Travel Notes | A grand view of Shanxi’s folk houses—Wang Family Courtyard (Part 2)

The Wang Family Courtyard is a model of Shanxi's residential architecture in the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is known as "the Wang family does not visit the courtyard when they return". It is said to be N times larger than the "Qiao Family Courtyard". It is even said to be larger than the Forbidden City. I think this may mean that the house is big. There are probably more large and small ones than the Forbidden City. In terms of area, it is absolutely impossible to compare with the Forbidden City.

This family home of the descendants of the Shanxi Shang Wang family is composed of two building complexes: "Shilu Fort" in the east courtyard, commonly known as "Gaojiaya" and "Hengzhen Fort" in the west courtyard, commonly known as "Hongmen Fort", Xiaoyi Temple, Confucian Temple, etc. .

The Wang Family Courtyard has a total area of ​​more than 250,000 square meters and has "five lanes", "five forts" and "five ancestral halls".

The courtyard layout of the five ancient castles are respectively described as five auspicious animals: "dragon", "phoenix", "turtle", "scale" and "tiger", in an attempt to cater to the heaven's secrets. "Hengzhenbao" in the middle is called "dragon", "Shilubao" in the east is called "phoenix", and Xibaozi in the west is called "tiger". The southeastern fort is called "turtle", and the lower south fort is called "lin". These five castles are symbolized by five auspicious animals. They are in Jingsheng, including dragon flying, phoenix dancing, turtle pulling Yao's chariot, lin spitting jade book, tiger The reputation of Woxi Palace.

The general characteristic of the Wang Family Courtyard is that it is built against the mountains and is magnificent. Coupled with the ingenious brick carvings, wood carvings and stone carvings, the decoration is elegant, rich in content, practical and beautiful, and blends the northern and southern sentiments. This is the largest ancient residential complex of Shanxi merchants' courtyards in China. It has a high cultural taste and is an outstanding traditional architectural cultural heritage and residential art treasure in my country.

The "Shilu Castle" building complex was built in the early Jiaqing years of the Qing Dynasty. It has 26 courtyards, 218 houses, and an area of ​​11,700 square meters. It is an irregular series of castle-style residential complex.

The east gate is tall and majestic, and the open space in front of the gate is the entrance square, which is spacious and grand. There is a stone tablet at the door, on which are the four characters "Wang Family Courtyard" inscribed by former Prime Minister Zhu Rongji. The writing is strong and the characters are like the person he wrote. Zhu Rongji's inscriptions are rarely seen.

There are two lists of "Yin Bin" above the gate, with correct manners and generous writing. These two words come from "Yin Bin Chu Ri" in "Shu Jing. Yao Canon", which means the day of the upcoming day of respectful guidance. The Wang family uses this canon in the hope that everyone in the Wang family can treat others respectfully.

At the entrance of the gate, there are two vertical signs - "China Residential Art Museum" and "China Wang Family Museum".

The overall building is built on the mountain, basically inheriting the traditional layout of front hall and back bedroom. The courtyard is undulating and arranged in an orderly manner. It is surrounded by a fort wall and the courtyard door is closed, making it look like a fortified medieval castle.

Overlooking the east courtyard, it is composed of three rectangular courtyards of different sizes, facing from north to south: in the middle are the two main courtyards and the northern enclosure; in the northeast is a small side courtyard commonly known as "cypress courtyard"; in the southwest is a large side courtyard.

The main courtyard is the residential area of ​​the seventeenth generation grandson of the Jingsheng Wang family, Wang Rupei and Wang Rucheng. It was built in the first year of Jiaqing.

The building complex has 35 courtyards and 342 houses, covering an area of ​​19,500 square meters.

The main courtyards "Dunhou House" and "Ningrui House" are both quadrangle courtyards with three entrances. All buildings were built in strict accordance with the feudal hierarchy system, embodying the Wang family's unique family management philosophy.

In addition to the lofty ancestor worship hall and embroidery buildings on both sides, each courtyard also has its own kitchen courtyard, private school courtyard, and shared academy, flower courtyard, Changgong courtyard, and surrounding courtyard.

It is surrounded by fort walls and four gates are located at selected locations. The large and small courtyards are closely linked, up, down, left and right, with as many as 65 interconnecting doors, which can not only form independent courtyards, but also communicate with each other.

In order to facilitate access, there are fort gates on all sides of the east courtyard. The east end of the main passage in front of the main courtyard is the east fort gate, the southwest corner of the main courtyard is the west fort gate, and the middle of the main courtyard is the south fort gate. Outside the South Fort Gate is a stone slope road, which leads directly to the Wuli Back Street in the village. The North Fort Gate is located at the northeast corner of the small courtyard.

The larger "Hengzhen Fort" was built from the fourth year of Qianlong's reign to the fifty-eighth year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty. The fort is a group of fully enclosed castle-style buildings. There is a watchtower. From the passages to the left and right of the fort gate and the northeast and northwest corners of the fort wall, you can reach the top of the fort, where you can overlook the scenery inside the fort and the scenery of Jingsheng in the distance.

The fortress wall, which resembles the Great Wall, is 180 meters long from north to south, 139 meters wide from east to west, and 32 meters at its highest point.

The total area of ​​the courtyard is 25,000 square meters, with a total of 88 large and small courtyards and 776 houses. The houses in the fort are arranged in the shape of a "king", following the mountain, from high to low.

The main courtyard has front halls and back bedrooms, and gardens in the front and back rooms. There are the magnificent Dafu Courtyard, Sima Courtyard, Qixuan Courtyard, and the unique Dingjia Garden. One vertical street and three horizontal alleys intersect, and the layout of the courtyards is strictly symmetrical along the axis.

"Hengzhen Castle" not only has the intuitive shape of the word "king", but is also known as the "rising blue dragon" in terms of architectural imagery. The main street paved with large river pebbles, known as "Longlin Street", is 133 meters long and 3.6 meters wide. "Green Dragon" runs through the north and south, dividing the fort into two major areas: east and west.

On May 25, 2006, Hengzhen Fort, as an important part of the Wang Family Courtyard, and Shilu Fort were listed as "National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units" by the State Council; on December 15 of the same year, it was included in the "China World Cultural Heritage Preparatory List" .

The layout of each courtyard in the West Courtyard is basically the same. Most of them have a main courtyard with two wings and two entrances. When you enter the door, you can see the cave dwellings and corridors. There are cave dwellings or pavilions on the top floor.

Most courtyards take the north-south center line as the axis of symmetry, and are basically symmetrical from east to west. The two wells in the fort are located at the southeast and northwest corners.

Meticulously carved architectural works of art can be seen everywhere. From eaves, brackets, screen walls, kissing beasts to foundation stones, shrines, stone drums, doors and windows, everything is exquisite in shape and unique in conception. It has the majestic momentum of northern architecture and the delicate style of southern gardens.

The stone archway is located in the middle of Jingsheng Village, also known as "Xiaoyi Fang". It is part of the Wang family ancestral hall - Xiaoyi Temple.

The stone archway is carved from bluestone, with stone pillars, stone beams, stone roofs, stone ridges, stone beasts, stone brackets, stone plaques, and inlaid with hollow symbolic patterns. The square is 7.36 meters high and 13.49 meters wide. 10 stone lions at the bottom. There are four couplets on the left and right stone pillars, both in regular script and seal script, with beautiful calligraphy. The word "Xiaoyi" on the top was written by Weng Fanggang, a cabinet scholar in the Qing Dynasty.

It is said that there is Zishou Temple on the west side of Suxi Village in Jingsheng Town, with beautiful water and green mountains. It is a rare ancient temple scenic spot in the Three Jin Dynasties. As an ancient building from the Ming Dynasty, it was included in the "Chinese Dictionary of Scenic Places" and was approved by the State Council to be included in the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units. We did not learn this information, which is a pity.

The Wang family courtyard building complex is a fully enclosed castle-style building complex on a high loess slope. Its architectural pattern inherits the courtyard style of front hall and back bedroom formed in the Western Zhou Dynasty in China. The residences of people of different status and the courtyards with different functions are all in accordance with the feudal feudal style. The hierarchical system is cleverly arranged in a limited space, which not only provides enough space for external communication, but also meets the requirements of the inner private atmosphere.

Each small courtyard has a compact layout and practical facilities; the architectural decoration in the courtyard is exquisitely carved.

The structural accessories and decorations are all made with fine workmanship and clever meaning. It fully reflects the "sturdiness, practicality and beauty" architectural characteristics of folk houses in northern China.

Brick carvings, large carvings, and stone carvings with rich themes and skillful techniques are everywhere, and they are beautiful. A large number of various symbols, metaphors, homonyms, and even taboo art forms recognized by secular concepts are used. With the joint participation of literati, painters, and sculptors, flowers, birds, fish, insects, mountains, rocks, boats, allusions, legends, opera characters, or sculptures are Bricks, carved on stone, or carved on wood, reflect the architectural decoration style of the Ming and Qing dynasties, integrating Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism with traditional folk culture.

Stone carvings are the most eye-catching. Column foundation stones, wall foundation stones and other stone carving decorations can all have meanings and are carefully carved.

An ordinary horse-tying stone in front of the door and a handrail on the steps of the pavilion are all inlaid with stone carvings, some of which are so interesting that they are turned black and shiny by tourists.

The stones on the ground for people to step on under the threshold of the main house are actually engraved with floral patterns, and they are endowed with meanings, which is quite interesting.

Every door has its own right door, and every household has its right pair.

The several screen walls in front of the door are all made of brick carvings, with patterns such as "Five Blessings Offering Longevity", "Qilin Sending a Child", "Lion Rolling Hydrangea" and other patterns, which are very attractive.

The couplets and plaques in each courtyard have precise words and neat calligraphy. They are supported by wood carvings, stone carvings and brick carvings. They are not only excellent in workmanship, but also contain cultural connotations.

For example, "Yingkui" and "Guixin" are the hope that future generations will succeed in their scientific examinations and excel; "watch me" and "look at the shoes" are warnings to regulate one's behavior at all times; "looking at the sun and looking at the clouds" show respect. The glory of the emperor.

Although some of them were hung a little higher and could not be identified clearly, they still attracted me to stop and take pictures.

Some small courtyards are connected by side doors. The wooden doors are bolted and can be opened or closed.

The wood carvings and carvings in the courtyard are also unique. The gatehouse windows, eaves interior, and decorative furniture all reveal the luxury and generosity of a wealthy home.

The hall for receiving guests has calligraphy and paintings and a nave. The Eight Immortals table and old mahogany chairs reveal cultural heritage.

There is a window in the private school in the alley, and there is a stone sculpture with a profound meaning in it - two monkeys covering their ears with their front paws, which means that they "cannot hear what is happening outside the window and only read the books of sages."

A wooden letter and newspaper box was also engraved with a couplet in seal script: "The autumn wind blows the geese, and the spring water brings the fish."

The entire compound is like a small city, with a Confucian Temple, Xiaoyi Temple, Hengzhen Fort, Shilu Fort, a square, a courtyard guard wall, a city gate, an embroidered tower, a pavilion, a lookout tower, Wenchang Pavilion, etc. Horses can be raced on the city walls, and carriages can be driven in the alleys. Although it is located on a high loess slope, it still shows the generosity and grandeur of a wealthy family.

Due to the hot weather, I took a quick look at Hengzhen Fort. Although it was impressive, it was not as beautiful as Gaojiaya. I didn’t go to see the other three forts, Chongning Fort, Heyi Fort, and Gongji Fort. I don’t know where the other four forts were located. I didn’t read any more. I hurriedly took photos of many of the introductions. Later, when I was sorting out the photos, I found that I couldn’t use up many beautiful photos (of the three eagles), so I finally shared a few, so I reluctantly gave up.

Chen Ping and others called to urge me, so I hurriedly left the Wang family compound through the exit.