Scene in the Mirror | Must-know Hainan Ancient Village (3)

Legacy of ancient charm

reputation legend

There is always a heart-warming moment

01 Rong Tang Village

Location: Shishan Town, Xiuying District, Haikou City

Era: Founded in the Song Dynasty

Features: Rongtang Village is an ancient village with a history of more than 800 years. It is also a village that has been integrated into the volcanic stone culture from birth to death. People here were born in volcanic stone houses, walked between stone roads and stone gates, grew up drinking water from stone wells, used stone tools to create their own lives, and finally died quietly in stone coffins. However, with the development of the times, today's Rongtang Village has lost its former prosperity. Only some elderly grandmothers are left guarding the twenty-four volcanic caves, looking forward to the occasional visitors from outside the "Taikoo Immortal Gate". Spend the rest of your life giving alms.

Rongtang is originally a volcanic cultural village worth exploring. It has volcanic caves that are tens of thousands of years old, volcanic stone village ruins that are hundreds of years old, sarcophagi from the 11th year of Xianfeng and the Taikoo Immortal Gate from the 30th year of Guangxu. But every time I see the lonely people in the village, The sight of an old man reaching out to beg for food can’t help but make people feel sad.

Scene in the Mirror | Must-know Hainan Ancient Village (3)

02 Fufeng Village

Location: Wancheng Town, Wanning City

Era: Ming Dynasty

Features: Fufeng Village is located at the foot of Fufeng Ridge (it looks like a lion and is also called Shizi Ridge by the locals). The streets are relatively regular, mainly running from north to south, and almost the entire village is made of red bricks. The tile-roofed house has the typical characteristics of Hainanese houses in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The most representative one is the Xu family’s old house in the village.

It is said that the Xu family's old house was built during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. It was the ancestral home built here by Xu Shangjin, the ancestor of the Xu family, when he was an official. The old house consists of eight triple courtyards with a total area of about 2,000 square meters. In the middle of each small courtyard is the main house, and there are three cooking houses and miscellaneous rooms on both sides of the courtyard. The main house is also a three-bay mansion, with a hall in the middle and bedrooms on both sides. It is said that when the ancestral house was built, it was very grand. The beams of the eight big houses were erected almost at the same time, using almost all the labor from the surrounding villages. There is also a story about how to pay for building a house in those days: The ancestors of the Xu family stipulated that after completion every day, workers, regardless of job type or seniority, would take their pay from a jar. No matter how much it was, each person could only take it once. This payment method is not only novel, but also avoids workers’ bargaining and has achieved excellent results.

The old residence of the Xu family is now known as the former residence of Xu Dunren. Xu Dunren is the great-grandson of Shang Jingong. In the 42nd year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty, he was the first in the Dingyou branch and was appointed as a tutor in Wengyuan and Qinzhou, Guangdong. He was later promoted to the county magistrate of Shanggao and Wuning in Jiangxi Province; another Xu family predecessor, Xu Chengde In the seventh year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty, he won the title of Wenkui. Therefore, when you walk into Xu's old house, you can see two plaques on the roof: Bagong and Wenkui. The Xu family's old house has experienced more than 300 years of ups and downs. Although the lintel has faded, the exquisite and simple carvings on the beams still show the style of the old house.

There is a Qingyun Tower 4 kilometers away from the village, also known as the "Wanzhou Tower". According to the "Wanning County Chronicle", this tower was first built during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, and was later destroyed. It was rebuilt in the 12th year of Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty. Since then, it has experienced several disasters and restorations and has been preserved to this day. It is said that this tower is related to the Feng Shui of Fufeng Village. Friends who are interested can go and have a look.

03 Rukawa Village

Location: West of Hele Town, Wanning City

Era: Southern Song Dynasty

Features: During the Southern Song Dynasty, the Li clan moved here one after another from Putian, Fujian, and built kilns to bake bricks and ceramics. The finished products had a color and texture as exquisite as colored glaze, and were famous far and wide. In addition, the farmland in front of the village was open. There is a flat river, so this place is named Liuchuan. During the Jiading period of the Southern Song Dynasty, Li Anren in the village passed the Jinshi examination and was awarded the Doctorate of Five Classics by the Hanlin Academy.

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