Xidihong Village —— A Model of Huizhou Residential Architecture

Anhui is called Anhui for short, and yi county, a mountainous area in the south, was established in the Qin Dynasty, with continuous peaks and mountains, which are connected with Huangshan Mountain, and was called Zhishan Mountain in ancient times. Isolated from the outside world, many ancient villages and more than 3,000 ancient residential buildings have been preserved here from 14 to the Ming and Qing Dynasties in the 20th century, among which Xidi and Hongcun ancient villages are the best preserved, which are the models of Huizhou-style residential buildings.

Xidi Village was founded in the Northern Song Dynasty and has a history of more than 900 years. Ancestors were originally descendants of the Tang royal family. After the uprising, Xidi village was changed to Hu surname. Since ancient times, the style of writing has flourished, and there are villagers crying like a cluster of valleys in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is a large-scale construction project. Up to now, there are more than 100 ancestral halls, archways and other ancient buildings.

The whole village is boat-shaped, surrounded by mountains, with streams passing through the village and bluestone streets flowing downstream. The houses on both sides of the streets are elegant and simple in color. Nearly a hundred statues make people feel like they are in a maze. There are grotesque flowers, fine lines and gorgeous painted murals carved in brick and stone everywhere.

The fifth floor of the four pillars of the three bluestone archways at the head of the village symbolizes the prominent position of the Hu family. The costumes in the village are elegant and full of scholarly atmosphere. The ancient house is a pavilion-style building facing the street.

Jianzhong Hongcun was built in the Southern Song Dynasty with a history of more than 800 years. Because of the high terrain, he often paints by splashing ink or freehand brushwork. The layout of white walls and blue tiles is rigorous. Chenlou Butterfly Garden, with three colors of lake and light, has an old vine on the wall and a century-old peony in the yard. It is called the village in Chinese painting and is also the shooting place of the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Chengzhitang built by salt merchants in Qing Dynasty is the most magnificent, with exquisite and thrifty rooms and arched doors. The woodcarving on the windowsill is complex, vivid and magnificent, and it can be called the fine woodcarving in the art of three sculptures of Huizhou school.

Therefore, Hongcun people opened up to the outside world and built a bull-shaped village and an artificial water system. Seen from a height, Hongcun looks like a reclining green cow, with towering green hills guarded by cows and towering ancient trees as horns. The scattered residential groups from east to west are like huge cowsheds. The village of Xilu, where the river is waterlogged, is surrounded by Xixi water and flows into the half-moon music scene excavated by natural rights and interests. Women and children surrounded the house with windows facing the south of the village. South Lake has dug 100 mu of fertile land. Nanhu is a tripe, and the tortuous salary market is coiled around the tripe in the tripe. In spring, four bridges were built on the stream to be used as cow legs. This cow combines science with poetry, architecture with environment.

In 2000, Xidihong Village, an ancient village in Anhui, China, was listed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO.