The oldest ancient town in Fujian, built in the Tang Dynasty, an ancient street known as the first street in Fujian

This is the travel and history research institute of Traveler Lao Zhang.

In this issue, follow Lao Zhang to see Heping Ancient Town, an ancient town with the longest history in Fujian.

Heping Ancient Town is located in Shaowu City in northwest Fujian. It was founded in the Tang Dynasty. It is a unique large bunker-style village that retains a large number of ancient buildings. It is the most distinctive ancient residential building complex in my country. Heping Town is not only rich in ancient buildings, but also has wonderful folk cultural relics with high ornamental value, such as the Nuo dance known as a living fossil, the unique dragon lantern-candle bridge, and the three unique features of Heping: fruit stand and stargazing. Tea and tofu are precious folk cultural heritage of Heping Ancient Town.

The biggest attraction of Heping Ancient Town is that it preserves the most complete ancient streets and lanes. There are two streets in the ancient castle connecting the east and west gates and the north and south gates. On both sides of the streets are criss-crossing, The lanes of different sizes are all paved with bluestone slabs in the middle and river pebbles on both sides, which are simple and beautiful. The street that runs through the north and south of the ancient city is called Jiushi Street. This street is known as the "No. 1 Street in Fujian". It is more than 600 meters long and six to eight meters wide. The center of the street is a bluestone slab, forming a unique "nine curves" due to the terrain. Thirteen Bends", like a blue dragon taking flight.

The cobblestone lanes on both sides of the ancient street are criss-crossed in a network, long or short, wide or narrow, with high walls and narrow lanes, which are simple and long-lasting. Between the lanes are row upon row of ancient houses. The ancient houses here It combines the ancient style of the Central Plains and local characteristics, and is a rare ancient architectural treasure. On a half-kilometer-long bluestone street and more than a dozen ancient cobblestone lanes, there are two hundred Ming and Qing folk houses with blue bricks, glazed tiles, carved beams and painted beams. These houses are luxurious and elegant.

Pingping Ancient Town preserves many clan ancestral halls and family temples, such as Qishan Ancestral Hall, Zhao Ancestral Hall, Liao Ancestral Hall, Ding Family Temple, etc. There are also Huangshijiao Cemetery, Jukui Pagoda, and the remains of Guangyuan Temple. Heping Ancient Town has produced more than 130 Jinshi scholars and is known as the hometown of Jinshi scholars. The place that trains Jinshi is the Heping Academy in the town. This academy has a history of thousands of years and was founded in the Later Tang Dynasty. The founder was Huang Qiao. Huang Qiao was originally from Henan. His father came to Shaowu to be an official and took a fancy to the Feng Shui of Heping Town. Make your home here.

Huang Qiao passed the Jinshi examination at the age of eighteen, and became an official in the Ministry of Works of the Later Tang Dynasty during the Five Dynasties. His biggest dream was to restore the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, but there was no hope of realizing this wish at that time, so He returned to Heping Town to live in seclusion and founded Heping Academy. Huang Qiao had 21 sons. After thousands of years of reproduction, his descendants are spread all over the world, numbering more than 40 million. Therefore, Heping Ancient Town has also become a link connecting the descendants of the Huang family at home and abroad.

When it was first founded, Heping Academy was only for the children of the Huang family to study here. Since the Song Dynasty, it has become a local public school. It has also attracted a number of famous historical literati to give lectures, such as Zhu Xi, a master of Neo-Confucianism, Yang Shi and others all gave lectures here. The four characters "Peace Academy" on the east gate of the academy were inscribed by Zhu Xi. The design of the north gate of the academy is the most exquisite. The top is like an official hat, and the three doors form the word "pin", which means to be a high-ranking official with quality.

The Qiao Tower is the most important historic site in Heping Ancient Town. The ancient town preserves two Qiao Towers, the East Gate Qiao Tower and the North Gate Qiao Tower. The east gate Qiao tower is a triple-layered mountain-top building. The door opening is built with stone strips, and the wall is built with large pebbles. There is a stone tablet at the foot of the wall. It is a stone that is "prohibited to be moved, and the place is protected" in Heping Town. It is the "old market place" in the town. One of the "Three Forbidden Monuments" was erected in the Qing Dynasty. The North Gate Qiao Tower is also called Wuyang Tower because it faces Wuyang Mountain. The city gate opening is also made of stone strips, which is taller than the East Gate gate opening. A section of the Ming Dynasty city wall made of pebbles is preserved on both sides of the city gate. After hundreds of years, The wind and rain Qiao Tower has witnessed the long history of the ancient town.

The Li family's mansion is a representative of many Ming and Qing mansions in Heping Town. It is located at the east gate. This mansion is the Li family's mansion with "nine doctors in one family" in the late Qing Dynasty. It was built in Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty. During the period, it was the residence of Li Chunjiang, the official of Fengzheng and Zhizhou, and Li Qichuan, the official of Fengzhi and Zhili Prefecture. It is commonly known as "Li Hengsheng", which means eternal prosperity. The brick carvings on the gatehouse of Li's mansion are artistic masterpieces that demonstrate class and taste. The carvings are exquisite and delicate, and the figures are lifelike. The eight-faceted wall is carved with allusions and scenes of pine, bamboo, plum, and crane from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". The entire building is The house is large in scale and is a courtyard-style courtyard building with luxurious style. In addition to Li's doctor's house, Heping Town also has many ancient buildings such as Li's house, Huang's doctor's house, Liao's doctor's house, Jiushi Sangong, and Xie's granary.

Heping Town was called Heping in ancient times. He stands for seedlings and grain, and Ping means flat terrain. It has been rich in grain since ancient times and is a geomantic treasure. During the Neolithic Age, ancient Vietnamese ancestors lived and thrived here. In the Tang Dynasty, the population was quite dense, and a bustling market was formed, with the Old Market Street. In the Ming Dynasty, a solid Peace Castle was built. It once had eight gates, four large and four small. Most of the building materials were local pebbles. It was unique and left us with Visit this precious ancient building complex.