Ancient Town Books: Shanxi Volume

Author: Editorial Department of "Ancient Town Books" / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-09-01
Features: For the convenience of narration, the term "ancient town" used in this series broadly refers to all well-preserved ancient buildings, traditional living customs, and lifestyles of ancient cities, towns, courtyards, as well as ethnic minority villages with old architecture and unique customs. Each volume of this series selects and introduces ancient towns after repeated comparisons in terms of regional division, transportation, preservation status, and scenic value. About half of them are "well-known ancient towns" with relatively mature tourism support services, while the other large number are ancient towns that have not yet been developed for tourism. These latter ones are generally located in remote areas with inconvenient transportation but often retain genuine ecological traditional rural landscapes.
Shanxi Province is located in the middle section of the Yellow River Basin on the Loess Plateau. It is named Shanxi because it lies west of the Taihang Mountains. During the Spring and Autumn Period, it was the land of the Jin State, hence the abbreviation "Jin." In the early Warring States Period, the Jin State was divided among the three states of Han, Zhao, and Wei, so it is also referred to as the "Three Jin States." The long course of history has left countless traces on the land of the Three Jin States, and the numerous ancient villages scattered across central, northern, southeastern, and southern Shanxi have faithfully recorded many historical fragments.
In ancient times, the climate here was mild, and the land was fertile, making it an ideal place for human settlement. However, after the vicissitudes of time, the vast fertile plains turned into a. To survive, many people in Shanxi abandoned their traditional farming and weaving lives and ventured into commerce, giving rise to the once-proigious Shanxi merchants. Several ancient cities in the central Shanxi region were the commercial and financial centers during the heyday of the Shanxi merchants, becoming living specimens of the Han Chinese culture. Many Shanxi merchants accumulated their wealth in their hometowns, building luxurious courtyard-style mansions that were passed down through generations, continuously expanded, and formed villages centered around these grand courtyards. Between each beam and pillar, the profound Shanxi merchant culture is reflected.
In the Taihang Mountains of northern Shanxi, as well as the Loess Plateau in southeastern and southern Shanxi, the soil is evenly layered and thick and hard. This has allowed the local villagers to retain the primitive tradition of cave dwellings. The various types of caves scattered in these areas can be seen as a unique charm in Shanxi residential architecture.
In addition to the distinctive cuisine and rich folk customs that Shanxi people have created, each person who visits Shanxi's ancient towns can touch the purity, simplicity, and mystery of the Loess culture.