China's superb carving, painting and decoration techniques are particularly well displayed in the houses of Shanxi merchants.

To say that China, the home of Shanxi merchants, has superb carving, painting and decoration techniques, we must say Shanshan Guild Hall (also known as Western Merchants Guild Hall). Shanshan guild hall is the name of the guild hall built by businessmen in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces formed two famous business gangs in the Ming and Qing Dynasties-Shanxi merchants and Qin merchants. At that time, in order to meet the needs of Huizhou merchants and other merchants, merchants in Shanxi and Shaanxi often used the advantages of neighboring provinces to combine with each other. People usually call them "Western businessmen". After Shaanxi merchants united, they built Shanshan Guild Hall in many towns, forming a powerful force. The famous Shanshan Guild Hall includes Liaocheng Shanshan Guild Hall.

The sculpture art of Shanshan Guild Hall complex can best reflect the exquisite skills of designers, builders and craftsmen. Take the Shanshan Guild Hall in Liaocheng as an example, its carving is widely used, no matter on wooden components, but not on stone pillars, bricks, forecourts and columns and drums, there are carvings wherever they can be carved. There are three kinds of carvings in Shanshan Guild Hall: wood carving, stone carving and brick carving. Technically, it can be divided into flat carving, line carving, relief carving and through carving, and the through carving skill of Shanshan Guild Hall is the most excellent. Tongdiao is mostly used in the forehead of the main hall. Each denomination is carved from a whole board, and the carved flowers, figures and animals are lifelike and have a strong three-dimensional sense. There are 9 large and small stone tablets 19 rebuilt over the years, 30 square stone eaves columns, 42 square embossed carved precision wooden figures, and 12 stone lions, elephants and unicorns. As the foundation of the column, there are 12 stone carvings such as wall statues, flowers and birds, landscapes, etc. Hundreds of pillars are decorated with flowers, birds and animals, especially the couplets and big characters engraved on wooden pillars, stone pillars and plaques, which are praised by calligraphers.

Let's talk about the famous Qiao Family Courtyard. The Qiao Family Courtyard is located in the middle of Qiaojiabao Village in Qixian County. This is a magnificent building complex, overlooking the courtyard layout from high altitude, which looks like a double "hi" symbol of good luck. The whole compound covers an area of 8,724 square meters, with a building area of 3,870 square meters. It is divided into six courtyards, 20 small courtyards and 3 13 rooms. The courtyard looks like a castle, facing the street on three sides, surrounded by a closed brick wall, more than three feet high, with a parapet and a watchtower on it, which is safe and firm and magnificent. Its exquisite design and exquisite craftsmanship fully reflect the unique style of residential buildings in Qing Dynasty in China, which has high ornamental, scientific research and historical value. It is indeed an unparalleled treasure house of art, which is rightly praised by experts and scholars as "a pearl in northern residential buildings". No wonder some people said with emotion after visiting: "The royal family has the Forbidden City, and others live in the Qiao family."

Entering the gate of Qiaojiayuan is an 80-meter-long straight stone tunnel, which divides six courtyards into two rows, north and south, with slope protection on both sides of the tunnel. At the end of the west is the ancestral hall of the Qiao family, which corresponds to the distant gate. There are four main buildings in the compound, including six gatehouses, watchtowers and watchtowers. There are walkways on the roof of every hospital to patrol and protect the hospital. Looking at the whole hospital, from the outside, it is majestic and tall, neat and dignified; Looking into the courtyard, it is resplendent and orderly, showing the living style of feudal families in northern China. The whole compound, with strict layout, exquisite architecture and diverse specifications, not only has a sense of beauty as a whole, but also has its own characteristics in local buildings, even the 140 chimney on the roof has its own characteristics. Pavilions, carved beams and painted buildings, and golden powder piles in the whole courtyard fully demonstrate the superb architectural art level of the working people in ancient China, and are indeed rare artistic treasures.

The main building of the Qiao Family Courtyard is a brick house on the top of a hard hill, with a brick-wood structure and a window lattice without a portal. There are stairs in the room to go upstairs. It is characterized by thick walls and small windows. It is strong and firm, and it is a courtyard five miles away. To the east of the main building is the courtyard. There are five temples in front of the side courtyard. Between the main courtyard and the side courtyard, there is a big brick-carved earth temple, carved with stone mountains and deer with ganoderma lucidum. There are four brick lions and a handle of Ruyi on the forehead of the land god, which is a metaphor for "the four seasons of Ruyi". There are also phoenix trees and pine trees on the temple wall, and six pairs of deer are combined together, which means "Liuhe is smooth".

There is also a building on the west side of the old courtyard, which is also five miles away, forming a two-story confrontation. The main building is a structure of exposed columns hanging from the top of the mountain. Guomen, the bayonets of the gatehouse are silver riding deer and Baizitu woodcarving. The floor has a balcony corridor. In the corridor, there is a brick railing in front, with a picture of a hundred grapes in the middle and nightshade and magpies in the east. In the west, herons play lotus flowers and sparrows play chrysanthemums. There is a wood carving on the top, engraved with the image of Bo Gu of Solanum nigrum. You can see the whole hospital from the balcony. Because the two floors of the courtyard are juxtaposed with alleys and the north and south buildings are inclined, it is called "double ingot" style.

The gate of the jstars courtyard is an arched doorway with a high top floor. In the middle of the top floor, there is a plaque presented by Empress Dowager Cixi, which reads "Blessing nirvana in fire". A pair of big copper rings on the scorched earth beast street are mounted on the black painted door leaves, and a pair of couplets are inlaid on the copper floor: "Children and grandchildren are wise, and the home will be big; Brothers are fat at home. " At the top of the gate, there is a piece of bluestone embedded in the center, which reads "antique". On the mask wall opposite the gate, there is a brick carving of "Hundred Years of Life", with the same words and elegant words. On both sides of the wall are meaningful sealed couplets inscribed by Qing dynasty ministers left: "It is harmful to learn from nature and accumulate morality." The amount is "shoes and". Enter the gate and walk through the long tunnel. At the end of the west is the Qiao's Ancestral Hall carved with dragons, which corresponds to the gate. The ancestral hall is decorated with three steps, and the temple structure is decorated with lion head columns, white marble carvings, long-lived handrails and wooden fans. The eaves are supported by four pillars, two of which are bright and two are dark. There are hollowed-out woodcarvings of Yushu Jiaorong, Lan Xin Guifu and Luo Teng Raosong on the stigma, which are beautifully decorated and magnificent. There is a plaque on his forehead, and the words "Zhou Ren Puyi" were written by Li Hongzhang. The ancestral hall used to display the ancestral tablets with three layers of wood carvings.

The tunnel divides the six courtyards into two rows, north and south. The three courtyards in the north are all open doors with hidden columns and corridors, which are convenient for cars and cars to enter and exit. There are horse pillars and stones outside the door. Counting from east to west, the first and second courtyards are houses with three entrances and five rings, which are typical buildings in Qixian area, and are connected by a hall inside and outside. The north of the inner court is the main room, with two floors, corresponding to the gatehouse of the outer court, which is magnificent. From the entrance of the main courtyard to the main room above, it is necessary to walk three steps in Lian Deng, which not only implies the auspicious meaning of "connecting the third level" and "climbing high and looking far", but also is the scientific arrangement of the architectural level.

The South Third Hospital is a four-in-one room with two entrances and two exits. On the hard top of the mountain, there is a stepped gatehouse, which spans in the west and in the east. The middle and the other two houses are slightly different. In front of the main house, there is a side door at the air duct of the main hall that communicates with the side house. The whole row of south courtyard, the main courtyard is inhabited by ethnic minorities, and the partial courtyard is a flower garden and a servant dormitory. The roof of each main courtyard of the South Courtyard is covered with a watchtower, and the corresponding watchtower is equipped to connect the whole courtyard.

Joe's quadrangle, one brick and one tile, one wood and one stone, embodies exquisite architectural skills. Brick carvings, woodcuts and colored paintings can be seen everywhere in the Sixth Hospital of North and South. From the door structure, there are hard mountain single-eaved brick gatehouse, half-eaved door, stone carving side-span door, one bucket with three liters and eleven pairs of inclined instrument doors. The forms of windows include imitation rosewood window, ceiling diamond window, grille window, carved window, double window, suspended window and large lattice window. , multifarious, emerge in endlessly. From the roof, there are rest peaks, hard peaks, suspended peaks, shed roofs and bungalow roofs. They form flat, low, high, convex, ridgeless, ridged, upturned and hanging arcs ... Every place is unique, which is really pleasing to the eye and memorable.

The courtyard is even more charming. It is the exquisite board painting technology and exquisite wood carving art that can be seen everywhere. All sculptures have their folk customs. Different figures are engraved on the main entrance of each courtyard. For example, the main entrance of the First Hospital is the Gunao gatehouse, with hanging posts and hemp leaves. Last month's Liang Douzi, Ka Fengyun Zi and thirteen dry fights, including column fights, gladiators, mixed fights and nine crows, are excellent techniques. The second door, like the first door, is a chrysanthemum bayonet with dry lines on the window and a grass dragon rotating disk in the middle. The woodcarving bayonet of Sanmen is a picture of a hundred grapes.

The woodcarving at the main entrance of the Second Hospital has a three-star picture of Ba Ma Fu Lu Shou, also known as a three-star photo. The woodcarvings at the entrance of the Second Hospital are: Flower Bo Gu and God of Wealth XiShen. The main gatehouses are the Antarctic fairy riding deer and the ancient philosophers' map. In addition, there are many kinds of wood carvings on the stigma. Such as the Eight Horses, the Pine Bamboo and the Grape, it shows that vines are long and fertile, tall and strong; Hibiscus, Osmanthus fragrans, Evergreen, representing Millennium wealth; There are more than 300 pieces of woodcarving works of art, such as large-scale reliefs "Flowers in Four Seasons" and "Eight Immortals Offering Birthdays" carved on the wooden fan in the hall.

Brick carving technology can be seen everywhere, and the subject matter is very extensive. There are wall carvings, ridge carvings, screen carvings and handrail carvings. For example, there are four lions carved on the gate of a hospital, that is, four lions spit clouds. The horse's head is carved with "Harmony Two Immortals" carrying gold and silver treasures. Orchids are engraved on the collar. The wall is hung with "tortoise back brocade", which is a traditional decorative pattern and a continuous geometric figure composed of hexagonal skeletons.

Although the stone carving technology of Qiao's courtyard is relatively rare, it is very fine. There are several pairs of stone lions with different shapes and innocence. Some stone lions are marching forward, and the new cutting lines and sharp edges show vigilance, strength and vitality. It looks at the arrogant head and holds up the air all over the body, showing the grandeur, courage and no distortion of a lion, giving people a healthy, active and energetic feeling.

There are also engraved yinxian. For example, the base of the stone lion crouching at the gate of the Fifth Hospital is "Golden Lion and White Elephant", and in the middle are "Immediately seal the monkey (Hou)", "Yanshan Jiaozi" and "seal the Hou for generations". The bottom cushions of the columns in the south square are "fishing and ploughing" and "Ma Gu's birthday". On the stone foundation of Shishi crouching at the entrance of the Sixth Hospital, there are line engravings such as "Going through the customs and entering the phase", "shentu Xieji" (according to legend, Shen Tu and Xieji were the door gods to ward off evil spirits and ghosts in ancient times) and "Returning to the DPRK after winning", with clear images, fascinating stories, smooth lines and vivid images.

There are real gold paintings under the eaves of all rooms in the whole compound, mainly based on character stories. In addition to "Yanshan Godson", "Magu's birthday", "full bed" and "fishing and firewood farming", there are flowers, plants, insects and birds, as well as various designs such as railways, trains, stations and clocks. These patterns piled with Gionee powder and Sanlan's color paintings have their own characteristics. The gold foil used is of high purity. Although weathered, it still shines.

In a word, the Qiao Family Courtyard is a treasure house of architectural art. When you go in, you can not only enjoy the beautiful scenery, but also increase your knowledge.