Li Village Vernacular Architecture

Li Village Vernacular Architecture

The vernacular architecture of Li Village is a cultural relic protection unit of Zhejiang Province.

Li Village is situated in the northeast of Daciyan Town, bordering Sanyuan Village to the south, Shangwufang Village and Xinye Village to the north, and the Daciyan Scenic Area to the west. It is about 4 kilometers from Daciyan Town and enjoys convenient transportation. The village features undulating terrain, with mountainous areas in the north and relatively flat land in the south. Li Village is a typical farming settlement in southern China. The founding ancestor of the Li clan migrated to the southern foothills of Yuhua Mountain during the Yongxi era of the Song Dynasty. After 1,200 years of development, the village has taken its present form. The settlement is centered around “Jielu” (Boundary Road), with ancestral halls and residences of various clan branches distributed on both sides, surrounded by ponds of varying sizes like strings of Buddhist beads. The overall layout and representative buildings of the village are largely intact, making it a vernacular settlement predominantly featuring Ming and Qing dynasty architecture. In 2011, the vernacular architecture of Li Village was designated as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit by the Zhejiang Provincial Government, and in 2013, the village itself was recognized as a historical and cultural village of Hangzhou by the Hangzhou Municipal Government.

Li Village: Originally named Xu Zhai, according to the "Yuhua Li Clan Genealogy," the Li family settled here about 1,100 years ago. Currently, Li Village has 1,045 farming households, a rural population of 3,249, and an administrative area of 18 square kilometers, with an average per capita income of less than 5,000 yuan. The ancestor of the Li clan whom villagers take pride in is Li Pin, a renowned poet of the late Tang Dynasty. His poems are included in anthologies such as the "Complete Tang Poems" and "Three Hundred Tang Poems." His famous lines, “Bamboo shoots sprout from the stones, and exotic flowers fall into the springs,” depict the beautiful natural scenery of Jiande—a phrase well known throughout the area. … More details about Li Village++

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Zhejiang Province