China News Service, Beijing, October 6th. Taiwan's "Economic Daily" recently published a report introducing the Wang Family Courtyard in Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province.
The report pointed out that in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Shanxi merchants represented by merchants in Jinzhong traversed Europe and Asia for 9,000 miles and dominated the business world for 500 years, leaving behind the Wang Family Courtyard, Chang Family Manor, Qiao Family The Grand Courtyard of the Family, the Courtyard of the Qu Family, and the Courtyard of the Cao Family, etc. are beautiful, profound and rich, and show the Shanxi merchants' compound that is the most prosperous in the world.
Among them, the Wang Family Courtyard, located in Jingsheng Town, Lingshi County, Jinzhong, is second to none. It is an excellent traditional architectural cultural heritage and a treasure of folk house art. Experts and scholars have praised it as "the first residential house in China", and it has won widespread popularity. The word of mouth can be described as "the Wang family does not go to the hospital when he returns."
Wang Family Courtyard.
Image source: Taiwan's "Economic Daily"
The Wang Family Courtyard is the largest well-preserved building complex in Shanxi, built by the Jingsheng Wang family.
The building of the compound is large in scale, magnificent in momentum, delicate in decoration and ingenious in conception. It has five lanes, five forts and five ancestral halls.
Among them, the layout of the courtyards of the ancient castle has been described as "dragon", "phoenix", "tortoise", "lin" and "tiger", with a total area of more than 250,000 square meters.
Hengzhen Fort (Dragon), Shilu Fort (Phoenix), Chongning Fort (Tiger) three buildings and Wang's Ancestral Hall are now open, with a total of 231 large and small courtyards and 2078 houses.
The "Three Carvings" in the Wang Family Courtyard—stone carving, brick carving, and wood carving—are very rare in northern dwellings due to their large number, exquisite craftsmanship, and rich connotations.
It is their natural fit with the overall architecture that makes the Wang Family Courtyard a complete work of art.
Brick carvings in the Wang Family Courtyard.
Image source: Taiwan's "Economic Daily"
Taking stone carvings as an example, only the pillar foundation stones that carry the pillars are divided into more than ten types such as lantern-shaped, drum-shaped, six-hammer-shaped, and aquarium-shaped; , Gate stone, Shangma stone, stone lion, etc., the carving is fine, the three-dimensional sense is strong, and the content is mostly historical stories or patterns with meaning, which makes people ponder.
Wang Family Courtyard woodcarving.
Image source: Taiwan's "Economic Daily"
The brick carvings in the courtyard are mostly found in the zhaobi, chimneys, roof ridges, animal ridges, eaves, lintels, parapets, etc. The contents are mostly flowers of the four seasons, auspicious birds and Taoist figures.
For example, the large brick-carved screen walls on the east and west sides of the Yingmen of the Red Gate Fort in the compound are all more than 8 square meters. One depicts the sound of a deer and the other depicts a crane. Shared bathing, national security and peace.
Stone carvings in the Wang Family Courtyard.
Image source: Taiwan's "Economic Daily"
The Wang Family Courtyard also integrates painting, calligraphy, and poetry. People, birds, animals, flowers and trees are integrated into one. The postures are diverse and each has its own characteristics. Concentrate on God."
It not only has a specific and vivid image, but also contains certain philosophical connotations; it not only fully shows the elegance of literati and doctors, but also reflects the simplicity of folk art in a popular way.
The reason why the Wang Family Courtyard is famous far and wide is that in addition to its majestic overall momentum, the family style of "comprehensive and friendly" is also particularly appreciated.
On a plaque in the Red Gate Fort, there are four big characters "Round and Rectangular".
The strange thing is that there is an extra point in the word "quan". This is not a clerical error, but it means that you must be more disciplined in your work and life in the Wang family.
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