Yuquan Taiji Astrological Village

Yuquan Taiji Astrological Village

Yuquan Taiji Astrological Village is located in Yuquan Township in the southwestern part of Wuyi County, Jinhua City, about 20 kilometers from the county town. The ancient village of Yuquan has an extraordinary and mysterious layout. It is said that the village was planned by Liu Bowen, the founding imperial tutor of the Ming Dynasty, "according to the arrangement of celestial bodies and constellations." At the entrance of the village lies a massive Taiji diagram with a diameter of 320 meters and covering an area of 120 mu. The 28 main ancient buildings in the village are arranged according to the constellations in the sky. There are also "Seven-Star Ponds" and "Seven-Star Wells" in the village used for fire prevention and warding off evil spirits. Yuquan boasts many scenic spots and historical sites, including the Cave Master Temple, a dream-fulfillment site originally built in the Southern Song Dynasty, the "Lishè Bridge" constructed in the Yuan Dynasty, and ancient buildings from the Ming Dynasty totaling 1,072 rooms covering an area of 34,000 square meters, including residences, ancestral halls, shops, temples, and study halls.

It is said that every year on the 16th day of the sixth lunar month is Dream-Fulfillment Festival, when more than a thousand worshippers gather here, sitting or lying on the ground, hoping to have prophetic dreams at night.

Tour Guide

Travel 20 kilometers southward from Wuyi County town, and you will arrive at Yuquan, a famous historical and cultural village in China.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, Yu De, a native of Hangzhou who served as a Confucian scholar in Songyang, passed away. His son, Yu Yi, escorted the coffin back to Hangzhou. On their way, they stayed overnight here, and the coffin placed by the stream became entangled with wisteria vines. Yu Yi believed this to be a sacred place, so he bought land to bury his father there. The cemetery guards married locals, and now it has reached the 28th generation.

Today, the population of over 2,000 people mostly share the surname Yu, making it one of the largest gatherings of the Yu clan in the country.

History: It is said that Liu Bowen, the imperial tutor of the Ming Dynasty, and Yu Lai from Yuquan were classmates with a close bond. Yu Lai’s hometown was a necessary stop on Liu Bowen’s route from Wuzhou and Hangzhou back to his home in Qingtian, Chuzhou.

At that time, Yuquan suffered from alternating droughts and floods, frequent epidemics, and the people lived in misery. Liu Bowen, well-versed in geomancy and knowledgeable in both astronomy and geography, designed and directed the rerouting of the straight stream at the village entrance into a winding one. He used the stream as the dividing line between the yin and yang of the Taiji diagram.

Measurements show the Taiji diagram has a diameter of 320 meters and covers an area of 120 mu. At the same time, he designed the astrological and Bagua layout of the village buildings.

Introduction

Eleven mountain ridges around the village form the twelve zodiac signs of the celestial ecliptic together with the Taiji yin-yang fish. The 28 halls arranged in a Bagua pattern correspond to the 28 lunar mansions. The Seven-Star Ponds and Seven-Star Wells are distributed in the shape of the Big Dipper. The Yu Family Ancestral Hall, known as the “No.1 Ancestral Hall in the Ten Counties of Chuzhou,” is located right within this star formation.

Yuquan Village has numerous cultural relics and historic sites, with 395 ancient buildings, mainly from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. There are also halls, reception rooms, pavilions, courtyards, libraries,

ancestral halls, temples, etc., all featuring exquisite wood, stone, and brick carvings.

Among them, the Cave Master Temple from the Song Dynasty, the Lishè Bridge from the Yuan Dynasty, and the ancient stage from the Ming Dynasty are all widely renowned. The village’s “Yingwan Hall” and the “Benefiting Travelers” plaque bestowed by a Qing Dynasty county magistrate on the Wanchun Hall prove Yuquan’s long history in tourism.

Tips: 1. There is a ticket booth at the village entrance. After visiting several ticketed attractions with a guide, you can explore freely.

2. The Taiji pattern is not visible within the village. Many visitors unaware of this mystery can’t see it. You need to go to the mountaintop behind the village to view it—ask your guide how.

3. When walking around the village freely, remember not to venture down narrow alleys due to the complex layout. If the path gets narrower, it’s definitely not the right way.

4. The Cave Master Temple is located at the end of the village, up the stream. As a dream-fulfillment holy site in the village, you can make wishes here. There are restaurants near the temple where you can eat and stay.

5. Yuquan, Liuxiulong, and Qingfengzhai are on the same route and can be visited together. To reach Guodong, you must first return to the county town and take another bus.

Ticket · Opening Hours

40 yuan

Transportation

Buses are available from the West Bus Station with frequent departures. Food · Accommodation · Shopping

Specialty: Natural white flower oil, a premium grade of tea seed oil, which helps lower blood pressure, reduce blood lipids, and prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases

Health Drink: Wuchuan Chrysanthemum Rice

Local Snacks: Summer’s Zizi Tofu and Xuanning Lotus Seeds, winter’s Disaster-Relieving Steamed Buns, Wuyi natural organic tea, Jinshan Cuijian, and Wuyang Chunyu—these are unique snacks of Yuquan.

Yuquan Township: Yuquan is located in the southwestern part of Wuyi County, 20 kilometers from the county town. It borders Xuannan Township to the east and Taocun to the west, and is 12 kilometers from the national heritage site Yanfu Temple. Surrounded by mountains, Yuquan has a stream flowing through the village in an “S” shape. In ancient times, Yuquan was called Zhuyan Village, originally formed by the Zhu and Yan families. It is said that during the Southern Song Dynasty, a man surnamed Yu from Hangzhou served as a Confucian scholar in Songyang. After his death, his son escorted the coffin back to Hangzhou. On the way, they stayed overnight in Zhuyan Village. The next day, the coffin was found entwined with wisteria vines, taken as a sign of a sacred place. They thus buried him there, and descendants stayed to guard the tomb, gradually developing into what is now Yuquan. In the third year of the Ming Dynasty's Jingtai era, Yuquan belonged to the six... Yuquan Township detailed information++