There is a Panlong Village in Gaoping, Shanxi Province, which can be called a miniature version of the Prime Minister's Mansion in the Imperial City.
In recent years, tourism in ancient towns and villages has become quite popular. Many ancient villages in Shanxi have gradually come into the sight of tourists. Among them, Lianghu Village, known as the "living ancient Taihang village", has attracted special attention from tourists.
In addition to the numerous ancient houses and commercial streets of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there is also a well-proportioned distribution texture of residential buildings, a site selection pattern that conforms to ancient Feng Shui principles, as well as exquisite three-carved decoration and unique Folk customs.
The most important thing is that this is a living ancient village full of life. The people in the village have lived here for generations, with old houses and a livable environment close to mountains and rivers. Everything is so natural and comfortable.
The transportation here is also very convenient. Exit from the Gaoping Toll Station of the Changjin Expressway Section of the Erguang Expressway, follow the 331-ping curve of Shanxi Provincial Highway through Gaoping City and go west for 17 kilometers to reach Lianghu Ancient Village. .
Lianghu Village has a long history. In ancient times, it was the only place to pass through in the Battle of Changping. From the Ming and Qing Dynasties to modern times, it has always been a place where official roads passed. Convenient transportation conditions and a suitable living environment made this place prosperous during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
This is an ancient village that is listed as a famous historical and cultural village in China and a traditional Chinese village. Whether it is Ming and Qing Dynasty houses, Jin Dynasty temples, or the living environment and folk customs, they will make you linger and forget to leave.
The most famous building complex in Lianghu Village is Panlong Village located on a high hill in the northeast corner of the village.
Doesn’t this name sound like a bandit’s den? In fact, this is not the case. This Panlong Village is a fortress-style building complex. It is not a bandit's den, but a mansion worthy of the name of an official's family. In terms of its overall layout and architectural features, it can be called a miniature version of the Prime Minister's Mansion in the Imperial City.
We can do a simple comparison. Let’s first look at the owner’s family background:
The owner of Panlong Village was Tian Fengji, one of the “Three Pavilion Elders” known as Gaoping in the Qing Dynasty. He was born in 1629 and died in 1699. In the twelfth year of Shunzhi, he became a Jinshi and held various positions including Minister of Hubu, Minister of War, and lecturer at the Kangxi Dynasty Jingyan. He once made outstanding contributions to quelling the rebellion of the Three Feudatories.
The owner of the Imperial City Prime Minister’s Mansion was Chen Tingjing, a famous prime minister in the Qing Dynasty, who was born in 1639 and died in 1712. He was the teacher of Emperor Kangxi, a lecturer on Jingyan in the Kangxi Dynasty, a bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion, and successively served as the Minister of Lihu Xinggong and the third level.
The two are similar in age. Although there are differences in official positions, they are still ministers and deputy ministers, so they are comparable. Look at their mansion again.
The Imperial City Prime Minister's Mansion is composed of an inner city and an outer city, including Zhongdaozhuang, Yushu Tower, Heshan Tower, Zangbing Cave and other buildings. It is a castle-style official residential building complex.
As for Panlong Village in Lianghu Village, it is composed of a palace, an academy, a tall village gate, a barbican, and tunnels. It is also a castle-style defensive residential complex for officials and officials. It's just that the scale is roughly equivalent to one-third of the Imperial City Prime Minister's Mansion.
The castle-style official residences of Tian Fengji and Chen Tingjing are both built on the mountain. They are both defensive castle-style buildings, and the distance between them is less than 60 kilometers.
It’s just that the Imperial City Prime Minister’s Mansion has long been famous and is a national 5A-level scenic spot. As for Lianghu Panlong Village, it was just developed a few years ago and is gradually entering the world's attention. Therefore, Panlong Village can be said to be a smaller version of the Imperial City Prime Minister's Mansion.
In the Qinshui River Basin of Jincheng, Shanxi Province, in order to resist the invasion of rogue bandits during the war in the late Ming Dynasty, local people built many ancient forts. Such as Diji City, Xiangyu Castle, Guoyu Castle, etc.
Panlong Village in Lianghu Village was also built under this background. It was first built in the Ming Dynasty and was built during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty after Tian Fengji's career became prosperous. The most luxurious courtyard in the castle is his private residence, the Minister's Mansion.
Panlong Village is located on a high hill in the northeast of Lianghu Village, about a thousand meters away from the main street. In the middle is a depression with a small river in the past. The castle originally had three gates in the north, south and west. The north gate leads to Fengchi Mountain behind Lianghu Village, which no longer exists.
The west gate is connected to the village across the river. The gate tower is three stories high and has been restored. A piece of bluestone is embedded in the forehead of the arch-shaped door opening, and the three characters "Jie Xiaohan" are engraved on it.
The south gate is the main gate of the fort. It is located in the southeast corner of the entire fort. It is more than four stories high and towers into the clouds. On the forehead of the door is embedded a bluestone inscribed with the three characters "Panlong Village". This is also The origin of the name Walled Castle.
It is said that there was a small urn city outside the south gate, but there is no trace of it now. Only the remaining ruins of the ancient road remain. This gatehouse occupies a high hill in the village. It is four stories high. Standing on the upper floor, you can have a panoramic view of the surrounding situation, which is very convenient for guarding against enemies and observing.
What's more important is that the South Gate Tower is located in the southeast of the entire fort and is where the cultural context lies. Therefore, Kuixing Pavilion was built upstairs to worship Kuixing and pray for cultural luck.
The entire fort is centered on the courtyard of Tian Fengji’s Shilang Mansion. It is surrounded by tall walls and three gatehouses to form a closed fort. There are also academies, gardens, ancient wells, tunnels and other architectural facilities. , complete functions, self-contained.
Viewed from a distance, Panlong Village towers on a high hill. You can only see the cornices of the gray-tiled houses and the tall village walls. You can feel that this village can be defended from enemies on the outside and can be defended on the inside. The independent little world where you can live and work in peace and contentment is heavily guarded.
The entire Panlong Village is large in scale. The architectural layout in the village not only follows strict feudal etiquette rules, but also combines the architectural style of Shanxi Jindi and the characteristics of the Jiangnan water town, making it a majestic and beautiful place. A model of castle-style residence that combines elegance and elegance.
Located near the west gate and southwest of Panlong Village is the private residence of Tian Fengji, who once served as the Minister of Household Affairs, the Minister of War, and the Censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate - the Minister's Mansion.
This is the most important building in Panlong Village and the landmark building in Lianghu Village. It is a fine style of official residence.
The Shilang Mansion is composed of two parallel groups of east and west courtyards with four entrances and four courtyards. The west group is the main building, which is composed of the front hall, stone archway, front yard, backyard, and the lady's yard. The east group is composed of the study yard, the side yard (the mill, the livestock room, the housekeeper's yard, the back garden, etc.), and the middle is ** *Use the aisle.
When appreciating Panlong Village, especially the Shilang Mansion, you must pay attention to the three sculptures of the Shilang Mansion, pay attention to the distribution and pattern of the houses, and understand that in addition to the defensive functions of the village wall and the gate tower, the Shilang Mansion internal defense and security.
Let’s look at the three eagles first. The main entrance of the Vice Minister's Mansion is unusually tall. It opens at the east end of the south room and is a house-style door. The eaves of the gatehouse are higher than the roofs on both sides, and the corners are raised, making it more elegant. Four brackets and five layers are stacked on top of each other, layer upon layer, like double flowers, graceful and luxurious.
In the middle is a vertical plaque with the words "Shilang's Mansion" written in gold on a blue background, which is very majestic. The vertical pillars and lintels are covered with carvings. The pair of bluestone lions beside the door are tall and mighty. Although their legs are missing, their majestic appearance is still there.
Pushing open the panel door and entering, what comes into view is the brick-carved screen wall, which is said to be the first of "the three most exquisite screen walls in Jincheng".
This is the mountain screen wall with the most complicated carvings I have seen so far. Brick carvings of unicorns, sea water, Shoushan, Ganoderma lucidum, fireballs, flowers and other miscellaneous treasures form an auspicious map of "Shoushan, Blessed Sea".
The brick carvings of owls and brackets on the screen wall and the floral frames on the base are all extremely exquisite. The most exquisite thing is the embossed unicorn picture in the center of the screen wall. Sadly, only the front hooves and tail are left, and the center was destroyed in the 1960s and 1970s.
To the east of the screen wall is the aisle. On the west side is a long and narrow front hall. There is no house between the front hall and the front yard, but a tall stone merit arch with three doors, three floors and four pillars. This construction method is also rare.
The three-sided building in the front yard, whether it is the pillar foundation or the partition doors and windows, gives people the impression of being exquisite and grand, with a Jiangnan style, and the workmanship is painstaking, showing a luxurious style. This is also related to the fact that Tian Fengji served as governor of Zhejiang.
Different from the common hall-style hallways and side-room style hallways, the backyard cannot be entered from here. The front hall and front yard are separate spaces. If you want to enter the backyard, you can only go around the screen wall and enter from the east corridor.
This kind of layout is very rare. It strictly separates the space for receiving guests and friends from the space for living and resting in the backyard. It can be seen that the owner values private life, and it can also be seen that the owner attaches great importance to privacy. There are strict requirements for the spatial layout.
To the east of the corridor are the study courtyard, side courtyard and housekeeper courtyard from south to north. Going north along the relatively spacious corridor, there is a narrow alley behind the house in the front yard. The door to the backyard opens here.
The most noteworthy things about the backyard are: first, the main room is tall, three stories high, with the door opening in the middle of the second floor. This master bedroom has a small door and window, and the board door is covered with iron nails. It is commonly known as the iron-wrapped door. It is in sharp contrast to the large opening and closing of the floor-to-ceiling doors and windows in the front yard. The defensive mentality is evident again.
This is not over yet. How to enter the main entrance? You need to climb a set of thirteen stone stairs. Then, there was no way. The middle is suspended. You need to put a suspension bridge from the door to reach the main entrance. It is very rare to be so heavily guarded.
This is not over yet. It is said that there are tunnels dug underground in the house. If the bandits break through the fortress defenses in front and several defenses of the Minister's Mansion, they can enter the backyard. The owner will also close the iron-wrapped door and escape through the tunnel to the back mountain in time.
Therefore, when visiting Panlong Village, in addition to the luxurious style and exquisite carvings of the Shilang Mansion, the layers of internal and external defense facilities are impressive.
Among the several courtyards on the east side, except for the Guanjia Courtyard, which is more elegant, the Study Courtyard and the Miscellaneous Courtyard are relatively common and practical, and the level is clear at a glance.
The overall architecture of the Minister's Mansion is a rare example of the defense system of official residences in China. There is a strict hierarchical order, a strict defense system, and a self-contained living space in the fortress.
Panlong Village is a defensive official residence building complex that is almost misled by its name. It is an ancient castle that can be called a miniature version of the Prime Minister's Palace in the Imperial City. More charms are waiting for you to discover in person.
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