Sanfang Qixiang

Author: Bei Bei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: Three hundred years have passed since the Ming Dynasty, and ninety years have passed since the Qing Dynasty's fall. But the white-walled courtyards still stand, and the green tiles still remain. This book takes you through the old lanes and alleys, into those weathered yet spacious and lofty old houses from the Ming and Qing dynasties, where gold and jade were once inlaid. Inside lies a solidified history, a collection of once-told stories. In modern times, many people are more familiar with NBA stars and the Premier League than with the land beneath their feet. What kind of joys and sorrows has this land experienced? What breaths and exhalations has it undergone? What rises and falls has it witnessed? In fact, reading about it reveals a profound and meaningful perspective on life. Sanfang Qixiang in Fuzhou, namely Yijin Lane, Wenru Lane, Guanglu Lane, Yangqiao Lane, Langguan Lane, Ta Lane, Huang Lane, Anmin Lane, and Jibi Lane, is the only remaining ancient street in China with a traditional lane and alley layout. It is a "Museum of Ming and Qing Architecture." Over 100 prominent figures in modern Chinese history once lived here, including Yan Fu, Shen Baozhen, Lin Xu, Lin Jue?, Lin Huiyin, Xie Bingxin, Yu Dafu, Lu Yin, Guo Huaruo, Chen Jiliang, Chen Yan, and Gan Guobao. How did this tiny Sanfang Qixiang repeatedly prove the saying "excellent land nurtures outstanding people"?
"Lane" and "alley" are two ancient terms, time having rusted them with a thick layer of iron oxide. Beneath the rust, they have become increasingly narrow, cramped, yellowed, and distant. It seems they have shrunk into the corner of the world. It seems they are fragile like a withered leaf. It seems their sobs have gradually choked. The overwhelming fashion of modern society has nothing to do with them; they belong to the past, to bygone days. But if one reflects, as long as one reflects, one sees them once bloomed like flowers deep in the depths of time. Vertically and horizontally, square and straight, they are so orderly, as if a well-trained army, as if a chessboard with strict rules. Ancient Chinese cities were primarily based on a grid street system, with well-organized and orderly zoning. From the Warring States period to the early Northern Song Dynasty, the city implemented the "market and lane" system, with lanes serving as residential areas and businesses confined to designated markets. After the mid-Northern Song Dynasty, the "street and lane" system was adopted, with lane walls torn down, residential areas expanding from small lanes into horizontally aligned alleys, and businesses arranged along the city's main streets. Only in Fuzhou's Sanfang Qixiang did the meanings of "lane" and "alley" remain largely the same, even overlapping.
In 202 BC, when Fuzhou was first established, it was called "Yecheng," ruled by Wu Zetian's descendant Wu Zhu. Two hundred years later, in the Western Jin Dynasty, Fuzhou had already grown somewhat. The first prefect of the newly established Jin'an Prefecture, Yan Gao, found the city too small and built a prefectural city on the southern foot of Pingshan, called "Zicheng." In the first year of the Tianfu era (901 AD), General Wang Shenzhi of the Weiwu Army built a "Luocheng" outside Zicheng with brick walls, said to be the only brick city in the country at the time. Sanfang Qixiang was located in the southwest of Luocheng, covering an area of 661 acres. Yijin Lane, Wenru Lane, Guanglu Lane; Yangqiao Lane, Langguan Lane, Ta Lane, Huang Lane, Anmin Lane, and Jibi Lane. What was the initial form of that road called Nanhou Street? What was its form even earlier, before Wang Shenzhi built Luocheng? No one can tell me, no one can tell me. The short road flows from north to south, with three "hands" extending to the right and seven "feet" spread to the left, like a central axis that elegantly holds the three lanes and seven alleys in its arms, arranged neatly and vertically in an orderly manner. Over a thousand years have passed, yet the layout remains the same, becoming the only remaining ancient street with a traditional lane and alley layout in China, and a "Museum of Ming and Qing Architecture." Who originally designed such a neat layout? Then, over the following years, countless high officials, wealthy merchants, and scholars bought land and built homes here. Why did they all unconsciously maintain this layout, none daring to cross boundaries or break rules? The thunderous stride of modern metropolises has miraculously avoided it time and again, never stepping on it. Was it luck? Or coincidence? Or, as some say, because the old houses with gray tiles and earthen walls are filled with the aura of so many outstanding talents, heaven itself hesitates to abandon them, secretly protecting them to this day?
Turning the pages of history, Yan Fu, Shen Baozhen, Lin Xu, Lin Jue?, Lin Huiyin, Xie Bingxin, Lu Yin, Yu Dafu, and Guo Huaruo would be amazed to discover that a long list of prominent figures who roared and surged on the stage of modern Chinese history have their backgrounds reflected in Sanfang Qixiang to varying degrees. A quick count reveals over a hundred such individuals. Fuzhou, located in the southeastern corner, has always struggled to shine in the spotlight of history. So, what power does this tiny Sanfang Qixiang possess to repeatedly prove the saying "excellent land nurtures outstanding people"?