Ziquejie Terraces

Ziquejie Terraces

The Ziquejie Terraces are a national scenic area, a national AAAA-level tourist attraction, and a cultural relic protection unit of Hunan Province.

The Ziquejie Terraces Scenic Area in Loudi City is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction, a national natural and cultural dual heritage site, a national water conservancy scenic area, and an important national agricultural cultural heritage. -

The Ziquejie Terraces Scenic Area in Loudi City is situated in the central part of the Fengjia Mountain Range of the Xuefeng Mountains, at an elevation of 1,236 meters, with the highest peak reaching 1,585.2 meters. Centered around the Ziquejie Terraces, there are over 56,000 acres of terraced fields, with more than 20,000 acres of contiguous terraces, mainly distributed in the Xixi Administrative Region of Shuiche Town, spanning over 400 levels between 500 and 1,100 meters above sea level. -

The Ziquejie Terraces date back to the Qin and Han dynasties, flourished during the Song and Ming dynasties, and have a history of over 2,000 years. They are the result of the labor of ancestors from multiple ethnic groups, including the Miao, Yao, Dong, and Han peoples, and represent a historical fusion of southern rice farming culture with the mountain fishing and hunting cultures of the Miao and Yao peoples.

Historical Evolution

Human activity in the Ziquejie area of the Fengjia Mountain Region can be traced back as early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties.

During the Han dynasty, the ruling class mandated that the Miao and Yao peoples living here “perform corvée labor but pay no land tax.”

In the Tang and Song dynasties, the imperial court encouraged the reclamation of wasteland, issuing multiple edicts related to farmland cultivation and actively promoting the planting of “high fields.”

In the fifth year of the Xining era of the Northern Song Dynasty (1072), after the establishment of Xinhua County, policies such as “providing oxen and seeds for reclamation, and planting mulberry and rice while paying taxes” prompted a large influx of Han settlers. Together with the local Yao people, they ushered in a new era of Ziquejie’s farming culture.

By the early Ming dynasty, under the government’s active recruitment and encouragement of land reclamation, development of the Ziquejie Terraces entered another boom period. With the expansion of the terraces, many public facilities directly serving agricultural production were successively built. For example, on the Xixi side of Ziquejie alone, there were over ten teahouses, including Danru Pavilion, Jiqing Pavilion, Zerun Pavilion, and Yingxi Pavilion. Even at the summit of Fengche Alley, over 1,600 meters above sea level, a teahouse was constructed—illustrating the prosperity and vigor of Ziquejie Terrace development at the time. -

During the Qing dynasty, Ziquejie was under the jurisdiction of Baoqing Prefecture. The purple rice of Ziquejie was designated as imperial tribute rice by Emperor Qianlong.

After the Xinhai Revolution, from the third to the tenth year of the Republic of China (1914–1921), Ziquejie was part of the Xiangjiang Circuit. From the twenty-seventh to the thirty-eighth year of the Republic of China (1938–1949), it belonged to the Sixth Administrative Inspectorate of Hunan Province.

On October 21, 1949, New Ziquejie was placed under the Shaoyang Administrative Region.

In October 1977, Ziquejie was under the jurisdiction of Lianyuan Region.

In July 1999, Ziquejie was placed under Loudi City.

In June 2004, the Ziquejie Terraces Scenic Area was approved as a provincial key scenic spot.

In December 2005, the Ziquejie Terraces Scenic Area was designated as a national key scenic area by the State Council.

In January 2006, the Ziquejie Terraces Scenic Area was listed among the first group of national natural and cultural dual heritage sites.

In April 2007, the Ziquejie Terraces were awarded the titles of “New Eight Views of Xiaoxiang” and “Hunan’s Hundred Scenic Spots Loved by the People” in Hunan.

In 2012, the Ziquejie Terraces Scenic Area was approved as a national AAAA-level tourist attraction.

On December 30, 2008, Ziquejie was approved as a “Provincial Water Conservancy Scenic Area.”

In May 2013, the Ziquejie Terraces became one of China’s Agricultural Cultural Heritage sites.

On September 16, 2014, the irrigation system of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces was inscribed on the inaugural World Heritage Irrigation Structures list.

Ticket

Ticket: 52 RMB

Location

Shuiche Town, Xinhua County, Loudi City, Hunan Province

Further reading:

· The Ninth Batch of Hunan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· World Heritage Irrigation Structures

· The Sixth Batch of National Key Scenic Spots