Yuantian Village

Yuantian Village

Yuantian Village is located in Taibai Town, Shanghang County. The village enjoys a superior natural environment with a hilly landscape, surrounded by mountains on all sides. Its ancient dwellings are scattered along both banks of the Ruxi Stream in a well-arranged fashion. With a profound historical and cultural heritage, it is recognized as the foremost ancient village in Hangcheng. It boasts the most exquisite Hakka traditional houses, the most rustic hometown of dreams, the most typical Hakka culture, and the most beautiful birthplace of misty poetry.

Travel Highlights

1) A 700-year-old ancient village and an important birthplace of the Hakka Li clan. The descendants of Simumude, the elder brother of Li Huode, namely the 49th Master, migrated back from Zhangping to Yuantian and became the representative of Master Mude in the Hakka region, from where they spread to various parts of the world. After enduring 700 years of vicissitudes, Yuantian has become an important birthplace of the Hakka Li clan, holding a status as significant as that of Guantian, the location of the ancestral Li clan temple. The village originally had a large ancestral temple of the Li clan, comparable in layout and even more exquisite than the one in Guantian. Every year, descendants of Master Mude from all over the country would come here to worship their ancestors. After it was demolished in the 1980s for certain reasons, the number of worshippers gradually declined. However, nothing can change Yuantian’s rich 700-year history or the fact that it is a key birthplace of the Hakka Li clan.

2) The second hometown of a famous poet and one of the birthplaces of Chinese misty poetry. Shu Ting, the current chairperson of the Xiamen Federation of Literary and Art Circles, is not only a renowned face of Xiamen but also a poet with global influence. In the early 1970s, she was sent to Yuantian to work in the countryside, spending an unforgettable period as a sent-down youth. During her time in Yuantian, she immersed herself in reading and wrote a large number of poems, including “To Hangcheng,” which helped establish her status as the “queen” of the misty poetry movement. Yuantian truly deserves to be recognized as one of the birthplaces of Chinese misty poetry.

Yuantian Village preserves over 20 ancient dwellings, including 12 large-scale ones such as “Yingchuan Zhi,” “Dianyou Ju,” and “Langguan Di,” all of which are over 200 to 300 years old. The architecture is mainly in the traditional Qing Dynasty style, featuring both classic structures like “nine halls and eighteen courtyards with a through-going horse-riding corridor” and other styles such as courtyard houses, square earthen buildings, enclosed residences, and Huizhou-style architecture. Each building holds significant cultural and historical value.

The most representative residential buildings in Yuantian include: “Dianyou Ju” (the ancient house of Master Yiling), “Shengqi PanYu” (the ancient house of Master Zhenling), the ancient house of Master Kailing, and “Simaji.” These structures were built between the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns of the Qing Dynasty, dating back nearly 200 years. Among rural China’s well-preserved traditional wooden structures, these are considered to have considerable historical longevity. All four buildings were constructed by the 18th-generation ancestors of the Li clan (with Yiling, Zhenling, and Kailing likely being brothers or cousins). These traditional houses indicate that Yuantian Village experienced a period of prosperity in the early 19th century. At that time, it was a relatively wealthy area known for producing many talented individuals.

The ancient houses of Masters Yiling, Zhenling, and Kailing each cover an area of over 4,000 square meters, while Simaji spans around 1,000 square meters. These houses are large, enclosed, multi-courtyard buildings, combining architectural features similar to the “nine halls and eighteen courtyards” style seen in Peitian residences and the “five-phoenix tower” style of the Yongding area. This distinctive style is locally referred to as: “nine halls and eighteen courtyards with a through-going horse-riding corridor.”

Yuantian Village has long been a place of outstanding people and spiritual energy. During the Ming Dynasty, it produced the anti-Wokou (Japanese pirate) hero Li Fuying, who repeatedly followed imperial orders to quell rebellions. He was appointed by the Ming emperor to govern both civil and military affairs outside the city as Dengshilang and inside as a commander before the emperor’s carriage, and was later posthumously honored by Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty as a loyal and heroic martyr, with a temple dedicated to filial piety and loyalty erected in his honor. In the Qing Dynasty, there was Li Yinghua, a second-rank Jinshi scholar and chief official of the Ministry of Punishments, who was bestowed the honorary title of Zhongxian Dafu.

The Hakka culture of Yuantian is deeply rooted and flourishing, represented notably by puppet shows and lion dances. Historical records indicate that in the early years of liberation, Yuantian was home to the only puppet troupe in Taibai Township—Lao Guihua, led by Li Guanyin. Yuantian’s lion dance is also widely renowned for its vivid performances, particularly its impressive martial arts displays that command great respect in the region.

Source: Fujian Provincial Tourism Development Commission

Taibai Town: Located in the southeastern part of Shanghang County. It borders Hugang Township of Yongding County to the east, Hexi Township of Yongding to the south, Lanxi Town to the west, and connects with Chadi and Xikou to the north. It is 33 kilometers from Shanghang County and 60 kilometers from Longyan.

Taibai Township currently administers 16 administrative villages, 95 natural villages, and has a population of 18,936, including over 9,500 working-age adults. There are two ethnic minority villages (She people) and two revolutionary base villages. The township covers an area of 140 square kilometers, surrounded by mountains and rolling hills. Five of its villages are located in high-altitude, cold regions, with the highest-altitude village, Xianshuikeng, reaching 900 meters above sea level... More detailed information about Taibai Town++