I walked into Xitang, a thousand-year-old town in Jiangnan, savored the unique quiet moonlight of the water town, and enjoyed a bright moon among the small bridges and flowing water. Restaurants, inns, lanes, old houses, like slides, vivid in your mind. Quaint and gentle, these unique characteristics of Jiangnan can be enjoyed here. The mottled bluestone road seems to have traveled back to the distant past. The quaint houses seem to be far away from the hustle and bustle of the city and return to the quaint era. The town of Xitang in my heart is located in Jiashan County, Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, at the junction of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai provinces. The ancient name is Xietang, Pingchuan, 10 kilometers away from Jiashan downtown. It is a thousand-year-old water town with local cultural characteristics of Wuyue and one of the six ancient towns in Jiangnan. The total area of Xitang Town is 83.61 square kilometers, of which the Guzhen District covers an area of 1.04 square kilometers and has a population of nearly 86,000. Xitang is known as a thousand-year-old town where people live. It has been included in the tentative list of world historical and cultural heritage, the first batch of historical and cultural towns in China, and a national AAAAA-level scenic spot.
We strolled through Xitang Town, which has a long history and is one of the birthplaces of ancient Wuyue culture. In the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, it was the border between Wu and Vietnam, so it was known as "Wugen Yuejiao" and "Yuejiao people". On October 8, 2003, it was included in the first batch of Chinese historical and cultural towns jointly assessed by the Ministry of Construction of the People's Republic of China and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. In 2011, Xitang Millennium Ancient Town was included in the tentative list of world historical and cultural heritage, and was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award for Historical and Cultural Protection by the United Nations. Xitang Ancient Town. The pink wall is devastated, hazy and comfortable, like a faint ink painting. Countless ancient bridges and lanes, countless Jiangnan nostalgia. The taste of the water town in your dreams, experience the cuisine of Jiangnan and have endless memories. Stinky tofu, tofu flowers, chia cake, countless Gangnam dishes. We took a quiet place in the middle of the noise, passing a long corridor, pushing the door, and the courtyard was small, with a total of about 5 rooms, named after the language of flowers, the shape of flowers, the fragrance of flowers, etc. There is a small terrace in the courtyard where you can drink tea and brag on the roof.
As early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, Xitang was the intersection of Wu and Yue, so it was known as "Wugen Yuejiao" and "Yuejiao People". Villages and towns were formed during the Tang and Song dynasties. During the first year of the Tang Dynasty, a large number of villages were built, and people built houses along the river and lived by the water; During the Southern Song Dynasty, villages gradually grew in size and formed markets; In the Yuan Dynasty, the city gradually formed a market town by the water, and commerce began to prosper; During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it developed into an important handicraft and commercial town in Jiangnan. "Spring and autumn water, Tang and Song towns, Ming and Qing dynasty architecture, modern people" is the most appropriate description of Xitang. Houxian's "Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing" was also written with a feeling when he was in the ancient town of Xitang. In the Yuan and Ming dynasties, Xitang developed into a prosperous and wealthy market town by virtue of the land of fish and rice, the economic foundation of the silk house and the convenience of waterways, and the kiln industry, rice market, food, pottery industry and other industries were increasingly prosperous.
Xitang Ancient Town also has the Nanshe, which aims to advocate national integrity, overthrow the feudal Qing Dynasty, and establish a democratic republican form of government, which was secretly established in Suzhou in November 1909 under the surging revolutionary wave of the China League led by Sun Yat-sen. The initiator of the Southern Society was Liu Yazi, a famous poet of Wujiang, who developed 18 members of the Southern Society in Xitang, the more famous ones being Yu Shimei, Li Zhongqi, Yu Zuomei, Shen Yuzhong, Jiang Xuecheng and so on. The Nanshea is a revolutionary group, which mainly advocates the anti-Qing revolution in writing, echoes with the League, and becomes a horn. For a while, many newspapers in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Xiang, and even Nanyang were in the hands of the members of the Nanshe. "I want to use words to sow wind and thunder" (Liu Yazi), creating a great momentum for the anti-Qing national democratic revolution. Later, the Nanshe Society was also divided in the wave of the Great Revolution, but a group of poets in Xitang organized the Xu Society, whose purpose and personnel remained unchanged, and became an extension of the Nanshe's organization in Xitang. Most of the poems of the members of the Xu Society have survived, and these poems, along with the 90 poems left by their "grandmaster" Liu Yazi in Xitang, have become the swan song of Xitang through the ages.
Located in the core area of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, Xitang is not only a traditional white wall and gray tile, a small bridge with stone arches, a rocking boat on a terrace, but also a variety of immersive tourism experiences. At present, the scenic area of Xitang Ancient Town still maintains the living custom of "working at sunrise and resting at sunset", and is known as "a thousand-year-old town that lives".
We stepped on the bluestone slab of Xitang Ancient Town, looked at the turquoise moss spreading in the corner, touched the mottled and quaint wall, immersed in the neatly arranged gray tiles on the eaves, as if at another corner of the alley, we can encounter Dai Wangshu's Jiangnan wanderer, melancholy between disappointment and expectation, strolling in the smoke and rain corridor of Xitang Ancient Town, the turquoise river still flows with the sluggish breath of Wuyue culture, the white wall and gray tile houses are in the water, the lanterns of the old houses with wooden windows are hanging high, and the shops with simple furnishings also look quiet and quiet. Everything presents a secluded escape from the hustle and bustle. Wandering in Xitang Ancient Town, you can stand by the small bridge to feel the tranquility brought by the flowing water of the small bridge, you can also rock the black tent boat along the waterway, watch the Xitang people's buildings living along the river, listen to Wu Nong's soft words, taste the smoke and rain corridor, and understand the wisdom and inclusiveness of Wuyue culture.
Xitang is one of the first ten historical and cultural towns in China, and the 250,000 square meters of Ming and Qing dynasty buildings in the old town area are rare in Jiangnan in terms of scale and preservation. The ancient Jiangnan water town style has formed the rich natural landscape resources of Xitang, the streets are built along the river, the houses are built near the water, 1 square kilometer of the old town area has 27 stone bridges, 122 ancient lanes and more than 1,000 meters of corridor sheds, with nearly 20 attractions such as West Garden, Seed Fu Hall, Shipi Alley, Root Carving Museum, Button Museum, Holy Church, Seven Old Master Temple, Ni Tianzeng Ancestral Residence and so on. Xitang has become one of China's film and television shooting bases. "Mission Impossible 3", "Who Decides My Youth", "Don't Love Me", "Like Fog Like Rain and Like Wind" were filmed here, and the number of tourists exceeded 4.72 million (times) throughout the year.
We see from the Xitang Ancient Town Scenic Area; Ni House: Located in the south of Burning Hong Kong, it is the ancestral residence of the late Shanghai Vice Mayor Ni Tianzeng. Xitang West Park: The former site of Xitang West Garden is in Jijia Lane on West Street, in March 1990, a park with a total area of 16.6 acres was built in Xishan Town, in order to commemorate Liu Yazi coming to the West Garden, named "West Garden".
Gallery shed: Xitang is a unique building in the water town that connects the river and shops and can shade and shelter from the rain, and Xitang has preserved more than 1,300 meters of corridor shed. Shipi Lane: Shipi Lane is located in Xiaxi Street, Xitang Town, the west head of "Seed Futang", is an open-air lane sandwiched between two houses, built in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. Chong Fu Tang: Located on the east side of the ancient town of Xitang Shipi Lane, it is the residence of the Wang family. Huanxiu Bridge: Huanxiu Bridge was built in 1581 (the ninth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty), it spanned the Xiaotong and Beicui two xu, and was the earliest high bridge in Xitang Town.
West Street is the main street running east-west in Xitang, divided into two sections, with east as the top and west as the bottom in ancient times, so there are upper West Street and lower West Street. West Street has a very typical street pattern of water towns, and its minimum width is only for farmers to pick up and change shoulders, that is, the width of a flat burden. Because there are often eaves extending above the second floor of the street-facing houses, the two opposite buildings are close at hand, you can dry your clothes and quilts by putting up bamboo poles, and you can lean on the window to talk when you open the window, constituting a unique town scenery. There are many attractions on West Street from west to east: Shipi Lane, Chong Fu Tang (Wang Residence), West Garden, China Button Museum, Jiangnan Wadang Exhibition Hall. [
Tangdong Street is one of the most prosperous streets in Xitang from the Republic of China to the liberation period, and there are many restaurants on Tangdong Street. Speaking of this commercial street, I have to talk about the merchants in Xitang. An author who came to Xitang said: Xitang is the meeting point of Confucian merchant culture and civilian culture. There is some basis for this. There are many readers here, but after all, the road to becoming an official is too narrow, and most readers cannot become officials, so they have to return to business. These people were influenced by Confucian culture, and their business thinking was different from that of ordinary businessmen. There is a century-old medicine store Zhong Jiefu Pharmacy on Tangdong Street, and there is a couplet on the door that reads: Ning medicine rack is full of dust, may the world be disease-free. That is to say, the store would rather not sell the medicine, and did not want the people to suffer from illness. It fully reflects the Confucian ideas of "benevolence" and "harmony". In the autumn of 1927, Comrade Chen Yun was hunted down by the Kuomintang during the "Fengjing Riot" and moved to Xitang, where he stayed for a few days at Gao Tingliang, a fellow in Buzhuang, and then Gao Tingliang arranged for a boat to go to a safe place by water.
Tawan Street is named after the original temple named Yanta Zen Temple on the west side, and it is located at the bend of the city river. The Seventh Master finally committed suicide by throwing himself into Yanta Wan on Tawan Street. This area is crowded with restaurants in the Ming Dynasty, and a poet Zhou Ding in the Ming Dynasty wrote a poem "Xitangxiao City" to describe the prosperity here: the rising sun is full of clear rivers, and the passenger ships are flying. Thousands of gold in a department store, walking shoulder to shoulder. Bu brown to understand the city language, Tong Wu knows fake money. Jagged fish net collection, Huaya actually cooked. Attractions on Tawan Street include Drunken Garden, Seven Old Master Temple and so on.
Walking through the ancient town of Xitang, which came into being in the course of the Taihu Lake River, the water and land traffic is complicated, but the road traffic is mainly bridges, streets and corridors, water alleys are intertwined, river bridges are dense, there are many types of ancient bridges, covered bridges are endless, corridor sheds are built along the river, residential green tile roofs, stone bridges are short and solid, arch bridges are long and rainbow lying waves. The nostalgic Huanxiu Bridge, built in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, is huge, proud, with beautiful arches, spanning the two xuxu of Beicui and Xiaotong, with Miaozhu on both sides, the west side is engraved with "people spend time in the water and sky, the upper and lower shadows shake the bottom moon", and the east side is engraved with "the boat passes through the jasper ring, and the rainbow brings people up". Through the fireworks in the ancient town, I have a lot of insights, most of the ancient towns in Jiangnan are mostly corridors and sheds, but Xitang is the largest; Xitang Street has the most alleys, but West Street has the most characteristics. The lane of West Street is long and deep, the waterway network is perfect, the water accumulates in rainy days, the street surface is paved with bluestone, and the residential houses are extended.
The Wuyue culture has taken deep root in Xitang, adhering to the creation and inheritance of Wuyue culture, forming a cultural system that connects the sea and tolerates Wuyue, inherits the wisdom and talents of the Wuyue people from generation to generation, endows the unique softness of Jinxiu Jiangnan, and casts the aesthetic orientation and value identity embodied in the elegant cultural form, so that Wuyue culture takes root and germinates in Xitang Ancient Town. The endless "Wen Jun as a captain to Jiangtan, Wu Yue wind and smoke to self-understanding", endless "I dream of flat boats suitable for Wu Yue, the corridor quiet courtyard lights like the moon". Even the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai once splashed ink "Jinling is silent and cool at night, go up to a tall building alone to look at Wu Yue", and the beautiful "Wu Yue Huaigu" "Wu Yue is complaining for a thousand years, and the two palaces are blowing as a song". Stroll through Xitang Ancient Town, or enjoy tea and listen to music in the tea house, or overlook the wooden boat at the head of the bridge, or watch the reflection in the water, or overlook the whole eaves in the distance, or take a boat leisurely, or stroll leisurely in the gallery, or taste the slow-paced life of washing and playing chess by the Grandpa River.
It is reported that at present, Xitang has established the concept of "all-area scenic spots" that "urban tourism is a tourist town", and strives to extend the scenic area of the ancient town to the outside of the area, and integrate the outside of the area to the area, so as to achieve a big breakthrough of 1.01 square kilometers to 3.03 square kilometers of the scenic area of Xitang Ancient Town, and through the practice of "3+1+1" and other models, strengthen the "hard power" such as fire safety and public security management within the scenic area. Hanfu is the representative of traditional Chinese clothing and an indispensable carrier of China's excellent traditional culture. For thousands of years, Hanfu has been in the same vein and has become an important external embodiment of Chinese culture.
Shocking dynasty carnival phalanx, poetic float parade, spectacular horse team appearances, exquisite wedding phalanxes, Q cute dolls... Xitang Hanfu Culture Week has been held for nine consecutive years and has developed into the most influential ritual culture and Hanfu event in China, allowing more people to have a more direct and in-depth understanding of traditional Hanfu culture, and attracting more and more young people to participate in it.
In November this year, the 10th Xitang Hanfu Culture Week will open, and various forms of Hanfu exhibitions and activities will be carried out one after another. Among the pink wall Dewa, wide sleeves fluttering; Between the small bridge and flowing water, the clothes are shaking, inheriting the beauty of thousands of years of Chinese national costumes, will present a unique charm in the ancient town of the small bridge flowing water, you may wish to go to a Hanfu covenant that "crosses" thousands of years.