Yixian

Yi County or Yixian is a county in the southeast of Anhui Province, China, under the jurisdiction of Huangshan City. It has a population of 100,000 and an area of 847 square kilometres (327 sq mi). The government of Yi County is located in Biyang Town. The villages of Xidi and Hongcun in Yi County are part of the World Heritage Sites. Hongcun is at the top right of the map beneath. The red location sign is Nanping, another historic huizhou architecture village.

After having visited Chengkan, a few days earlier, The Wandelgek now wanted to visit some other historically interesting villages in the Huangshan area. First was the UNESCO World heritage Site of:

Hongcun

Hongcun is a village in Hongcun Town, Yi County, Huangshan City in the historical Huizhou region of southern Anhui Province, China, near the southwest slope of Mount Huangshan.

Together with Xidi, the village became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000, because of its exceptional preservation of the architecture and city plan of a rural village in feudal China. Scenes from the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon by director Ang Lee were filmed on location in Hongcun.

Hongcun was established in 1131 by Wang Wen, a general during the Southern Song dynasty. Like the neighboring Hu family in Xidi, the Wang family became prosperous merchants and the city grew in size from 1400 to about 1900. The architecture and carvings of the approximately 150 residences dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties are said to be among the best of their kind in China. One of the biggest of the residences open to visitors, Chenzhi Hall, also contains a small museum.

Ox or Buffalo shape

The village is arranged in the shape of an ox with the nearby hill (Leigang Hill) interpreted as the head, and two trees standing on it as the horns. Four bridges across the Jiyin stream can be seen as the legs whilst the houses of the village form the body. Inside the “body”, the Jiyin stream represents the intestines and various lakes such as the “South Lake” (Nanhu) form the other internal organs. A 400-year-old waterway connects each residential household to the two water sources in the town, with most of the streets built alongside them. These streets are paved with original Yi County granite. The usual residences of the town contain a central courtyard surrounded by symmetrical bays of rooms, although there are much larger and more private houses for the weather citizens.

Hongcun village, shaped like an ox …

The largest lake is:

South Lake

Ancient Trees
There are two big ancient trees at the entrance of the ancient village, one is Maple poplar and the other is Ginkgo biloba. In the past, if there was a funeral in the village, villagers would turn around the ginkgo tree three times, and around the maple poplar three times if there was a happy event. This is also the tradition and symbol of Hongcun since ancient times, which is of great ornamental value.

South Lake does not have the many Lotus flowers like Yongxing Lake in Chengkan did but apart from that, it is quite similar. Like in Chengkan, there are many beautiful Hui-style buildings in Hongcun and at first sight Hongcun does look richer than Chengkan did, which subsequently proved to be true.

Hongcun was also visited by a lot more people, which had to do with its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hongcun and nearby Xidi were a bit more well-known. The building above is Wang’s ancestral hall.

The Wandelgek walked along the borders of South Lake …

… looking at the white huizhou style buildings.

Hongcun was located in a valley surrounded by mountains from which little streams of water ran down toward the village’s location. This was mainly why this location had been chosen by the Hui people to build their village. Just like in Chengkan, the water was canalized within the village, but in Hongcun there was significantly more water in those canals

There were a lot of art students around, using Hongcun as their object of study …

A beautiful, delicate bridge was leading toward the village side of South Lake …

This area was almost Garden like …

Mostly young people dressed in traditional Chinese robes were walking at scenic spots.

They had hired these robes and a photographer to capture them as they walked or stood at several scenic spots in the village …

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These scenes could have been from a movie on Chinese history …

The bridge was connected to the mainland by a dam …

Another lady in historic dress ….

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The dam as well as the lake and the village front had all been in the movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. A bit more about that later.

Then The Wandelgek crossed the lake and went to:

Nanhu Academy

Nanhu academy is located on the North Bank of South Lake (Nanhu Lake). At the end of Ming Dynasty, Hongcun’s people built six private schools on the North Bank of Nanhu Lake, also known as “Six courtyards by Lake”. In 1814, the six academies were merged and rebuilt into “Nanhu academy”. Nanhu academy is the most complete clan Academy in southern Anhui.

The Wandelgek visited the academy…

The academy is composed of six parts, namely, Chidao Hall, Wenchang Pavilion, Huiwen Pavilion, Enlightenment Pavilion, Wanghu Building and Gion Garden. Chidao Hall is a place for teaching.

Wenchang Pavilion is dedicated to Confucius memorial tablets, where students worship Confucius.

Huiwen Pavilion is a place where students can read the Four Books and Five Classics.

Enlightenment Pavilion is the place for enlightenment reading.

Wanghu Building is for viewing and resting at leisure. And Gion is the is the inner garden.

In between are multiple courtyards …

Then The Wandelgek walked into the village center …

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Canals

The canals and lakes in Hongcun were filled with water. No shortage yet like in Chengkan, where the hot weather had diminished the water supply significantly …

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After the academy, The Wandelgek strolled through the narrow streets of Hongcun. Above the canal to the right was a long row of red lanterns like the ones from Zhang Yimou’s movie Raise the Red Lantern, which would make the canal visible after dark…

What do a Crouching Tiger, a Hidden Dragon and the Stomach of the Buffalo have in common???

Yuezhao Pond
The Yuezhao Pond is so named because it looks like a crescent moon. Yuezhao Pond is located in the center of the village, which is equivalent to the central urban area. Huizhou architectural patterns on the landscape stamps issued in 1982 are selected here.

Hongcun is a village of water. It has a well-developed water system to lead water to flow throughout the whole village. Also known as “Chinese Village in Picture“, Hongcun Village’s townscapes are developed in harmony with the natural environment, using the geomantic principles of Feng Shui. The village is peculiarly arranged in the shape of an ox: Leigang Hill is the head, and two towering old trees standing make the horns of the ox. Four bridges across the stream are the legs, while the houses of the village form the body. Inside this “body”, the winding stream from the dam represents the intestines, Moon Pond is the stomach, and South Lake (Nanhu) is the belly.

Hongcun Village is one of the shooting places of the world-famous movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon directed by Ang Lee, which was released in 2000 and won Oscars for the Best Foreign Film and Best Cinematography.

The oldest houses had often only one very tiny window in the outer wall, but they were not justvsmall, but also had a high position. This was to protect the house against attacks by bandits …

Wang’s Ancestral hall
Wang’s ancestral hall is located at the edge of Yuezhao Pond. It is a typical Hui style building, one of which is a place for family gathering and dealing with matters of large and small. “The other is to worship the memorial tablets of our ancestors, and the third entrance has been destroyed.

The place looked quite cinematic to me ….

The historic buildings mirrored beautiful in the water of the pond …

Looking from this side of the pond, shows the surrounding hills which provide Hongcun with water .

Hui Style Architecture emphasizes that houses are full of wood carvings, brick carvings and stone carvings. Horse head walls are used for fire prevention, while patios are used to store water when it rains. Hundreds of residential buildings of Ming and Qing Dynasties in Hongcun are typical Hui style buildings, known as “Museum of ancient residential buildings”.

Again an example of the very small windows in the walls…

The Wandelgek walked into the labyrinth of narrow streets again looking at some of the decorated roofs .

Next he visited:

Chengzi Hall

Chengzhitang Hall
Chengzhitang hall, known as the “Folk Palace Museum”, was built around 1855. The whole building is made of wood, magnificent, carved beams and painted buildings. There is also a brick carving in the housekeeper’s courtyard, which is very exquisite.

Located in the picturesque Hongcun Village, Chengzhi Hall is the most outstanding among the 140 well-preserved ancient houses. A wealthy Huizhou salt merchant Wang Dinggui established Chengzhi Hall in 1855 to accommodate his two wives and the big family.

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Inside the ancient houses, visitors can appreciate splendid woodcarvings on the beams and columns.

It is said that more than 20 carving artists spent 4 years finishing the luxurious handicraft wood works, which was gilded with about 5 kilograms of gold. With these exquisite wood carvings, numerous figures, and people and gods of different faces, Chengzhi Hall has the reputation of “Little Folk Forbidden City”.

After visiting this hall, one would conclude that Hongcun Village has major differences from others because its well-preserved ancient houses blend harmoniously with brilliant woodcarving works.

The quality of the Hongcun woodcarvings is of a higher level than those seen in Chengkan, which again points at Hongcun having been a richer village.

In some ways these wood structures and the way of building, reminded me of ancient Viking structures and also ancient structures (houses as well as fortresses and churches/cathedrals) I saw in Russia and in the old Soviet Union countries of Central Asia.

No nails or bolts were used to build these structures and it proves that the best craftsmen were hired for this job by the wealthy merchant living here.