In the Southern Song Dynasty, as the capital was moved
to Lin' an, Emperor Gao Zong went in for large-scale construction. The new palace, with
all the gardens and ponds, was ten times as large as that in Kaifeng, the old capital. His
courtiers followed suit. Most of the military officers and civil officials who had moved
to the South built private mansions and pavilions. This not only stimulated Huizhou
merchants to engage in the trades of bamboo, wood or lacquer, but also helped to
bring up Huizhou craftsmen in large numbers and to spread the southern architectural art.
Huizhou merchants who returned home after making a fortune followed the vogue and had new
houses painstakingly designed and built. Their purposes were, on the one hand, to meet
the demands of their luxurious life and, on the other hand, to ensure and
increase their vested interests through patriarchal-feudal activities. They were therefore
eager to construct houses in their hometown. Villas, gardens and temples were built,
arches and steles set up, ancestral halls renovated, roads and bridges improved, and real
estate purchased to increase the clan property. Consequently, a distinctive Huizhou
architectural art as a system came into being and gradually took shape. Setting foot on
the soil of Huangshan Municipality, whichever county you are in, you will find yourself in
"another world . There are over 5,000 sites of cultural vestige. Among all other
places in China, Huangshan boasts the most and the best-preserved ancient architecture of
the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Ubiquitous are ancient streets, lanes, houses, pavilions,
bridges, pagodas, temples, arches, ruins, graves and steles, which differ greatly in
function and design. The streets and lanes are all paved with flagstones, which incline
gently to one side. The pavement is neat and smooth, but the stones are pitted so that
they are not slippery in rainy days. The paths wind and turn in all their chastity and
elegance. A nostalgia for the olden days will well up in the tourist' s heart as he
strolls along. Official residences and ancestral temples are similar in style with
whitewashed walls and grey tiles. The enclosing walls are higher than the houses. The top
of the wall goes up in steps here and there. As such walls look like a horse's head, they
are called horse-head walls , and as they ward off wind and fire as well as
burglars, they are also known as wind-and-fire walls . The common people's homes, on
the other hand, are generally a compound with houses around a courtyard on three or four
sides. Most houses are two-story, and there are a few with three
stories. The doorframe
is built of stone, with a roof or an arch over the gateway. The front door opens to a
winged forecourt, which ventilates the rooms and provides more natural light. In some of
the forecourts there are flowerbeds or fishponds. On the ground floor
is the central hall,
which is flanked by bedrooms. In some houses a stage is set up opposite the hall. The
upper floor veranda usually runs around the court on three or four sides. Some wealthy
families have special benches set along the balustrade where the ladies of the family used
to sit idling away their leisurely hours by viewing the sight. These benches are both
practical and artistic, locally known as beauty recliners . In the feudal China, the
standards of dwelling places were officially stratified according to the owner' s social
position. Any house constructed beyond the restriction was an open offense to the owner' s
superiors and would induce severe punishment. Therefore the local gentry, in their effort
to avoid appearing ostentatious, went in for exquisite decoration in the interior of their
houses. Beams, pillars and purling are all gilded or painted, and the art of carving-on
wood, brick, and stone-is displayed to the full. Exquisitely carved on the brackets,
upturned eaves, lattice, arch, balustrade, shrines, etc. are landscape (sun, moon, clouds,
waves, mountains, rivers, pavilions, gardens), animals and plants (flowers, grass,
insects, fish, birds, beasts), legendary stories, mythical figures, historical events, and
common practice (farming, weaving, fishing. cutting wood, studying for an official career,
acting with filial piety and fraternal duty). The carvings, done with superb workmanship,
cover a large range of subjects and contain substantial contents-a true gallery of the
local conditions in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The otherwise motionless and monotonous
still life is so vividly animated that it seems a naturally integral part of the family.
The ancient town of Yixian County has been referred to as
"Wonderland for its unique appeal. Li Bai once described in his lines
Yixian boats a wonderland and wonders see no end . And the local people like to entitle
their houses Home on Wonderland" and inscribe it on a horizontal board hung
over the gate. Besides ancient bridges, towers, tablets, arches and other historical and
cultural remains, extant in the town are 3,000 dwelling houses built in the Ming and Qing
Dynasties, which reveal in some way the features of ancient residential quarters. And all
around town are green and shady trees and murmuring streams. The whole atmosphere is
characterized by peace, harmony, freshness and simplicity, which will soothe all worldly
cares. In Xidi village, referred to as the residence museum , there are 600 dwelling
houses, 99 lanes and over 90 wells. With a population of about ten thousand, it has been
described as "a village with a thousand households and ten thousand inhabitants . The
overall arrangement of the houses is as intricate as a maze- easy for one to get in but
hard to find his way out. 122 houses built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties are extant in
the village. Among them are classically and elegantly decorated
scholars' residences
such as "Lufu Mansion , solemnly designed officials' residences such as
"Minister' s Mansion , and the magnificently constructed Nanping ancestral temples
complex. In addition, well preserved in the village is the ancient Silk-Ball Pavilion,
where beauties once threw their silk balls at the handsome boys of their hearts. This is a
place for tourists to dwell upon the exciting sight far back in the olden days.
In the Southern Song Dynasty, as the capital was moved
to Lin' an, Emperor Gao Zong went in for large-scale construction. The new palace, with
all the gardens and ponds, was ten times as large as that in Kaifeng, the old capital. His
courtiers followed suit. Most of the military officers and civil officials who had moved
to the South built private mansions and pavilions. This not only stimulated Huizhou
merchants to engage in the trades of bamboo, wood or lacquer, but also helped to
bring up Huizhou craftsmen in large numbers and to spread the southern architectural art.
Huizhou merchants who returned home after making a fortune followed the vogue and had new
houses painstakingly designed and built. Their purposes were, on the one hand, to meet
the demands of their luxurious life and, on the other hand, to ensure and
increase their vested interests through patriarchal-feudal activities. They were therefore
eager to construct houses in their hometown. Villas, gardens and temples were built,
arches and steles set up, ancestral halls renovated, roads and bridges improved, and real
estate purchased to increase the clan property. Consequently, a distinctive Huizhou
architectural art as a system came into being and gradually took shape. Setting foot on
the soil of Huangshan Municipality, whichever county you are in, you will find yourself in
"another world . There are over 5,000 sites of cultural vestige. Among all other
places in China, Huangshan boasts the most and the best-preserved ancient architecture of
the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Ubiquitous are ancient streets, lanes, houses, pavilions,
bridges, pagodas, temples, arches, ruins, graves and steles, which differ greatly in
function and design. The streets and lanes are all paved with flagstones, which incline
gently to one side. The pavement is neat and smooth, but the stones are pitted so that
they are not slippery in rainy days. The paths wind and turn in all their chastity and
elegance. A nostalgia for the olden days will well up in the tourist' s heart as he
strolls along. Official residences and ancestral temples are similar in style with
whitewashed walls and grey tiles. The enclosing walls are higher than the houses. The top
of the wall goes up in steps here and there. As such walls look like a horse's head, they
are called horse-head walls , and as they ward off wind and fire as well as
burglars, they are also known as wind-and-fire walls . The common people's homes, on
the other hand, are generally a compound with houses around a courtyard on three or four
sides. Most houses are two-story, and there are a few with three
stories. The doorframe
is built of stone, with a roof or an arch over the gateway. The front door opens to a
winged forecourt, which ventilates the rooms and provides more natural light. In some of
the forecourts there are flowerbeds or fishponds. On the ground floor
is the central hall,
which is flanked by bedrooms. In some houses a stage is set up opposite the hall. The
upper floor veranda usually runs around the court on three or four sides. Some wealthy
families have special benches set along the balustrade where the ladies of the family used
to sit idling away their leisurely hours by viewing the sight. These benches are both
practical and artistic, locally known as beauty recliners . In the feudal China, the
standards of dwelling places were officially stratified according to the owner' s social
position. Any house constructed beyond the restriction was an open offense to the owner' s
superiors and would induce severe punishment. Therefore the local gentry, in their effort
to avoid appearing ostentatious, went in for exquisite decoration in the interior of their
houses. Beams, pillars and purling are all gilded or painted, and the art of carving-on
wood, brick, and stone-is displayed to the full. Exquisitely carved on the brackets,
upturned eaves, lattice, arch, balustrade, shrines, etc. are landscape (sun, moon, clouds,
waves, mountains, rivers, pavilions, gardens), animals and plants (flowers, grass,
insects, fish, birds, beasts), legendary stories, mythical figures, historical events, and
common practice (farming, weaving, fishing. cutting wood, studying for an official career,
acting with filial piety and fraternal duty). The carvings, done with superb workmanship,
cover a large range of subjects and contain substantial contents-a true gallery of the
local conditions in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The otherwise motionless and monotonous
still life is so vividly animated that it seems a naturally integral part of the family.
"a village with a thousand households and ten thousand inhabitants . The
overall arrangement of the houses is as intricate as a maze- easy for one to get in but
hard to find his way out. 122 houses built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties are extant in
the village. Among them are classically and elegantly decorated
scholars' residences
such as "Lufu Mansion , solemnly designed officials' residences such as
"Minister' s Mansion , and the magnificently constructed Nanping ancestral temples
complex. In addition, well preserved in the village is the ancient Silk-Ball Pavilion,
where beauties once threw their silk balls at the handsome boys of their hearts. This is a
place for tourists to dwell upon the exciting sight far back in the olden days.