The ancient village style of Zhoutian Village

Zhoutian is one of the first historical and cultural villages in Jiangxi Province. Mao Zedong quoted the saying of Xunwu Hakka in the Investigation of Xunwu: "The glutinous rice in Xiangshan, the goods with three targets, the house in Zhoutian and the valley in Changshe." Zhoutian Village has been known to the world since then. The houses in Zhoutian here refer to "eighteen big houses in Zhoutian", but there are fifteen exquisite ancient houses that are still intact. Although it is not as large as the Liukeng in Le 'an County or the beautiful scene of the Jiangwan in Wuyuan County, the contents of Zhoutian are quite colorful: it has carved dragons and painted buildings, cornices and bank up brick walls. There are also lintels, inscriptions, fame columns, wind pools, relief murals, wood carvings, silicon carvings and stone carvings with far-reaching cultural contents, which are exquisite and lifelike, reflecting the exquisite skills and extraordinary wisdom of Hakka ancestors. There are also natural landscapes such as strange stones, xiufeng and ancient trees dotted among them, which are quiet and peaceful, and a rural beauty of "small bridges and flowing families". The traffic in the village is developed, and there are five roads in and out of the village. East to the end of the stream, south to Yuxi, west to Tuanshan, northwest to Chengjiang, and north to Zuheng and Changqi. It connects three provinces in one village, Fenglingpai Village, Chagan Town, Pingyuan County, Guangdong Province, and longxi village, Dongliu Township, Wuping County, Fujian Province, are separated from Zhoutian Mountain, and an ancient post road passing through the village connects three provinces, three villages and one vein. Today, the post road is still there, the post station is still there, and the story of the salt merchant is still legendary. Today, what we are referring to is "the thoroughfare of the three provinces of Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong", in fact, it refers specifically to Zhoutian ancient village. It is in the center of Hakka area. The most representative Hakka culture and Hakka ancient buildings; It also records the social, economic and cultural development process of Hakka people in Jiangxi, Guangdong and Fujian during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Zhoutian, an ancient village with a history of more than 5 years, is a "salt-rice road" for Hakkas. It is shouldered, carried by horses, covered with salt, and connected with the water transport pier of Yunmenling and Xiaba. Until Mao Zedong wrote "Investigation on Searching for Wu", it was still prosperous as before: "Rice and beans from Shicheng and Ruijin are the bulk, and tea oil from Xingguo is the bulk. Sea salt and seafood are the main foreign goods transported from Xiaba to Yunmenling. As soon as the porters carry the goods, they will carry them back. " It is this ancient post road that reached the three provinces that brought Zhoutian prosperity in the Ming and Qing Dynasties for more than 5 years, cultivated a large number of Hakka wealthy businessmen, and also gave birth to brilliant Hakka culture. There is a saying that in ancient times, all the dignitaries who passed through Zhoutian did not get off their horses and walk, because judging from the tolerance of the buildings in the village, it must be an extraordinary place.

according to the records of the local Wang family tree, the ancient houses in this area were first built in the Wanli period of the Ming dynasty, and since then, there have been 28 ancient houses, and the latest one was built in the Xianfeng period of the Qing dynasty, with a time span of more than 3 years. Among many enclosed houses, Tiantangwan enclosed house is a square enclosed house with the largest area and the highest architectural artistic value. It was built in the 19th year of Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty (1814), covering an area of more than 1 mu. It is a masonry civil structure. The house is designed with four entrances and four compartments, eight halls and twelve wells, and has 5 rooms. The structure is reasonable and the shape is beautiful. Each enclosure was built on the mountain, and after hundreds of years of trials and tribulations, it is still magnificent. They have different styles from design and construction to interior decoration, and all of them are similar, which fully embodies the unique wisdom of the builders at that time.

In addition to square enclosed houses, Zhoutian's ancient buildings include many ancient buildings, such as schools, tea kiosks, inns, medicine warehouses, waterwheels and oil workshops, temples, etc. There are 2 scenic spots. Experts from provinces and cities said that this ancient architectural complex is large in scale and well preserved, which is rare in the province. It is a "living specimen" reflecting the architectural characteristics of Hakka dwellings in the south of the Yangtze River and has high research value.