Ningchang -- Ancient Town of Ba Yu

Author: Aman
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-09-01
Features: This set of illustrated books on ancient towns is an effort to contribute our share. It includes 8 books, each featuring 100 banners and 150 photographs, along with corresponding descriptive text of 50,000 to 60,000 words, to introduce a historic and cultural ancient town in Chongqing. We aim to achieve a balance where the realism and presence of the images can bring the depth and transcendence of the text into a specific temporal and spatial framework; while the text fosters divergent thinking, it can also provide multidimensional interpretations of the visual and intuitive nature of the images. This goal has largely been met. Therefore, this series not only helps in calling for people to understand, appreciate, and protect ancient towns but also contributes to enhancing cultural awareness, promoting tourism development, and advancing urban construction. Even when a certain ancient town inevitably disappears, this series can serve as a historical record.
The Ba Yu region is renowned for its majestic mountains and rivers, profound history, and rich cultural heritage. From the indigenous peoples who established villages on this land around 4,000 years ago to the emergence of cities along the river in the Spring and Autumn period, and from the promotion of Gongzhou to Chongqing Fu in the eighth month of the sixteenth year of the Chunxi era of the Southern Song Dynasty (September 18, 1189), to its becoming the largest commodity exchange center in eastern Sichuan during the Jiaqing era of the Qing Dynasty, the establishment of market towns has evolved over time. 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 in the evolution of Ba Yu civilization and deserves careful attention.
Disappeared ancient towns cannot be reborn, cloned, or replaced, making the remaining ones even more precious. Most of Chongqing's historic and cultural ancient towns were built near mountains and rivers, reflecting the unique architectural style of the Ba Yu region while absorbing cultural influences from regions such as Huguang, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. They embody the humanistic pursuit of harmonious coexistence between people and nature. From the grand selection of locations based on feng shui principles to the intricate details of mountain walls, ridges, eaves columns, and door lattices, almost all residential buildings, ancestral halls, guild halls, temples, theaters, enclosed courtyards, covered bridges, stone-paved streets, half-side streets, and wind and rain bridges are simple yet functional. The freestanding houses, suspended wooden structures, and open-air rain shelters in courtyard-style designs particularly showcase ingenuity amidst informality. The architectural art seamlessly blends with the natural environment, creating a lively and charming atmosphere.
Over the centuries, the indigenous people of multiple ethnicities and migrants from other regions have lived and thrived in these towns, weaving countless simple yet beautiful stories. Under the relentless pressure of modernization, they face the risk of disappearing at any moment. However, as long as they endure, the cultural heritage they carry—such as architecture, history, art, and folk customs—remains visible, serving not just as a retreat for urban dwellers seeking a return to nature but also as a vital part of cultural continuity.
This book, with its rich illustrations and descriptive text, vividly recreates the original appearance and folk customs of ancient towns in an essayistic style, delving deeply into their ethnic transformations and historical reforms while arguing for the practical significance of their development. The cultural analysis of the suspended wooden structures in ancient towns presented in this book also holds academic value.