Ranking of the Four Great Ancient Towns of China?

Chinese civilization has a long history of more than 5,000 years. It has brought glory and splendor to people, and still retains a large number of ancient towns and architectural relics. China's four great ancient towns are the crystallization of our culture and they are preserved intact.

I. Jingdezhen

Jingdezhen has a long history and tradition of porcelain making. Porcelain has been fired since the Fifth Dynasty, and it has been more than 400 years since the Ming Dynasty. During these 400 years, the famous kilns in Chinese history rose one after another and became famous for a while, but most of them didn't last long and fell out one after another.

After the Ming Dynasty, the porcelain series of Jun Kiln, Longquan Kiln, and Magnetic Kiln were no match for Jingdezhen's blue and white porcelain, colored porcelain, and colored glazed porcelain, and either ceased to be produced or declined.

Jingdezhen porcelain workers in generation after generation of rich practical experience, absorbing the strengths of the famous kilns of the past generations, to develop and improve, from the beginning of the famous kilns around the world alongside the gradual development of the top position as the center of China's porcelain industry.

Jingdezhen is located in the northeast of Jiangxi Province, surrounded by mountains, the Yangtze River through the town. Jingdezhen is blessed with natural conditions. The Mafang Mountain in Fuliang County and the nearby counties of Xingzi, Leping, Wuyuan, Yujiang County and Parkyang are all mountainous areas, which contain a large amount of kaolin, porcelain stone, glazed fruit, refractory clay and other minerals.

These porcelain raw materials are not only low in impurities, good process performance, suitable for the production of high-grade porcelain, and rich reserves. Jingdezhen and its four townships with long flames, the most suitable for burning porcelain, providing sufficient fuel for the kiln.

Many porcelain kilns are located in the Yangtze River and its exchange coast, the river water can be used to wash the porcelain clay; set up water hammer, the use of water power to crush the porcelain clay. At the same time, the Yangtze River water transportation is smooth, a large number of porcelain can go downstream to reach Poyang Lake, and then transferred to the important ports of commerce at that time, such as Jiujiang, Nanjing, Yangzhou and so on, and shipped to domestic and foreign markets for sale.

Jingdezhen in the Song Dynasty mainly fired a single variety of celadon. Celadon is in between celadon and white porcelain because of its glaze color. It is said to be white in celadon and white in white porcelain. This kind of celadon is between celadon and white porcelain, with the unique regional characteristics of Jingdezhen.

After the end of the Qing Dynasty, celadon is generally known as "Yingqing". Song literature only one celadon, but not called "Yingqing". The late Qing Dynasty and even the early Republic of China published books on porcelain, there are "Yinqing", "Yingqing", "Yinqing" and other names, are referred to celadon.

In Jingdezhen, there are many firing celadon kiln sites of the Song Dynasty, such as Hutian, Hu Xiang, Shengmeiting, Shinan Street, Huang Nitou, Liu Jiawan. The above kiln sites left a lot of debris, you can imagine the porcelain firing at that time.

Since the 1950s, 15 provinces and regions have unearthed celadon in Jingdezhen. The circulation of celadon in the last century was so wide, confirming the rich remains of the many excavated celadon and porcelain kiln sites, reflecting the development and prosperity of the ceramics industry in Jingdezhen in the Song Dynasty.

Five Dynasties when Jingdezhen firing celadon and white porcelain. Five Dynasties kiln sites were not found celadon and white porcelain. From the general situation of the development of Chinese porcelain kilns, the traditional varieties of the earlier period were inherited, improved or developed in the later period. However, Jingdezhen was an exception. Five Dynasties popular celadon and white porcelain, to the Song Dynasty disappeared, replaced by celadon. There are other reasons for this phenomenon, which cannot be explored from the general rule. Since the Han and Tang dynasties, the development of ceramics has its own laws, but there are also examples of imitation of other varieties of the same period. For example, the Han Dynasty northern colored pottery imitated the Han Dynasty Jiangnan painted lacquer

Southern Song Dynasty lyricist Li Qingzhao "Drunken Blossom Yin" has a sentence "Jade Pillow", in which the Jade Pillow refers to celadon pillows of the color of green and white jade; the Yuan Dynasty celadon bowl engraved with "Jade out of Kunshan", Jade out of Kunshan", "Jade out of Kungang" and other words, indicating that celadon is made of imitation jade, the meaning is obvious.

Song dynasty Jingdezhen fired celadon to daily use, there is a food and drink dishes, plates, bowls, wine cups, brackets, bowls, washing and a variety of perfume combing and hygiene, lighting lamps, and contain herbs, spices or female cosmetics box. There is a kind of seed mother box where three small boxes are affixed to a big box and powder, indigo and vermilion are put in them for women's make-up. In addition, there are Guanyin statues burned for the faithful men and women, tower-shaped covered bottles specially designed for burials, and bedding with a variety of pillows such as double lions, upright elephants, reclining babies, and silver ingots, of which there are many more silver ingots. Below is the Qing dynasty Yongzheng Jingdezhen kiln ink-colored mug.

Song tombs unearthed in Jiangnan region of celadon is more common, a few tombs have the exact age of the tomb. By comparing celadon excavated from dated tombs, one can roughly see the evolution of the wares and when they were popularly used. Purple-cast bowls were a very popular set of drinking vessels during the Five Dynasties. During the Northern Song Dynasty, a large number of banknote bowls were unearthed in tombs, still characterized by imitation metal objects, and melon-shaped bodies were also common. Most of the early tombs were covered with a lion-shaped button on the lid of the coffin, and the bowls from the early tombs came from the tomb of Huizong Zheng He at the latest. Jugs were popular in the Tang Dynasty, with taller bodies. During the Five Dynasties, jugs evolved into shallow pots, but still retained the Tang legacy with flat mouths and similarly sized bottoms. By the Song Dynasty, celadon pots changed from closed mouths to open, stacked shoulders, gradually converging below the shoulders, with large mouths and small bottoms, and the shape of the vessel changed greatly. The popularity time is the same as the bill-filling bowl. Bottle caps originated in the late Northern Song dynasty and flourished in the Southern Song dynasty. The body of the bottle is long and slender, with the top and bottom roughly equal. The upper part of the neck is slender, with designs of dragons, tigers, turtles, snakes, wind, cranes, chickens and dogs. Piled on top. There is a pagoda-shaped lid with a bird-shaped button on top, some standing cranes, and additional decoration on the lower part of the bottle. People are piled on the shoulders all around, some warriors, some twelfth birthdays. The lid continues to the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the upper neck is only one-third of the height of the bottle, and the bottle becomes longer, a major change from the Southern Song. The production of boxes in the Song Dynasty was large, and workshops specializing in the production of boxes appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty. Jingdezhen fired boxes are small and flat, with round, octagonal, six-petal and chrysanthemum petal shape. The cover is mostly decorated with relief prints, and the bottom of the box is unglazed. Some of them are also marked with workshops, such as "Wu Jia He" and "Duan Jia He". The inscriptions are straight, these excavated at home and abroad are labeled "Wu", "Xu", "Xu" and other workshops, "Tao Ji" said "more than three hundred kilns over the generations "

The record is completely credible.

Song dynasty celadon in addition to having a white body, glaze color like jade, there are carvings, grate points, grate pen, printing and other decorations, further enhancing the artistic impact of celadon. The early Northern Song dynasty of celadon and white porcelain, the body is bright, no lines, the shape of the regular, enameled like jade, y respected by the people. After the middle period, a large number of carvings, grate points and grate patterns appeared on the wares. Zongshen Yuanfeng tomb unearthed several small carved panels with no glaze on them, indicating the over-firing method. Printed decoration became very popular after the Southern Song Dynasty. There are many printed plates and bowls, both heirloom and tomb excavations, and many of the plates are charred. The decorative themes and layout methods are similar to those of the Ding kilns in Quyang, Hebei, and are clearly regional

Jade-colored celadon had a great influence on the porcelain kilns in the Jiangnan region. Many porcelain kilns imitating Jingdezhen celadon appeared, including Nanfeng, Jizhou, Ningdu, Ganzhou, Jinxi, Guixi and other porcelain kilns in Jiangxi. Fujian's Dehua, Quanzhou, Tong'an, Yongchun, Anxi, Nan'an, Putian, Fuqing, Minqing, Xianyou, Lianjiang, Pucheng, Chong'an, Glossy, and Jianning kilns; Guangdong's Chaozhou, Guangzhou, and Huizhou kilns; Guangxi's Touxian, Rongxian, Guiping, and Beiliu kilns; Hubei's Sun Yicheng and Wuhan kilns; Hunan's Yiyang and Hengyang kilns; and Zhejiang Province's Jiangshan and Taishun kilns, along with the 34 counties of the eight provinces, formed a Jingdezhen-centered Celadon series centered on Jingdezhen. Celadon is one of the two major porcelain kilns in Jiangnan, a great influence, ranking first of the six major porcelain systems in the Song Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty in Jingdezhen set up the Imperial Kiln Factory, specializing in firing porcelain for the royal family and the court for internal reward, external exchanges. The Imperial Kiln Factory has a pottery supervisor, focusing on Jingdezhen's best porcelain craftsmen, monopolizing the high-quality porcelain clay and green materials, in the case of abundant funds, according to the needs of the court, regardless of the cost of the work, regardless of the firing of the most exquisite products. As a result, China's porcelain-making technology was pushed to a new peak.

The production of porcelain in Ming Dynasty folk kilns also developed rapidly. Although not as exquisite as the products of the government-run imperial kilns, but the production was huge. "North to, south to the foot of the slope, east to the sea, west to Shu, all take Jingdezhen" (Wang: "Jiangxi Dazhi pottery book"). There is no lack of high-grade products, the court required "Qin limit" porcelain are produced for the kilns. Especially in the late Ming Dynasty, with the budding of capitalism in the porcelain industry, the proliferation of private porcelain kilns. Jiajing nineteen years (1540) "floe liang jingdezhen people to make pottery for the industry, gather servants more than ten thousand people". Wanli years (1573-1620), every day, "no less than tens of thousands of helpers in town". The government kilns were inferior to the people's kilns, and there was a situation of "competition between the government and the people for profits", which eventually led to the formation of a new system of "government-taking and people-burning". In addition, the folk kiln patterns and decorations, especially the depiction of natural realistic decorations, more reflective of the rich creativity of the porcelain makers and the rich flavor of life of the working people. Jingdezhen folk kiln porcelain worthy of attention.

To the Ming Dynasty, Jingdezhen porcelain production technology level greatly improved, porcelain production division of labor is very fine. "Tiangong Kaiwu" lists the production of porcelain production process is as follows: spring soil, set mud, billet, water, circle, painting, spraying, rust, box, fill kiln, baking and so on. From raw material mining to firing, "72 hands, square grams. That is, the production of a piece of porcelain requires 72 processes. Most of the processes are basically in their own way, the fine division of labor and technical excellence, and constantly improve the quality of products. Jingdezhen porcelain makers also summarized the advantages of China's southern and northern kilns, invented the egg-shaped kiln, that is, Jingdezhen kiln. The innovation of kiln greatly improved the output and quality. In this way, the porcelain industry in Jingdezhen became more and more prosperous.

In Jingdezhen, which stands on the banks of the Yangtze River, the hundreds of chimneys of the official kilns and folk kilns are shrouded by red flames day and night, and the smoke and fire are confronted. "The sound of a thousand mortars and pestles was so loud that the fire exploded into the sky and people could not sleep at night." Unprecedented, became world-famous porcelain capital.

Two, Zhu Xianzhen

Zhu Xianzhen Qifeng hometown is located in Kaifeng City, Xiangfu District, Zheng Bian Yellow River, "three points and one line" on the golden tourism line, from Zhengzhou International Airport is only 40 minutes by car. It is only 40 minutes drive from Zhengzhou International Airport. It has been prosperous and splendid since ancient times, and has a deep historical and cultural background.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Zhuang of Zhengzhou stationed his troops in the ancient village of Zhuxian Town and built a city named Kaifengfu, which means "opening up the frontier and expanding the territory". During the reign of Emperor Jingdi of Han Dynasty, Kaifeng, the ancient capital of eight dynasties, was opened to avoid the emperor. During the Warring States period,

The long history of the town has given birth to a rich culture, Zhuxian Town, many humanistic landscapes, cultural relics and monuments are scattered. There are "China's three great Yue Temple" one of the Yue Fei Temple in Zhuxian Town, was named one of the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage of Zhuxian Town woodblock prints, there is an architectural style known as "East Asia's largest mosque," the Zhuxian Town Mosque. It is also the birthplace of Xiangfu tune, the mother of Yu opera.

The vicissitudes of life, other ancient towns are becoming more and more prosperous. Only Zhuxian Town "due to the water and rise, due to the water and decline", in the long river of history, no sound.

The history of Zhuxian Town should not be silent, the millennium ancient town should be revived. In the new period, the construction of the Central Plains Economic Zone and Zhengbian integration has achieved remarkable results. With its rich cultural and tourism resources and good location advantages, the Kaifeng hometown of Zhuxianzhen will develop into an important support point for the construction of a large cultural province in Henan Province and the building of a cultural tourism system in Kaifeng City.

On May 9, 2012, the foundation stone laying ceremony was held for the old garden scenic spot of Kaifeng in Zhuxian Town, which is invested and constructed by Henan Happy Party Group. The project is a key project in Henan Province, a key tourism project in the province and a key project in Kaifeng City, which integrates the culture of old town style, high-end pension and ecological sightseeing agriculture. The total planning area of the project is about 5300 acres, with a total investment of 12 billion yuan. Divided into the ancient town style area, around the lake scenic area, leisure and vacation area, the ancient battlefield culture experience area, ecological farmers experience area, cultural and creative health area, ecological wetland experience area, ecological woodland sightseeing area eight functional areas.

Zhu Xian Town Qifeng old garden to "ecological city construction, cultural dream extension, outside the classical, inner fashion" planning and development concept, to create a water-based sightseeing, entertainment, shopping, leisure, vacation activities as the main tourist destinations, to create a unique tourism complex.

Zhu Xian town "Kaifeng hometown" in-depth exploration of the historical development of the ancient town of Zhu Xian, vividly reproduced when the town of Zhu Xian prosperous style, commercial prosperity, cultural splendor, canal transportation continuous, along the river lights. With the development of modern tourism as the main body, drive the surrounding areas of the masses out of poverty for the purpose of enrichment, accelerate the construction of beautiful villages around the Zhuxian Town; according to the current situation of the scenic area, relying on the original ecological environment, local culture, history, customs and traditions as a resource for the urban population as the goal, the development of the characteristics of the tourism project to meet the needs of the modern tourists.

Zhu Xian Town Kaifeng old garden in-depth excavation of the historical and cultural connotations of Zhuxian Town, in advocating cultural tours, historical tours, leisure tours, experience tours and other conventional forms of tourism, at the same time, extensive reference to domestic and foreign advanced tourism design and planning concepts, put forward a new multi-industry integrated tourism development model, to provide tourists with the original ecological, humanized services.

At present, Zhuzhen Kaifeng Hometown has been completed and opened, covering an area of 870 acres. It includes Zhu Xian ancient town, water transportation granary area, Juxian Lake, Scholar Street, Kuixing Street, Lower Baxing Street and other areas. The gathering of ancient buildings, waterfront lodgings and small specialty stores in the north and south of the Yangtze River will open a romantic and cozy journey to the Central Plains for tourists.

Zhu Xian Town Qifeng old garden to retro Ming and Qing Dynasty buildings as the main building types, into the heavy history and traditional culture, for tourists to present the "town and lake connected to the lake, the scenery of the lake is dependent on the town in the water, the water in the town, the town and the lake as a whole," the unique water town of the Central Plains, which reproduced the year of the Zhuxian Town, the merchant ships day and night, night and night on both sides of the river. Lights on both sides of the river at night, the scenery along the river is a spectacular scene of prosperity.

Three, Foshan Town

Foshan, formerly known as Jihuatang

During the Tang Dynasty, Foshan's handicrafts, commerce, culture is very prosperous. Ming and Qing dynasties developed into Lingnan town, merchants gathered, developed industry and commerce. With Hubei Hankou town, Jiangxi Jingdezhen, Henan Zhuxianzhen and known as China's "four great towns", and Beijing, Hankou, Suzhou and known as the world's "four great towns". Ceramics, textiles, foundry and medicine industries flourished in the south. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Foshan became one of the birthplaces of China's modern national industry, which gave birth to China's first new reeling factory and the first match factory, and founded the Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Company's Zhukou Factory.

The long history of Foshan has nurtured a unique traditional Lingnan culture. Foshan is known as the hometown of ceramic art, the hometown of Cantonese opera, the hometown of martial arts, the center of wide yarn, the hometown of Lingnan medicine, the center of southern casting, the hometown of folk art and so on.

Foshan is the "Southern Pottery Capital", pottery production has a long history, with a history of more than 700 years. Since ancient times, it has been known as "Shiwan Wa, the world's first". Nanfeng ancient stove built in the Ming Dynasty Zhengde period, is the world's oldest surviving wood-fired kilns. 400 years of generations, known as "ceramic living fossil". 2005, Foshan won the "Ceramic Capital of China" title.

Foshan is the birthplace of Cantonese opera, the "Southern Red Bean". Foshan is the birthplace of the "Southern Red Bean" Cantonese opera. It gave birth to the "Red Boat Children", the earliest theatrical organization of Cantonese opera, the Qiong Hua Guild. The private organization of Cantonese Opera is one of the characteristics of Foshan culture and has a long history. The annual Qionghua Cantonese Opera Festival gives Foshan the spectacle of "red boats at night, ten thousand people watching Qionghua".

Foshan is the "hometown of Lingnan medicine". With a history of more than 400 years, Founder's Medicine has a complete range of products, which can be categorized into seven major categories such as creams, pills, powders, teas, oils and wines. It is an essential proprietary Chinese medicine for craftsmen, families and travelers, and a number of old and famous medicines have emerged, such as "Huang Xianghua" Ruyi oil, "Fengxing" medicinal wine, and "Yuanjiulin" Ganhe tea.

Foshan's foundry industry began more than 2000 years ago. In the Song Dynasty, Foshan was famous for its tripods, pots, bells and towers. By the Ming Dynasty, Foshan's casting technology reached a high level and became the smelting center of South China. During the Opium War, the cannons cast in Foshan played an important role in the fight against foreign invasion.

Foshan is the cradle of folk art in the Pearl River Delta. It has nurtured and preserved a large number of folk arts and folklore embodying the essence of Lingnan culture, such as autumn colors, lion dances, dragon boat raps and dragon boat races. Autumn, paper-cutting, woodblock prints, pottery sculpture, gray carving, brick carving and other traditional handicrafts are skillful and unique. at the end of 2005, Foshan participated in the declaration of six projects, including lion dance, Cantonese opera, dragon boat rap, Foshan woodblock prints, Guangdong paper-cutting, and Shiyan pottery sculpture techniques, which were entered into the list of the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage recommendation.

Foshan has been home to many humanities and talents since ancient times. Since the Tang Dynasty, Guangdong **** nine scholar, Foshan accounted for five of them. Ming and Qing dynasties is "both the gas standard, but also a wide range of humanities place". Since modern times, the leader of the Restoration Movement, Kang Youwei, political activists Zhang, Dai Hongci, Tan Pingshan, He Xiangning, Luo Dengxian, Deng Pei, national industrialists Chen Qiyuan, Jane, Jane Yujie, scientists Zhan Tianyou, Zou, the literary scholar Wu, the famous star of the Cantonese Opera, Ma Shizeng, martial arts masters Leung Tsan, Bruce Lee, famous doctors, etc., are able to do the work.

In recent years, around the goal of building a cultural city, Foshan to promote the integration of traditional historical culture and modern urban culture, shaping the cultural image of Foshan open, compatible and innovative, and make every effort to create a "cultural city" brand. Foshan has successfully held the Forum of Asian Ministers of Culture, the Seventh Asian Arts Festival, the Sixth China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, and the Guangdong International Music Summer Camp, which have had a great impact at home and abroad. Various cultural facilities are at an advanced level in the province and the country, and a multi-level supporting cultural service network has basically been formed. Guangdong Cantonese Opera Art Theatre and Guangdong Cantonese Opera Museum are located in Foshan, and the International Art Exchange Center of China Art Association is located in Shunde. Foshan Folk Art Research Association and Foshan Peacock Gallery Audiovisual Appliances Co., Ltd. have been recognized as the first batch of national cultural industry demonstration bases; Shiwan Town in Chancheng District has been named "China's Charming Small Town", and Dachitou Village in Sanshui District and Bijiang Community in Shunde District have been named "National Famous Historical and Cultural Villages". ".

Foshan is rich in tourism resources and is a famous tourist destination. Foshan Ancestral Temple, Xiqiao Mountain, Nanfeng Ancient Stove, Qinghui Garden, Soap Pingfeng Mountain, Nanguo Taoyuan, Chencun Flower World, Sanshui Lotus World was named "Foshan New Eight Scenic Spots". Among them, the Ancestral Temple of Foshan, which integrates ancient ceramics, wood carving, casting and architectural art, is known as the "Temple of Oriental Art"; Xiqiao Mountain is a national scenic spot with the reputation of "Two Famous Mountains in Southern Guangdong". Shunde Qinghui Garden and Foshan Liangyuan are the four most famous gardens in Guangdong during the Qing Dynasty. Gaoming is the highest peak in Foshan; Chencun Flower World is the largest flower production and trading base and flower culture theme park in southern China. Sanshui World is the world's largest lotus ecological garden with the richest variety resources. There are also the former residences of Li Donghua and Kang Youwei, Baolin Temple, Lubao Ancestral Hall, Huang Feihong Memorial Hall, Bruce Lee Memorial Hall, etc., allowing visitors to enjoy the unique Lingnan culture. At present, Foshan is booming with special tourism themed on history and culture, southern martial arts, business exhibitions, industrial sightseeing, leisure and vacation, shopping and food, and beautification of homes.

Foshan has a long history of food culture and is the "hometown of food" in the Pearl River Delta. Foshan is one of the birthplaces of Cantonese cuisine, known as "food in Guangdong, teacher in Foshan" reputation. Foshan has always been famous for its rich folk recipes, numerous restaurants and hotels, and excellent culinary skills, and in 2004, Shunde was named the "Hometown of Chinese Chefs" by the China Cuisine Association. In order to promote Foshan food culture, the "Foshan Food Festival" held annually during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan has become a grand tourism festival integrating food, tourism, culture and art.

4, Hankou Town

The Yangtze River and the Han River at the confluence of a very important city is -- Wuhan, Hubei Province, the capital of Central China's largest metropolis; but Wuhan to form a unified administrative division time is not long. For a long time there were three towns here, Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, these three places were not even in a prefecture-level administrative region. Take the Qing Dynasty as an example. In the Qing Dynasty, Wuchang County belonged to Wuchang Prefecture, which was the Guofu County of Wuchang Prefecture. Hanyang County belonged to Hanyang Province, which was under Guo County, and Hankou also used to be under the jurisdiction of Hanyang Province.

Until the modern Northern Expeditionary Army captured the three towns of Wuhan, the national government on New Year's Day in 1927 will be Wuchang, Hanyang, Hankou, as the "capital of the region", collectively known as Wuhan, the capital of Wuhan, the official capital from Guangzhou to Wuhan. This was the first time in history that the three towns were combined into one administrative division in an official document.

So where is the core of Wuhan? "Wuhan three towns" range is really not easy to say, is today's Wuhan's seven central urban areas, Wuhan Provincial Party Committee, the seat of the provincial government in Wuchang (now Wuchang District, Qingshan District, Hongshan District); China, the birthplace of modern Wuhan's industry, in Hanyang (today's Hanyang District); financial, trade, foreign exchange centers and the main transportation hub