Hongcun Ancient Village
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Xidi and Hongcun are two outstanding traditional villages, located in Yi County, Huangshan City in south Anhui Province, with commercial activities as their primary source of income, family and clan-based social organization, and well known for their regional culture. The overall layout, landscape, architectural form, decoration, and construction techniques all retain the original features of Anhui villages between the 14th and 20th centuries. Deeply influenced by the traditional culture of pre-modern Anhui Province, these two villages, were built by successful officials or merchants returning home from official appointments and business, and gradually developed into models of conventional Chinese village construction. The unique and exquisite style of Anhui buildings is conveyed in plain and elegant colors, their gables decorated with delicate and elegant carvings, their interiors filled with tasteful furnishings. The rigid patriarchal system together with gentle and sincere folk customs reflects the cultural ideas of scholar-bureaucrats in feudal society who paid special respect to Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism. Source: http://whc.unesco.org
Age: About 900 years - Population: 1,500 people
Anhui Architecture - This village is described as one of the Yellow Mountains must see areas. Partly for the preserved Ming and Qing architecture and the village layout that was recognized by UNESCO in the year 2000. Ingenious use of elements of water, trees and gardens, and farmland produced a beautiful setting for the Wang Clan's daily life over many generations. The village structures blend in with the natural setting that exhibit the wisdom of hundreds of years of village construction. Many of the villagers diverted water via small canals into their court yards, turning their houses into garden settings. Hongcun is an outstanding representative of Huizhou traditional local culture, building techniques and landscape design. It has historical, artistic, and scientific value.
Geomancy: The lay of the whole village was designed according to geomantic (feng shui) ideas. It looks like the shape of a cow to Chinese people. To prevent the spread of fires and to also water the plants, laborers built a water system according to the cow design in traditional geomancy. The village centers around "the heart of the cow", Moon Pond.
History - Hongcun was founded about the year 1100. Hongcun was first called "Hongcun (弘村)." "Hong" here means great. In the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, its name was changed into a synonymous homonym "Hongcun (宏村)." The exact same sound written with a different character means great, grand, or magnificent. Hongcun is a village of the ancient Wang clan. The ancestral home of the Wang clan is Jinling. In the Southern Song Dynasty, they moved to Huizhou. The moment you arrive in Hongcun, you will enjoy the charming landscape stretching before your eyes: morning mists, gray tilts, white walls, stone bridge, water lily ponds and verdant hill in the background. It is the real Chinese painting unfolding before you. Source: www.chinahighlights.com - www.chinadiscovery.com
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Xidi and Hongcun are two outstanding traditional villages, located in Yi County, Huangshan City in south Anhui Province, with commercial activities as their primary source of income, family and clan-based social organization, and well known for their regional culture. The overall layout, landscape, architectural form, decoration, and construction techniques all retain the original features of Anhui villages between the 14th and 20th centuries. Deeply influenced by the traditional culture of pre-modern Anhui Province, these two villages, were built by successful officials or merchants returning home from official appointments and business, and gradually developed into models of conventional Chinese village construction. The unique and exquisite style of Anhui buildings is conveyed in plain and elegant colors, their gables decorated with delicate and elegant carvings, their interiors filled with tasteful furnishings. The rigid patriarchal system together with gentle and sincere folk customs reflects the cultural ideas of scholar-bureaucrats in feudal society who paid special respect to Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism. Source: http://whc.unesco.org
Age: About 900 years - Population: 1,500 people
Anhui Architecture - This village is described as one of the Yellow Mountains must see areas. Partly for the preserved Ming and Qing architecture and the village layout that was recognized by UNESCO in the year 2000. Ingenious use of elements of water, trees and gardens, and farmland produced a beautiful setting for the Wang Clan's daily life over many generations. The village structures blend in with the natural setting that exhibit the wisdom of hundreds of years of village construction. Many of the villagers diverted water via small canals into their court yards, turning their houses into garden settings. Hongcun is an outstanding representative of Huizhou traditional local culture, building techniques and landscape design. It has historical, artistic, and scientific value.
Geomancy: The lay of the whole village was designed according to geomantic (feng shui) ideas. It looks like the shape of a cow to Chinese people. To prevent the spread of fires and to also water the plants, laborers built a water system according to the cow design in traditional geomancy. The village centers around "the heart of the cow", Moon Pond.
History - Hongcun was founded about the year 1100. Hongcun was first called "Hongcun (弘村)." "Hong" here means great. In the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, its name was changed into a synonymous homonym "Hongcun (宏村)." The exact same sound written with a different character means great, grand, or magnificent. Hongcun is a village of the ancient Wang clan. The ancestral home of the Wang clan is Jinling. In the Southern Song Dynasty, they moved to Huizhou. The moment you arrive in Hongcun, you will enjoy the charming landscape stretching before your eyes: morning mists, gray tilts, white walls, stone bridge, water lily ponds and verdant hill in the background. It is the real Chinese painting unfolding before you. Source: www.chinahighlights.com - www.chinadiscovery.com