Pujiang County, Zhejiang

Pujiang () is a county in the center of Zhejiang, China. Under the administration of Jinhua city and in the north of its jurisdiction, it is bounded by Yiwu and Lanxi to the south, Jiande to the west and Zhuji to the east.

Pujiang exercises jurisdiction over seven towns, five townships, three residential districts, 19neighborhood communities and 409 villages with a population of 380,700, covering an area of .

It is rich in the ecological tourism resources with the AAAA level tourist area of Xinhua Mountain and the recent developed scenic spots as Bashiwan, Baozhang Valley, Shenli Gorge, Tongji Lake and The First Family of Southern China. The latter, the Zheng Family Clan descendants have been living in Pujiang for fifteen generations. It also has “Shangshan Cultural Relics,” which has been the earliest site of New Stone Age discovered so far in the bright pearl history of Zhejiang culture.

Pujiang is famous for the Puyang River and it was called Feng in ancient times. It was set up as a county in the second year of Donghan Xingping (195 AD). The name was changed to Pujiang County in the third year of Wuyue Tianhao (910 AD), which has been used until now. There is no lack of talented people here. Among them, the most famous are Songlian as the founding minister of the Ming Dynasty and Donggaoxinyue who went to Japan and was known as the father of seal cutting there. Pujiang is also named as “County of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy” and “County of Chinese Folk Art.” The industry in Pujiang is varied, among which crystals and padlocks take up to 70% market sale, which makes Pujiang as the collecting and distributing center of crystal and padlocks in China. Thus it is named the “Crystal Capital” and “Padlock Center.”

Administrative divisions

Subdistricts:
*Punan Subdistrict (浦南街道), Xianhua Subdistrict (仙华街道), Puyang Subdistrict (浦阳街道)

Towns:
*Huangzhai (黄宅镇), Yantou (岩头镇), Zhengzhai (郑宅镇), Tanxi (檀溪镇), Hangping (杭坪镇), Baima (白马镇), Zhengjiawu (郑家坞镇)

Townships:
*Yuzhai Township (虞宅乡), Dafan Township (大畈乡), Zhongyu Township (中余乡), Qianwu Township (前吴乡), Huaqiao Township (花桥乡)

Climate

Tourism

The First Family of Southern China

The First Family in the South of the Yangtze River is a historic and cultural site situated in the village of Zhengzhai in Pujiang. it was built in the Yuan dynasty, covering an area of 6,600 square meters.

Geography and nature

Xianhua Mountain is situated in the north of Pujiang. In the Tourist Attraction Rating Categories, it is rated an AAAA scenic destination.

In the south of Shenli Gorge, the mountains are high and steep. In the northern part are ancestral halls and buildings of the Ming and Qing dynasties. There is also Tenli Pavillion, an ancient post house. Writers of the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties have written travel journals and poems about the gorge.

Developed in 2000, the Baishiwan scenic area includes two valleys.

The is northwest of Pujiang.

Tongji Lake was built in 1956, with its dam 35 meters high and 275 meters long. The dam's construction required earth and stone and 3.68 million workers. Sixteen villages were flooded, and 1,152 families including 4,566 villagers moved away. The lake allowed both sides of the Puyang River to become granaries.

Baozhang Valley lies in the north of Pujiang, 10 kilometers away from the county town, covering an area of 10.5 square kilometers. The Baozhang Temple was built in the valley.

Songxi, named for the Songxi creek, is a village in the eastern part of Pujiang county. The village's population is around 3,000.

Folklore

The Legend of Baozhang Valley

There is a temple situated on Baozhang Mountain, east of Pujiang Xinhua Mountain, known as the Baozhang Temple.

Behind the temple is a mountain hill that resembles an “Emperor’s Umbrella” (in Chinese called “Huangluo Gaisan”, which translates to yellow dragon umbrella cover - an ancient umbrella cover used as the emperor's shelter on his travels).

There is a famous legend associated with the above mountain.

Once upon a time, there was a small village located at the foot of Baozhang Mountain. The inhabitants of the village was a closely knit community. Amongst them lived a married couple, with two black dogs. The husband was a farmer.

The couple unfortunately had no luck in bearing a child for years. One night the farmer's wife dreamt of a dragon flying to their house and landing on their roof. Having inspected no trail of a dragon on their roof and realising it was only a dream, the couple paid no serious attention to this dream.

A couple of days later, their dogs started taking turns climbing up the roof and stood by, no matter rain or shine. Soon after, the farmer's wife found out that she was pregnant.

The couple was puzzled why their dogs were climbing up their roof everyday and were frustrated since the dogs refused to listen and stay off the roof no matter what the couple did.

The farmer, frustrated by the dogs, killed one of the dogs on the ground as a lesson to the other dog on the roof. Despite this, the dog on the roof remained persistent and stayed on the roof for couple of weeks before succumbing to death from hunger and fell off the roof.

On the same day, a fortune teller passing through the village and by the farmer's house, paid the couple a visit and spoke to them, “Your house is filled with the omen of luck, although suppressed by an evil force....…”. After talking to the couple and learning of what had happened during the last few weeks, the fortune teller explained to the farmer, “Your wife is pregnant with an emperor son - the son of heaven - and the two black dogs were here to protect your family. They climbed up to the roof to protect your wife's pregnancy and your child's identity. Now that the dogs are dead, the incumbent emperor has become aware of your wife's pregnancy and to secure his throne, he will despatch his soldiers to kill the two of you.”

The farmer, panicked and desperate, begged for a solution to escape. Unknown to the couple, the fortune teller is actually a deity and come to their rescue. He gave the farmer a handful of sand and a chopstick, and explained carefully, “When you are running away from the soldiers, throw a handful of sand behind you and the chopstick in front of you. The sand will turn into a mountain and the chopstick will open up a road path for you. The soldiers will not be able to pursue you further.” He then disappeared into the thin air.

On that night itself, as predicted by the deity, soldiers invaded the village and the couple knew it must be the soldiers searching for them, and thus they escaped from the house. The soldiers saw them and gave chase to them. Just when the soldiers were gaining on them, the farmer, reminded of the deity's words, threw the chopstick behind him and a handful of sand in front of him. Immediately, a mountain blocked the couple's way ahead whilst a wide road path extended behind him. They were hunted down by the soldiers without much effort, and they and the unborn child killed at the site.

Subsequently, the mountain hill behind the Baozhang Temple took the shape of the Emperor's Umbrella (Huangluo Gaisan) and it is said that it was probably formed as a memorial for the unborn son of the heaven......

Famous People

Hong Xuntao

Hong Xuntao (1928.4.9 - 2001.9.22) was a famous children's literature author and theorist. His most notable work is his adaption of the folklore story "The Magic Paint Brush - The Story of Ma Liang." He dedicated his life to writing and studying children's literature and has been recognized for his contributions and was a member of the Chinese Writers Association, China Film Association, China Folk Literature and Art Association, Director of the Shanghai Writers Association, was Executive Director of the Chinese research society for children's literature.

Song Lian

Song Lian (1310—1381), also known as Jing Lian, Qian Xi. He was a litterateur in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties. He was praised as "The first official minister of Ming" by Zhu Yuanzhang, emperor of the Ming dynasty. He was one of the three masters of poetry in the early Ming dynasty, and the other two were Gao Qi and Liu Ji. His representative works were A Farewell to Ma Junze of Dongyang and so on.

Zhang Rui

Zhang Rui (1909.3-2014.9.17) was a former vice-minister of the military affairs department of the general staff headquarters of China. In 1933, he joined the Chinese Red Army. In 1936, he joined the Chinese Communist Party. He took part in the battle of Zhiluo town, Pingcheng guan, Lufang, Yimeng mountain area against "iron wall encirclement", Liaoshen, Pingjin and the Long March. Zhang Rui was a member of the fourth and fifth national committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In 1955, he was awarded the rank of major general.

Madame Wu

Madame Wu (Song Dynasty, 13th century) was the author of the '' Wushi Zhongkuilu'' (), an important Medieval Chinese work on household cookery. The cookbook provide a glimpse of common foods and ingredients prepared for day-to-day consumption in Chinese households during the late Song Dynasty. Wu is the earliest known woman author of Chinese cuisine.

Specialty

Pujiang Tofu Skin

Tofu skin is a natural oil film formed on the surface of soybean milk after boiling. It can be found on tables in the north and south of China, and it can be made into many different dishes. Tofu skin is not only delicious but also has a lot of nutritional value. Tofu skin has high protein, lecithin and minerals. It can prevent cardiovascular disease and protect the heart. Moreover, tofu skin is beneficial for bone development and the prevention of osteoporosis.

Pujiang tofu skin is a traditional specialty of Pujiang. It has more than 1200 years’ history. The raw material of Pujiang tofu skin is Pujiang Chun soybean. Production process: soaking, grinding, filtering, burning pulp, conjunctiva, dredging, drying. The final products of Pujiang tofu skin is yellow in white and mellow. The local people use a dish of tofu skin and eggs to serve guests, which is a high etiquette. Every year, about 2,400 tons of Pujiang tofu skins are produced and export to Japan and Southeast Asia, the main places of production are Wuda Road, SharenTou, Zhong Village and Wei Village. The annual value of Pujiang tofu skin is 36 million yuan. In 2012, pujiang tofu skin production technology became the provincial intangible cultural heritage.

Peach-shaped plum

Peach-shaped plum appeared in Pujiang county in the 1980s. Peach-shaped plum is a new product grafted from peach and plum trees. Peach - shaped plum is one of the famous, special and new treasured fruit trees in Pujiang county Jinhua city, Zhejiang province, and it won the gold medal in the national agricultural fair. It looks like peach, but the color and skin are same as plum. It tastes of both peach and plum, sour and sweet. Peach-shaped plum is rich in nutrition. The study of department of food processing in Zhejiang University and institute of horticulture, Zhejiang academy of agricultural sciences shows that peach-shaped plum has a variety of essential amino acids for human body, and potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron and other trace elements, minerals and vitamin B1, vitamin B2, carotenoids. It also has many benefits such as clear heat, diuretic, help digestion, spleen.

In recent years, the government has promulgated some policies to help farmers and promote the development of peach-shaped plum. The planting area of peach shaped plum expanded from to more than . Every year, there are about 50,000 tons of peaches and plums produced, and the output value is 260 million yuan.

Climbing Fig Tofu

Climbing fig tofu is a dessert made from climbing fig, which looks like a clear or yellowish jelly. It has no taste in itself, so the locals use white or brown sugar for flavoring. Climbing fig tofu is only sold in summer, and it is very cheap, usually no more than 5 yuan. It is popular in Pujiang, and people even can find it anywhere. Climbing fig tofu has the function of removing moisture, promoting blood circulation, detumescence, detoxification and tonifying kidney. It is similar to aiyu jelly and O-aew, which are also made from climbing figs.

Customs and Culture

Pujiang Paper-cuts

Pujiang paper-cuts have a long history, which appeared in the Yuan dynasty and the Ming dynasty. Song Lian which was a poet in Pujiang mentioned the paper-cuts in his poem. In the Qing dynasty, the local opera was developing quickly in Pujiang. By the influence of local opera, the paper-cut for opera characters appeared. After a long time, it formed the present Pujiang Paper-cuts. However, Pujiang paper-cuts are dying out because the number of heirs is small, and fewer and fewer people know the Pujiang paper-cuts.

In 2008, Pujiang paper-cuts becomes the China's intangible cultural heritage. In 1993, Pujiang was named "hometown of Chinese folk art (paper-cut)" by the Chinese ministry of culture.

Pujiang Opera

Pujiang opera is an ancient opera and originated in the Song dynasty in Pujiang. It is popular in Pujiang, Linan, Jiande, and Tonglu, and spread to Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Fujian. Pujiang opera is based on the local "vegetable basket song" and developed under the influence of south opera. South opera is one of the oldest opera in China. Pujiang opera was popular in local people, but it didn't appear on the stage until the middle of the Ming dynasty. In 2006, Pujiang opera has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of China.

References

External links

TRAVELZHEJIANG
- The Official Travel Guide of Zhejiang Province

{{Authority control

County-level divisions of Zhejiang
Geography of Jinhua