Centipede Street

Centipede Street

Centipede Street

Ancient Town Centipede Street Stretching nearly one Chinese mile in length, it was first built during the Yuan Dynasty by Luo Haoran. From a distance, it resembles a large, long centipede winding through the village street. Research shows that streets of this shape are extremely rare across China, earning it the reputation of “one and a half of the three and a half in the world, with half located in Zhongshan.” Also known as South Gate Street, it is 93 meters long and 8.5 meters wide, paved with cobblestones forming a giant centipede pattern. The centipede’s head faces upward (toward Guanyin Hall), and its feet point downward (toward South Gate). The centipede’s back is 2 meters wide, and each foot is 2.5 meters long, totaling 56 feet.

According to inscriptions on ancient steles in the town and oral accounts from elders, there are two main legends about its origin. One says it symbolizes “stepping on Wu Sangui.” Here, the “centipede” represents “Wu Gong,” referring to Wu Sangui, the Prince of Pingxi. In the 15th year of the Shunzhi reign during the Qing Dynasty, after the court abolished the Wei-Suo military system, Wu Sangui sent officials to Longli to reclaim the official seal of the garrison, converting military households into civilian ones. Since then, the people of Longli lost their privileged status, and locals deeply resented Wu Sangui. Because the character “centipede” (蜈) sounds like “Wu” (吴), when the townspeople renovated the street, they laid it out in the shape of a centipede, symbolizing that countless people would step on Wu Sangui for thousands of years, preventing him from ever rising again.

The second explanation is based on the principle of using water to counteract fire. According to the theories of feng shui, the south is associated with the Wu Gate and is considered yang. In feng shui classification, the five elements are summarized as: “East is wood, South is fire, West is metal, North is water, Center is earth.” Therefore, the South Gate belongs to the fire element among the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. As the old saying goes, “The fire at the South Gate is too strong,” and it must be suppressed with water. Since the centipede is associated with “water,” laying out a “centipede” pattern on South Gate Street was meant to contain the excessive fire energy in the south and even throughout Longli. The centipede is located in front of Guanyin Hall, situated in the center of the ancient town. In the past, the statue of Guanyin in the temple held a vase containing willow branches, symbolizing the goddess sprinkling holy water to bring rain and relieve suffering. The water in the vase was believed to subdue the fire demon.