Fuchuan Ancient Town

Fuchuan Ancient Town

Fuchuan Ancient Town is a cultural tourism attraction.

Located in Jinjing Town, Fuchuan Town was a garrison town built in the 20th year of the Hongwu reign during the Ming Dynasty (1387). Along with Chongwu Town in Hui’an, Zhongzuo Town in Xiamen, Kinmen Town, and Gaopu Town in Tong’an, it belonged to the Yongning Guard. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it served as an important coastal defense stronghold in southeastern Fujian. During the Jiajing and Wanli eras of the Ming Dynasty, local soldiers and civilians relied on the town’s fortifications to resist attacks from Japanese pirates and sea bandits, protecting the safety of the local people. Historically, the area also produced notable figures such as Grand Secretary Jiang Dejing. During the War of Resistance in 1937, the once-renowned “Mighty Town of Southeast China” was damaged when stones from the ancient town walls were dismantled to build bunkers and artillery emplacements, leaving only remnants of the walls.

In recent years, the Fuchuan Village Compatriots Association in Hong Kong has taken on the mission of revitalizing the town’s cultural heritage, generously contributing funds to advocate for the reconstruction of the West Gate Tower, the main external thoroughfare of the original Fuchuan Town. The project hired experts in ancient architecture for its design, commenced construction in early 2004, and has now completed the main structure.

The reconstructed West Gate wall stands six meters high, with crenellations at 1.3 meters, constructed using trimmed stone blocks and mortar. Above the gate sits a three-bay watchtower, seven meters high, built with reinforced concrete designed to resemble wood. It features a single-eave hip-and-gable roof with soaring swallowtail ridges, decorative scroll motifs, and beams adorned with round sunlights, corner inserts, and hanging cylinders all crafted from camphor wood with exquisite carvings. The robust and solemn presence of the wall perfectly complements the balanced and airy design of the tower, preserving the timeless charm of ancient architecture.

Fuchuan Village also plans to extend the walls on both sides of the West Gate and restore parts of the ancient town, connecting them with the thirteen ancient streets within Fuchuan Town, the former residence of Jiang Xiangtong, the cliff inscriptions at Yuanlong Mountain, the Town God’s Temple, the Goddess Linshui’s Palace, as well as a series of cultural relics outside the town such as the Tailless Tower and the Temple of Liu Congxiao in Liujiao Village, and the cave cliff carvings—all forming a uniquely styled tourist route that allows visitors to appreciate and experience the rich and profound historical culture of Jinjiang.

Fuchuan Village: Fuchuan Village is located by the sea in Jinjing Town, southeastern Jinjiang, Fujian Province. It lies eighty li north of Quanzhou, faces the Taiwan Strait to the east, connects to Shenhu to the north, and links to Weitou to the south.

The people of Fuchuan place great importance on culture and education for their children. As early as the town’s founding, ancestors established the Zhu Zi Ancestral Hall and private schools, creating a unique tradition in cultural education. During the culturally enlightened Ming Dynasty, the people of Fuchuan produced many talents in imperial examinations, earning the saying “No surname without examination success.” Historical records indicate that during the Ming and Qing dynasties, as many as 20 individuals from Fuchuan Village passed imperial examinations and became jinshi (advanced scholars). During the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, Jiang Guangyan from Fuchuan and Wang Sanyang from Houshan once... Fuchuan Village detailed information++