Shanxi Scenery Tour

Author: Liu Shouru
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-02-01
Features: Pingyao Ancient City is located on the Fen River in the Jinzhong Basin. It was first built during the reign of King Xuan of Zhou and has a history of over 2,700 years. It is one of the four well-preserved ancient cities in China, historically known as "Ancient Pottery." Legend has it that it was the territory of Emperor Yao in ancient times. During the Qin and Han dynasties, it was established as two counties: Jingling and Zhongdu, and was also known as Zhongdu. In the Northern Wei period, to avoid the taboo of Emperor Taiwu (whose name was Tuoba Taosi, and "taosi" and "tao" are homophones), the name was changed from Tao to Pingyao, and this name has been used ever since. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it belonged to the Fenzhou Prefecture. The original city walls of Pingyao were built of rammed earth. In the Ming Dynasty, following Zhu Yuanzhang's strategy of "high walls," the city walls were rebuilt, transforming the old rammed-earth walls into brick and stone walls. Subsequently, during the Jingtai, Zhengde, Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli dynasties, the city walls were repaired and renovated more than ten times, with the addition of city gates and enemy towers. In the 43rd year of the Kangxi reign (1704), Emperor Kangxi passed through Pingyao on his western tour and built four grand city gates, making the city even more magnificent. The circumference of the Pingyao city walls is 6,163 meters, with a height of 12 meters and an average thickness of 5 meters. They are surrounded by a moat. The moat is 3 to 4 meters deep and wide. There are six city gates, with tall corner towers at each corner. There are 72 enemy towers built along the top of the walls and 3,000 crenellations, symbolizing the 72 disciples of Confucius and 3,000 followers. The city wall architecture follows the feudal traditional ritual system of "left ancestor, right temple," meaning the Confucian Temple on the left and the Martial Temple on the right. The streets are crisscrossed in a cross and T-shape, with clear longitude and latitude.
The features of Pingyao Ancient City: The features of Pingyao Ancient City can only be appreciated from a bird's-eye view, where its exquisite design becomes evident. This square-planned ancient city, when viewed from above, resembles a turtle. Originally, the overall layout of the ancient city was designed in the style of a spiritual turtle, hence it is also known as the "Turtle City." The turtle symbolizes auspiciousness, longevity, and peace in Chinese traditional culture and is considered a mystical creature. The turtle city manifests in two aspects: first, the city gates are designed to resemble a turtle; second, the layout of the streets and alleys resembles the patterns on a turtle's back. The ancient designers intentionally created six city gates, each with an outward-facing moat city gate, symbolizing the turtle's head, tail, and four limbs. There is one in the south and two in the east and west. The southern gate of the city is the turtle's head, and the northern gate is the turtle's tail, which is also the lowest point in the city, where all accumulated water in the city must flow out. The four moat city gates in the east and west are paired symmetrically. The moat city gates of the upper west gate, lower west gate, and upper east gate all face south, resembling the turtle's claws extending forward. The only exception is the lower east gate's moat city gate, which opens directly eastward. Legend has it that during the construction of the city, the designers were afraid that the turtle might crawl away, so they deliberately straightened its left leg and tied it to the Lutai Platform, which is 10 kilometers away from the city. This seemingly whimsical tale deeply reflects the ancient people's reverence for the spiritual turtle. It embodies the ancient people's hope to borrow the power of the turtle god to ensure that Pingyao Ancient City remains impregnable, peaceful, and eternal.
The designers of the ancient city also meticulously planned the streets and alleys within it. The entire city is centered around four main streets—east, west, south, and north—with eight small streets and 72 winding alleys crisscrossing them, forming a pattern similar to the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) on a turtle's back. The layout is well-structured and clearly defined, reflecting traditional Chinese culture. The market tower in the northern part of the southern street serves as the heart of the city. This complete and culturally rich structure is unique in the history of Chinese ancient city construction. It has been praised not only by Chinese experts and visitors but also by experts from around the world. Experts from the United Nations Human Settlements Program sincerely called it a "treasure of the Chinese land" and a "unique gem in the world." Professor Tanaka Tsumiko from Kyoto University, a renowned expert from UNESCO, summarized it more concisely and accurately: "Pingyao Ancient City reigns supreme."
Today, Pingyao Ancient City is both a national historical and cultural city and a key cultural relic protection unit.
Features of the Pingyao city walls: The selection of the city wall site follows the principles of "the turtle playing in water" and "mountains and rivers facing the sun," using (danger) to control defense, a traditional selection method. The moat city gates are designed with 90-degree turns, and the protruding city platforms at the corners of the walls facilitate defense. The enemy towers scattered across the top of the walls, along with corresponding enemy platforms, not only expand the field of vision but also enhance offensive capabilities. The walls are built with rammed earth and covered with specially made large bricks (340 mm × 170 mm × 65 mm). All six city gates are constructed of brick and stone. The top of the walls is paved with bricks, and the eaves are built with horse-blocking walls on the outside and parapets on the inside. Inside, there are the Guandi Temple (Guanyin Temple), the Caishen Temple (Wealth God Temple), and the Zhenwu Temple. Originally, there were multi-tiered wooden city towers on top of the gates (now no longer existing), and there is one corner tower on each of the four corners of the walls. The east wall has Yin Jifu's Pointing Tower, and the southeast corner has a Kuixing Tower. The Kuixing Tower is octagonal in plan, with a brick base and a wooden superstructure, standing 24 meters tall. It is surrounded by a moat, and the city gates are connected by flying bridges. Historical records show that during the Ming Dynasty, there were 3,000 guards and laborers responsible for fire cannons, golden spears, horse dung, knives, and patrols, with four team leaders overseeing each crenellation. There were also workshops for manufacturing firearms and gunpowder. Due to its location in a sparsely populated area, the strong city walls and well-trained guards protected Pingyao from invasions by northern enemies during the 19th year of the Jiajing reign (1540).
The southern main street and the market tower of Pingyao Ancient City: The southern main street of Pingyao Ancient City, also known as the commercial ancient street, is the axis of the city. The tallest building, the market tower, serves as the core, forming a symmetrical layout of "left ancestor, right temple," "left culture, right martial," "culture and martial complementing each other," and "orderly hierarchy." The southern main street is over 440 meters long, lined with 78 shops of various sizes on both sides of the narrow street. These include draft banks, money exchange offices, pawn shops, silk and satin shops, traditional Chinese medicine shops, general merchandise stores, opera costume shops, lantern shops, and fan shops. During the late Qing Dynasty, it reached its peak prosperity and was called "Little Beijing." Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, Pingyao's commercial economy has been prosperous, attracting a large number of draft banks and money exchange offices, making it a major commercial hub. Today, some draft banks and shops on the southern main street have been converted into exhibition halls, museums, and markets. For example, the former Baichuan Tong draft bank has been transformed into the Draft Bank Financial Director's Household Objects Exhibition Hall, displaying beds, couches, cabinets, stools, mirrors, utensils, and calligraphy and paintings of the draft bank owners. The former Yunjin Cheng traditional Chinese medicine shop has been turned into the Pingyao Local Traditional Famous Snacks Market. The former Yonglong Hao site has been converted into the Pingyao Lacquer Art Museum.
The market tower is the tallest building on the southern main street. This section (the northern part of the southern main street) was the ancient market where people traded goods, hence the name "market tower." It is also called the "Golden Well Tower" because of a well near the southeast foot of the market tower, whose water is golden in color. The market tower is an ancient three-tiered hip-roof building, standing 18.5 meters tall, with a width and depth of three bays. Pedestrians and vehicles can pass through the middle of the tower. The market tower is one of the 12 scenic spots of Pingyao Ancient City. From the top of the market tower, with a view from the railings, one can see the streets, buildings, pedestrians, and merchants, as well as the surrounding city walls and distant green mountains. The top of the market tower is decorated with exquisite patterns of "Joy in the south" and "Longevity in the north" in different colored glazed tiles, embodying the ancient people's good wishes.
The draft banks of Pingyao in ancient times: The late Qing Dynasty was a period of commercial prosperity for Pingyao. At that time, there were 33 draft banks in Shanxi, and Pingyao accounted for two-thirds of them, with 22 draft banks. They had branch offices in more than 400 cities and countries, with headquarters all in Pingyao. It can be said that the financial and exchange businesses in China at that time were largely monopolized by Pingyao draft banks, reflecting the unique financial nature and prosperity of Pingyao. Draft banks were the earliest form of banks in China. The first draft bank in China was the Rishengchang draft bank in Pingyao, which means "the sun rises, prosperity flourishes," becoming the originator of China's financial industry. Established in the third year of the Daoguang reign (1823), the owner of Rishengchang, Li Dquan, originally ran a pigment business with branch offices in Wuhan and Beijing. At that time, many merchants in Shanxi, especially in Pingyao, opened branch offices in Beijing. During the end-of-year settlement, they had to send silver to their hometowns. For safety, they hired escort companies, which was not only unsafe but also expensive and prone to errors, making it very inconvenient. Someone suggested that instead of sending cash to Shanxi, Li Dquan could collect silver in his Beijing pigment shop and issue certificate-like letters, allowing the holders to exchange silver for the total amount at Rishengchang's headquarters in Pingyao. Since they were familiar with each other, Li Dquan agreed. This method proved convenient, and more people adopted it. One of Li Dquan's managers, Lei Litai, keenly noticed that if they charged a handling fee and exchange fee for the recipients, it would be mutually beneficial and could open a new business. Li Dquan quickly agreed, and thus transformed his pigment shop into a draft bank specializing in cross-regional silver and money exchange, naming it Rishengchang. The initial capital was 300,000 taels of silver. After its establishment, the business flourished, yielding substantial profits, and it was later expanded to Hankou, Tianjin, Beijing, Jinan, Xi'an, Kaifeng, Shanghai, Chengdu, Changsha, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Nanchang, Guilin, Suzhou, Yangzhou, and Zhenjiang, forming a nationwide exchange network that made significant contributions to China's financial and commercial development.
Rishengchang draft bank had 21 buildings and covered an area of 1,400 square meters. The main courtyard consists of two parts: the front courtyard has counter offices, letter offices, and accounting offices, separated by short walls and divided into front and back courtyards; the back courtyard has reception rooms and guest rooms. The counter office resembles today's bank lobby. The east counter handled deposits and withdrawals, while the west counter handled cash transactions. The inner room of the west counter had an underground vault, about 2 meters deep, storing cash. The western wing room was the letter office, dedicated to writing correspondence. The eastern wing room was the accounting office, equivalent to today's accounting room. The main building has two halls on the north and south sides, where large clients were received. The small room on the east side (about 9 square meters) was Lei Litai's manager's office, where he shaped the future of China's financial industry for decades.
After Rishengchang draft bank, many merchants followed suit and established their own draft banks. At their peak, there were 51 draft banks nationwide. In the 30th year of the Guangxu reign (1904), the Qing government decided to try establishing banks, and Empress Dowager Cixi specially ordered Jia Jiyin, the head of the Dadeheng draft bank in Qixian, to establish the Imperial Household Bank. Jia Jiyin warmly welcomed Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu, who had fled to Qixian, when the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing. The Empress Dowager was highly satisfied and later deposited the silver she had looted along the way into the Dadeheng draft bank. By the 34th year of the Guangxu reign (1908), the capital of the Imperial Household Bank increased from 4 million taels to 10 million taels, and it was renamed the Bank of China, with Jia Jiyin appointed as its president. Jia Jiyin's career advancement may seem accidental and special, but it highlights the significant influence and role of Shanxi draft banks in China's financial industry.
The Confucian Temple in the ancient city: Located south of the Chenghuang Temple Street in the Pingyao Middle School campus, the Confucian Temple covers an area of 8,204 square meters and has a construction area of 2,766 square meters, consisting of three groups of buildings. Most of the existing buildings date back to the Ming and Qing dynasties, except for the Grand Hall of Confucius, which was rebuilt in the third year of the Dading reign (1163) (the original construction date is unknown). The Grand Hall of Confucius is situated on a square, high platform and features a single-eaved hip roof with five ridges and six mythical creatures. The ends of the main ridge have two more than 2-meter-high glazed tiles shaped like mythical beasts, making it both majestic and elegant. The spacious hall has an exquisite and unique coffered ceiling, one of the earlier remnants of Confucian temple architecture in China, reflecting the architectural style of the Song and Jin dynasties.
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