Exploring the "First Village through the Ages"-Liukeng

Maybe I am ignorant. Before I arrived in Lean County, Jiangxi Province, the Ming and Qing architecture in Jiangxi Province was mainly concentrated in Wuyuan area, such as Likeng, Chunling and Likeng. I was surprised when I arrived at Liukeng Ancient Village, 38 kilometers away from Le 'an. Its large area, many ancient buildings, ingenious layout and profound culture are beyond the reach of other ancient villages, but because of its low-key connotation, many people don't know it like me. Then let's go into Liukeng Ancient Village and find out!

Looking at the past and present in the pit of ancient villages

Liukeng Ancient Village is located in Tian Niu Town, Le 'an County, at the junction of Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong provinces. It takes about an hour and a half to drive from Ji 'an to Liukeng Ancient Village Tourism Service Center, which is a building integrating classical charm and modern style. There are many talented people in Liukeng Ancient Village. In the history of this village, there are two champions, thirty-four scholars and seventy-four juren. Not far from the village, clusters of ancient camphor trees adorn and cover the whole village like an open umbrella. The green camphor leaves set off the blue sky and white clouds and melted in the gray-white buildings, bringing me into vastness and mystery. A long-lost homesickness rippled in my heart in an instant.

Liukeng Ancient Village was founded in the Five Dynasties, rose in the Song Dynasty, declined in the Yuan Dynasty, flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and was weaker than the Republic of China. This ancient village is backed by green hills and surrounded by water on three sides. It is located in the center of the basin in hilly areas. There is a gap in the southeast corner of the basin. A clear river flows from the mountains in the southeast. The river is clear and melodious, and it turns west at the edge of the village, which gives Liukeng Village the victory of Shuipillow Mountain and irrigates the boats and rafts. In the distance, the mountains are green and the fog is fluttering; Nearby, surrounded by rivers, towering old trees are filled with dignified and peaceful atmosphere; On the riverside around the village, wild gulls gather and hundreds of birds sing; The water around the village is clear and lovely, and there is a delicate state in the clarity; Outside the courtyard of the ancient village, there are blue bricks and green willows. Curved rivers, quiet ancient villages, vast blue sky, long white clouds and narrow stone bridges constitute the poetic outline of ancient villages.

A group of peasant women dressed in all kinds of clothes, washing quilts along the green slate by the river, are skillful and elegant, inadvertently adding a little leisure to the ancient village. The river around the ancient village is called Wujiang, with the same name as Wujiang where Chu committed suicide. However, it is the mother river that has nurtured Liukeng in the ancient village for thousands of years, giving endless warmth to the villagers who have lived in Liukeng for generations, and even giving endless homesickness to the wanderers in Qian Qian.

The streets and alleys of the ancient village are paved with bluestone pebbles, so that passers-by can avoid the pain of dusty sunny days and muddy roads in rainy days. The roadway is less than two meters wide, sandwiched between antique old houses on both sides, because there is no end in sight at the corner, and smoke clouds linger like a dream. Rows of old houses have long been eroded by wind and rain, and the bright colors have faded, but they have left us with warm blue reverie. Among the more than 500 existing buildings in Liukeng Village, there are 260 traditional buildings and sites in Ming and Qing Dynasties, including 19 buildings and sites in Ming Dynasty, 59 pavilions and more than 50 ancestral halls. It is the only ancient architectural complex with complete types, large quantity, large scale and remarkable characteristics in Jiangxi.

The floating pits in ancient villages are not only the result of the long-term influence of Confucian culture, but also the result of the general trend of China's economy moving southward. With the rapid rise of the southern economy, the imperial examination system provides a rare historical opportunity for prepared southerners. Groups of cheaters have also joined the tide of imperial examinations, bringing a lot of wealth as well as various glories. Therefore, based on the profound Confucian cultural heritage, supplemented by political capital and economic strength, a Liukeng village with natural scenery and human landscape complements each other.

Come back from the pit without looking at the village

When I swam to the lantern, the light was dim, like the eyes of a sleepy old man. Alleys criss-cross, cobblestone pavement shining innocent light. Due to the need of transformation and development, most residents of the ancient village have moved out of the village. Only a few old people are reluctant to leave the village for the time being, because they have been used to living in old houses all their lives. And I became the only tourist in the ancient village at the moment, which is exactly what I want. Because it can let me feel the real flavor of ancient villages quietly, undisturbed and unfocused, talk to those old houses that have experienced hundreds of years of wind and rain, explore the life imprint of the owners of old houses from those broken walls, high walls, secluded alleys and hanging smoke columns, and listen to their stories.

I walked through narrow alleys, often with the doors of old houses wide open but empty. Wujiang River is like a bow back, and Longhu Lake is like a bowstring. The terrain is high and the string is low, and the ancient village is built according to the situation. Wujiang river passes around the village, and Longhu passes through the village. Surrounded by green hills in the distance, the ancient villagers arched. The so-called "Ma Tiannan Pool, Xuefeng North Qu, Yuping East Column, Jinjiang Xi Zhi". One of the mountain basins is fertile and natural. Typical land of feng shui. The ancients' understanding and attention to geomantic omen reached its acme in Liukeng Ancient Village.

The architectural layout of Liukeng Ancient Village is based on eight streets and lanes, "one horizontal and seven vertical". The main lane is opposite the Wujiang River, which introduces the wind from the river into the village. There is a complete drainage system and a perfect feng shui pattern. Alleys are as dense as cobwebs, criss-crossing with main roads to form a traffic grid. Starting from any alley, you can reach the ancient village. There are promising buildings at the beginning and end of the roadway, which are open early and closed late and have defensive functions. In addition to these basic structures, there are ancestral halls, temples, attics, archways, shops, wells, towers, tombs, academies, bridges and other ancient buildings in the village. Among the antiquities left by the ancient village, those carvings are the most amazing. Brick carvings, wood carvings, plaques, murals, etc. They are all very delicate, and their cultural characteristics are precious. Here, Liukeng Ancient Village shows the world a complete relic of ancient civilization.

There are covered bridges on both sides of Longhu Lake, connecting the ancient villages into a whole. This is not only a avenue, but also a meeting place. The villagers regard this bridge as a city. At 5 o'clock every morning, the bridge market is already a lively scene. Local products such as vegetables, grain and oil, fruits, fish and poultry will be traded here in exchange for the required goods. After the market was over, those cement booths instantly became leisure tables and chairs. The villagers talk about farming and mulberry and see the scenery here. It is a quiet, natural, peaceful and peaceful mountain residence.

Sweeping the dust of history, Liukeng ancient village has been in an old state. Looking around, overturned colonnades, scattered tiles, wind-eroded carved windows and mottled painted doors can be seen everywhere. Many unknown Highgarden quadrangles have been rebuilt, some of which have changed hands; People go to empty buildings, grass grows and warblers fly, and loneliness is unbearable. Strolling through Liukeng, whether walking through seven horizontal and one vertical alleys or overlooking the overall layout of Liukeng Village by aerial photography, you can clearly feel the traces of ancient geomantic culture in architecture. In the roadway construction, Liukeng Ancient Village adopts a comb pattern with seven horizontal and one vertical, and there are many alleys criss-crossing inside the roadway, just like a maze. There are watchtowers at the beginning and end of each roadway, which are connected with the village wall vertically and horizontally. After all the watchtowers are closed, the whole village will be completely closed. This design is conducive to preventing bandits and theft in a special period and ensuring the long-term stability of the whole village.

When visiting Liukeng, many tourists admire the large scale, reasonable layout, complete functions and complete preservation of these buildings in Ming and Qing Dynasties, just like an ideal city, but they are also curious about what made the glorious history of this thousand-year-old village. Some people say that it is farming and studying, and some people say that it is a prosperous agricultural business. Opinions vary, even in the local area, and there is no conclusion.

Farming, reading, heirloom, thriving.

Liukeng Ancient Village covers an area of about 3.6 1 km2, 1200 households with more than 6,000 people. Liukeng Ancient Village is dominated by Dong surname. According to Dong Shi's genealogy, Dong Zhongshu, a great scholar in the Western Han Dynasty who respected "ousting a hundred schools of thought and Confucianism alone", was the ancestor, and Dong Jin, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, was the near ancestor and the grandson of Dong Jin VI. According to textual research, Liukeng Ancient Village was built in the Southern Tang Dynasty in the Five Dynasties, and it is a family village with Dongshi as its blood relationship. There is a saying in the village that "one door has five scholars and four ministers in two dynasties". The ancient village, with the reputation of "civil and military integrity, scholars are like stars", is also a microcosm of the feudal patriarchal society in China. In the long years of 1000 years, the elite of Dongshi relied on the strict feudal clan system to unite all ethnic groups, maintain order and develop steadily. In the Yuan Dynasty, this ancient village was burned down by soldiers. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people of insight in the village continued their ancestral business, set up schools, built temples, and developed bamboo and wood trade, which made Liukeng Village prosperous again.

At the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, the imperial court began to emphasize literature over martial arts, and the imperial examination was promoted. The grandson Dong, the founder of Liukeng, seized the opportunity to set up a university hall and library, and achieved remarkable results. First, Dong Chun, Dong's nephew, was a scholar in 10 15, and then he was the champion of civil and military culture in 1 year. Since then, talents have come forth in large numbers, and farming and reading have become a common practice. Until the mid-Qing Dynasty, Liukeng * * * was admitted to 34 Jinshi, 78 Juren, and 100 people were admitted to the official. This amazing achievement is rare anywhere in the history of China.

In the ancient village of Liukeng, the importance attached to rejuvenating the family through the imperial examination is clearly reflected in many buildings in the village. We saw a Huaide Hall in the village with a bas-relief mural on the main wall. There are many elements in the painting, but they all have auspicious meanings of being an official.

There is also a Zhuangyuan Building in Qipan Street on the west side of Liukeng Village, which was built in the Southern Song Dynasty to commemorate Dong, the champion of the Southern Song Dynasty. It was rebuilt in the late Qing Dynasty, but many pillars are still relics of the Ming Dynasty. The plaque of "Zhuangyuan Building" hanging in the attic and the couplet of "The article of Nangong counselor is expensive, and the surname of Beique comes first" are said to have been written by Zhu. The purpose of building this building is to encourage the descendants of Dongshi to remember the imperial examination.

In the north of the village, there is the largest, oldest and best-preserved Wen Yuan, which was built in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. It is a three-level hard mountain building with a courtyard, including a front porch, front and rear patios, Champion Bridge, Shangtang, Chi Pan, a garden and a library building. This is the largest gathering place of academies and scholars in Liukeng Ancient Village. It is said that the library once had 10,000 books, but it has been destroyed. According to records, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were nearly 30 libraries and schools in Liukeng, which was unique among the famous cultural towns in China. It can be seen that the ancestors of Dong Shi attached great importance to the cultural education of future generations, and these practices of rebuilding ancestral temples and libraries were also caused by the far-reaching influence of cultural inheritance on future generations. (Photo/Deng)

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