Pingyao
Ancient city of Pingyao (Ming:1368-1644)—the “turtle city” Situated in the seat og Pingyao city in Shanxi Province in central China, the ancient city was built in the third year of the Hongwu reign period (1370) of the Ming Dynasty.The square city wall built with bricks is 6.4 kilometers in circumference, 12meters high and five meters wide in average.The watchtower was built on the outer wall ar 50-meter intervals, and there is a corner tower on each of the four corners.On the city wall, there are 3,000 batterents and 72 watchtowers, symbolizing that Confucius had had 3,000 disciples, of whom 72 were outstanding.Certainly, it is a coincidence.The city wall was built in the shape of a turtle with six gates, hence the name “Turtle City.” A bird’s-eye view will find that the city is surrounded by a moat, and the city wall has six gates: One on the south, one on the north, two on the east and two on the west.The gates on the south and north walls symbolize the head and tail of the turtle, and the gates on the east and west walls stand for the feet.In ancient china, the turtle is an auspicious animal, symbolizing longevity and as solid as rock.
All the streets, houses and shops in the ancient city of Pingyao remain intact.The government residences, altars, temples and other large architectural structures in the old city are laid out according to the ranking system of traditional rite, which is a rare living example for the morden people to study the organizational system of a county and the military defensive system in ancient China.The Ancient city of Pingyao had been included in the World Heritage List by the UNESCO.(From the marvels of China) Part 3 presentation of pingyao
Pingyao lies in the middle drainage area of the Yellow River and on the western bank of Fen River in Shanxi province, the birthplace of Chinese civilization.It is a city with a unique style of a most perfectly preserved county in China as well as an outstanding city model of Han Nationality style in Ming(1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.It is said to be the home of Tao, a legendary sage king in ancient China.In ancient, it was used to be called “Gutao”, and over time were renamed Pingyao, Zhongdu and Jingling.The name of Pingyao has been used for over 1,500 years since North Wei Period (386-534).
It is said about 70% of the ancient ground architectures and historiacal relics are gathered in Shanxi province.As an important ancient city in Shanxi, Pingyao has many places of interest and a large number of ancient architecture and historical relics have been left in its long history, which are rarely found in other parts of China.For instance, there are 5 state-level and 4 province-level historical sites included in the over 300 ground and underground historical relics.There used to be thousands of ancient cities like Pingyao throughout Chinese history.However many of them were reduced to relics or are remembered only as memories.The history and the culture of Pingyao, the well protected ancient city, is a rare treasure of human civilization unanimously recognized by the world.
Pingyao, the important origins of Shanxi merchants, has been knoen for its large number of people doing busine throughout China in the Ming and Qing dynasties.Commerce in Pingyao les to prosperity and merchants and dealers from all over China gathered here.The city gradually became one of the main busine centers of the province in the past.The busine of transportation, wholesale, sale and transfer were highly developed.Pingyao’s leading role in commerce supported the prosperity of the city.It also stimulated the city construction and allowed the development of sophisticated infrastructure and arthitecture such as streets, stores and dwelling house.Rich merchants built shops and houses according to high geomantic quality at that time.
The perfectly protected ancient city wall winds its way 6 kilometers firm barbican entrance to the city.It’s imposing and tragic momentum, firm barbican entrance and the superstructure piercing into the sky all make magnificent pictures at dawn or dusk.
Shuanglin Temple has over 2,000 ancient painted sculptures, which make it one of the most attractive and magnificent art museums in China.It earns the titles of “Treasures House of the Orient Painted Sculpture Art” and “Treasure of the world”.
The Ten-thousand-Buddha palace in Zhenguo Temple is famous for its novel structures and imposing manner.The palace is one of the oldest wood-structured buildings of the remaining in China.The painted sculptures in the palace are important treasures of the five dynasties.The Cixiang Temple’s brick tower of Jin Dynasty(265-420) is prestigious in its unique sets of brackets on top of the columns supporting the beams within and roof eaves consisting of tiers on outstretching arms.The Dacheng Palace of the Confucian Temple is magnificent and elegant.It is one of the oldest Confucian temples in China.
Richeng Chang, the first Chinese draft bank, is noted for its capacity of remitting money in China.Since the prosperity of commerce promoted the development of finance, the bank dealt with the busine of remittance, deposit and loan through China and in Ancient countries.Compared with other banks in Pingyao, Risheng Chang was famous for its economic power and 400 branches coving 70 cities and various items of service from government to owners of handicraft industry and commerce.During the most flouring 100 years of Shanxi, the fortune center was not in the provincial capital Yaiyuan but in Pingyao, Taigu and Qi County.
