Xunyi Tang Family Folk Museum

introduce

Xunyi County Tangjia Folklore Museum is located in Tangjia Village, seven kilometers northeast of Xunyi County, Xianyang.

The predecessor of the Tang Family Folk Museum in Xunyi was the Landlord Manor of the Tang Family. It was originally a private house built in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. There are currently two entrances and three courtyards and other two courtyard houses, more than 150 rooms. There are also three grades in the garden. The mausoleum and stone archway of Tang Tingquan, the envoy of salt transportation, is a combination of northern courtyards and Suzhou-Hangzhou garden art. There are many brick, wood and stone carvings with exquisite and delicate patterns. Animals fly on the ridge of the roof of the whole courtyard, and birds peck at the eaves. The walls are made of terrazzo bricks, which are beautiful in shape, and the edges of the doors and windows are even more unique.

Tang family anecdote——

The landlord of the Tang family was the well-known "Sanshui Tang family (Xunyi formerly known as Sanshui)" in the middle and late Qing Dynasty. When Tang Jingzhong was in the heyday of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, the Tang family also reached a prosperous period at this time. It is based on agriculture and prospers its family through business. Its business names are all over 13 provinces in China. Its size is evident from this. In the 60th year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1795), Tang Jingzhong also went to Beijing to participate in the "Thousands of Seniors Banquet" hosted by Emperor Qianlong, and presented seven-rank official uniforms, silver medals, walking sticks, and imperial seven-character laws.

Since then, the Tang family has obtained official titles, and they have connected with the emperor and officials, exploited profits, and managed well, so the business is booming and the financial resources are strong. At that time, the Tang family owned a lot of land, tenant farmers and livestock in Xunyi, Binxian, Chunhua, and Yaoxian counties, and collected huge rents every year. At that time, not only was he rich and powerful in Shaanxi, but his wealth was also ranked first in the whole country. During the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, there were only 60 members of the Tang family, and they employed 165 servants and maids, and 66 parrot sedan chairs.

Because the Tang family was rich and powerful, the houses they built were very exquisite and the workmanship was very fine. There were more than 200 craftsmen in three and one day, and it took forty-three years to build eighty-seven palace-style courtyards, about seven hundred rooms in two. All buildings are of wood, stone and brick structure. Not only is the foundation firm and solid, but also each house is built with polished bricks and stones carved with dragons and phoenixes. The brick joints are also made of lime and glutinous rice juice. water. Various patterns such as "Picture of Eight Immortals" and "Picture of Twenty-Four Filial Piety" are engraved on the partition wall of the courtyard. On the corner pillars and walls of the courtyard, "Eight Horses" and "Huashan Playing Chess" are carved. There are also relief works such as peony, plum bamboo, and dry lotus. After the compound was completed, the Tang family built a large theater to celebrate and sang for more than three months.

Since the end of the Qing Dynasty, this big landlord family with tens of millions of wealth has gradually declined through profligacy. The various household objects and treasures purchased by the family with a lot of money have almost disappeared after many vicissitudes. The current Tang family compound has been turned into a folk museum, and most of the descendants of the Tang family live in the Tang family village, relying on hard work for a living.