From Zhangbi Ancient Castle to the north, it is 50 to 60 kilometers to another ancient city. This ancient city is much larger than Zhangbi Ancient Castle, and that is Pingyao Ancient City.
It wasn't very late when we arrived in Pingyao, so we had to get the numbers of the houses where everyone camped. Someone led us into a hotel. I remembered that when I came to Pingyao 20 years ago, the homestay I lived in was Temin, which was a two-story bungalow yard. This hotel is a five-story building, very luxurious. Look at the first entrance, there are wing rooms in the east and west, the second floor in the north room, and the hall room in the middle.
In the second entrance, the east and west wing rooms also have a second floor, which communicates with the second floor of the north room, and there is also a hall room in the middle of the north room. The north room is covered with gorgeous Jin School painted woodcut decorations. There is actually a "Bao Wu Xinghui" plaque hanging upstairs, which was inscribed by Puyi's teacher and the famous Liang Dingfen in the 16th year of Guangxu (1890), but he did not say which woman it was given to. Wu is the female star of Wu in the north of the twenty-eight constellations. In the Tang Dynasty, Li Xuan wrote a poem "Wu's daughter's home is empty, but Xinglang is not in her hand." Baowu Xinghui means that women are as brilliant as stars, and it is used to celebrate women's birthdays. The origin of the plaque here is unknown. Why did the congratulatory birthday plaque inscribed by the emperor end up in Pingyao? During the Guangxu period, there was also a very famous "Baowu Xinghui" plaque, which was inscribed by Sun Jianai, a scholar of the Imperial Academy, on the 70th birthday of his friend Wang Shipei's wife, Shen Shi, in the 34th year of Guangxu (1908). It was a gold plaque.
The third entrance, the east and west two-story wing rooms, there is no north room, but a hall, a door with hanging flowers.
Then go to the fourth lane next to the yard.
The handrails on the side walls are very chic.
There is a hanging flower door at the end of the road.
Entering the vertical flower gate is the fifth way to enter the courtyard. Of course we have to live upstairs.
Although it is upstairs, you can still sleep on a kang in the house, not an earthen kang, but a brick kang. Look at the location of the kang cave, you must have a hot head when you sleep at night. In fact, this is an electric kang, which is generally hot everywhere, and there is a big mattress on the kang, just to experience the atmosphere of sleeping on a kang, without the feeling of sleeping on a kang.
Although this courtyard is newly built, it still complies with the architectural layout of the Jin School, with multiple courtyards, lanes, hall rooms and vertical flower gates. It's just that the wing room has a second floor, which is special, and this is also for the purpose of opening a hotel to accommodate more people.
After unloading our bags, we couldn't wait to go out and walk onto Kangzhuang Avenue West Street in the city. The last time I came, I drove my car into the courtyard of the inn, but now I can’t. Tourists’ cars can’t enter the city, and West Street is also a pedestrian street.
According to textual research, it is said that the ancient city of Pingyao was first built in the period of Ji Jing, King Xuan of Zhou in the Western Zhou Dynasty, that is, around 823 BC. This time was the 5th year of King Zhou Xuan, the early days of King Zhou Xuan's ascension to the throne. At that time, several ministers he reused were Duke Zhao Mu and Yin Jifu. At that time, the northern nomadic Quan Rong often harassed the Western Zhou Dynasty and even threatened Haojing, so King Xuan of Zhou sent Yin Jifu to lead his troops to attack the Quan Rong.
Yin Jifu is a god-man, and it is said that he is a descendant of Emperor Xuanyuan Huangdi. Yin Jifu is both literary and military. He is also the editor-in-chief of the editorial department of "The Book of Songs", and he is known as the ancestor of Chinese poetry. Yin Jifu was almost at the same time as Homer in Greece, and the contents of "Book of Songs" and "Homer's Epic" were also almost at the same time. Yin Jifu sent troops to the east to defeat Quan Rong, and then chased Quan Rong relentlessly until he reached the Taiyuan area, where he stood there and stamped his feet vigorously, pretending to be still chasing. Those dog soldiers didn't dare to look back, so they kept running until they disappeared. This Yin Jifu was stationed a little south from Taiyuan, and he saw Pingyao City. At that time, the city wall of Pingyao was not high enough to meet Yin Jifu's fortification requirements. Yin Jifu raised the height and reinforced the city wall, and built barracks and other facilities in the city. This is the prototype of Pingyao City. In this way, there was already a Pingyao city before Yin Jifu built the city, but it did not reach the level of a fortress. Then the history of Pingyao City has to be pushed forward, until when? I guess it should go back to the time when the Yellow Emperor fought against Chi You, and the Yellow Emperor must have left a team here after the victory.
According to Zhou history, King Xuan of Zhou was the eleventh king, and his ancestor King Cheng of Zhou had already given the land of Pingyao to his younger brother Shuyu, and Shuyu's son Xie had already renamed the place to Jin Dynasty. up. During this period, from the first year of King Cheng of Zhou to the fifth year of King Xuan of Zhou, that is, from 1042 BC to 822 BC, Jin was still one of the princes of the Western Zhou Dynasty, that is, the Marquis of Jin. It should be the early days of Jin Xianhou when Yin Jifu attacked the dog army. I don't know how the Jin army and the dog army who accompanied him fought at that time. But no matter what, Jin Xianhou must not be able to defeat Quan Rong, otherwise there would be no Yin Jifu building a garrison in Pingyao.
In the Warring States Period, in the second year of Jin Jinggong, in 376 BC, the three kingdoms of Zhao, Han, and Wei divided up the Jin Kingdom, the Jin Kingdom fell, and Pingyao was occupied by the Zhao Kingdom. After the split of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Pingyao belonged to the Eastern Wei Dynasty and later the Northern Qi Dynasty. During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming army set up defenses here, heightened and reinforced the rammed earth walls, built bricks outside, and added towers and watchtowers. This is basically the current city wall, and later the city tower was rebuilt during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, what we see now is the Ming City Wall more than 600 years ago and the Qing City Tower more than 300 years ago. There are new and old houses in the city, and the oldest ones are brick houses from the Qing Dynasty. The buildings in the city basically retain the architectural style of the Jin School during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the newly built houses are almost all of the Jin School, which is still very interesting in Pingyao.
The ancient city of Pingyao still retains the chessboard layout, and there are traces of Lifang. Look at the one below, it's obviously Fangmen. The sign beside the door reads "Historic Building, Residential Houses of the Qing Dynasty".
There are shops on both sides of the street, which is the "city".
The rich sons and daughters of the County Tourism Bureau walked on the old street.
There is a tethering post at the door of this store. Could it be that it sells fodder for the army?
The door panels of the shop are removed when they are opened in the morning, and installed again when they are closed at night.
Alley in chessboard pattern.
The signboard of the shop is "Xia Tian Gong".
There are also paintings on the horizontal drape on the windows, such as Ziqi coming from the east, Fengqiuhuang, Yuanyang Ruyi, Jiangnan water town and rich peonies, and the paintings on the door are made by the same person, the painter of the Pingyao Ancient Construction Engineering Team.
Take a look at the Jin School door cover below. Wood carvings are very important decorations in Shanxi architecture. This wood-carved door cover is not considered the most elaborate, but it is already very thoughtful, and the figures look like Song Dynasty cadres.
The following shipment has nothing to do with the sign above. This is Shanxi wine vinegar with "Fu" written on the door.
This one sells paper-cuts, so it should be window grilles.
Below is the Rishengchang bank. It is open in the morning and takes inventory in the afternoon. It was closed when we came.
Look at the horizontal drape of the door frame of Rishengchang, it should be traces of paintings in the period of the Republic of China, and you can also see the appearance of yellow flowers yesterday.
The door cover of Rishengchang looks like an old thing, but it is also more refined. There are three old men on it, the one holding the child is Fu Xing, the one holding Ruyi is Lu Xing, and the one holding Xiantao is Shou Xing.
The gate of Rishengchang is not ordinary.
The next door to Rishengchang is also a ticket shop called Wei Taihou, which was opened by Rishengchang's second shopkeeper as a separate door. Below is its front face, which combines Chinese and Western styles, which is very special. It is three rooms wide, and the front is not a porch, but a Western-style brick arched colonnade, and under those pillars is a Chinese-style Jinpai plinth. There is also a Chinese-style horse-mounting stone under the steps. This should be a building in the early period of westward expansion, with a small amount of western elements in Chinese architecture, which should be before 1840.
To say that this building is a combination of Chinese and Western elements, as time went by, there were more buildings with more Western elements in Pingyao in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. Take a look at the row of Western-style buildings below. Western-style arches, Western-style decorative columns, and Western-style roof platform railings.
The People's Hall below is a Western-style building, which should have been built during the Republic of China, probably in the 1930s.
Turning a corner, I saw an ancient building, which was a street-riding building in the style of the Qing Dynasty.
It is a national cultural relic protection unit, called Shilou.
Here I saw the little Liuli riding a horse on the main ridge of the roof. It seems that vases, pagodas and shrines are commonly used materials for Jin Pai Ji Temple.
There is a false building between the first and second floors with colorful glazed tiles and double eaves on the top of the mountain. The "Lingpu Universe" plaque on the upper floor is from the 17th year of Daoguang, that is, 1837. The lower plaque of "Ancient Pottery Scenic Spot" has not been signed, but it should be earlier than the upper one. The ancient pottery here is not ancient pottery, but ancient flat pottery. When Yin Jifu built Pingyao City, he actually built Pingyao, not the current Pingyao, but Pingtao. This "tao" is pronounced as "knife". The "tao" of Pingtao comes from Emperor Yao. It is said that Yao was first granted the title of Marquis of Tao by Emperor Zhi Qingyang, and later named Marquis of Tang when he was 15 years old, named Tao Tang. When Emperor Yao was 20 years old, he set his capital in Pingyang. This Pingyang is not the current Pingyang, but Pingtao. The Pingtao built by Yin Jifu is located in Wenshui County, 20 kilometers northwest of Pingyao. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, it was moved here to avoid the harassment of the Western Qiang, and it was renamed Pingyao. This "yao" must be related to "Yao". You see, I was right. The history of Pingyao cannot be counted from Yin Jifu’s construction of the city, but from Pingyang, the capital of Emperor Yao. That is 2357 BC, more than 4,600 years ago. But there is another point I said before that is right. What we see now are the city walls of the Ming Dynasty and the city towers of the Qing Dynasty. The earliest buildings in the city are from the Qing Dynasty.
Chinese people set up shops and build Western-style buildings, and Westerners set up shops and build Chinese-style buildings. The west wind blows east, and the east wind blows west.
bar.
greenhouse.
theater. The Qing-style Jingpai old archway is very stylish, and the performances are routine plays.
thrift shop. I wanted to say it was an antique shop, but I saw five pairs of identical gall bottles on the shelf behind.
The next one is good, the tourism product department. I'm not saying that its goods are good, of course those goods are also good. I mean this house is good. It is a tall house of the Jin Dynasty, with a beam roof without brackets, which is a common practice in Shanxi folk houses. Carved beams and painted squares, a large piece of horizontal drape is divided into multiple grids, on which are painted various games of the people of Shanxi during the New Year, such as climbing trees to dig out bird nests, but not smashing Sima tanks. Fu Lu Shou is still on the door cover.
Repainted front door.
Doors not repainted.
Go forward, go forward, go to the gate, and the lights are on.
This is the Yingxun Gate, the south gate of Pingyao City, a very regular gate tower in the style of the Qing Dynasty.
And the Wengcheng.
When the sun goes down, people will be hungry. I found a restaurant under the city gate. I wanted to eat steamed buns, so I asked the guest officer who was eating: Is the steamed stuffed bun stuffed? The answer is: very small, the first bite was not bitten, and the second bite passed. Come on, I eat sliced noodles, there is no meat in the noodles, so I only buy a plate of beef; there is no cucumber in the noodles, and I only buy a plate of cucumbers. I looked around and saw that there were no trash cans. Although I have money now, I still didn’t dare to buy two bowls of this noodle. There is a toilet not far from the small restaurant. I usually have to look at the location of the toilet when eating in a small restaurant in a tourist attraction. After eating noodles, meat and cucumbers, I sat for a long time, which was fine, and I didn't want to go to the toilet.
After eating, I walked out of the small restaurant with everyone, no one sucked their teeth, because Pingyao beef does not clog the teeth. Looking up, it was dark, the lights were on, and the king's flag was not visible on the top of the city.
After a while, there are headlights to search for light.
A slide projector typed out a lot of characters on the city wall, all in traditional characters, which seemed to be a collection of titles introducing Pingyao.
Taking the plaque of "Throughfare of Four Provinces" on the city tower as the center, I drew a big Luo Sizhuaner, and I asked you if you were dizzy?
Then there were emperors, generals, ministers, talented scholars and beauties walking on the city wall. The one at the top must be Yin Jifu, with a pear hat on his head and a copy of "The Book of Songs" in his sleeve.
Finally, there is the starry sky, beside the lights in Pingyao.
"After the three springs, all the fragrances are exhausted, and each has to find his own door."
After seeing this dazzling light show in the cold autumn wind, I must find something to eat.
The last program is to follow the people all over the street to find their respective doors, and when they find their own door, they climb up the kang to have an autumn dream.
After getting up early and having dinner the next day, we are going to see the city wall. Climb the city wall and watch the city tower.
It was found that the ridge beasts on the ridge were actually two pairs that looked exactly the same, and they must have been forged in recent years.
Watchtowers on the city wall.
Looking at the street, it seems that this place is crooked.
Residential courtyards in Shanxi are often surrounded by lean-to roofs, allowing rainwater to flow into their own courtyards? It shows that the rain in Shanxi is not abundant.
The mountain flowers on the north wall are not common.
When walking down the city wall, I saw a dish-shaped archway, the style of the Jin Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty, and it was the first time I saw it.
look carefully. The "Yunlu Old Street" on the architrave has a taste of thin gold, which was inscribed by the ancient architect Mr. Luo Zhewen.
Take a look at the shops on this Yunlu Old Street, they are all newly renovated.
The Lingxing Gate of Pingyao Confucian Temple. The Lingxing Gate is the outer gate of the Confucian Temple, usually four towering pillars sandwich the third floor. There is also a Lingxing Gate in front of the Ming Tower of the imperial mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty, which is the stone archway with two towering Tianzhu.
Take a look at the archway on the street below, with four pillars and three floors, quite satisfactory, in the style of the Qing Dynasty. The words "Tao runs through the past and the present" on the forehead are still in the handwriting of Mr. Luo Zhewen. There are actually dragons, phoenixes and seals on the Fangfang, which can only be used in the palace.
The building below was originally crooked, but after "righting it up", you can go up to listen to the rain.
Take a look at this one below, "Husband and wife return home". Where is home? My home is in Pang's house, which is still a Pingyao county-level cultural heritage building. Although the paint has peeled off on the Qing-style Jin style vertical flower door, the wood carvings are still quite exquisite. This is the private house of Pang Xiangui, the boss of a certain bank in Pingyao.
This is also a gate.
Gufangmen and Chuihuamenlou are about to be laid off.
old house.
New Year's Eve in the old house.
There are also land shrines in the city.
These Jin-style horizontal paintings, the imperial concubine is drunk, and the beauty is washing the gauze, are new contemporary works.
The door frames of ordinary houses have been destroyed horizontally, and the two round holes must have been used to light fires and install chimneys in winter.
The gatehouse of the main hall in Xieqing Qianzhuang has a Jin style structure with complicated paintings. The square columns are not door covers but sparrows.
The foyer on the second floor is so luxurious.
Golden bats on the window lattice.
The gold letters on the couplets. These are customer gold!
In addition to golden bats, there are also bamboo joints in the bank, which means that the profits are steadily increasing.
Suddenly, I saw an old square box door pier, which was the standard only for civil servants' houses in the Qing Dynasty. There is a horse path in front of the door, and the old door leaf is also very high-grade, wrapped with wrought iron leaves.
It turned out that this was the mansion of the county magistrate, and the county theater troupe was pretending to be trying a case in the yamen, and then it seemed that both the plaintiff and the defendant were beaten.
Wealthy people live on this street, and they drive to their door in small cars.
We guest officials live in hotels, and the Pingyao Hotel below is for official guests. The Chinese-style triumphal arch on the top of the mountain.
We saw these old poems and prosperity in Pingyao. In fact, the people of Pingyao are also very rough. We have seen this kind of old lion in front of the gate in the Wang family compound.
Take a look at this one below, it's even more sloppy. There are two milling plates leaning against the wall, and the mills are gone. The family has had no rice for a long time.
After wading through the ditches in Pingyao and seeing all the beautiful scenery in Pingyao, we boarded the train and headed north again.
