Take an inventory of Huizhou ancient villages-love and freedom in those high walls

Among the many exquisite ancient buildings in Huizhou, I want to count and distinguish the following representative ancient villages in Huizhou for you through my own travel experience:

0 1 Forever Xanadu-Hualihong Village

02 Cultural Gathering —— A Prosperous Journey to the West

China Museum of Ancient Architectural Art-Exquisite Chengkan

04 Fresh and Free —— Literature and Art of Tang Mo

05 Liveliness under Centralized Power-Lonely Stealth

The Origin of Jin Ping Mei —— The Forgotten Xixi South

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Every July and August, I can't help thinking of Hongcun.

Dali, Wuzhen and Hongcun are the places I will visit repeatedly in China, which just represent the ancient city, ancient town and ancient village respectively. But only Hongcun often jumps out of my memory, so that I can still smell the fragrance of green seedlings in the rice fields next to the village in Beijing, where there are many tall buildings.

When I first heard about Hongcun, it was the summer vacation of my freshman year. The color teacher took the children from the art department to sketch there. So, when you come to the South Lake in Hongcun in summer, you will definitely see such a scene-

Eyeful scenery, eyeful "painting", eyeful art teachers and students, eyeful happy tourists mistakenly "painting".

Hongcun, located at the southern foot of Huangshan Mountain, is a strange "cow-shaped ancient village" built in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. Guhong Village artificially irrigated the fields for fire prevention, which initiated bionics, built a wonderful artificial water system according to the mountain terrain, and made a living article about the shape of "cow". The meandering water pool is the ox intestines, the moon marsh excavated by the spring is the ox bellies, the South Lake is the ox bellies, and the houses on both sides of the ox intestines are the ox bodies.

Hongcun's splendid Huizhou ancient buildings complement each other with the surrounding pastoral scenery, forming a smart landscape painting.

Many people have never been to Hongcun, but they are not "never seen". In fact, its "moon swamp" has always appeared on stamps.

And this small bridge on the South Lake is the opening of the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Chow Yun Fat led the horse through the white stone bridge.

In 2000, Hongcun was listed on the World Cultural Heritage List by UNESCO.

I love Hongcun, of course, not only because of it, but also because of the dawn in the south lake, the study in the academy, the wind load in the moon marsh, the water in the cow intestines, the green trees in Shuangxi, the ancient trees in front of the pavilion and the sunset photos in Leigang. ...

More because of its affection-warm human feelings!

The leisurely scene described in Tao Yuanming's Peach Blossom Garden is the truest portrayal of Hongcun.

I like Hongcun because it is a real village, an ancient village where villagers live and work normally. Unified management but not unified commercialization of villages. A village without tourists for people, livestock and poultry.

When I went to Hongcun, there was a street that was not very "commercialized" at the entrance of the village. There are simple restaurants, small supermarkets, specialty stores and breakfast shops. In addition, the whole village has only houses. Yes, only quiet houses and normal villagers! No noisy commercial promotion and hawking!

Many inns are also villagers' own houses. Many bosses live on the first floor and tourists live on the second floor, but they are all quite exquisite and tidy small yards. There is a feeling that there are five thousand years outside and five stars inside.

Eating is also in the yard. Tell the boss what you want to eat, sit on the stone table and bench in the shade of the yard, and wait for the boss to serve you all kinds of seasonal farm dishes! Especially leisurely!

When you get tired of going out and go back to the yard, you will often be stopped by your boss and enthusiastically serve you some fresh fruits and vegetables that have just been cut and washed.

In Hongcun, you can "experience local life" comfortably. You can eat, live and chat with the villagers and learn about their daily life. During the day, you can get up early with them to herd cattle outside the village, pick fresh fruits and vegetables in orchards and vegetable fields, chase and play with childish children, and watch the white-haired grandmother skillfully hold the soles. In the evening, you can enjoy the cool, chat and count the stars with the villagers. ...

The night in Hongcun is simple and natural, without bars and karaoke, impetuous music and the noise of TV, only-voices, barking dogs and beautiful tranquility! Hongcun's night can evoke all childlike memories.

Just a reminder, friends who are afraid of the dark had better bring a flashlight and don't wander around the inn at night. I still remember having dinner at the village entrance at dusk, and it was all dark after eating. I walked towards the village inn in the dark.

Go to the alley in the village, my god! I can't see my fingers! The cell phone is dead, too. What is even more amazing is that the roadside is obviously full of people sitting in front of their homes and fanning their cattail fans to enjoy the cool. I can clearly hear the villagers chatting and laughing, but I can't see anyone! ! ! I'm so scared! I have to say to myself: how far is it! How dark it is! So scary!

At this time, suddenly many people on the roadside comforted me: "Girl, don't be afraid, we are all sitting at the door!" " ""Go straight and turn left! " "Don't be afraid! Do you want us to take you? " "Come on, I have a light here. I'll take your picture." "I'll take a picture of you, too." "Girl, are you hot? Let me give you a fan! " ……

In this way, the enthusiastic words of the villagers are like a game of delivering packages. Every time I walk to a door, they will talk to me to ease my fear of the dark. But whoever has a flashlight will be a family. With my footsteps, turn on the lights for me in rhythm and pave a bright road for me!

In this way, I continued the warmth and light they gave from door to door and returned to the inn safely. Over the years, every time I think of that night, I feel infinite warmth and gratitude.

In Hongcun, I slept soundly. Every morning, I am awakened by the crow of chickens.

And if you are as lucky as me, and one day you will encounter a continuous drizzle, please get up at dawn, take a walk in the village and feel the morning in Hongcun with your heart. Please believe me-that kind of silence has a breathtaking beauty!

In Hongcun, I especially like to watch the smoke rising in the whole village happily as soon as I arrive at the meal. I think the smoke in the kitchen smells good. That is the most real "human fireworks"

Therefore, the charm of Hongcun, like Dali, lies not in "swimming" but in "quietness". If a shepherd boy plays the flute and rides an old cow across the river bank, I would like to sit here and forget my age.

Hongcun's love is the "great love" of equality and freedom among strangers, the "care" like the spring breeze, and the trust between people. Hongcun in the high walls of Huizhou will not make people feel bound and uncomfortable. On the contrary, she is gentle, simple, kind and carefree, which makes you want to get close and understand.

Comparatively speaking, Xidi is much colder, but much more lively.

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Xidi is not far from Hongcun. It is also a representative of Huizhou ancient architecture art in Ming and Qing dynasties and a treasure house of humanities.

There are not only exquisite archways, brick carvings, wood carvings and stone carvings, but also pieces of deep houses and courtyards. Countless couplets on those ancient houses are magnificent and breathtaking.

Xidi's archway, Zoumalou, Li Tao Garden and Xiyuan, patio and embroidered building ... will naturally be seen. Any house is an abstruse textbook of ancient architecture. Unfortunately, such a delicate mansion is basically uninhabited, only for tourists to visit, and merchants sell some cultural goods and tourist souvenirs.

There are many villagers in Hongcun and many merchants in Xidi.

Fortunately, fortunately, fortunately, there is no bar here!

I looked at the heavily guarded ancestral temple, the solemn memorial archway and the dark and tall embroidered building, and felt a little far away, "the indifference of officialdom" and "the ruthlessness of businessmen".

This often reminds me of a woman who can't get out of the door or into the second door in a high wall. It also makes me feel that there is a kind of heaviness and depression behind the prosperity of Xidi. So I lingered for less than three hours and fled in a hurry.

In Xidi, I want to be a pious "student" and pay tribute to the craftsmen who build beautiful houses. Finally, I found myself just a "tourist", smelling the decline of officials and businessmen for a visually flashy but depressing stimulus.

So, I never returned to Xidi.

If we must personify people, I think Hongcun is like the gentle daughter of the squire's family, and Xidi is like a middle-aged magistrate sitting on the side.

Then I went to Chengkan, looking for something different.

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Chengkan is located at the southern foot of Huangshan Mountain, with Shexian County in the east, Yinkou in the south, Xixi South in the west and Youxi Township in the north. Known as "the first village in the south of the Yangtze River" and "the treasure house of ancient architecture art in China", not many people are familiar with her.

Two months ago, I blessed the G20 Summit with an ingenious way of "basking in the autumn", which made Chengkan Village an instant hit on the Internet. Many stars, such as Zhao, Wang Han, etc., have also participated in this "basking in the autumn" activity which has spread for thousands of years.

Liu Haisu, a master of Chinese painting in China, once said, "If you climb Mount Huangshan, you will reach Chengkan."

Huizhou dwellings are the best in the world, and Chengkan dwellings are the first in Huizhou.

I know Chengkan, and it has been 10 for many years. But it was not until this year that I had the opportunity to "contact" with her.

If Hongcun is like the gentle daughter of the squire's family, Xidi is like a middle-aged magistrate sitting on the edge. What about Chengkan? I think she is like a Shanghai woman who wears a cheongsam and holds an oiled paper umbrella to visit her relatives.

The name "Chengkan" is taken from the Book of Changes. The whole village is positioned according to the eight diagrams geomantic theory of "Yin (Kan), Yang (Xian), the unity of two qi and the unity of heaven and man". Also known as "Bagua Village" and "Longxi", there are mountains and water, and there are two towns, five streets and ninety-nine lanes, which are exquisite and elegant, just like a maze. There are more than 50 historical buildings1in the village, including 2 1 which are national key cultural relics protection units.

The streets and alleys of Chengkan are all paved with granite strips, and the houses on both sides are row upon row, connected vertically and horizontally, arranged in an orderly manner, with blue tiles and tiles, strewn at random, black and white, elegant and exquisite, long streets and short lanes, and jagged teeth.

But the streets are much narrower than Xidi Hongcun. In some places, if two people meet face to face, they have to lean sideways to pass. However, even if it is tense, there are exquisite brick-carved drains on the bluestone pavement, and beautiful scenery surprises tourists at the corner of each wall.

There are also slightly lower parallel paths on both sides of the avenue. At that time, servants and servants generally walked to distinguish between superiors and subordinates. Some main roads are also paved with herringbone tiles, meaning "people are above", which is the same as the road design concept in Suzhou "Lingering Garden".

Unlike narrow streets, Chengkan's public activity areas are all open. For example, the lotus pond at the entrance to the village is open and stretched, which makes people relaxed and happy from a distance, but it is inseparable from it from a close look, because in vast expanse, countless exquisite details are blended, the scenery changes step by step, and people are everywhere in the painting.

This lotus pond, surrounded by mountains and rivers, with blue tiles and white walls and different scenery all year round, has attracted countless photographers all over the country. They say that every time they come to see it, they will get different beauty.

Now Chengkan residents are turning into businessmen, selling local specialties, three meals a day, or wood carving skills in ancient houses, and some collect fresh blueberries and squeeze them into juice to sell to tourists. They are all natural and taste very good.

This makes the whole Chengkan bustling and lively, but it is different from the arty noise of Xidi tourists. Most of the antique shops in Chengkan are very quiet, and from time to time there are crisp birds echoing overhead. The mottled ancient walls show the patterns of modernist works of art more and more under the background of sunshine.

Perhaps it is this vibrant popularity, mixed with the graceful charm of "Jiangnan flower-and-bird painting" in the air, that makes me imagine Chengkan as a Shanghai woman wearing cheongsam and holding an oil-paper umbrella. She is exquisite, concave and convex, with both the charm of ancient poetry and modern vitality, slowly coming to you, elegant and beautiful, with a long ancient rhyme.

The reason why she is visiting relatives is that this clever charm seems to belong not only to Chengkan, but to be "imported", which transcends the era of strict control by Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism, so she is more like "going home", "visiting relatives" and "visiting relatives", and always has a good mood of leisure, happiness and a little joy.

There are several differences between Chengkan and other ancient Huizhou villages:

1, Chengkan is a three-story Huizhou-style ancient wooden structure, which is unique. Other ancient villages have two floors. This makes Chengkan more exquisite in housing structure design and spatial layout, and also reflects the developed economic, cultural and educational level here in that year.

2. Compared with other ancient villages in Huizhou, Chengkan has the characteristics of "water town in the south of the Yangtze River" and incorporates many southern garden design concepts. It is not only more compact and elegant in architectural appearance, but also has obvious Suzhou garden style in the design of gardens, lotus ponds, stone bridges and other public places. The ancient courtyard wall next to the lotus pond can even directly see the shadow of "Humble Administrator's Garden".

3. The ancient buildings in Ming and Qing Dynasties are rich in variety and unique in style. Chengkan is the home of pavilions, buildings, pavilions, bridges, wells, shrines, clubs and houses with different styles. Exquisite brick carving, wood carving, stone carving and painting skills reflect the antiquity, grandeur, beauty and elegance of Huizhou ancient architecture art to the maximum extent. "China Museum of Ancient Architectural Art" is worthy of the name.

Especially the door cover of Shipai Building in Luo Huiqiong Mansion (Luo Mansion); Luo Huibing House (commonly known as Shizhu Hall) has a wooden archway door cover, sumeru, a tall living room and a single-column spiral staircase. Luo Changming's courtyard fish pond; Luo's house is carved; Luo Lailong's pig trough patio; Dark-walled stairs in nursing homes; Guiwang Xiuzhai Ceramic Water House; Huanxiu Bridge Water Pavilion; There are stone pavilions in Lingshan Mountain, as well as inclined doors, iron gates, beautiful reclining chairs on the balcony, window covers, wooden beams, shuttles, paintings and so on. , unique in the country.

It was in this ancient house that I saw an irresistible desire for "equality and freedom".

Three-story wooden building, the lower the floor, the narrower the space, the worse the lighting, and the unmarried ladies and gentlemen live in it. At that time, Huizhou merchants traveled all over the world, amassed a lot of wealth and returned to their hometowns to build these deep houses. However, the high wall has also become a cage for women who bind them. Like canaries, they have been locked in high walls all their lives, closing doors and doors, and making free space for their souls with life and love.

Although it may be a great blessing for weak women to have such a place to live in the era of war, I would rather they run and sing freely in the village like boys without binding their feet.

What about men? Naturally, they also shouted for "freedom and equality" in another way. You see, the building regulations of Baolunge are everywhere, not only imitating the regulations of Confucius Temple in Shandong, but also imitating the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City. Moreover, the four gold nanmu imported from Myanmar in the front main hall are made of exactly the same materials as those used in the Forbidden City. Now it is said that one is worth more than 300 million. At that time, if they were discovered, their family would be exterminated by nine clansmen.

I really admire the courage of the master "princes will have seeds"!

There are several such buildings in Chengkan.

No matter how many winter melon beams, loofah columns and high horse head walls, they still can't stop the wings of freedom of thought.

In order to breathe more free air, I came to the end of the Tang Dynasty.

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My first impression of Tang Mo was: Ah, a lot of water! The natural landscape is so ecological!

I was surprised when I first saw the Tang model, because its overall style is very similar to that of Tongli Water Town in Suzhou, but its architectural features are very similar to that of Xitang.

A wide stream divides the ancient village into two, and hundreds of Huizhou ancient buildings stand by the water. Several stone arch bridges and dams with unique shapes on the stream connect the two banks of the water street into a whole.

Different from the narrow and compact Chengkan, the terrain of Tangmo is open. Standing on the stone bridge at will, you can see the whole water street. Looking from one end to the other, your hearts will light up together.

The natural landscape in the late Tang Dynasty was well preserved. Like Hongcun, it has the most authentic and simple rural scenery, and pavilions and waterside pavilions are dotted with colorful fences made of wild flowers or bamboo.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, there were few tourists, and Huangmei opera slowly came from the big stage, which made the whole village seem quieter, like a nap in the summer afternoon.

Walking in Tangmo, your steps can't help slowing down, and everything becomes so leisurely and slow. I couldn't help sitting down in a shop, sipping tea leisurely and looking through picture books, and spent a wonderful afternoon.

In the ancestral temple in the village, an old man erected a monument. There, I was pleasantly surprised to see the original works of many famous teachers, as well as my favorite words of Miffy and Dong Qichang. So I was very excited to buy a copy of their Mo Bao rubbings to take home.

There is also a rice paper workshop and a pen-making workshop that has been passed down for hundreds of years in the yard behind Shuijie. It is said that his pen follows the ancient method and is famous at home and abroad. Bought a set for people who understand. It is full of praise.

This is the case with Tang Mo. Humanistic details will meet unexpectedly, appear inadvertently and touch your heartstrings.

She, like a female student of Peking University during the May 4th Movement, has exquisite short hair and shows off her wisdom. She is natural and unrestrained, full of youthful happiness and has a fresh literary cavity.

In Tangmo, life is smart, free, peaceful and leisurely.

And diving, there is no such good luck.

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This is the first time I have seen such a place in China-in order to facilitate the unified protection of ancient buildings, those old houses scattered among the people and in disrepair were moved to culverts as a whole, and suddenly and inexplicably placed in the gardens designated by the two new regulations of Ming and Qing Dynasties!

I believe that the original intention of this decision-maker is good.

But the reality is that the whole house has moved very little. At most, it is a stone archway, half a wall, half an attic, a pair of stone lions, a big stage and even a carved railing, scattered and lonely.

Perhaps the garden has not been completely restored. Broken cement roads, messy natural landscapes, casually exposed red soil and straight pine trees ... make lonely ancient buildings more desolate.

Qingyuan is better, at least clean and tidy, with several new antique buildings.

In Ming Garden, each ancient house is far apart, and the modern landscape in the middle is messy. Under the half wall of Gu Lou, there are vendors who work in the scenic spot on time, selling all kinds of antique modern handicrafts, which are brightly painted. However, there are few tourists here.

This is an empty man-made scenic spot without soul. Just like Sister Xianglin, she looks dull and haggard, and only occasionally does she know that she is a living thing. Without the complicated and exquisite craftsmanship on the lintel, you really wouldn't believe that this house has such a long history.

I always wonder, whenever the dead of night, will the ancient buildings here care for each other and grieve? They can neither bring out the best in each other with the mountains and rivers in their hometown, nor absorb the aura of the villagers' daily fireworks, just like those dying old people who live alone but can't be buried.

Just like the stone archway at the entrance of Mingyuan Garden, the traces left by each era are like indelible scars.

The excitement of the hidden mouth is lonely and desolate. Only the ancient pagoda that I met unexpectedly gave me many surprises.

I happened to see it in the street when I passed the secret door. It stands alone at the bustling intersection. The stone wall is covered with moss and weeds, but it shines with exquisite beauty like the ancient Babylonian garden, leaving future generations with infinite surprise and doubt.

I think it has a lot more freedom and life than those ancient buildings concentrated in the hidden garden.

Lonely hidden mouth, let me depressed, deep in thought, until I returned to Xixi South for dinner, the mood was slightly better.

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Southwest, a beautiful name. Have you ever heard of it?

This is not the Xixi wetland in Hangzhou, but the Xixinan ancient town at the southern foot of Huangshan Mountain. To tell the truth, if it weren't for Professor Yu's team from Peking University to do ecological landscape reconstruction projects here, I estimate that it would be difficult to know this place in my life, although it is only 5 minutes' drive from Huangshan high-speed railway station.

I am very happy that this is an ancient village with excellent ancient buildings, natural landscape and humanistic environment. Even now people live a normal modern life in it, but it is still simple and peaceful, without causing great damage to ancient villages.

Large wetlands, eucalyptus forests, bamboo forests, orchards, neat vegetable fields, clean streets, unique Gu Lou and complete stone bridges make Xixi South look lively, friendly and lovely.

She is like a 13-year-old warlord's daughter, wearing a skirt and braids. She is childlike, reciting ancient poems and playing the piano, but all these seem to be in harmony.

Such a beautiful place has been forgotten for a long time. However, the humanistic heritage quietly continues here.

In the mysterious Xixi, there is a folk scholar Pan who studies the culture of Jin Ping Mei. Special thanks to Mr. Zhang, a Shanghai artist, who took me to visit Mr. Pan by chance.

Before that, I had a superficial understanding of Jin Ping Mei. After knowing Mr. Pan, I realized that Jin Ping Mei was a wonderful book about the society of Ming Dynasty, and Cao Xueqin's Dream of Red Mansions was also influenced by this book.

Teacher Pan said that according to his decades of research, Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng, the author of Jin Ping Mei, was actually an official of the Ming Dynasty, Daokun Wang. His collection of letters was outstanding in literary talent and knowledge.

Wang Daokun is from the southwest of Xixi. He is of the same ancestry as Zhang Shangshu. He was also a magistrate in Xiangyang, Hubei Province, but his relationship with Zhang was not particularly good. Interestingly, he also satirized Zhang's "headstrong and narrow-minded" in Jin Ping Mei. Later, Wang Daozhen was transferred from Xiangyang to Fujian, where he became the governor and led the anti-enemy movement. At that time, Qi Jiguang was one of his generals.

Jin Ping Mei is actually a euphemistic description of the political, economic and social problems of the Ming Dynasty. The book mainly describes the "five major political events" in the imperial court that sensationalized the whole country during Jiajing and Wanli periods of the Ming Dynasty, among which the arrest of salt merchants was most closely related to Huizhou.

According to Teacher Pan, the prototype of "Ximen Qing" in the book is a salt merchant in the southwest of Xixi. He married more than 65,438+000 wives in his life, but left no children. He lamented that his life "only bloomed without fruit", and later generations satirized him and named the place where he lived "Orchard".

In today's Xixi South, you can still find exactly the same places and scenery as those depicted in the ancient illustrations of Jin Ping Mei. Caves, streams and mountains are exactly the same as those in ancient illustrations.

Teacher Pan said that Jin Ping Mei is an encyclopedia of the political and economic situation in the Ming Dynasty, but unfortunately, because this book uses a large number of Huizhou dialects, most people can't understand it and it is easy to make mistakes in translation.

For example, the word "Jiang" in Jin Ping Mei is used as a verb according to the local dialect. For example, "I give you a bowl of rice" means: I give you my best things. This usage of the word "Jiang" is only available in Kangxi dictionary, and modern Chinese dictionaries are obviously powerless!

Therefore, when most people read Jin Ping Mei, they often see the clouds and see the mountains, racking their brains, but they can't understand it. Finally, they just remembered a few romantic stories, lamented the sad fate of women in that era, and read an encyclopedia into a romantic novel.

Teacher Pan also told us a lot about his research results that day.

I'm surprised. I suddenly feel that knowledge and study never seem to forget anyone. Even in a corner forgotten by the world like Xixi South, there will be people who are poor in classics and study hard.

Even if the real history is gradually forgotten by people and covers hundreds of years of vicissitudes, it can't annihilate that little light of thought. It will always penetrate the fog of centuries and bring the wisdom of the ancients to your side clearly.

I have always felt that the ancient villages in Huizhou are bleak and prosperous, with too many constraints and lack of love and freedom.

It was not until I arrived in Xixi South that I suddenly realized that only the freedom of thought and soul is a person's real freedom, which has nothing to do with when, where and where he is.

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Thought endures, wisdom endures.

I think this is the fundamental reason why people sincerely yearn for and admire these exquisite ancient villages in Huizhou!