| Xidi village is located in the southeastern part of Qian County, and it has a long history of more than 950 years. At present, it has 224-citizen residence of Qing dynasty, 3 copper hall of Qing dynasty, one memorial archway of Ming dynasty. The general layout of the place is well preserved, with its road and rivers remaining unchanged. There are more than 40 lanes and alleys. While Hongcun is situated in the northeastern part of the county; the village was established in the year of 1131, and 137 buildings of Ming and Qing dynasty remains in their original places, which present a unique layout of an ancient village, among them, the most conspicuous spot is the Yuezhao, Nanhu, Shuizhen and several other hydro-engineering projects with a history of more than 400 years. Entering the 1990's, Xidi and Hongcun in Qian County are attracting more and more visitors from both China and abroad with its unique human culture. While the situation that the original citizens of a village make up 60% of its present residents is very rare, the original citizens of Xidi village make up 80%, and there are relatively fewer new house built here, thus the ancient culture is well preserved, and the residents here have perceived the preservation of their ancient houses as their primary goal. Maybe the residents of Xidi and Hongcun will pay little attention to their ancient architecture, old temples, and ancient archway, while in the eye of the architects, these symbolize the integration of science and culture, architecture and its surroundings. Xidi and Hongcun are typical representative of the culture of feudal society in the later stage of China – the carrier of Huizhou culture. From ancient times, the two villages had great respect for the thoughts of the Confucianists, they laid emphasis on education and culture, that is the collective reflection of Huizhou culture in the peak era of Ming and Qing dynasty, such as feudal ethic culture, Zongfa culture featuring communal life, Fengshui culture during the establishment of the village, and the Huishang culture featuring the Confucianists; it has well preserved the dialects, colloquial language, costume, and the cultural phenomena in daily activities such as food and drinks. At the same time, the connection between the prosperous state of Huishang and Huizhou culture is well presented. |
