Brothers and sisters Shanxi trip (1) - Taiyuan Governor's Mansion

On June 17, I took the high-speed train from Shijiazhuang to Taiyuan. The brothers stayed at the hotel while we returned to our home in Taiyuan.

Taiyuan is my second hometown, and I am very familiar with every scenic spot in Taiyuan. The brothers have also been here before, and the younger sister is here for the first time, so the itinerary will be a little different.

In the afternoon, the brothers went to visit the Governor's Mansion, and we chose to rest at home because we had already been there. So the following paragraph is a travel note written based on our previous visits to describe the whereabouts of the brothers.

Warlord is the military chief in charge of a province's military administration during the Beiyang government. During the Revolution of 1911, the administrative and military chiefs of various provinces were mostly called governors. In the fifth year of the Republic of China, it was renamed the Warlord. Later, it was renamed Supervision, Supervision and so on. After the defeat of the Beiyang warlords, such names were no longer used.

Who is the governor of Shanxi? Yan Xishan, the former emperor of Shanxi.

Yan Xishan (October 8, 1883-May 23, 1960), styled Baichuan and Bochuan, nicknamed Longchi, was born in Wutai, Shanxi. He was an important political and military figure during the Republic of China, and the leader of the warlords of the Jin Dynasty.

After the Wuchang Uprising in 1911, Yan Xishan was promoted as the governor of Shanxi. After 1917, he concurrently served as governor of Shanxi. He escaped from Shanxi in April 1949 and went to Taiwan. He died in Taipei in 1960 at the age of 77. Yan Xishan ruled Shanxi for 38 years, and the official residence he lived in is now the Governor's Mansion. The former site of the Governor's Mansion is on Mansion East Street. The east of the Governor's Mansion is called Fudong Street, and the west of the Governor's Mansion is called Fuxi Street. The "fu" of "fudong" and "fuxi" is the governor's mansion.

The history of the old site of the Governor's Mansion can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty. At that time, it was the Chonger Temple of Duke Wen of Jin in Tangming Town. During the Northern Song Dynasty, this was Pan Mei's Grand Marshal's Mansion.

By the way, this Pan Mei, who was described as a treacherous official in the novel "General of the Yang Family", is actually a famous founding general of the Northern Song Dynasty and a close friend of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin.

In the fourth year of Taiping Xingguo, Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty Zhao Guangyi appointed Pan Mei as a recruiter in the North Road, sentenced Taiyuan to the government affairs, and attacked the Northern Han Dynasty with Taiyuan as its capital. After the Northern Han Dynasty was pacified, Pan Mei was appointed to serve as the deployment of the three diplomatic capitals, and stayed to guard the northern border. At that time, his Xingyuan was set up here.

From the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the governor's office in Shanxi was also located here.

On April 24, 1949, Taiyuan was liberated, and the offices of Xu Xiangqian and other main leaders were located in Buildings 2 and 3 of the Governor's Mansion. In September of the same year, the Shanxi Provincial People's Government was established, and the main leaders of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government worked in Building No. 2. Since then, the Provincial People's Government has been established at the former site of the Governor's Mansion, which has become the political center of Shanxi Province.

In September 2017, the Shanxi provincial government was relocated, and Taiyuan City organized and implemented a comprehensive renovation supporting project, demolished 6 modern buildings that were incompatible with the historical style, and repaired 11 historical buildings such as the South Gate, Yuanyi Hall, and Self-examination Hall. 6 antique buildings were built according to historical documents, and the former site of the Governor's Mansion was rebuilt into the Shanxi Merchants Museum.

Came to the gate of the Governor's Mansion. It was rebuilt on the basis of the former governor's office during the Republic of China. The gate tower sits north and faces south. It is a two-story wooden structure building with two-story eaves. The first floor is 5 rooms wide and 2 rooms deep, with corridors at the front and back. The second floor is 3 rooms wide and 2 rooms deep, with corridors around it. The roof is a single-eave Xieshan style, covered with yellow and green glazed tiles. A pair of stone lions stand on the left and right of the gate.

Residents of Taiyuan City are very familiar with this gate tower. Now it has been renovated and looks brand new. The sign at the entrance was changed to "Shanxi Merchants Museum", which has become a tourist attraction in Taiyuan.

On the east side of the Governor's Mansion, there is another courtyard gate, which is the gate of the East Garden of the Governor's Mansion. The East Garden is not open now, there are guards at the gate, and idlers are not allowed to enter.

Entering the gate of the Governor's Mansion, one enters the courtyard. On the east and west sides are Building No. 9 and Building No. 10. The front is the Yimen.

Yimen is the second gate of Shanxi Governor's Yamen in the Qing Dynasty. It was originally a three-bay hard hilltop building. Later, because of the impact on vehicle traffic, the Yimen was demolished. What you see now is rebuilt on the old site in 2019.

There is a horizontal plaque on the top of the gate of the ceremony, and the title of the plaque is "Learning from the Past, Tiring from the Future", which was written by Zhao Daiwen, the provincial chairman during the Republic of China. Mr. Zhao Daiwen (1866-1943) was a member of the League, a member of the Kuomintang, and one of the main leaders of the Shanxi Xinhai Uprising. He was an advocate of the Anti-Japanese War and the organization of the Sacrifice League in Shanxi. He once served as the chairman of the Shanxi Provincial Government, the Minister of the Interior of the Nationalist Government, and the Superintendent of Supervision. After the Republic of China, all the people who were born in the military and political circles in Shanxi were his students. The tomb of Mr. Zhao Daiwen is in Shanglan Village, Taiyuan. When we visited Doctor Dou's Temple, we visited it.

There are couplets hanging on both sides of the gate of the ceremony: "Wish to ride the wind and break thousands of miles of waves; willing to face the wall and read books for ten years." This is a self-encouragement couplet written by Dr. Sun Yat-sen.

There are two stone lions standing on both sides of Yimen, which are old objects in the fifth year of Xianfeng.

Pass through the gate and enter the second courtyard. On the front of the courtyard is Yuanyi Hall. The original site of Yuanyi Hall is the lobby of Shanxi Governor's Yamen. In 1932, the lobby was demolished and rebuilt into a brick and wood building with a combination of Chinese and Western styles. The main body is a two-story building with a width of five rooms, and a three-room rolling shed with a wide area in front of the building.

During the period of the Republic of China, it was called the first floor. After the founding of New China, it was called Building No. 1. In 1985, it was renovated into a VIP reception hall. After the completion, it was titled "Yuanyi Hall" by Bo Yibo himself.

There is a horizontal plaque hanging under the eaves of Baosha, inscribed "Shanxi Merchants in the World", and the couplets on both sides are: "Five hundred years of brilliance illuminate the sun and the moon; ten thousand miles of majesty swallow the mountains and rivers". This was written as the gate of "Shanxi Merchants Museum". To be honest, it is a little too much to use such rhetoric to describe Shanxi merchants in the couplets.

This building is called "Yuanyi Hall", but there is no sign of "Yuanyi Hall" on the front.

A horizontal plaque hangs under the eaves on the second floor, inscribed with the title: "Zerun steams Li", which was originally the imperial pen of Emperor Yongzheng. "Zhengli" means the common people, and "Zerun Zhengli" means to love the common people.

Entering the hall from Baoxia, you can see the stone plaque "The world is public" written by Dr. Sun Yat-sen above the middle gate.

So from these plaques and couplets, we can see the conflict between the two themes of the Governor's Mansion and the Shanxi Merchants Museum. In my personal opinion: Since the Governor's Mansion has become a cultural relic protection unit under the title of "The Former Site of the Governor's Mansion", the history of the Governor's Mansion should be highlighted in the building and interior furnishings. In this regard, Nanjing's "Presidential Palace" and Changchun's "Manchukuo Palace" are good examples. The inclusion of Shanxi Merchants Museum seems to be nondescript. Moreover, in Yingze Park, there is a large-scale "Shanxi Merchants Museum". Institutional overlap is unnecessary.

There are No. 11 and No. 12 buildings on the left and right sides in front of Yuanyi Hall. This place was originally the clerk's room in the governor's office in Shanxi. It was rebuilt into a two-story office building during the Republic of China. The two floors are of brick and wood structure with rolling shed roof, with arched doors and windows, and the upper and lower floors have eaves and corridors, which are both practical and beautiful.

Yuanyi Hall, Building No. 11 and Building No. 12 are all arranged as the exhibition hall of Shanxi Merchants Museum. We took a quick tour and then walked back.

This is the back of Yuanyi Hall. The three big characters "Yuanyi Hall" on the horizontal plaque are written by Bo Yibo himself. It is a bit inappropriate to put the hall name of a building on the back.

Behind Yuanyi Hall are Buildings 2 and 3 arranged from north to south. The two buildings are two-story brick-concrete structures connected by corridors. The original site here was the passage hall and the second hall of the Governor's Yamen, which were converted into office buildings during the Republic of China. Buildings 2 and 3 have basements and are interconnected. On the eve of the liberation of Taiyuan, Yan Xishan's senior generals Sun Chu, Wang Jingguo, Zhao Shiling and others hid in the basement and were later captured by the People's Liberation Army. Now these two buildings are also called the exhibition halls of the museum.

Going west from Building 3, you come to the West Garden.

There were originally two gardens in the East and West of the Governor's Mansion. The East Garden was originally the inner garden of the governor's yamen. It was changed into a private residence by Yan Xishan in the fifth year of the Republic of China, also known as Yan Mansion. Now most of them have been converted into villas, so they are not open for the time being.

The West Garden was originally the West Road Garden of the governor's yamen, and was later converted into an office area. During the renovation in 2017, the office was demolished and rebuilt into an antique garden.

The theme of the West Garden is the pool water and the pavilions around the water. The whole garden embodies a smart style of gardens in the south of the Yangtze River, and is also filled with a strong cultural atmosphere.

This is Tingyu Building. The horizontal plaque on the first floor is titled "Pan Shui Zhong Ying", and the couplets on both sides are: "The beautiful scenery is natural, full of pictures of mountains and rivers; elegant and self-satisfied, the four-season wind and moon tower".

This is the "Lakelight and Moonlight" water pavilion. The couplets holding the pillars are "flowing water and weeping willows, natural scenery; dawn smoke and light rain, people love flowers and morning". The couplets are taken from Li Hongzhang's eight character couplets.

Opposite the lake is the "painted building Lingyun" hall. The inscription on the horizontal plaque is "Huadong Lingyun", which comes from the couplet of the Taihe Palace in Kunming: "Huadong Lingyun only occupies three acres of green hills, and Zhulou reflects the sun and opens up a green field." The couplet reads: "Clouds come to sit on the couch; flower breath enters the window screen". The phrase comes from Li Qingzhao's "drunken flower shade".

This small courtyard is quite emotional. The title on the horizontal plaque in the main hall reads: "Bright wind and bright moon". The couplets on both sides are: "Yunlin in Qing Dynasty, Ni Youhua Pavilion; Yingguang Baojin, Mi Laoshutang." This couplet was originally written by Ji Xiaolan. Ni Yuan is the nickname of the painter Ni Zan. Mi Lao refers to Mi Fu, and "Bao Jin Ying Guang Ji" is Mi Fu's work.

This hall facing the water is a bit narrow. The title on the horizontal plaque is "Spring and Shenan", and the couplet reads: "The sound of the piano is clear, the dew dripping on the pine window is accompanied by the sound of insects; the book is forever at night, and the radish wall contains the wind and moonlight". Taken from the Qianlong inscription Jingshan Guande Temple couplet.

There are some Taihu stones scattered in the pool, which are graceful and elegant, adding a bit of sentiment to the picture.

This is the hall when leaving the West Garden. The inscription on the horizontal plaque reads "Heart travels to the eight poles". The words come from Lu Ji's "Wenfu": "Abstinence to the eight extremes, and the heart to travel thousands of miles." The couplet is: "Tan Zhitong Qiushui; Gao Huai sends white clouds". It embodies the interest of being indifferent to fame and fortune and aiming at high mountains and flowing water.

After watching the West Garden, return to the central axis again. This is the inner court of the former Shanxi governor's yamen, which is the inner house of the governor. During the government of the Republic of China, the inner courtyard was demolished and converted into a two-story office building - Building No. 4. In 1990, the two-story office building was demolished and converted into a small square with fountains. During the renovation in 2017, the Internal Administration Court was rebuilt based on historical data. Today's internal administration courtyard is a set of courtyards and east-west courtyards.

This is the courtyard wall and gate of Neishuyuan. The horizontal plaque on the gate is "Huitong Tianxia", which obviously reflects the theme of Shanxi Merchants Museum. The couplets on both sides are taken from the imperial couplets of Emperor Daoguang: "The merit lies in Dianmowen in the country; it is as clear as ice jade and as heavy as a mountain". The content of the two themes of the museum and the governor's mansion is mixed and matched, which is too incompatible.

There are two small courtyard doors on both sides of the gate, leading to the east and west courtyards respectively. There are horizontal plaques on the gates of the small courtyards, respectively titled "Fu Sui Quan Jin" and "Civil and Military Constitution", both of which have nothing to do with Shanxi merchants' "connecting the world".

This is the main hall of the Neishuyuan, five rooms with wide faces and hanging on the top of the mountain. There is a front porch in front of the hall, and the horizontal plaque under the eaves is inscribed "Rising Sun and Moon Prospering". I don't know how it came out, but I only know that "Rising and Changing" is the ticket number opened by Qiao's family, and it is also an advocate of "connecting the world". The couplets on both sides are "Admiration Ruolan, keep one's body and stick to jade; talk about it like music, and be harmonious in the hall". This is the eight-character couplet written by Ji Xiaolan, and it doesn't match the horizontal plaque at all.

The main rooms in the east and west courtyards are all three rooms wide. On the top of the mountain, there is a front porch in front of the hall. There is a horizontal plaque hanging under the eaves of the front porch of the main house in the east side courtyard, inscribed "Benevolence, Righteousness, Righteousness", and an old couplet, "Benevolence, Righteousness, and Righteousness, so as to control their actions". There is also a horizontal plaque on the top of the gate, inscribed "Escort Guarding Merchants", which seems to be neither fish nor fowl.

There is a couplet hanging on the pillars of the porch: "Frugal use and loving people can lead the country; honesty and sincerity is self-cultivation", and the "Analects of Confucius" comes out: "Frugal use and love for others, so that the people can live in time."

The two horizontal plaques on the main room of the West Side Courtyard are "History of Jingjingwei" and "Box Office Wisdom". It is also a mashup of two themes. "History of Jingjingwei" comes from "History of Jingjingwei, which is Chengsiwen". It is exactly the upper and lower couplets of the eight-character pair with the previous "benevolence, benevolence, justice and appropriateness, so as to control its actions". "Box-office wisdom" is incomprehensible. The couplets on the pillars of the porch are: "Dan Shi Yue Shu. Only the Ming but the promise; hard work, like a mountain like a deep." Written by Zhang Yuzhao, a scholar of late Qing Dynasty.

Behind the Internal Administration Courtyard is Building No. 5, the provincial government office building newly built in 1954. The main building of this building is the popular Soviet style at that time, while the doors and windows adopt the traditional Chinese style. The combination of the two is the characteristic of the times at that time.

The courtyard behind Building No. 5 is the Yushu Building. The Yushu Building was first built in the 43rd year of Kangxi, and it is a place to treasure the emperor's imperial decree, imperial approval and important documents and archives. In addition, in the 42nd year of Kangxi, when the emperor was in Taiyuan, 14 Tang and Song poems written by the governor of Shanxi and civil and military officials, 23 poems created by himself, 18 couplets and 9 plaques were preserved.

During the period of the Republic of China, it was changed to the library and archive room, and after the founding of new China, it became the library and reference room of the provincial government. What you see now is reconstructed based on historical data.

The gate of Yushulou is three rooms wide, hanging on the top of the mountain. The horizontal plaque under the eaves is inscribed "Poems and Books in the World", and the couplets on both sides are: "Look at the Qingshan Moji painting; open your chest, blue sea and Shaoling poems." The couplet written by Ji Xiaolan.

Entering the courtyard, the front is the two-story Yushulou. The Yushu building is five rooms wide, with two eaves on the top of the mountain. What is strange is that there is a roll of sheds on the second floor to embrace the top of the mountain. There is a horizontal plaque hanging under the eaves of Baosha, titled "Yushulou". There is a front porch in front of the first-floor hall, and a horizontal plaque hangs under the eaves, inscribed with "a collection of ten thousand volumes of books".

Enter the Yushu Building, go up to the second floor, and you can see the bookshelves and collections. According to reports, there are nearly 40,000 volumes of books here, including more than 12,000 rare ancient books published from the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the Republic of China. The content is a collection of classics and history and the works of famous scholars in the Three Jin Dynasties. In addition, the algae well on the roof is also worth seeing.

There are side halls in the east and west of the imperial library. This is the hall on the east side. The inscription on the horizontal plaque reads "Luoyue Tiaoqin". The title of the couplet says: "The name of the two generations is Guo Pushe; the family of calligraphy and painting is General Li".

Pu She is the name of an official position in ancient times, and the chief of Shangshu Province is called Pu She. "Two generations of meritorious names Guo Pushe" refers to the famous Tang Dynasty general Bailongyou Jiedushi, Taiyuan County Duke, Zuowuwei General Guo Zhiyun, and his son Dingxiang County King, Shangshu Youpushe Guo Yingyi.

General Li refers to Li Sixun and his son Li Zhaodao. Both father and son are proficient in calligraphy and painting, and they are called "Big General Li" and "Little General Li" in the world. Li Sixun (651-716), courtesy name Jianmei, was a painter and calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty clan. During the period of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, he was promoted to the Great General of Youwuwei, and he was granted the title of Peng Guogong in Jin Dynasty, known as "General Li" in the world.

This is the back of the Imperial Library. The horizontal plaque under the eaves on the upper floor is titled "Guangxue Zhenwei".

Behind the Yushu Building is the last building of the Governor's Mansion - the Self-examination Hall.

The Self-examination Hall, also known as the "Meishan Conference Hall", was completed in 1919, and it has been more than a hundred years since then. The self-examination hall is nine rooms wide, eight rooms deep, and two stories high. It is a masonry structure building combining Chinese and Western styles. There are corridors on the front eaves of the seven rooms in the middle of the upper and lower floors, and arched doors and windows are set on all sides. Between every two arched windows on the lower floor, a "Zhong" character stands out. The word "Zhong" embodies Yan Xishan's philosophy and way of life.

In April 1924, Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore was invited to visit China. During Tagore's visit to Taiyuan, Yan Xishan received him. During the dinner, Tagore asked: "China is one of the four ancient civilizations, with a long history and splendid culture. May I ask Mr. Yan, what is oriental culture?"

Yan Xishan pondered for a moment after hearing this, and replied: "Oriental culture is just a simple word '中'."

On the second floor, there is a horizontal plaque hanging under the eaves. The title of the plaque is "Self-examination Hall" written by Xu Shichang, President of the Republic of China. There is a horizontal plaque "You can live late" hanging on the back eaves, which was written by Mr. Fu Shan.

Entering the self-examination hall, you can see that this is a large conference hall. The hall is two stories high. The second floor seen from the outside is just a circle of corridors on the upper floor. It is said that the hall can accommodate more than 500 people, and Yan Xishan has held many major meetings here. In 1937, Zhou Enlai and Yan Xishan discussed joint resistance against Japan, which was also held here.

From the Moon Cave Gate on the west side of the Self-examination Hall, you can go to Meishan in the Governor's Mansion. The word "Meishan" on the gate of the Moon Cave was written by Hu Fuguo, former Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee.

Meishan was originally Meishan, and the original site was the place where the Governor of the Ming Dynasty piled coal in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and it continued to be used in the Qing Dynasty. In the seventh year of Guangxu, Zhang Zhidong became the governor of Shanxi. He pursued the feng shui pattern of the yamen being high in the north and low in the south, and backed by mountains, so he built a rockery here, which is nine feet wide from east to west, twenty-seven feet long from north to south, and nine feet high, called "Meishan".

In the 8th year of the Republic of China, Yan Xishan enlarged Meishan and built it into a mountain landscape garden, and changed the name of "Meishan" to "Jinshan", which means Shanxi progress. At the same time, a four-story western-style bell tower was built on the mountain, called "Jinshan Tower".

In 1937, when the Japanese invaders attacked Taiyuan, they destroyed the bell tower with artillery fire. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Yan Xishan rebuilt the bell tower. In 1949, when Taiyuan was liberated, Yan Xishan's government guards relied on Meishan to resist. As a last resort, the People's Liberation Army used mountain artillery to destroy the remnants of Yan's tribe, and the bell tower was also destroyed.

In 1952, after the provincial government entered the Governor's Mansion, it changed "Jinshan" to "Meishan", and rebuilt the bell tower on the spot. The newly built bell tower is a Gothic spire with a five-pointed star on the top of the bell tower, which is a landmark building in Taiyuan. At that time, Meishan Bell Tower was the commanding height of Taiyuan City, standing on the bell tower overlooking the whole city.

We climbed up the stone steps and boarded the platform in front of the bell tower. Then enter the bell tower through the gate. There is a "Dangren Cave" at the bottom of the bell tower, which can enter the inside of the rockery. There is a 3-meter-high stone carving of the word "tiger" on the stone wall at the end of the cave.

Climb all the way to the top platform of the clock tower. Overlooking the mountain, there is a gazebo pool, where many people look up at the bell tower. I suddenly remembered those famous poems: "You stand on the bridge to see the scenery, and the people who watch the scenery look at you upstairs."

Stayed on it for a while, then went down the mountain, and came to the pavilion just seen. The bright red horizontal plaque reads "Zaozao Yanghua", and the couplet on the pillars of the pavilion is: "The rivers and mountains in the pen turn green onions; the water and bamboos in front of the hall are worthy of Tsinghua University". The first couplet comes from Zhu Xi's poem: "The eyes are clear, the bone is light and the beard remains unchanged, and the world turns green and green in the pen." The second couplet comes from Huang Tingjian's poem: "The wind and dust on the road are white, and the water and bamboo in front of the hall are clear and clear."

Continue down the mountain and come to the foot of the mountain on the east side of Meishan. There is a stele corridor on the east side. Under the corridor, there are two inscriptions on the royal steles of the Qing Dynasty and the stele inscribed by the governor and admiral of Shanxi. This is Emperor Qianlong's "Book to Shanxi Governor Ebi".

There is also a row of cave buildings on the east side of Meishan Mountain, which seem to be integrated with the bell tower when looking up. The uppermost floor is a pavilion with a plaque inscribed "Heaven and Earth Righteous Qi". The middle floor is a three-eyed cave dwelling with a front porch outside the cave dwelling. The lower floor is also a three-eyed cave dwelling, but the door is closed.

This completes the tour of Meishan, and then comes to the east axis of the Governor's Mansion. This is the north side of the East Garden. But the flowers in the garden were in full bloom and full of vitality. In the middle of the garden is the main building on the East Road - Qinyuan Building.

Qinyuan Building was originally a two-story building built during the Republic of China, used for offices and reception of foreign guests. During the Japanese Puppet Period, it was the office of the Puppet Shanxi Provincial Administrative Research Institute. After liberation, it was demolished due to disrepair. What you see now is reconstructed based on historical image data. Under the eaves, there is a horizontal plaque "Qinyuan Building". The inscription turned out to be Zhu Xi. The couplet on the front porch column is: "Cao Cun Zheng Gu is called Wan Pu; Tao Zhu Han Hong Ruo Hun Jin". From the perspective of font and content, they are all taken from the couplets written by Zheng Banqiao. This couplet is Zheng Banqiao's expression of his praise and pursuit of character and integrity.

This small door is the back door of the East Garden. The three characters "Xi Jingfu" engraved on the brick on the door should be omitted from "Yixi Jingfu". "Xi" means "gift", and "Jingfu" means great blessing. "Xi Jingfu" means that those who practice the way of comforting the people will naturally be blessed by God. There are also couplets on both sides of the small gate, saying: "I admire the whip all my life; the fairy fate is still dust-free." The confrontation is not very stable, but the meaning is profound. The first couplet comes from "Historical Records - Biography of Guan Yan": "If Yan Zi is here, even though I hold the whip for him, I admire him."

Seeing this, walk around the wall of the East Garden courtyard and return to the gate of the Governor's Mansion. The half-day visit is over.