi River and Mengxi River, a tributary of Youshui. It was not until February 1958 that the Yongshun Longshan highway was connected with the outside world. In the mountainous area where land transportation is very difficult, the river became a prerequisite for the prosperity of the market town. In the southern half of Longshan County, there is another big dock Liye Town, which is the most lively and famous town in the Hunan Sichuan border region. In the northern half of Longshan County, people who want to stay far away and get close to each other come to the car wash River first.

Tujia legend

The name of the town "washihe" comes from an old story about the migration of Tujia people. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zhuchong, the old Tusi, took the old Tusi city in Yongshun as the center and governed the vast area including Sangzhi, Baojing, Yongshun and Longshan. His subordinates, Peng Li, became more and more powerful and fought for the king. As a result, the aboriginal armed forces under the leadership of Peng Li and Wu Zhuchong launched a fierce internal war. Wu Zhuchong couldn't beat Peng Li and retreated step by step with the defeated general. Late one night, it was raining heavily. The spies of the king of Wu learned that Peng Li's subordinates had come out to attack. Wu Zhuchong knew that he could not defeat Peng Li, so he led tens of thousands of his family members and confidants to flee toward the northwest in a wooden wheel car. The place where they got on the bus, in today's Yongshun, is called "Shouche". After entering Longshan, they came to a fork in the road. King Wu had an idea that he would no longer run westward, but he directed his troops to move southward. In order to hide his whereabouts, he asked his subordinates to cover the wooden cart with a cloth curtain. Later generations casually named that place "cage car". However, with the passage of time, people later evolved it into a "farm car", homonymous different words. Wu Wang and his party did not dare to stay. They walked along the muddy mountain road in a hurry in the rain. At dawn, they came to a mountain village near the mountain. I don't know when the rain will stop. There are beautiful mountains, clear rivers, colorful flowers, singing birds and insects, just like fairyland. The pursuers had been thrown away, and the king of Wu ordered them to rest in place. Push the wheels down the river to clean. This cottage has been called "car washing River" ever since. They all lived in desperate conditions and enjoyed themselves in the river. They didn't even notice that the wooden Wheeler was washed away by the river. When the king of Wu ordered people to gather to find the camp, he found that the car was missing. Some people chased for dozens of miles, saw the car drifting slowly in the river, and quickly picked it up. That place, laoche River, is still in use today.

History and culture

Washihe is a residential area of Tujia people. Most of the houses are wooden buildings with hanging feet. They are built near the mountain and by the water. The ancient town of washihe is like a market in the water, and the high cliff is like a castle in the air. Tujia language is still widely used today. The Tujia nationality has its own language but no written language, and its national culture relies on word-of-mouth passed down from generation to generation, so the Tujia culture here is unique. There is a well-known Tujia waving hall, March hall, which is located at the West Bank of the car washing river. According to the annals of Longshan County written by Jiaqing of the Qing Dynasty, "the waving hall set up by the Tusi is the Yin Department of the late Tusi. It is used for memorial tablets. At dusk, it sounds tanks and drums. Men and women gather to sing a long song, which is called waving. It lasts for the first month and March 6." The Qing Dynasty hand waving hall stele, which is extant in pandi village, washihe Town, describes in detail the grand occasion of hand waving at that time. Tasha, indigo house and Pojiao, which are east of the washihe River, are famous for their "daliuzi". For this reason, indigo house township has been awarded the title of "national folk art township" by the Ministry of culture of the people's Republic of China. Miaoertan Town, which is connected with the washihe River, is rich in Tujia brocade, with "household organic sound and ancient style", and its products are well sold at home and abroad. Ye Yucui, who is awarded "National Master of Arts and crafts" by the Ministry of light industry, is in his hometown here. In 1999, miaoertan was awarded the title of "mass culture and art town of Hunan Province" by the Provincial Department of culture, thus forming a cultural landscape with strong Tujia customs and taking the car washing River as the center. [1

Honors

On February 2, 2019, it was named "the hometown of Chinese folk culture and art" by the Ministry of culture and tourism in 2018-2020.

Chinese PinYin : Hu Nan Sheng Xiang Xi Tu Jia Zu Miao Zu Zi Zhi Zhou Long Shan Xian Xi Che He Zhen