Yangshan Ancient Town

Yangshan Ancient Town

Yangshan Ancient Town is located in Yangshan Town, Jinxiang. Currently, the town preserves 148 well-maintained ancient residences and 36 ancient shops built during the Ming and Qing dynasties, showcasing various architectural styles. The ancient residences are mainly found in Xiaolizhuang, Xiaotun Village, and Manzhuang Village, while the ancient shops are located on the eastern street of Yangshan Town. During the Ming and Qing periods, Yangshan Ancient Street was bustling with shops, mostly engaged in the “incense and joss paper” trade. A local saying still circulates: “Business in Yangshan, temples in Juye,” attracting people from within a hundred-mile radius to purchase temple supplies. Some of the ancient residences feature front shops with back courtyards, while others are two- or three-courtyard quadrangle compounds, enclosed by a north room, south room, and east and west wing rooms, all aligned along a clear central axis with symmetrical layouts. The houses are interconnected from side to side and extend deep into the compound. These ancient homes are mostly built with brick-and-wood or stone-and-wood structures, featuring gray-tiled roofs and gray-brick or stone walls. There are also some two-story buildings with distinct edges, elegant steps, and red pillars, exhibiting exquisite exteriors. Some are adorned with intricate wood carvings, brick carvings, and stone carvings. Other features include hanging flower balconies, chimneys, shrines, and screen walls (a screen wall is a wall surface positioned directly inside the main gate, facing the entrance of the residence, also called a welcoming wall, often decorated with rich brick carvings and sometimes accompanied by elaborate paintings, symbolizing good fortune and prosperity). In front of the houses, there are stone lions and horse-tying posts (stone). Larger quadrangle compounds also include varying-sized back courtyards, or backyard gardens. The main north-facing room in the inner residence, known as the “principal room,” is the most important space in the compound, with a relatively large platform base and room dimensions, typically consisting of three bays, or five bays in larger homes. On the east and west sides of the inner residence, there are three rooms each, opening inward toward the courtyard, known as wing rooms. In some larger quadrangle compounds, there are additional small side rooms south of the wing rooms. The south room, also called the “reversed seat,” is generally used as a guest room or a study for younger family members. These ancient residences, with their distinctive local characteristics, hold significant cultural and historical value. In the spring of 2009, during a cultural relics survey on Yangshan Ancient Street, two stone tablets were discovered, inscribed with “Record of the Reconstruction of the East Gate Fortification” and “Record of the Reconstruction of the West Gate Fortification.” In 2008, the ancient residences of Yangshan were designated as municipal-level key cultural relics protection units. (End)

Yangshan Town: Yangshan Town is located in the hinterland of southwestern Shandong, in the northwest part of Jinxiang County, known as China’s hometown of garlic. It sits at the junction of Jining and Heze cities, as well as Jinxiang, Jiaxiang, and Juye counties, covering an area of 76.8 square kilometers (longitude 116°14′ east, latitude 35°10′ north). The town enjoys convenient transportation and a dense network of rivers. The Nanxie Line runs east-west across the town, and the Yangma Road passes through it. It is 9.1 kilometers east of National Highway 105, borders Wanfu River to the south, and is 15 kilometers from Jining Airport. The town administers 62 administrative villages and 98 natural villages, with 68,000 mu of arable land and a total population of 52,000, predominantly Han Chinese... More details about Yangshan Town++