In the old Jin Dynasty, there was such a folk song: "Jin Taigu, Yinqi County, Yuci County, where rice noodles can't be eaten." Jin Taigu, said that the former Shanxi Taigu County, its prosperity and development in history is famous, the Ming and Qing Dynasties Taigu County, is the financial center of Shanxi, once with Qi County, Pingyao together became the hometown of Jin merchants, unfortunately, Taigu County was later changed to a district, becoming a district in Jinzhong.
Taigu is located in the Jinzhong Basin, was founded in the Western Han Dynasty, initially named Yangyi County, the 18th year of the Sui Kai Emperor (598) was renamed Taigu, on December 9, 2019, Taigu County was withdrawn from the county to set up a district, becoming the Taigu District of Jinzhong City. With a total area of 1,050 square kilometers and a population of more than 300,000, the district is only about 60 kilometers away from Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province, and is an integral part of the multi-group planning of one main and one sub-district in Taiyuan Metropolitan Area.
Before Taigu became a district, don't look at it as a small county, but its history is very brilliant, especially in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Taigu was very famous in Shanxi throughout the country. During the Qing Dynasty and Guangxu Dynasty, there were 14 large merchants with the largest wealth in Shanxi, of which Taigu had five, Cao, Liu, Wu, Meng, and Yang, and the strength was the strongest in Taigu.
As early as the Ming Dynasty, Taigu people went to all parts of the country to do business, and the goods sold by many shops in Taigu City at that time were not available elsewhere, and merchants and peddlers from all over Shanxi came to Taigu to purchase goods. By the Qing Dynasty, Taigu rich merchants gathered, during the Qianlong period, Taigu had more than 170 business names, even the Shanxi General Chamber of Commerce was also located in Taigu, Taigu's influence in the business world, can influence the finance of Shanxi Province, so that it has the name of "Little Beijing".
During the three prosperous years of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, the tea villages in Qi County and the ticket villages in Pingyao could not be compared with Taigu at that time. Taigu merchants throughout the country's major docks, many merchants and rich people in the country are saving money in the silver trumpets opened by Taigu people, the first rich merchant in Taigu is Cao Runtang in Beiwang Sanduotang, it is said that When Empress Dowager Cixi fled to Taigu, the Cao family borrowed one million taels of silver.
The buildings of the old city of Taigu, with the appearance of green brick and stone, many of which are three courtyards in the main room, the box room and the lower room, belong to the typical courtyards in the north of the Ming and Qing dynasties, but these courtyards are incomparable to the courtyards in Beijing at that time. The courtyards of Taigu are thick with high walls, while the courtyards in Beijing are short and small, because the merchants of Taigu have money and build tall in order to prevent theft, and the merchants of Beijing do not dare to make a mistake even if they have money at the foot of Tianzi.
After Taigu returned to his hometown to make a living, he built a series of palatial mansions, represented by the Cao family compound and Kong Xiangxi's residence. The Cao family compound is in the northeast corner of Taigu Beiwang Village, also known as Sanduotang, that is, Duozi, Duofu, Duoshou, and the Qiao family compound is 7 kilometers away, there are 277 houses, shaped like a castle, which has a history of more than 400 years, showing the prominent status of the Cao family.
Kong Xiangxi's residence is located in Taigu Normal School, where Kong Xiangxi, the representative of the Kong family, one of the four major families of the Republic of China, was born. The mansion was built between Qianlong and Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty, bought by Kong Xiangxi in 1930, and chiang kai-shek lived here in 1934. The existing main courtyard, kitchen courtyard, study courtyard, theater courtyard and some gardens are basically intact, and the compound has become a tourist attraction.
Taigu is such an extraordinary place, with the integration of the urban agglomeration in central Shanxi, the same city in Taiyuan and Jinzhong, the development potential of Taigu is unlimited, do you want to come and see?