Ningchang

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 50,000 to 60,000 words of descriptive text to introduce a historical and cultural ancient town in Chongqing. We aim to achieve a realism and presence in the images that can bring the depth and transcendence of the text into a specific temporal and spatial framework; at the same time, the text fosters divergent thinking, allowing the visual and intuitive nature of the images to be interpreted in multiple dimensions. This aim has largely been achieved. Therefore, this series not only helps in calling for people to understand, pay attention to, 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 record.
The Ba Yu region boasts majestic mountains and rivers, a long history, and rich cultural heritage. From the indigenous peoples who established villages on this land about 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 period of the Southern Song Dynasty (September 18, 1189), to its becoming the largest commodity exchange center in eastern Sichuan during the Jiaqing period 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 of the evolution of Ba Yu civilization and is highly worth attention.
Disappeared ancient towns cannot be reborn, cloned, or replaced, making the remaining ones even more precious. Most of Chongqing's historical 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 humans and nature. From the grand selection of locations based on feng shui principles to the intricate components and decorations of mountain walls, ridges, eaves columns, and door lattices, almost all residential buildings, ancestral halls, guild halls, temples, theaters, enclosed doors, arcaded bridges, cobblestone streets, half-side streets, and wind-and-rain bridges are simple yet functional. The dou-fu houses, suspended-floor houses, and courtyard-style wind-and-rain courts particularly showcase ingenuity amidst their casual designs. The architectural art blends harmoniously with the natural environment, creating a lively and charming atmosphere.
Over the centuries, the indigenous people of multiple ethnicities and migrants from other places 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 continue to exist, the cultural lineage they carry—such as architecture, history, art, and folk customs—remains visible, serving not just as a means for urban dwellers to seek a return to nature but also as a profound cultural heritage.
This illustrated book vividly reproduces the original appearance and folk customs of ancient towns through its prose-style writing and, delving deeply into the ethnic changes and historical reforms of the towns and arguing for the practical significance of their development. The cultural analysis and research on the suspended-floor houses in ancient towns presented in this book also holds academic value.