Shangren Ancient Village

Shangren Ancient Village

Shangren Village in Wukeng Township, Qingtian County, Lishui, is located at the easternmost part of Qingtian County and is a small mountain village with a history of nearly a thousand years. Surrounded by terraced fields to the southeast and towering high mountains to the northwest, the village boasts picturesque pastoral scenery. In spring and autumn, it is often enveloped in sea of clouds, making it a great spot for outdoor photography, while the cool summer breeze offers a pleasant retreat for escaping the heat.

The current name of Shangren Village stems from the beautification and deduplication of place names. According to the Xianju County Place Names Record, the ancestors of Shangren Village were surnamed Chen and lived upstream of the Weiqiang Stream, hence the village was originally called Shangchen Village. Due to a naming conflict, it was renamed Shangren based on a homophone in the Xianju dialect. The name Shangren Village was restored in 1977. In fact, the name Shangren has only been in use for about half a century.

In the Guangxu Xianju County Annals and the Republican-era Draft New Annals of Xianju County, Shangren was recorded as Shangchen, corresponding to Xiachen Zhu (possibly the former Xiachen Village) across the stream. Moreover, Shangren Village has indeed been a predominantly Chen-surname village since ancient times. According to the Le’an Chen Clan Genealogy, the Chen clan of Shangren branched off from the Putan Chen Clan. At the end of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the 34th descendant of Chen Shi, Chen Ting, moved from Xinxi Chen Village, Xuchang County, Henan, to the front of Wan Zhu Temple in Xianju. His descendants later settled in areas including Shangren, Shimeng??, Banjiaokeng, Putan Middle Street, Lower Street, Yucun, and Dongbao. As for the Weng, Qi, Yu, Wu, and Pan surnames, they are all minor lineages within the village. For example, the Weng family mainly resides in the natural hamlet of Xiashan within Shangren.

To the north of Shangren Village lies the main course of the Weiqiang Stream, a major tributary of the Shisandu River. The Weiqiang Stream originates in Yongjia, flows north to Danzhukeng, where it converges with waters from various mountain streams including the Large and Small Yuan Streams, then continues north for sixty li to join the Yong’an Stream at Baita. In its upper reaches, the valley features steep cliffs and rapid currents. Upon entering the area north of Shangren Village, the stream widens slightly between enclosing mountains, allowing for some sedimentation of sand and soil, thus forming a narrow valley plain. Shangren Village is situated at the southern end of this valley plain.

To the south of the village lies Weiqiang Mountain, the namesake of the Weiqiang Stream. Weiqiang Mountain is a famous peak within Xianju. The Linhai Annals from the Liu Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties, written by Sun Shen, records: “Weiqiang Mountain is the highest among these peaks. Its cliffs bear inscriptions resembling tadpoles. In the early years of the Yixi era of the Jin Dynasty, Magistrate Zhou commissioned a flying ladder to copy them with wax, yet no one could decipher their meaning.” Since ancient times, Weiqiang Mountain has been associated with many mystical tales. Additionally, the mountain produces wild shiitake mushrooms (hé xùn). Since the Song Dynasty, the wild shiitake mushrooms from Weiqiang Mountain in Xianju have been renowned as the finest in all of Zhejiang.

Shangren Village is located at the strategic throat of the Shisandu River. An old saying from western Xianju goes: “Long is Shisandu, wide is Badu??.” The Weiqiang Stream of Shisandu runs from south to north through the entire region, with tributaries such as Nanmukeng and the Large and Small Yuan Streams crisscrossing to form a dense network of streams and river crossings, among which the Shangren Village crossing is the largest and most important. In the past, travelers from Baita and Putan in the western region heading to Wenzhou and other counties via Shisandukeng had to pass through Shangren Village. As a result, Shangren Village also served as the hub of commerce and travel along the Shisandu River in ancient times. Local produce such as white charcoal, tea, and timber from the mountain folk were mostly transported through here to major ferry docks or the county town along the Yong’an Stream, while seafood and salt from Wenzhou and surrounding counties were also frequently shipped here to Xianju.

What stands before us today is a beautiful small mountain village, like a shining pearl nestled in the easternmost sunrise spot of Lishui City. In the future, Shangren Village will continue to enhance its village scenery and appearance, striving to become a modern new countryside that is environmentally beautiful, urbanized in living conditions, and ecologically sound.

Transportation:

The ancient village enjoys convenient transportation, accessible by both bus and self-driving.