Hongcun () is a village in Hongcun Town, Yi County,

Huangshan City Huangshan (), is a prefecture-level city in southern Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. Huangshan means ''Yellow Mountain'' in Chinese and the city is named after the famously scenic Yellow Mountains which cover much of the city's vast g ...

in the 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 of southern

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze Riv ...

Province, China, near the southwest slope of

Mount Huangshan Huangshan (),Bernstein, pp. 125–127. literally meaning the Yellow Mountain(s), is a mountain range in southern Anhui Province in eastern China. It was originally called “Yishan”, and it was renamed because of a legend that Emperor Xuany ...

. Together with

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 ...

, the village became a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

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 ...

in 2000, because of its exceptional preservation of the architecture and city plan of a rural village in feudal China. Scenes from the film ''

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' is a 2000 wuxia film directed by Ang Lee and written for the screen by Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo-jung . The film features a cast of actors of Chinese ethnicity, including Chow Yun-fat, ...

'' were filmed on location in Hongcun.

History and City Plan

Hongcun was established in 1131 by Wang Wen, a general during the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

. Like the neighboring Hu family in Xidi, the Wang family became prosperous merchants and the city grew in size from 1400 to about 1900. The architecture and carvings of the approximately 150 residences dating back to the

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 ...

Dynasties are said to be among the best of their kind in China. One of the biggest of the residences open to visitors, ''Chenzhi Hall'', also contains a small museum. The village is arranged in the shape of an ox with the nearby hill (Leigang Hill) interpreted as the head, and two trees standing on it as the horns. Four bridges across the Jiyin stream can be seen as the legs whilst the houses of the village form the body. Inside the “body”, the Jiyin stream represents the intestines and various lakes such as the “South Lake” (Nanhu) form the other internal organs. A 400-year-old waterway connects each residential household to the two water sources in the town, with most of the streets built alongside them. These streets are paved with original Yi County granite. The usual residences of the town contain a central courtyard surrounded by symmetrical bays of rooms, although there are much larger and more private houses for the weather citizens. File:Yixian Hongcun 2016.09.09 18-17-26.jpg, "Yuezhao" (Moon Pond) File:Yixian Hongcun 2016.09.09 18-21-34.jpg, "Yuezhao" (Moon Pond) File:Yixian Hongcun 2016.09.09 17-49-42.jpg, Nanhu Academy

Transportation

Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui – Xidi and Hongcun-114145

Buses are available from Huangshan Bus Station. There are also buses from Tangkou Bus Station to Hongcun. Tangkou Bus Station is at the foot of Huangshan Scenic Area."Hongcun" ChinaTour.Net
Accessed 2014-11-23

References

Notable people

* Wang Daxie

External links

Hongcun village official website
*
information and pictures of Hongcun
World Heritage Sites in China Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Anhui Huangshan City Ming dynasty architecture Qing dynasty architecture Villages in China {{Huangshan-geo-stub