Baxi Ancient Town - Zhongshan

Author: Li Zheliang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-09-01
Features: The architectural art blends harmoniously with the natural environment, exuding a unique charm and vitality. Over the centuries, the indigenous people of various ethnic groups and immigrants have lived here, weaving countless simple yet beautiful stories. The mountainous and picturesque landscape of the Ba Yu region boasts a long history and rich cultural heritage. From the establishment of villages by indigenous settlers around 4,000 years ago to the emergence of towns along the river during the Spring and Autumn period, and culminating in the elevation of Gongzhou to Chongqing Prefecture in August 1189 (September 18, 1189) during the 16th year of the Chunxi era of the Southern Song Dynasty, and finally becoming the largest commodity trading hub in eastern Sichuan during the Jiaqing era of the Qing Dynasty, the development of market towns has kept pace with the times. As regional economic and social hubs, many of these towns originated in the Qin and Han dynasties, flourished during the Tang and Song dynasties, or reached their peak in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Each is an important cultural symbol of the evolution of Ba Yu civilization, making them highly. The vanished ancient towns cannot be, cloned, or replaced, and the remaining ones are all the more precious due to their rarity. Most of Chongqing's historic and cultural towns are built near mountains and rivers, reflecting the unique architectural style of the Ba Yu region while absorbing cultural influences from Huguang, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. They embody the humanistic pursuit of harmonious coexistence between people and nature. From selecting sites based on feng shui principles to the intricate details of mountain walls, ridges, eaves columns, and door lattices, nearly all residential buildings, ancestral halls, guild halls, temples, theaters, enclosed gateways, covered bridges, cobblestone streets, half-side streets, and wind-and-rain bridges are simple yet functional. The dou-fu houses, suspended wooden structures, and enclosed courtyard-style wind-and-rain courts particularly showcase ingenuity amidst their casual designs. The architectural art harmoniously integrates with the natural environment, exuding a unique charm and vitality. Over the centuries, the indigenous people of various ethnic groups and immigrants have lived here, weaving countless simple yet beautiful stories. Under the relentless noise of modernization, these towns face the risk of disappearing at any moment. However, as long as they endure, the cultural lineage they carry—such as architecture, history, art, and folk customs—remains evident, serving not merely as a means for urban dwellers to reconnect with nature but as a profound cultural heritage. This book, richly illustrated with photographs and written in prose, vividly recreates the original appearance and folk customs of the ancient towns through intuitive visual materials. It delves deeply into the ethnic transformations and historical reforms of the towns, arguing for the practical significance of their development. The cultural analysis of the suspended wooden structures in the ancient towns conducted in this book also holds academic value.