In Zhaitang Town, Mentougou, there is an ancient village centered on Longtou Mountain, which is fan-shaped and distributed from high to low - cuàn village. And from a bird's-eye view from a high place, it does look like a "big ingot" with upturned horns. It is said that when the village was first built, the founder took the "ingots" in his arms, so that the children and grandchildren would prosper and the wealth would be rolling.
The Ming Dynasty implemented the guard system, and the soldiers were included in the military register, and their children and grandchildren were in the army for generations. Soldiers and their families settled down in Mentougou, and military-style villages sprung up in the deep mountains and valleys. As a village on the strategic passage of Gongwei Jingcheng West Road, it is not only a place of production and living, but also a militarized stronghold. After the death of the Ming Dynasty, Mentougou lost its defensive role, and a large number of military households guarding here took off their battle armor and gradually multiplied into villages near the original military strongholds.
The village is a representative of the castle-style village.
As a subordinate village of Zhaitang Town, "Jiadixia Village" covers an area of 5.33 square kilometers and is 650 meters above sea level. As of June 2023, the village has a registered population of 102 people, a permanent population of 98 people, 280 acres of land, 74 courtyards and 689 houses in the village. It belongs to the Qingshui River Basin, temperate monsoon climate, the average annual temperature is 10.1 degrees Celsius, surrounded by mountains, below is a natural pass, the canyon is deep, the cliff is towering, up to more than 100 meters, commonly known as the first line of sky, can be called a natural risk. As of June 2023, the annual income of the village collective is 1 million yuan, and the per capita annual income of the villagers is 15,000 yuan. In 2003, it was rated as the first batch of "Chinese Historical and Cultural Villages" by the Ministry of Construction and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and a district-level revolutionary traditional education base.
The development of the village benefited from the ancient road of the Ming Dynasty, which was a place for business travelers, and most of the houses in this village were built in the middle and early Qing Dynasty. It is built by the mountain and rises layer by layer, and the whole is sitting in the north and facing south, covering an area of about 10,000 square meters. The whole village is divided into two parts by a winding street, the villagers first build a stone wall in front of the slope, the wall is divided layer by layer and the muck is tamped, the height of the stone wall is different, the highest is more than 20 meters, it is very spectacular. The houses take the mountain bag in the north of the village as the middle point, forming a north-south axis, extending downward in the form of a fan, orderly, scattered and concentrated, forming a harmonious whole. The houses in the village are mainly courtyard houses in the Qing Dynasty, and there are a small number of courtyard houses, which are irregular due to the terrain constraints.
The architecture of the village is still very distinctive. Because the terrain is dangerous, the height is uneven, and the area is also every inch of land, so it needs to be reasonably laid out according to local conditions. For example, the head of the Han family occupies the central axis, forming an orderly layout on both sides of the central axis. This kind of well-planned mountain village complex is rarely seen in other mixed villages. Attentive people will notice that the buildings located on the central axis are made of exquisite materials and richly decorated, while the other buildings are slightly inferior to the main buildings. The structure of the courtyard here is also different from the courtyard house in Beijing, which has evolved into a horizontal axis courtyard, the courtyard is connected internally, and the small courtyard has a courtyard door facing the street, which is certainly due to the terrain restrictions. More importantly, this pattern is suitable for the residence between the brothers of the rural big family, avoiding the inconvenience caused by walking through the same gate and passing through the courtyard, which is not only an independent courtyard, but also an organic whole house.
If you come here to visit, you will find that some of the wings are two rooms wide and one deep, but the interior space is very large, and the back eaves wall is extended outward according to the topography. The walls become irregular polygonal, which does not affect the overall layout of the house and expands the usable area. The ancestors here are very wise, they built houses in front of many steep slopes, first built small houses at low places, and then filled in and tamped houses on them, which not only reduced the workload of padding, but also increased the usable area. Visitors found that most of the courtyards have cellars underground, and there are thorn sheds in the air to dry crops, and the ground under the sheds can be used for cooling. A kennel is built under the steps of the main house, and the use of space is both ingenious and interesting, and more practical.
The house is built on the slope, which does not affect the residents' pursuit of beauty, and people see that the wall leg stone and door pier stone are well carved. The pattern has Tian character grid, a stick of incense, bat (Fu) to the eyes, musical instruments, magpie Dengmei, lotus, peony, pine, cypress, Rui beast and other graphics. The words "Yingxiang", "Diji", "Qingshan", "Green Water", "Fucai", "Hongxi", "Forbearance is High", "Houdefu", "Diligent and Thrifty, Rich in Poetry and Books for 10,000 Years" and so on. The gatehouse bricks here, the bricks carved on the plate of the clear water ridge are meticulous, and there are flowers of the four seasons, rare birds and beasts and various auspicious patterns. Door covers, window decorations in various forms, door covers to openwork a variety of flowers, window lattices have step by step, one horse and three arrows, lantern frames, I-shaped brocade, 10,000-character brocade, ice cracks, etc. In addition, there are deer, cranes and various flowers and plants, and the text has "Fu Lu Zhenxiang", "The world is peaceful", "The old man is safe" and so on. The door curtain frame and the wind window frame are supported by wood carvings "vase, lotus leaf, longevity peach, tiger head" and so on.
The houses in the village, whether it is the overall style, or the individual buildings and decoration techniques, are all carefully designed, which fully shows the ingenuity of the villagers.
In the early years of the village, there were local cultural and folk activities such as incense meeting, worshipping Emperor Guan, praying for rain and sacrificing to the dragon king, turning the mother to drive, and worshiping the door god; There is a highway in the village, which is connected to National Highway 109.
As early as December 17, 2012, the village became one of the first batch of "Chinese Traditional Villages". With the spread of fame, this ancient village, which lives on "eco-folk tourism", has been revitalized. More young people are driving along National Highway 109 to enjoy the charm of traditional ancient villages, enjoy the tranquility and serenity, and find the feeling of returning to the countryside.
There are now 44 households in the village, almost all of them are inns, and it is said that it is very difficult to find a place to stay here during the holidays, so it is best to find a good inn before noon, or book it before you go. Otherwise, if you look for it at night, you will really be blind. The price of the room will also fluctuate with the change of off-season and peak season.
Guangliang Courtyard is the highest level courtyard in the village of Fudi, this group of courtyards is composed of a group of independent relatively complete courtyards and a group of two courtyards that are horizontally connected and share a backyard. And the inn that is sought after is the rich man's courtyard inn in Guangliangyuan. It's also because of the grandeur and fame. It's a pity that it only has one room is an old ondol, and can only live 2-4 people, people who want to sleep on the kang in winter need to book, no matter how many people you live, it is generally 40 yuan a day. The old couple is very simple and funny, the courtyard is free to visit, and they warmly greet tourists and talk about the history of Guangliang Courtyard. When it's cold, they'll invite visiting guests into their bedrooms to bake the stove. When you are hungry, you will also fry two dishes for tourists, make a cake or cook a bowl of noodles, the dishes are very fresh, and the taste is good when the amount is large.
The leaders of the village engaged in the development of cultural tourism understand very well that they are engaged in the development of eco-tourism, so the basic services can keep up, each inn is equipped with a computer, and it is still very convenient to access the Internet in such a remote place, and the people who come are naturally in a good mood.
There are not many specialties under the plan, there will be fresh begonias in autumn, and there are also special mellow honey produced by the villagers. There are some small shops selling handicrafts at the foot of the mountain, and there are many special things.
People who come here, in addition to all the things to see in the scenic spot, the most important thing is to find a farmhouse inn to live in, walk slowly, go around, chat with the people in the village, swing at the bottom of the mountain, and be in a daze if you want to. Look at the alpine meadows, smell the beautiful flowers, shout at the mountains and mountains, and then hum a little song, on the way back, take back a small bottle of two pots from the shop, lie on the kang and chew boiled peanuts and edamame, and fellow partners, all the blind spray, it should be a special comfort in the heart.
Author: ✎ Li Shaonan
[Article source: "Beijing Chronicle" April issue]