What are the rankings of the four ancient towns in China?

China civilization has a long history of more than 5,000 years. It once brought glory and brilliance to people, and still retains a large number of ancient towns and architectural relics. The four ancient towns in China are the crystallization of our culture, and they have been completely preserved.

First, Jingdezhen

Jingdezhen has a long history and tradition of porcelain making. Porcelain has been fired since the Five Dynasties, and it has been more than 400 years since the Ming Dynasty. During these 400 years, the famous kilns in the history of China rose one after another and became famous for a while, but most of them did not last long and declined one after another.

After the Ming Dynasty, Jun kiln, Longquan kiln, Cizhou kiln and other porcelain series were not as good as Jingdezhen's blue-and-white porcelain, colored porcelain and glazed porcelain, either stopped production or declined.

Jingdezhen porcelain workers, on the basis of rich practical experience from generation to generation, absorbed the advantages of famous kilns of past dynasties, developed and improved them, and gradually developed from the initial position of keeping pace with world famous kilns to the top position, becoming the center of China porcelain industry.

Jingdezhen is located in the northeast of Jiangxi Province, surrounded by mountains, and the Yangtze River passes through the town. Jingdezhen has unique natural conditions. Machangshan in Fuliang County and nearby counties such as Xing Zi, Leping, Wuyuan, yujiang county and Bai Yang are mountainous areas, which contain a large number of minerals such as kaolin, porcelain stone, glazed fruit and refractory soil.

These raw materials for porcelain making are not only low in impurity content and good in technological performance, but also suitable for making high-grade porcelain with abundant reserves. Jingdezhen and its four townships have a long flame, which is most suitable for burning porcelain and providing sufficient fuel for kiln.

Many porcelain kilns are located in the Yangtze River and its exchange coast, and the river water can be used to wash porcelain clay; Set water hammer to crush porcelain clay by hydraulic power. At the same time, the Yangtze River waterway is smooth, and a large number of porcelain can be transported downstream to Poyang Lake, and then to important trading ports at that time, such as Jiujiang, Nanjing and Yangzhou, for sale in domestic and foreign markets.

Jingdezhen in Song Dynasty mainly fired a single variety of celadon. Celadon is between celadon and white porcelain because of its glaze color. It is said that celadon is white and white porcelain is white. This kind of celadon is between celadon and white porcelain and has the unique regional characteristics of Jingdezhen.

After the late Qing Dynasty, celadon was generally called "Yingqing". There is only one celadon in the Song literature, but it is not called "Yingqing". Porcelain books published in the late Qing Dynasty and even the early Republic of China have names such as "Yin Qing", "Ying Qing" and "Yin Qing", all of which refer to celadon.

In Jingdezhen, there are many sites of Song Dynasty kilns firing celadon, such as Hutian, Hu Xiang, Shengmeiting, Shinan Street, Huangnitou and Liujiawan. The above kiln sites left a lot of fragments, so it is conceivable that the porcelain was fired at that time.

Since 1950s, celadon has been unearthed in Jingdezhen, 15 province. The wide spread of celadon in the last century confirmed the rich remains of many unearthed celadon and porcelain kiln sites, and reflected the development and prosperity of Jingdezhen ceramic industry in the Song Dynasty.

Jingdezhen fired celadon and white porcelain in the Five Dynasties. Celadon and white porcelain were not found in the five dynasties kiln site. From the overall development of China porcelain kilns, the early traditional varieties were inherited, improved or developed in the later period. However, Jingdezhen is an exception. Celadon and white porcelain, which were popular in the Five Dynasties, disappeared in the Song Dynasty and were replaced by celadon. There are other reasons for this phenomenon, which cannot be explored from the general law. Since the Han and Tang dynasties, the development of ceramics has its own laws, but there are also examples of imitating other varieties. For example, Hanbei painted pottery imitates Hannan painted paint.

Li Qingzhao, a poet in the Southern Song Dynasty, wrote a "jade pillow" in "Drunken Flowers", in which the jade pillow refers to a blue-and-white porcelain pillow with blue-and-white jade color; The words "Jade from Kunshan" and "Jade from Kungang" are engraved on the bowl of celadon in Yuan Dynasty, which indicates that celadon is made of imitation jade, with obvious implications.

Celadon fired in Jingdezhen in Song Dynasty is mainly for daily use, including dishes, plates and bowls for food, cups and plates for wine, bowls for washing and various perfumes, lamps for lighting, and boxes for medicinal materials, spices or women's cosmetics. There is a mother box of seeds, and three small boxes are stuck on a big box, and powder, indigo and cinnabar are put on it respectively for women to use when making up. In addition, the Guanyin statues burned by believers for men and women include tower-shaped bottles specially designed for burial, and various pillows such as double lions, upright elephants, lying babies and silver ingots as bedding, among which silver ingots are more. The picture below shows the inky mug of Jingdezhen kiln in Yongzheng, Qing Dynasty.

Celadon unearthed from Song tombs in Jiangnan area is common, and a few tombs have exact age epitaphs. By comparing celadon unearthed from tombs in 1960s, we can roughly see the evolution and popularization time of artifacts. Purple casting bowl was a very popular set of wine vessels in the Five Dynasties. During the Northern Song Dynasty, a large number of money bowls were unearthed in tombs. These money bowls still have the characteristics of imitation metal objects, and it is also common that their bodies are melon-shaped. Most early tombs have a lion-shaped button on the coffin lid. The bowls of early tombs came from Zheng He's tomb in Hui Zong at the latest. Pots were popular in the Tang Dynasty, and their bodies were taller. In the Five Dynasties, the pot evolved into a shallow pot, but it still retained the legacy of the Tang Dynasty, with a flat mouth and a similar bottom size. In the Song Dynasty, the blue-and-white porcelain pot changed from a closed mouth to an open mouth, with overlapping shoulders and gradually converging below the shoulders, with a big mouth and a small bottom, and the pot shape changed greatly. Fashion time and money bowl are the same. Bottle caps originated in the late Northern Song Dynasty and prevailed in the Southern Song Dynasty. The bottle is slender, and the top and bottom are roughly equal. The upper part of the neck is slender, with dragon, tiger, turtle, snake, wind, crane, chicken, dog and other patterns. Pile it on it. There is a tower-shaped lid with a bird-shaped button at the top, some standing cranes, and the lower part of the bottle has extra decoration. People piled on the shoulders around, some were soldiers, some were twelfth birthdays. The bottle cap lasted until the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and the upper neck only accounted for one third of the bottle height, and the bottle body became longer, which changed greatly compared with the Southern Song Dynasty. The output of boxes in the Song Dynasty was very large, and workshops specializing in making boxes appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty. The boxes fired in Jingdezhen are small and flat, with round, octagonal, hexagonal and chrysanthemum petals. The cover is mostly embossed and printed, and the bottom of the box is unglazed. Some of them are also marked with workshops, such as "Wu Jia Ho" and "Duan Jiahe". Inscriptions are all straight books, and these unearthed at home and abroad are marked with workshops by Wu, Xu and Xu. The record of "more than 300 kilns in past dynasties" in Ji Tao is completely reliable.

In the Song Dynasty, celadon not only had the characteristics of white blank and jade glaze, but also had decorations such as carving, grating, grating pen and printing, which further enhanced the artistic appeal of celadon. Blue-and-white porcelain in the early Northern Song Dynasty, with bright whole body, wireless stripes, regular shape and jade enamel, won people's admiration. After the middle period, a large number of carvings, grate points and grate patterns appeared on the utensils. A few small plates were unearthed from the tomb of Zongshen Yuanfeng, which were not glazed, indicating that they were burnt. After the Southern Song Dynasty, printing decoration became very popular. There are many plates and bowls unearthed in ancient times and tombs, and many plates are burnt. The decorative theme and layout method are similar to those of Dingyao kiln in Quyang, Hebei Province, with obvious regional characteristics.

Jade celadon has a great influence on porcelain kilns in Jiangnan area. There are many porcelain kilns imitating Jingdezhen celadon, including Nanfeng, Jizhou, Ningdu, Ganzhou, Jinxi and Guixi in Jiangxi. Dehua, Quanzhou, Tongan, Yongchun, Anxi, Nan 'an, Putian, Fuqing, Minqing, Xianyou, Lianjiang, Pucheng, Chong 'an, Guangze and Jianning Kilns in Fujian; Kilns in Chaozhou, Guangzhou and Huizhou, Guangdong; Guangxi tengxian, Rongxian, Guiping and Beiliu Kilns; Sun Yicheng Kiln and Wuhan Kiln in Hubei; Yiyang kiln and Hengyang kiln in Hunan; Jiangshan Kiln and Taishun Kiln in Zhejiang Province, plus 34 counties in 8 provinces, formed a celadon series centered on Jingdezhen. Celadon is one of the two largest porcelain kilns in the south of the Yangtze River, which has a great influence and ranks first among the six major porcelain systems in the Song Dynasty.

Jingdezhen in the Ming Dynasty set up the Imperial Kiln Factory, which specialized in firing porcelain for the royal family and the imperial court to reward internally and communicate externally. The Imperial Kiln Factory has a pottery supervisor, concentrating the best porcelain craftsmen in Jingdezhen, monopolizing high-quality porcelain clay and green materials, and firing the most exquisite products at no cost according to the needs of the imperial court. As a result, China's porcelain-making technology has been pushed to a new peak.

In Ming Dynasty, the production of porcelain in folk kilns also developed rapidly. Although there is no official imperial kiln factory with exquisite products, the output is huge. "To the north, to the foot of the slope in the south, to the sea in the east and to Shu in the west, all take Jingdezhen" (Wang: Jiangxi Tao Shu). Among them, there are many high-grade products, and the "Qin limited" porcelain needed by the court is produced in private kilns. Especially in the late Ming dynasty, with the germination of capitalist factors in porcelain industry, private porcelain kilns surged. In the 19th year of Jiajing (1540), "Jingdezhen people in Fuliang took pottery as their profession and gathered more than 10,000 servants". During the Wanli period (1573- 1620), there were "tens of thousands of helpers in the town" every day. Official kilns are not as good as private kilns, and there is a situation of "officials and people competing for profits", which eventually forms a new system of "officials leading the people to burn". In addition, the patterns and ornamentation of folk kilns are unique, especially the realistic ornamentation depicting nature, which can better reflect the rich creativity of porcelain makers and the rich life atmosphere of working people. Jingdezhen folk kiln porcelain deserves attention.

In the Ming Dynasty, Jingdezhen's porcelain-making technology was greatly improved, and the division of porcelain-making was very fine. "Tiangong Wu Kai" lists the following porcelain-making processes: spring soil, mud placement, blank making, watering, circling, painting and calligraphy, water spraying, rusting, box loading, kiln loading, baking and so on. From raw material mining to firing, "72 lots, square grams. That is, it takes 72 processes to make a piece of porcelain. Most processes basically perform their duties, with fine division of labor, technical Excellence and continuous improvement of product quality. Jingdezhen porcelain makers also summarized the advantages of China's south and north kilns and invented the egg-shaped kiln, namely Jingdezhen kiln. The innovation of kiln has greatly improved the output and quality. In this way, Jingdezhen's porcelain industry is becoming more and more prosperous.

In Jingdezhen, which stands on the banks of the Yangtze River, hundreds of chimneys in official kilns and folk kilns are shrouded in red flames day and night, and fireworks confront each other. "The sound of a thousand miles is loud, the sky is hot, and people can't sleep at night." Unprecedented, it has become a world-famous porcelain capital.

Second, Zhuxian Town

Zhuxian Town, the hometown of Qi Feng, is located in Xiangfu District, Kaifeng City, on the "Three Points and One Line" golden tourist line of Zhengzhou Bianhuang River, only 40 minutes' drive from Zhengzhou International Airport. Since ancient times, it has been prosperous and splendid, with profound historical and cultural connotations.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Zheng Zhuanggong stationed troops in the ancient village of Zhuxian Town to build a city, and the name of the city was "Kaifengfu", which was intended to "expand the territory". During the reign of Han Jing, Kaifeng, the ancient capital of the Eight Dynasties, was opened to avoid the emperor. During the Warring States Period,

A long history has given birth to rich culture. There are many cultural landscapes in Zhuxian Town, and cultural relics and historic sites are scattered all over the place. There is the Yuefei Temple in Zhuxian Town, one of the "Three Great Yuemiao Temples in China", the woodcut New Year pictures in Zhuxian Town, which was rated as the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage, and the Zhuxian Town Mosque, whose architectural style is called "the largest mosque in East Asia". It is also the birthplace of Xiang Fu tune, the mother of Henan Opera.

With the vicissitudes of the world, other ancient towns are becoming more and more prosperous. Only Zhuxian Town "prospers because of water and declines because of water", which is silent in the long history.

The history of Zhuxian Town should not be silent, and the Millennium ancient town should be revived. In the new period, the construction of the Central Plains Economic Zone and the integration of Zhengzhou and Bian have achieved remarkable results. Zhuxian Town, the hometown of Kaifeng, with its rich cultural tourism resources and good location advantages, will develop into an important supporting point for Henan Province to build a cultural province and Kaifeng's cultural tourism system.

On May 9th, 20 12, the foundation stone laying ceremony was held for the old garden scenic spot in Kaifeng, Zhuxian Town, which was invested and built by Henan Happy Party Group. This project is a key project in Henan Province, a key tourism project in the province and a key project in Kaifeng City, which integrates ancient town customs and culture, high-end pension and ecological sightseeing agriculture. The total planned area of the project is about 5,300 mu, with a total investment of 654.38+0.2 billion yuan. It is divided into eight functional areas: ancient town customs area, scenic area around the lake, leisure resort area, ancient battlefield cultural experience area, ecological farmer experience area, cultural and creative health care area, ecological wetland experience area and ecological woodland sightseeing area.

With the planning and development concept of "eco-city construction, cultural dream extension, external classicality and internal fashion", Qifeng Old Park in Zhuxian Town has built a tourist destination focusing on water sightseeing, entertainment, shopping, leisure and holiday activities, and created a characteristic tourism complex.

Zhuxian Town's Kaifeng Hometown deeply excavates the historical development of the ancient town of Zhu Xian, and vividly reproduces the prosperous features of Zhuxian Town, with prosperous business, splendid culture, continuous water transportation and lights along the river. Take the development of modern tourism as the main body, drive the people in the surrounding areas to get rid of poverty and become rich, and accelerate the construction of beautiful countryside around Zhuxian Town; According to the current situation of scenic spots, relying on the original ecological environment, taking local culture, history, customs and customs as resources and taking the urban population as the goal, we will develop characteristic tourism projects that meet the needs of modern tourists.

The old garden in Kaifeng, Zhuxian Town, deeply excavates the historical and cultural connotation of Zhuxian Town. While advocating various conventional tourism forms such as cultural tour, historical tour, leisure tour, experience tour, etc., we extensively draw lessons from advanced tourism design and planning concepts at home and abroad, and put forward a brand-new multi-format comprehensive tourism development model to provide tourists with original ecological and humanized services.

At present, Zhu Zhen Kaifeng hometown has been completed and opened, covering an area of 870 mu. Including Zhu Xian ancient town, water transport granary area, Juxian Lake, Zhuangyuan Street, Kuixing Street, Xiabaxing Street and other areas. The gathering of ancient buildings, waterfront houses and characteristic shops in the north and south of the Yangtze River will open a romantic and warm trip to the Central Plains for tourists.

Qifeng Old Garden in Zhuxian Town takes the retro architecture in Ming and Qing Dynasties as the main architectural type, and integrates with heavy history and traditional culture, presenting visitors with the unique features of the Central Plains water town, which is "the town and lake are connected, the scenery and lake are interdependent, the town is in the water, the water is in the town, and the town and lake are integrated", which reproduces the bustling scene of Zhuxian Town in the past, with merchant ships shuttling day and night, bright lights on both sides of the river at night and spectacular scenery along the river.

Third, Foshan Town

Foshan, formerly known as Jihuatang.

During the Tang Dynasty, Foshan's handicraft industry, commerce and culture were very prosperous. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it developed into an important town in Lingnan, with merchants gathering and developed industry and commerce. It is also known as the "Four Famous Towns" in China with Hankou Town in Hubei, Jingdezhen Town in Jiangxi and Zhuxian Town in Henan, and as the "Four Famous Towns" in the world with Beijing, Hankou and Suzhou. The four major industries of ceramics, textile, casting and medicine in South China are developing vigorously. In the late Qing Dynasty, Foshan became one of the birthplaces of modern national industries in China. The first new reeling factory and the first match factory in China were born one after another, and the Takeguchi Factory of Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Company was established.

A long history has given birth to a unique Lingnan traditional culture. Foshan is known as the hometown of ceramic art, Cantonese opera, martial arts, Guangzhou yarn center, Lingnan medicine center, southern casting center and folk art center.

Foshan is "South Tao Dou", with a long history of pottery making, with a history of more than 700 years. Since ancient times, it has been known as "Shiwanwa, the best in the world". Nanfeng ancient stove, built in Zhengde period of Ming Dynasty, is the oldest firewood burning dragon kiln in the world. It has been handed down from generation to generation for more than 400 years and is known as the "living fossil of ceramics". In 2005, Foshan won the title of "China Porcelain Capital".

Foshan is the birthplace of "Southern Red Bean" Cantonese Opera. The pronoun of Cantonese opera artists-"Children of the Red Boat" was born, and the Qionghua Guild Hall, the earliest opera organization of Cantonese opera, was also born. Folk organization Cantonese Opera singing "private company" is a major feature of Foshan culture with a long history. The annual Qionghua Cantonese Opera Art Festival makes Foshan present a grand occasion of "Red Boat Sleeping at Night, Millions of People Watching Qionghua".

Foshan is the "hometown of Lingnan medicine". Founder medicine has a history of more than 400 years, and its products are complete, which can be divided into seven categories: ointment, pill, powder, tea, oil and wine. It is an essential Chinese patent medicine for artisans, families and travelers, and a number of time-honored and famous medicines such as "Huangxianghua" Ruyi Oil, "Dazhong" Medicinal Liquor and "Yuanjilin" Ganhe Tea have emerged.

The foundry industry in Foshan began more than 2000 years ago. Ding, pot, bell and tower made in Foshan in Song Dynasty were famous all over the country. By the Ming Dynasty, Foshan's casting technology reached a high level and became the smelting center of South China. During the Opium War, the cannons cast in Foshan played an important role in resisting foreign invasion.

Foshan is the cradle of folk art in the Pearl River Delta. It has nurtured and preserved a large number of folk arts and customs that embody the essence of Lingnan culture, such as autumn colors, lion dancing, dragon boat rap and dragon boat racing. In autumn, traditional handicrafts such as paper-cutting, woodcut New Year pictures, pottery sculpture, gray carving and brick carving are exquisite and unique. At the end of 2005, Foshan participated in the declaration of six projects, including lion dance, Cantonese opera, dragon boat rap, Foshan woodblock New Year pictures, Guangdong paper-cutting and Shiwan pottery sculpture skills, and entered the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage recommendation lists.

Since ancient times, Foshan has been rich in humanities and talented people. Since the Tang Dynasty, Guangdong * * * has nine champions, and Foshan has taken five. Ming and Qing Dynasties are "humanistic places with both gas standards and broad norms". In modern times, Kang Youwei, the leader of the Reform Movement, political activists Zhang, Dai Hongci, Tan Pingshan, He Xiangning, Luo Dengxian and Deng Pei, national industrialists Chen Qiyuan and Jane Yujie, scientists Zhan Tianyou and Zou, writers Wu, famous Cantonese opera stars, martial arts masters Liang Zan, Bruce Lee and other famous doctors. , can be competent for their own work.

In recent years, focusing on the goal of building a famous cultural city, Foshan has promoted the integration of traditional historical culture and modern urban culture, shaped an open, compatible and innovative Foshan cultural image, and made every effort to build a "cultural city" brand. The Forum of Asian Ministers of Culture, the 7th Asian Arts Festival, the 6th China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival and the Guangdong International Music Summer Camp were successfully held, which had a great influence at home and abroad. All kinds of cultural facilities are at an advanced level in the whole province and the whole country, and a multi-level supporting cultural service network has basically taken shape. Guangdong Cantonese Opera Theatre and Guangdong Cantonese Opera Museum are in Foshan, and the International Art Exchange Center of China Artists Association is in Shunde. Foshan Folk Art Research Association and Foshan Peacock Gallery Audio-visual Electrical Appliance Co., Ltd. were recognized as the first batch of national cultural industry demonstration bases; Shiwan Town Street in Chancheng District was rated as "China Charming Town", Daqitou Village in Sanshui District and Bijiang Community in Shunde District were rated as "National Famous Historical and Cultural Villages".

Foshan is rich in tourism resources and is a famous tourist attraction. Foshan Ancestral Temple, Xiqiao Mountain, Nanfeng Ancient Stove, Qinghui Garden, Zaoping Peak, Nanguo Taoyuan, Chencun Flower World and Sanshui Lotus World were rated as "New Eight Scenes of Foshan". Among them, the Foshan ancestral temple, which integrates ancient ceramics, wood carving, casting and architectural art, is known as the "palace of oriental art"; Xiqiao Mountain is a national-level scenic spot with the reputation of "two famous mountains in South Guangdong". Shunde Qinghui Garden and Foshan Liangyuan are four famous gardens in Guangdong in Qing Dynasty. Gaoming is the highest peak in Foshan; Chencun Flower World is the largest flower production and trading base and flower culture theme park in southern China. Sanshui World is the largest lotus ecological park in the world, with the richest variety resources. There are also Li Donghua, Kang Youwei's former residence, Baolin Temple, Lubao Ancestral Hall, Huang Feihong Memorial Hall and Bruce Lee Memorial Hall. Let visitors appreciate the unique Lingnan culture. At present, Foshan's characteristic tourism with the theme of history and culture, southern martial arts, business exhibitions, industrial sightseeing, leisure and vacation, shopping and food, and beautifying home is in the ascendant.

Foshan has a long history of food culture and is the "hometown of food" in the Pearl River Delta. Foshan is one of the cradles of Cantonese cuisine, and is known as "Food in Guangdong, Teacher in Foshan". Foshan has always been famous at home and abroad for its rich folk recipes, numerous restaurants and superb cooking skills. In 2004, Shunde was named "the hometown of chefs in China" by China Cuisine Association. In order to promote Foshan food culture, the "Foshan Food Festival" held every year during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period has become a grand tourism festival integrating food, tourism, culture and art.

4. Hankou Town

There is a very important city at the intersection of the Yangtze River and Hanshui River, that is, Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province and the largest metropolis in Central China; However, it was not long before Wuhan formed a unified administrative division. For a long time, there were three towns here, Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, these three places were not even in a prefecture-level administrative region. Take the Qing Dynasty as an example. Wuchang County belonged to Wuchang Prefecture in Qing Dynasty, and it was Guo Fu County of Wuchang Prefecture. Hanyang County belongs to Hanyang Prefecture, Hanyang Prefecture belongs to Guojun, and Hankou was once under the jurisdiction of Hanyang Prefecture.

It was not until the Northern Expeditionary Army conquered the three towns of Wuhan in modern times that the National Government officially moved its capital from Guangzhou to Wuhan on New Year's Day 1927, when Wuchang, Hanyang and Hankou were regarded as "Jingzhao District". This is the first time in history that the three towns have been merged into one administrative division in official documents.

So, where is the core of Wuhan? It's really hard to say the scope of the "Three Towns in Wuhan", that is, the seven central urban areas in Wuhan today, Wuchang (now Wuchang District, Qingshan District and Hongshan District) where the Wuhan Provincial Party Committee and the provincial government are located; China, the birthplace of modern Wuhan industry, is located in Hanyang (now Hanyang District); Financial, trade and foreign exchange centers and major transportation hubs