Ancient village in Huizhou

Author: Wang Xingming, Luo Gang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-09-01
Features: This is a magical land, the home of Cheng and Zhu, the land of etiquette. It has produced the famous Huizhou officials who held prominence for hundreds of years, nurtured the dazzling Jinjing Huizhou opera troupes, and added brilliant splendor to Chinese culture. It has created magnificent and vibrant cultural heritage. It is precisely because of these past glories and brilliance that the world has been amazed and astonished by the unique Huizhou culture and history. Every time one enters Huizhou, a sense of reverence and wonder arises. It is no wonder that the famous Ming Dynasty dramatist Tang Xianzu emotionally sighed, "In my life, the most enchanting place is Huizhou, where even in dreams I never go." There are countless "enchanting" places in Huizhou that leave one lingering and yearning. Strolling under the ancient and mysterious cultural sky of Huizhou, one is sometimes struck with contemplation, sometimes amazed, sometimes moved to expression, and sometimes filled with nostalgia for the past. Walking through Huizhou brings a wave of joy to the heart, and as one continues to observe, a profound reflection and admiration arise.
In the villages, the towering white-walled and black-tiled Ming and Qing Dynasty residences clearly convey the atmosphere of Huizhou's culture and history. The ancient bridges crisscrossing the Xin'an water system seem to show the path that countless Huizhou merchants walked, leading to the world. The imposing memorial arches stand as if narrating the chapters of history's rise and fall, where there is glory and honor, as well as traces of blood and tears. The solemn ancestral halls and branch halls preserve the authority of the influential families who migrated from Jin to the south. On and around the mountains, academies and book houses stand, allowing people to hear the sound of reading as the "cultural capital," "Southeast Zoulu," and "where even in a village of ten households, reading is never abandoned."
Entering Huizhou, stepping into the grand scroll of Huizhou's cultural history, scenes and images flash vividly in people's minds: ancient bridges, ancient roads, in the autumn wind, the young red-capped merchant Hu Xuyan, carrying his luggage and umbrella, strides forward with a determined step, leaving the mountains to create miracles; in the stern, isolated, and solemn Qingyi Hall, generations of young and middle-aged women, with expressions of indifference, hope, or indifference, turn from black hair to white, from youth to old age; at the entrances, ancient roads, and streets of Tangyue, Xiongcun, Choushu, and Zhengcun, the memorial arches, ranging from the Yuan to the Qing Dynasty, stand tall, telling their joys and sorrows to the world over the centuries, performing a series of; wandering in the academies of Ziyang, Zhushan, and Nanhu, the figure of Zhu Xi teaching Confucian classics and promoting his advocated philosophy comes to mind, revealing that it was during this prosperous era of literary culture that the Huizhou officials realized their dream of "father and son as ministers" and "brothers as Hanlin," protecting and safeguarding commerce; wandering through the villages of Xidi, Hongcun, and Tangmo, the Chengzhi Hall, Dafu Hall, and Lufu Hall, as well as the small West Lake, show the former glory, wealth, and splendor, while the architectural layouts and styles of Shuikou, Niuxing, and "four waters returning to the hall" reveal the wisdom of the ancient Huizhou people; the carved beams, painted rafters, and the "three carvings" of wood, brick, and stone, like a folk symphony, echo through the forests and alleys.
This series of books will use the style of cultural essays to conduct a panoramic cultural scan of the ancient villages (including ancient residences), ancient memorial arches, ancient bridges, ancient academies, and ancient ancestral halls in Huizhou culture and history, accompanied by panoramic, individual, or partial landscape images, aiming to be intimate, elegant in writing, and accessible to both the refined and the masses.