The descendants of Xu Da built an ancient castle in the mountainous area of southern Jiangxi. It is said that the Phoenix TV logo was taken from here.
Before I went to Longnan, I thought that the Hakka earth buildings in Fujian and the cage houses in Meizhou, Guangdong were the most classic Hakka buildings. However, after going to Longnan, I realized that the Gannan cage houses in Jiangxi are also similar to earth buildings. Hakka houses are as famous as the ham houses and cage houses, and the cage houses here are dotted here and there, and most of them are well preserved. According to statistics from relevant local departments, there are as many as 376 cage houses preserved in Longnan (a county-level city under Ganzhou), and there are many large cage houses. There are small ones, square ones, round ones, various forms, and a long history, because the local area is also rated as the enclosure capital of the world.
We stayed in Longnan for four days and visited more than a dozen large and small enclosed houses in Xichangwei, Guanxixinwei, Tianxinwei, Yuzitanwei, etc. The largest among them was It belongs to Guanxi Xinwei (Yu Fan has specially introduced it in the previous article), and the oldest one is Xichangwei, the ancestral home built by the ancestor of Guanxi Xinwei's owner Xu Mingjun.
Xichang Wei is located on the edge of Guanxi Xinwei, commonly known as "Laowei". It was built in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The oldest building inside has a history of more than 500 years. It is the owner of Guanxi Xinwei. The ancestral home of Xu Laosi (original name Xu Mingjun) is an irregular-shaped house gradually built by his ancestors, fathers and brothers. When the Xu family was engaged in the timber business, the ship number and the brand mark on the wood were both " Xichang Hao", so it is called Xichang Wei.
When visiting Xichangwei, we met Mr. Xu, a descendant of Xu Mingjun, the builder of Guanxi New Wall. We listened to him explain the history of Xichangwei to us in his not-so-standard Mandarin. The old man said : Xichang Wei mainly consists of three buildings: Lixiao Hall (Lixiao, Xu Lixiao, the father of Xu Mingjun), ancestral hall, and Liudahuitang (Xu Lixiao gave birth to six sons, this group of houses belongs to the six sons who have houses, hence the name) It consists of the main building and the houses of three descendants of Mingzeng (the third child), Mingjun (the fourth child) and Mingzhi (the fifth child). It is said that the enclosed house was built in the shape of a toad, a geomantic treasure of the Xu family. Therefore, the shape of the enclosed house is also like a toad.
Uncle Xu told Yufan that their ancestors were descendants of Xu Da, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. Because Xu Da was the first hero of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, ranked first among the six founding kings, and was worthy of the Ancestral Temple. He had a very high status in the Yuan Dynasty and was considered a relative of the new emperor, so you can still see sculptures of dragons and phoenixes on the imperial beams of their home.
Although it is a Hakka enclosed house, Xichang Wai has a strong Hui-style architectural style, with high horse-head walls, but there are phoenix heads on the eaves, which is quite distinctive. When I asked Uncle Xu When asked why it was built like a phoenix head, Uncle Xu only said that it would look more grand. However, in Yu Fan’s view, this was probably not the original intention of the builder. More than five hundred years had passed. If he hadn’t taken the postgraduate examination carefully, who would have done it? Is that accurate?
On the beams of Xichangwei, dragon and phoenix patterns can be seen everywhere. This is quite rare in folk architecture. I don’t know if it is true as Xu Bo said, because his family’s ancestor is Xu. Da, so their homes can be decorated with dragons and phoenixes. However, in Yu Fan's view, in order to avoid war and resist external invasion, the Hakka people built highly defensive enclosed houses like Xichang Wai. They incorporated auspicious patterns such as dragons and phoenixes into the buildings, perhaps to pray for God's blessing.
Among the many dragon and phoenix patterns, the circular phoenix on the top of the hall is particularly distinctive. Uncle Xu said that the Phoenix TV logo came from this, but it is unknown whether it is true or false. The pattern is 0.8 meters in diameter, distributed in a circular shape, and painted with paint on one side. The pattern is based on a blazing red sun. A phoenix with a black beak and a curved neck, an androgynous body, a golden body, and plump tail wings soars above it. The phoenix's eyes shine in all directions, bright and energetic, and its slightly raised jaw looks down at the earth, showing a heroic spirit. There are four little phoenixes painted on the four corners. The phoenix is surrounded by auspicious clouds, and the many small black spots on its wings symbolize the worship of birds.
In addition to the dragon and phoenix sculptures, the painted carvings on the windows, door leaves, doorposts and ceilings of Xichangwei are also very exquisite, and each sculpture is different and each sculpture has a different metaphor. For example, the picture above shows the spring plowing of farmers and the meaning of fish leaping over the dragon gate.
There are many sculptures here, and I took a lot of them, but it is impossible to display them all here. The themes of the sculptures often have auspicious metaphors, and some hope that future generations will be promoted and make money. It is to pray for good weather in Shangcang. For example, in the dragon-shaped sculpture above, Uncle Xu said that the Dragon King controls water, so if it is carved on it, he hopes for good weather.
Xichang Wai was built gradually over several generations, so the buildings in the siege are all integrated and there is no unified planning and layout, so the layout is slightly chaotic. It is a building that integrates a home, an ancestral hall, and a fort. The middle building is the ancestral hall of the Xu family. I don’t know if it is due to Feng Shui reasons, but its orientation is different from that of all other buildings. The surrounding walls are very thick. , with shooting holes in the middle and watchtowers at the four corners, which has a strong defensive function. Its overall design and construction integrate science, practicality and appreciation, showing the outstanding talents and superb skills of the Hakka ancestors.