Jiangxi, the "first village in the ages", has a large number of rare ancient buildings in Ming and Qing dynasties, but few people know about them.

Liukeng Ancient Village, located in the southwest of Le 'an County, Fuzhou, Jiangxi Province, is known as "the first village through the ages" although it is "unpopular". Tracing back to its history, the ancient village existed in the Southern Tang Dynasty of the Five Dynasties (937-943). According to the genealogy of Liukeng Dong Shi, their ancestor was Dong Jin, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, and later moved from Anhui to Jiangxi because of the war.

From the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Dong Shi family began to promote education, build temples and develop bamboo and wood trade. Not only did the imperial examinations flourish, but talents came forth in large numbers, and they also controlled the bamboo and wood business in Wujiang. For a time, many wealthy businessmen emerged and built houses in succession, and Liukeng once again showed a thriving face. It has also become a well-known "first village through the ages".

One morning in early spring, I drove to Liukeng Village, parked my car in the parking lot at the end of the village and walked into the village. At this time, the cement floor has been replaced by mottled bluestone roads and cobblestone roads, which have been extended to the village. The covered bridge on Longhu is the place where villagers move. The market is very busy in the morning, and the noise can be heard far away.

The villagers were very enthusiastic when they saw outsiders coming in. They have been selling us fruits, vegetables, chickens, ducks and fish. Even if you don't buy it, you just put it down with a smile and won't be forced. The village women along the Wujiang River patted their clothes and chatted briefly with their parents. The children ran back and forth, full of fireworks in the countryside. It seems that I haven't seen such a simple scene for many years.

Longhu is the inner lake of Liukeng Village, which divides the village into two parts. In the east, there are more than 260 Huizhou buildings in Ming and Qing Dynasties, which are dazzling enough. These houses are connected by alleys, forming eight streets and lanes with seven horizontal and one vertical. In the past, people lived in different alleys according to their families. Now walking in the alley, there is always a feeling of getting lost at any time, but suddenly enlightened.

Among these ancient buildings in Ming and Qing dynasties, there are ancestral halls, academies, temples, stages, bridges and ancient wells. Houses are all brick-wood structures with one and a half floors, and the lintels and eaves of the houses are well preserved. All kinds of buildings are dazzling, which is extremely rare in classical villages in China, just like browsing through a complete collection of ancient buildings.

The Dong Shi Grand Ancestral Hall, built in the Southern Song Dynasty, was once the most magnificent building in the village, but it was destroyed by Xing Yutang, the remnant of the Northern Warlord Sun, at the beginning of last century. Now there are only five granite pillars left, just like a totem of a flowing pit. Sadly and proudly, it seems to tell the glory of the past, and it is called the "Yuanmingyuan" of Liukeng.

Wenguan is my favorite house. It is next to the Great Ancestral Hall in the east and built with its back to the river. The museum, also known as Jiangdu Academy, is a courtyard and a library. It used to study, give lectures and worship ancestors here. The word "Wen Guan" hung on the lintel is dignified and rich, which shows that the Dong Shi family attached importance to education in those days.

The villagers in Liukeng also like to raise turtles in the patio. The turtles crawl in the patio all the year round, which plays a natural role in dredging the canal. The villagers proudly said that the patio in the village will never be blocked, no matter how heavy it rains, it will be unimpeded. This is also the crystallization of the wisdom of the old ancestors in ancient villages.

When the weather is fine, the entrance of Gu Lou and the alley of the market become the best places for villagers to chat at home. Most young people go out to study and find jobs, leaving the old and children alone in the old house and living a quiet and simple life.

Walking outside the six villages, there is also a lush ancient camphor tree forest. From the perspective of inheritance and age, these ancient camphor trees can be compared with Huizhou architecture in the village, and some even exceed a thousand years. It is a great miracle that they were not destroyed even in turbulent times. With a scale of more than ten kilometers, it can be called "the first ancient camphor tree community" in China.

Every ancient camphor tree has its own legend. In memory of what Wen Tianxiang rode, it was named "An Zhang"; Legend has it that the Three Immortals turned it into "Three Immortals Cinnamomum camphora"; If young men and women embrace each other and are named "Yuanyang Zhanghe" ... I feel relaxed and happy in the ancient camphor tree forest. Not far from the Wujiang River, there were bursts of laughter from village women, which made the whole ancient camphor tree more quiet.