Shitang Ancient Town
Shitang Town is a thousand-year-old ancient town. Historically, it was a key transportation hub and goods distribution center between Fujian and Jiangxi, and one of the five major handicraft industry bases in ancient southern China (including cotton weaving in Songjiang, silk weaving in Suzhou and Hangzhou, sizing and dyeing in Wuhu, porcelain making in Jingdezhen, and papermaking in Yanshan). The papermaking industry in Yanshan mentioned in the Outline of Chinese History, edited by Jian Bozan, refers to Shitang Town. Known as the “Little Suzhou at the Foot of Mount Wuyi,” Shitang Town was designated as a provincial-level historical and cultural town in July 2003.
Located in the semi-mountainous area about 40 kilometers southeast of Yanshan County. Legend has it that before the Five Dynasties period (907–960), there were ten square ponds north of the village. Later, based on the homophonic sound of “ten ponds,” the place came to be called Shitang (Stone Pond). The entire Shitang Town comprises 8 administrative villages, 1 street management area, and 53 natural villages, with a total of 3,900 households and 15,000 residents, including 5,500 in the town proper, covering an area of 54 square kilometers. The urban area is less than 3 square kilometers. In Yanshan, Shitang is the second most prominent thousand-year-old ancient town after Hekou. The Yanshan River closely connects Shitang and Hekou. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Shitang was also an important distribution hub for commodities such as paper and tea. After entering Shangrao from Mount Wuyi, this was the nearest river port. In this section, the Yanshan River is called the Shitang River. Thus, large quantities of rock tea from Mount Wuyi, transported overland via ancient post roads from the south along the Shanxi merchants’ Tea Road, would arrive in Shitang, where they could be loaded onto boats, switching from overland to water transport to Hekou, and then loaded onto larger vessels for further shipping. In the well-known TV series , there is a scene where Qiao Zhiyong travels the tea route to Mount Wuyi to trade in tea, and the Shitang we are visiting now was an essential stop along the water route.
In fact, what Shitang Town is most famous for is its thriving paper industry. A passage from the Qing Dynasty writer Cheng Hongyi’s Yanshan Bamboo Branch Lyrics describes the entire handmade papermaking process in Shitang. In Yanshan, Shitang, Chenfang, and Yangcun were once the three major paper-producing areas. The production technique of Lian Si paper, listed as a national intangible cultural heritage, originates here. Shitang is located on the outer edge of the northern foothills of Mount Wuyi, with many hills, lush vegetation, and abundant bamboo everywhere, providing an inexhaustible supply of raw bamboo strips for papermaking. There are also various plants in the mountains, such as woolly winter melon, used as paper sizing agents, which are equally plentiful. The rich water resources provide high-quality water for material preparation and papermaking. This uniquely favorable natural environment gave rise to a paper industry kingdom in Shitang. Handmade paper produced in Shitang once included more than twenty varieties, such as “Shangguan,” “Mao Bian,” “Mao Liu,” and “Mao Ba,” all renowned nationwide. Among them, Lian Si paper is as white as jade, delicate yet tough, and never fades, earning it the reputation of “a thousand-year paper.” It is premium quality for calligraphy, painting, and printing ancient books. The title page of the famous historical text Seventeen Histories, published during the Ming Dynasty's Chongzhen era, was printed on Lian Si paper. In 1934 (the 23rd year of the Republic of China), the Commercial Press published the first collection of Rare Books of the Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature, also using Lian Si paper.
In addition to its paper culture, Shitang is also an important part of the revolutionary base areas of the Soviet region in northeastern Jiangxi, boasting abundant red tourism resources. On April 27, 1931, when Fang Zhimin led the Red Tenth Army in its attack on northern Fujian, he captured Shitang and established the Shitang Gangbei Township Soviet Government. In January 1931, the Sixth District Soviet Government of Yanshan County was established at Guanxingling in Liyang Village. In the spring of 1932 (April), the Ninth District Soviet Government was established in Gangbei. In the autumn of 1937, Red Army guerrilla forces from various regions of Fujian and Jiangxi were ordered to descend from the mountains, regroup in Shitang Town, and underwent reorganization to form the Fifth Regiment of the Third Detachment of the New Fourth Army.
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