Seeking Tangjiawan - Discovering Chinese Architecture

Author: Zhu Xiaoming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: The residential units in Tangjia Ancient Town are called "bao," which are both fixed living units formed by the continuous branching of clan branches and basic defensive units. This type of bao structure is not unique to Tangjia Ancient Town. In Jingyangmen Village on the east bank, the village is divided into two fortresses (east and west), with the entire village having four bao residential units—east bao, west bao, south bao, and north bao. The architectural quality of the two lanes in the east bao is superior to that of the three lanes in the west bao, reflecting the local residents' economic characteristic of living in clans. Currently, the directions of each bao are still clearly identifiable from road signs. The bao structure in Tangjia Ancient Town is relatively hidden but very stable, carrying a wealth of historical information. The construction of all houses underwent a long process of "room division," reflecting the family reproduction history of Southern Yue residential architecture. Generally, each bao has between seventy and eighty households. As the branches continued to divide, a new house was built for each new lineage, followed by the construction of ancestral halls. Over time, a neat, unified, and densely packed group of buildings formed. Tangjia Ancient Town has maintained a complete traditional model of clan settlement to this day, with very clear and distinct marks, commonly known as "Five Bao." Outside the bao, earthen walls and gates separate them, serving as important defensive measures against the outside. The bao are interconnected with each other, and numerous clan and family ancestral halls are built within them. According to Mr. Tang Yougan's book Chu Yong Canglang—History of Tangjiawan, the residents living in the areas of Dama Temple, Xindi Straight Street, and Longding within the Tangjia Three Temples are from the Liang Yifu branch (Five Bao); those living in the northern section of Datong Road, Datong Straight Street, and the Liang Clan Ancestral Hall are from the Liang Renfu branch (Four Bao); those settled in Yinkeng Village, Bianshan Straight Street, upper and lower Bianshan outer streets, and Longgang Street belong to the second largest branch of Tangjia, the Haojie branch (Two Bao); those living in the middle section of Shanfang Road, the western section of Datong Road, Zhongxin Society, Daheteng, and Longding are from the third largest branch of Tangjia, the Senxuan branch (Three Bao); and the branch with the most mobility and the widest distribution of clans is the Tang Clan's largest branch, the Ying branch (One Bao). Modern celebrities such as Tang Shaoyi, Tang Guoan, and Tang Xiong all belong to this branch. They are distributed in Tangjia Village, Jishan, and Xiangshan County, but are not very concentrated. Over a span of six hundred years, the living locations of each branch have remained relatively unchanged, with generations of offspring and outstanding talents emerging, a phenomenon rarely seen in the highly mobile coastal areas.