Xinye () is a historic village in Daciyan Town (), Jiande City,

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also Chinese postal romanization, romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the prov ...

, in the west of

Zhejiang Province Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

. Founded in the

Southern Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

, Xinye is noted for its well-preserved

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han pe ...

and

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

era architecture and ancient residential buildings. Xinye is also known for holding ancestor worship ceremonies on the annual

Shangsi Festival The Key Holiday () is a keyholiday originated from China, and is celebrated in multiple East Asian countries, including China and Korea. China The Double Third Festival () or Shangsi Festival () is a Chinese festival celebrated on the third ...

, an ancient tradition that is only practiced by a few communities in China today, including Xinye. In 2010 it was designated as a National Historic and Cultural Village of China.

Location

Xinye is located in western

, in the southern part of

Jiande is a county-level city of Zhejiang Province, East China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Hangzhou. History During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Jiande was the capital of Yanzhou Prefecture. On account of this, Jian ...

bordering Lanxi. The village is governed by Daciyan town of Jiande city, which is in turn within the administrative boundary of the provincial capital

. Xinye is overlooked on the northwest by Mount Yuhua () and Mount Daofeng (). The main access road is National Highway 330, 6 kilometers from the village.

History

Xinye was founded in 1219 during the reign of

Emperor Ningzong Emperor Ningzong of Song (19 November 1168 – 17 September 1224), personal name Zhao Kuo, was the 13th emperor of the Song dynasty of China and the fourth emperor of the Southern Song dynasty. He reigned from 1194 until his death in 1224. He ...

of the

, when founder Ye Kun () moved to the area. Ye Kun's grandson Ye Kecheng (, 1250–1323) expanded the village, building Xishan Ancestral Hall () on the western hills, and Youxu Ancestral Hall () at the center of the village. Most of the 3,900 villagers today are surnamed Ye and trace their lineage from Ye Kun through 29 generations. They are collectively called the Yuhua Ye Clan () after the mountain overlooking the village. During the eighth generation the village was further divided into subclans (), each building its own ancestral hall. There are now five subclans: Chongren (), Chongzhi (), Chongde (), Chongyi (), and Yuqing (), with the Chongren subclan being the most prosperous.

Architecture

With 16 ancestral halls and 230 white-washed ancient residences that are well preserved, Xinye is acclaimed as the largest open-air museum of ancient residences in China. Its architectural style is similar to that of the nearby historical

Huizhou Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in central-east Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Heyu ...

region which includes World Heritage Sites Hongcun and

Xidi Xidi () is a village in Xidi Town (), Yi County, Huangshan City of the historical Huizhou region of Anhui province, China. Xidi and the nearby town of Hongcun are known for their exceptional preservation of rural Anhui architecture and city ...

. Xishan is the oldest among Xinye's ancestral halls, and is now part of the Xinye Elementary School. Youxu remains the village's main ancestral hall where the most important ceremonies are held, though it is exceeded in size by Chongren Ancestral Hall of the eponymous subclan. Other major landmarks include the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

Tuanyun Pagoda () and Wenchang Pavilion (). Also near the village is Daci Rock (), a Buddhist temple built on a sheer mountain cliff dating from the Mongol

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fif ...

. The village's remote mountainous location and strong sense of clanship are the major reasons for its excellent state of preservation. Even during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

when much of China's cultural heritage was systematically destroyed, the villagers protected the ancient buildings by plastering lime and posting papers with quotes of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...

on their sculptures and carvings.

Culture

The main religious practice of the village is traditional

ancestor worship The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of t ...

; most temples in Xinye are dedicated to ancestors of the village or the subclans. To that end, the village has maintained a detailed

genealogy book A genealogy book or register is used in Asia and Europe to record the family history of ancestors. Greater China It is the Chinese tradition to record family members in a book, including every male born in the family, who they are married to, ...

through the centuries, which is officially updated once every

sexagenary cycle The sexagenary cycle, also known as the Stems-and-Branches or ganzhi ( zh, 干支, gānzhī), is a cycle of sixty terms, each corresponding to one year, thus a total of sixty years for one cycle, historically used for recording time in China and t ...

(60 years), accompanied by a major ceremony. While most regions of China celebrates the

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly referred to as the Spring Festival () a ...

as the main annual festival, in Xinye the most important festival is the Shangsi or Double Third, which falls on the third day of the third month of the

Chinese calendar The traditional Chinese calendar (also known as the Agricultural Calendar ��曆; 农历; ''Nónglì''; 'farming calendar' Former Calendar ��曆; 旧历; ''Jiùlì'' Traditional Calendar ��曆; 老历; ''Lǎolì'', is a lunisolar calendar ...

. Shangsi Festival is an ancient tradition that is only practiced by a few local communities in China today. The celebration includes a 3-kilometer ritual procession to Yuquan Temple () and back, and ancestor worship ceremonies and performances are held in many temples. In 2010 Xinye was designated as a National Historic and Cultural Village of China, and it plans to eventually apply for

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

status together with nearby

Zhuge Zhuge in Chinese, Jegal in Korean, Gia Cát in Vietnamese or Morokuzu in Japanese is a compound surname in East Asia. It is ranked 314th in ''Hundred Family Surnames'' in China. The surname has often been synonymous with wisdom in Chinese culture ...

and Yuyuan villages.

Gallery

References