The ancient village of the Yellow River has a new look (into the traditional village)
Figure ①: Schematic diagram of the layout of quadrangles in Hekou Village.
Wu kuijun’s drawing
Figure ②: An exquisite brick sculpture in Hekou Village.
Photo by Yang Jintao (People’s Vision)
Figure ③: Schematic diagram of Hekou ancient town.
Photo courtesy of Gansu Xirong Cultural Tourism Development Co., Ltd.
Figure ④: Villagers in Hekou Village take a nap and chat in front of the door.
Photo by Xu Yingqiang (People’s Vision)
Figure ⑤: Bell and Drum Tower Sleeping Bridge in Hekou Village.
Photo by Yang Jintao (People’s Vision)
Figure ⑥: Hekou Village "Golden Shore of Shili Yellow River".
Photo by Yang Jintao (People’s Vision)
Hekou Village, Xigu District, Lanzhou, Gansu Province is located at the intersection of Zhuanglang River and Yellow River, a tributary of the Yellow River. Thanks to its superior geographical location, it was once an important ferry in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, with developed water transport and merchants gathering.
Hekou village has a regular layout and heavy accumulation. The quadrangle with "three halls, five mansions and three inverted seats, with two small rooms in the wing" embodies the regional characteristics of the northwest residential buildings, and the complicated and exquisite brick and wood carvings are impressive. Nowadays, the historical and cultural blocks restored with Hekou Village as the core not only provide poetic habitation for tourists, but also revitalize the ancient villages. Hekou Village was selected into the first list of traditional Chinese villages in 2012.
Starting from the center of Lanzhou, across the Hekou Bridge, the mountains are getting higher and the water is getting wider, and an ancient folk house hidden between mountains and rivers is Hekou Village. Overlooking from a height, the Lotus Mountain surrounding the village is undulating. In the distance, the colorful Danxia scenic spot is set off like an oil painting by the blue sky; Nearby, the rushing Yellow River water came from Bapan Gorge across the mountains and mountains, and went eastward along the river in the south of the village.
Thanks to its superior geographical location, Hekou Village was once an important ferry in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, with developed water transport and merchants gathering.
Time flies, things change. Estuary has already weakened the function of "ferry" and ushered in a new identity — — Hekou ancient town, which is a historical and cultural block restored with Hekou village as the core. Here, people can not only watch the Ming and Qing architecture with rich regional characteristics, but also stroll along the banks of the Yellow River, read the history of the ancient ferry, and enjoy the quiet, leisurely and desirable poetic dwelling.
Four streets and seventeen lanes have a long charm.
An area of Hekou Village, about 1000 meters long and nearly 500 meters wide, includes the main traditional buildings in the village. Although the area is small, the planning is extremely neat: four main streets in the southeast and northwest are centered on the Bell and Drum Tower and extend in different directions; On the four main streets, there are also 17 lanes with different lengths. This area was named "Four Streets and Seventeen Alleys".
The bell and drum tower, the center of "Four Streets and Seventeen Alleys", faces east and west, and is divided into upper and lower floors. It is an attic building with four corners and a roof. Standing on the bell and drum tower, you can see the whole Hekou village from all directions. The houses with wooden doorways stand opposite each other, the streets paved with bluestone slabs meander and stretch, the gauze lanterns hanging on the streets sway with the wind, and groups of tourists stroll in the streets.
Facing the Yellow River, backed by mountains, controlling Hexi … … The superior geographical location has made Hekou village a transportation hub very early. For more than 2,000 years, there have been estuaries in the history of Huo Qubing’s Western Expedition and Zuo Zongtang’s Pacification of Northwest China. Talking about the origin of the estuary, the old people in the village can be summarized as "originated from the Han Dynasty, developed in the Ming Dynasty and prospered in the Qing Dynasty". By the beginning of the last century, the agriculture, handicraft industry and transportation industry in Hekou were quite large, and it became a major business town in Lanzhou.
With the prosperity of commerce and trade, the face of Hekou village has also changed. Since the mid-Qing Dynasty, Hekou has built a large-scale rammed earth city and built a four-door tower.
Nowadays, walking in the village seems to be a shuttle in history: 300 years of grain shops, 200 years of ancestral temples and more than 100 years of Zuo Gongliu pass by in turn; It seems to be relaxing in the garden: every household in Hekou village plants flowers and grass in front of and behind the house, and even in autumn, it is still fragrant and green; It’s also like wandering in the flavor market: attractive specialty snacks are sold on the street, with sweet and sour gluten on the pulp surface, potato balls that have been beaten for thousands of times, and oil jugs with flax fragrance … … "When it comes to holidays, shop owners are as busy as a bee." Zhang Wei, deputy director of the property office of Hekou Grand Scenic Area, said.
Old houses in Ming and Qing Dynasties are antique and fragrant.
The excitement in Hekou village usually happens after 3 pm. Villagers who have taken a nap have left their homes, and old people gather in the square, or play chess or chat; Children hold toys and play with each other. Foreigners who come here often choose to pedal a four-wheeled sightseeing bus to start a "shopping" trip.
The main street of Hekou Village is dominated by old-fashioned shops, and the shops along the street are mostly in the pattern of front shops and back houses. The typical style of the back house is quadrangle.
Pushing the door into a family, Zhang Mingyou, the head of the household, greeted him warmly. The quadrangle in front of us covers an area of more than 500 square meters and has a history of nearly 200 years. It has lived in the Zhang family for 13 generations.
In the north is the upper house, which is inhabited by elders, also called the main room or the main room; On both sides of the main room are the wing rooms, which are used for cooking and stacking sundries; The east and west sides are wing rooms, which are inhabited by the younger generation; To the south is the lower hall, which is a three-room eaves house; Open a street gate next to the next hall as the exit of the courtyard. Wu Kuijun, a technician of Gansu Classical Construction Group Co., Ltd., introduced that the local layout of this courtyard was summarized as "three halls, five buildings and three inverted seats, with two small rooms in the wing". "Here ‘ Three ’ ‘ V ’ All refer to the number of rooms. " Wu Kuijun introduced that in addition to the street gate, all four doors of this quadrangle are open in the direction of the courtyard, which is beautiful and practical, taking into account privacy.
The roof is a feature of the local quadrangles. After careful observation, it is found that the roof of Zhang Ming’s home is a single slope with a gentle slope. "This kind of roof is quite common in northwest provinces such as Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia, which is mainly related to less precipitation and relative lack of wood." Meng Xiangwu, an associate professor in the Department of Architecture, School of Design and Art, Lanzhou University of Technology, introduced. Different from South China and Central China, the amount of tiles used in local traditional houses is less, and the roofs are mostly paved with square bricks, and only a small amount of drip tiles are used at the eaves to prevent the walls from being splashed by rain. Due to the gentle slope of the roof and the square brick paving, the single slope roof also undertakes the function of drying grain.
Hekou Village is also amazed by the complicated brick and wood carvings, from the entrance of the house to the wall, from the hall to the wing, from the foot of the wall to the eaves, from the door leaf to the window, there are exquisite patterns everywhere: carved dragons, blooming petals, and so on. "As a living folk art, brick and wood carving is an important witness in the history of the development of Hekou architecture, which reflects the exquisite skills and creative enthusiasm of craftsmen." Wu Kuijun said.
At present, there are 21 ancient dwellings in Hekou Village that are still inhabited by Zhang Ming. In order to protect these "solidified history", in 2014, Xigu District of Lanzhou City started the protective restoration and construction project of historical and cultural blocks, and successively invested 250 million yuan to transform the wall facades of 115 residential houses along the street in Hekou Village and 313 residential houses in the core area, and protectively repaired 37 ancient residential houses.
In the past, the Yellow River crossing became famous today.
Hekou village is built by the river and prospers because of the river. The Yellow River is the soul of the estuary.
Go down the steps along the south street and cross the south gate, and you can see the wide Yellow River. Flocks of waterfowl fly freely against the water, and reeds born near the water shake with the wind. On the shore, an east-west wooden trail stretching for about 5 kilometers lies in front of us. It is called "Golden Shore of Shili Yellow River" by local people, and there are historical sites such as Gudu District and Gucun District along the way.
Coming to the hydrophilic platform, the river breeze blows gently. Looking into the distance along the direction of Zhang Wei’s finger, a river bend came into view. "That’s the best berth for the ancient crossing at the estuary ‘ Yangchangwanzi ’ It was an important cargo distribution center in the northwest at that time. " Zhang Wei said that at that time, people’s daily necessities, such as coal, wood, Chinese medicine, grain, oil residue and hemp stalks, could be bought in the dock market. More than 60% of the residents in Hekou are engaged in water transport, and the main source of income is to rely on waterway terminals. There are more than 200 sheepskin rafts in Gudu, Hekou.
Xigu District Folk Museum located in Hekou Village shows the production technology of sheepskin raft. This ancient Yellow River watercraft is made of goatskin, which is soaked in oil and salt, dried and blown into skins. A larger raft needs more than 600 skins and can carry 20 tons of goods. Small rafts are made up of more than a dozen skins, which can be driven by one person, so they are light and flexible.
After the founding of New China, the local water transport was gradually replaced by the "Tiegongji", Hekou Village lost its position as a transportation hub, and the sheepskin raft also withdrew from the historical stage. However, from the restored customs site, we can see the busyness of the ferry in the past.
Hekou Village, which thrives on water, is now starting a "water article" again around the Yellow River culture: protecting the ecological environment on both sides of the Yellow River, developing water rafting projects on the Yellow River, and creating an immersive performance of "Memory Pangu" & HELIP; … In recent years, relying on the construction of beautiful countryside, Hekou Village has encouraged villagers to open farmhouses, serve tourist bowls and eat ecological meals. Many villagers have transformed their yards into "river view rooms" to attract tourists to stay.
The 59-year-old Zhang Hegong named the farmhouse "Good as Water" and used his painting skills to dress up the yard like a painting: bamboo, goldfish, ancient trees and safflower. Here, visitors can not only view the scenery, but also see the strange stones of the Yellow River, enjoy fine paintings and calligraphy, play with the root carving of Thuja, or sit in the yard reading, writing, chatting and drinking tea, and spend a rare leisure time. At present, Hekou Village has opened more than 60 farmhouses, with 1/5 residents in the core area participating.
The first batch of traditional villages in China, famous historical and cultural villages in China and the fourth batch of beautiful and livable villages in China … … In recent years, there are more and more business cards of "national prefix" in Hekou village, and the names are getting louder and louder. The ancient village is full of vitality again, and the ferry in the past reappears the hustle and bustle of the past. Last year, the number of tourists in Hekou Village exceeded 2 million. "Next, we will increase the protection of traditional culture, promote the upgrading of village facilities, and strive to build the estuary into a model for rural revitalization." Zhang Wei said.
■ Tips
Hekou village is suitable for tourism all year round, and relatively speaking, it is best when the flowers are warm in spring or the autumn wind is cool.
When you arrive at Hekou Village, you can visit the Folk Museum first to learn about the history of the ancient village. After that, visit the ancient village landmarks such as Bell and Drum Tower, Zhanggong Temple and Zixiang Chess House along the main street. In the evening, you can go to the "Golden Shore of Shili Yellow River" to find a farmhouse near the river, blow the river wind, have a rest and have tea, and then order some special foods such as firewood chicken, fish wrapped in paper, oil pot noise and potato stir-ups, so as to enjoy a slow life.