Hakka ancient village of Meizhou City, Meixian District, Nankou Town, Qiaogang Village

Entering the Qiaoxiang Countryside, you can see a lot of patchwork, ancient Hakka houses, most of which are built according to the foothills of the mountains, and each of them is built into a block and watch over each other. According to Meizhou City, Meixian District Museum curator Zhu Diguang introduction, Qiaogang Village, the existing more complete Hakka traditional houses of various types have 108, both single-storey structure of the dragon, and the double structure of the dragon, and the East and the West of the ten halls of the nine wells structure and the structure of the five-bar type, and so on.

"With a total land area of more than 150,000 square meters and a total floor area of more than 90,000 square meters, the ancient residential buildings in Qiaoxiang Village are the villages with the largest number of existing perlong houses, the highest density and the richest shapes in the Hakka region of China. The village's cluster of ancient dwellings has been called the world's wonder of residential architecture by experts at home and abroad." Zhu Diguang said.

According to the Qiaoxiang village officials, the village's unique ancient residential architectural style and Hakka folk culture attracts many domestic and foreign architectural experts and folk scholars every year to carry out investigations and research, and also attracts an endless stream of domestic and foreign tourists to come to visit and sightsee.

"According to our years of investigation and research, found that the overseas Chinese countryside of the ancient houses built in the history of the relative age of the clear, distinctive signs of the times, the history of the vein is clear, can be described as the Meizhou City, Meixian District, the 'hometown of culture', 'the hometown of the Overseas Chinese ' historical epitome." Zhu Diguang said. It is understood that the overseas Chinese village since the beginning of the last century, almost every family to make a living abroad, the existing overseas Chinese and compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan more than 3,000 people, just because of the many overseas Chinese and overseas Chinese and named "overseas Chinese village".

The oldest and most representative of the Hakka houses in Qiaogang Village is the "Dexintang". "Dexin Hall" is the Indonesian overseas Chinese Pan Lizai built in 1905, was fully completed in 1917, the whole house covers an area of 7,500 square meters, **** 66 rooms, 8 halls. The whole house layout rigorous, unique shape, room layout for the corridor structure, the house carved dragons and phoenixes, beautifully decorated.

Judy Guang said: "The house is characterized by two layers of dragon enclosure, the inner enclosure is connected with the outer enclosure. The most praiseworthy feature is the house's 'zigzag' sewer design, with pipes interconnecting to gather water in the patio, where it is then discharged through the patio's drainage channel."

The more than 100-year-old "Nanhua Yulu" is another typical house in the overseas Chinese countryside. It is one of the largest and best-preserved ancient houses in the Hakka region, and was listed as a provincial cultural relics protection unit in Guangdong as early as 2002.

"South China and Lodge" is the Indonesian overseas Chinese Pan Xiangchu built in 1904, because of his ancestral home in the village "South China Lodge" and named. "South China and Lodge" covers an area of more than 10,000 square meters, for the "ten halls and nine wells" structure; *** there are 118 rooms, dozens of large and small halls, everywhere carved beams and painted beams, gorgeous and extraordinary, the year's atmosphere is still in front of us.

"'South China and the Lodge' most people praise is the internal pavilions and attics are complete, there is a 'house in the house' of the beauty of the name. Before and after the introduction of flower walls, open corridors, goldfish ponds, flower platforms, hexagonal pavilions, appear to be interesting and spacious and bright." Judy Guang said.

To this day, the plaque on the gate of "Nanhua Yulu" still bears the ink of the owner, Pan Xiangchu. His children and grandchildren have more than 100 descendants, all over the world, the world-famous quantum chemist, former chairman of the National Chinese Association of the United States, the United States of America, a lifelong professor at Boston University, Pan Yugang is his descendants.

Today, the Hakka people who come out of the house will come back for important festivals and celebrations. "The walled dragon houses in Qiaogang village are not only famous for their majesty and delicacy, but also as a witness to the brilliant entrepreneurial history of overseas Chinese in Qiaogang village." Zhu Diguang said. Unique Ancestral Hall Culture

As early as the Tang Dynasty, there were people with the surnames Zeng and Liu living in a corner of Donglong Village in Gan County. In 967 AD (Northern Song Qiande five years), Shaoshan State Department of the military, Shicheng Li Yijun hunting to this, the view of its beautiful mountains and rivers, beautiful scenery, they moved their families to this. Donglong gradually developed into the world of the Li family. To the late Ming Dynasty, Donglong has more than 800 households, more than 5,000 people, "field ponds embroidered wrong, household Yunlian", "10,000 tile juxtaposition, such as a metropolis".

The long history of Donglong has formed a very distinctive village culture. Donglong's architecture is typical of Hakka architecture, centered on clan temples and shrines, with houses and shrines and residences in clusters in a row and in a staggered manner. At present, the well-preserved remains include 1 ancient pagoda, 4 ancient fortresses, 48 ancestral halls, more than 120 houses, 3 temples, 2 academies, 2 voluntary warehouses, 5 stone pavilions and 7 passes, which can be regarded as a huge Hakka architecture museum.

In the culture of Donglong ancient village, the ancestral hall culture is the most conspicuous. The entire village has a basic architectural layout of ancestral halls, which are divided into clan ancestral halls and house ancestral halls. The clan ancestral hall is the place where the Li clan **** together to worship their ancestors, and the house ancestral hall is the place of worship and living room for the small house clansmen. In its heyday, there were more than 100 ancestral halls in the village, of which 74 remain at present and 48 are well-preserved. The structure of all the ancestral halls is more than three-jin, and the most is seven-jin. The seven ancestral halls were like palaces, with huge space, which could accommodate thousands of people and hold banquets of more than 50 tables. All ancient villages have built ancestral halls, but the number of such as Donglong so much, the scale of such as Donglong so large is extremely rare. Zhejiang Province, the Oriental Institute of Tourism Planning Research, after research, the East Dragon Village, positioned as China's first village ancestral temple cultural tourism.

Donglong Ancestral Hall architecture art is exquisite and unique. All the ancestral halls and many house ancestral halls, its gate are a pair of huge stone lions, set off the majesty of the ancestral hall; ancestral hall door are built with a huge block of stone, extraordinary momentum; part of the ancestral hall in front of a plaque, the plaque in front of the large stone ping, stopping the horse farms, the horse stone; the main building for the brick and wood structure, wooden structure, without a nail, relying on the mortise and tenon joints, hanging beams, carved beams and painted buildings; the door, window, ceiling, with openwork carvings, with the wooden structure, with the wooden structure, without a nail, relying on the wooden tenon and joints, with the door, window and ceiling, with the door, window, with openwork carving. Doors, windows, ceilings, with openwork carvings, exquisite. Ancestral buildings, become a treasure house of art containing the rich flavor of ancestral culture, pleasing to the eye.

Ancestral halls are often the place where clansmen gather to offer sacrifices, but Donglong's ancestral halls are different, in addition to the ancestral halls which are only for sacrifices, most of the house ancestral halls are integrated with sacrifices and residences, which are the living places and psychological ties of clansmen, and also symbols of unity and strength. There are more than 4,300 square meters of "Dongli Yiwang", like a universal fortress, which integrates the ancestral hall, housing, embroidery building, school, warehouse, gatehouse, wall, towers, gardens and so on as a whole, there are 100 houses, known as the "Hundred Houses", is a representative work of the Hakka round houses. The representative work of the Hakka house.

Strange defense culture

The end of the Ming and early Qing dynasties, the invaders were rampant. The prosperity of the Donglong Hakka family also attracted all kinds of robbers and thieves. In order to resist the invasion and protect the villagers' safety, Donglong people created a strong defense system of "barking dogs are not scared, which is called the Golden City" from both material and spiritual levels, leaving behind a peculiar defense culture.

There are three defenses at the material level. First, the construction of ancient passes. Donglong is located in the mountains, the village elevation of more than 500 meters, the surrounding villages are far below it. Ancient Donglong people borrowed its geography and mountainous terrain, in the village of the five exits, skillfully designed, built a strong pass at risk. The passes were built in such a way that they could not be opened by any man. Secondly, each ancestral hall was built as a separate defense system. Perhaps because the whole village is designed with multiple defenses, the ancestral halls in Donglong are not built as castles as the Hakka houses in western Fujian and other places in Gannan, but they are also equipped with defensive functions. Most of the ancestral halls have only one big door to enter and exit, and by keeping the big door closed, they can prevent theft and burglary. Even if there is a small door, also built very strong. Third, the construction of ancient fortresses (earth enclosure). In order to prevent foreign enemies from breaking through the pass into the village to harm the villagers, the ancient Donglong people in the village around the top of the hill built four ancient fortresses, respectively, known as Jianfengzhai, Yujianzhai, Longgongzhai, Loach Basket Zhai. The walls of the ancient fortresses were tall and strong, and houses were built in the fortresses for the villagers to live in. The whole village is divided into four areas, once the enemy enters the village, the clansmen, according to the division of the area, in a relatively short period of time, they can enter the predetermined ancient fortress. In addition to the ancient fortress on the clansmen to eat, live in addition to the conditions, there are homemade weapons, such as birdshot, sword, pike, rolling stone, etc., in order to deal with the incoming enemy. Now the four cottages in the house has long been collapsed, while the strong wall is still well-preserved.

Additionally, there are temples built at the four entrances of Donglong Village in the east, south, west and north, and in each temple, numerous "generals" are set to guard the passes, and the villagers prayed that with the "generals" guarding the passes, any "demons and monsters" would not be able to enter the village. "The village has been in a state of flux since the beginning of the year.

Overall view of the village's defense layout, from the pass to the temple, from the ancestral hall to the fortress, can be said to be layer by layer, each with its own function, to ensure that the whole village, "* * * * phase to protect gather, the family room to be complete", showing the ancient Donglong people's security consciousness and the plan of the earth.

Rich landscape culture

Donglong scenery is charming, picturesque. In the author's childhood years, the entire village of ancient trees, ponds everywhere; the breeze, brimming with water; fresh air, birds and flowers; blazing sun colorful, rainbow often appear, really is a fairyland on earth!

In "Ningdu County Records", you can find the famous Ten Scenes of Donglong: Longgang Ancient Pass, Sundance Bee Plunging into the Sky, Tiger Roach and Qiaoluan Mountains, Seven Stars Surrounding the Graveyard, Twin Streams Embracing the Village, Lingxiao Victorious Pavilion, Rainbow Bridge Locking the Water, Yongdong Ancient Temple, Jade Building Optimizing Clouds, and Pagoda Reflecting the Heart of the Lake. These scenes, except for the seven stars around the mound was destroyed, the rest is still the same. Each scene, independent of each other, between the scenes, each other.

The idyllic scenery, more mesmerizing. Donglong the entire village surrounded by mountains on all sides, the village of the road, the sound of dogs and chickens, small bridges and rivers, ancient trees, with a magnificent scale of the ancient architectural complex, the old tower, the old road, the old bridge, the old tree, the old house, ancient colors, its idyllic scenery can be described as a model of China's countryside. Qing Kangxi twelve years, Confucius grandson, Hanlin Academy bachelor Kong Minying on the idyllic scenery of the East Dragon has done this description: "its shape is the victory on all sides of the mountain, peak on top of the middle open large section, open and open, the beautiful pool of good rice fields, the road traffic, the footsteps, Cham Ran such as a large mirror ...... two clean and clear flow, a pass border points, the Wenfeng East show, the Royal screen west, the rural landscape is a model of China. Wenfeng east show, the Royal screen west face, Venus Shangqiao, jade moat Tianma. The Dragon Gorge towering, Cuiwei Saga, the pavilion built in the sky, bridge Gong Wenchang, houses just like a jumble of people, 10,000 watts of Kangzhuang. Qu Qu Piao Qiu Path, the four way Chaste Pine quite Cui, stretching for miles. Peach, plum, wutong, willow, green bamboo shade, such as gnarled like a dragon, like a picture like a picture. Dogs and chickens, are not a constant state, Hongxin people repeatedly carry on, whenever the whirlwind return, linger can not bear to go. When I heard this, I could not help but say, "Tao Yuan Cave is the second most benevolent place in the world." This kind of description is even better than that of "Peach Blossom Garden".

Time passes, but the culture of Donglong, which has survived for thousands of years, is still radiating brightly. Culture is the most vital, it is still guiding people to recognize, pay attention to, protect and develop Donglong ancient villages.