Tianjiaba

Tianjiaba

Tianjiaba is located in Huaping Town, Jianshi County, Enshi Prefecture. It is famous for the marketplace established by the Tian family and was an important route for “Sichuan salt entering Hunan” in ancient times. It served as a distribution hub for medicinal herbs, trade goods, and bamboo products from both Jianshi and Badong. The area is home to a diverse mix of Han, Tujia, Miao, Hui, and She ethnic groups, giving it a unique local culture. Tianjiaba was also one of the bases of the Sichuan-Hunan-Hubei Border Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army, and the famous overall commander of the Jianshi Uprising, Tian Jianlong, originally lived here.

It was listed in the Catalogue of Traditional Chinese Villages in 2013.

Tianjiaba is not a particularly remote small village. The encroachment of modern civilization is gradually eroding the remnants of farming culture. The few remaining ancient buildings are modestly interspersed among rows of newly built Western-style houses. The contrast between collapsed old homes and rising new buildings makes it hard to associate the place with a traditional village. Only the lacquered paintings on the fireproof walls of the old houses and the faded wall surfaces tell stories of a long-gone era.

Tianjiaba borders Badong and connects to Enshi. It was once a market town spanning over ten square li and was historically called a “street.” Tian Dachong, the former village Party branch secretary, said that during the late Qing Dynasty, the Tian family crossed the Qingjiang River from Badong, settled along the salt route, set up stalls, and sold medicinal herbs, raw lacquer, and bamboo products. Over time, they became prosperous. The eight wealthy Tian families then constructed buildings and erected towers here, forming a market street about a li long. On market days, the area would be bustling with people, merchants, and all sorts of characters. Thus, Tianjiaba became well-known across Badong, Jianshi, and the Sichuan-Hunan salt route.

Tian Jianlong (1890–1933) is a source of pride and local lore in Tianjiaba. After graduating from Yichang Provincial Sixth High School, Tian returned to Tianjiaba, where he farmed with his family and traded local specialties. He got to know Tang Shengzhi from Hunan and worked with him on railway projects. Within a few years, Tian had amassed great wealth and returned to Tianjiaba to start a company. His business thrived, and his name became widely known. At the time, warlords were fighting, and banditry was rampant. To protect his business operations, Tian Jianlong armed himself, gathered followers, and raised the banner of the Tianjiaba Autonomous Bureau. In 1923, he became the head of the Jianshi County Militia. In 1926, the Communist Nie Weizhen was ordered to return to his hometown to mobilize the masses in support of the Northern Expedition. Armed with weapons, Tian Jianlong joined the effort and, following instructions from the temporary Special Committee of the CPC’s Shi-E (Shiyan-Enshi) region, established a tri-county joint defense militia covering Enshi, Jianshi, and Badong, serving as its commander. News of Tian’s actions reached his old acquaintance Tang Shengzhi, who by then was the president of the Nationalist Government’s Military Advisory Council and commander of the Fifth Route Army. Tang sent a secret envoy to meet with Tian and appointed him as the commander of the Ninth Division of the “Anti-Rebel National Salvation Army.” By then a member of the CPC, Tian Jianlong leveraged the opportunity to build up forces. Alongside Nie Weizhen, the secretary of the Jianshi County CPC Committee, he planned and built up a peasant militia, launched the Jianshi Uprising, and aimed to establish a Soviet government. In the spring of 1931, the Jianshi Uprising failed. With a warrant out for his arrest, Tian Jianlong went into hiding under the alias “Gong Kuantou,” posing as a teacher to run a “sojourning school” in Changyang, where he trained cadres. He also regrouped his former troops, incorporated local militias from places like Dazhiping and Nantan in Badong, established the Nantan Soviet Government, and reorganized the militia and local forces into the “First Independent Division of the Hunan-Hubei Border Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army,” serving as its commander. In May 1933, he led his troops through Guandiankou to join He Long, and their forces were merged into the Third Red Army of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’.

Jianshi County is a mountainous agricultural region. The harsh living conditions and the people’s desire for change have given rise to many unique customs. The people of Tianjiaba are hospitable and always find an excuse to invite you for a drink: in spring, there’s the rice transplanting wine, where you eat “transplanting rice dumplings”; in summer, there’s the weeding wine, accompanied by the rhythmic beating of weeding drums to boost morale; and there’s also the ceremony to worship Lu Ban when construction begins, followed by receiving guests to “ward off water” after the house frame is erected.

The people of Tianjiaba commemorate their deceased loved ones in a special way. When an elder passes away, they express their grief through unique customs such as funeral drumming, “Leaf-Shedding Song” (Ye’erhe), spirit rituals, “Dispelling Sorrows,” and night vigil dances. These are accompanied by drums, gongs, horse gongs, and cymbals. The dancers may perform on high stances (standing) or low stances (crouching), either in pairs or threes. Their “Spirit Ritual Song” even gained fame—performing at the Second National Folk Music and Dance Performance in Beijing in 1957—and has been featured multiple times in amateur art performances across Hubei Province and the Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture.