Tanwenxi Village

Tanwenxi Village

Tanwenxi Village is a national AAA-level tourist attraction and a cultural relics protection unit of Hunan Province.

The Ancient Village and Architectural Complex of Tanwenxi

The ancient village of Tanwenxi is located in Tanwenxi Village, Sanjing Township, Xintian County.

The village is a typical human settlement, chosen for its favorable location—backed by mountains, fronted by water, with forests for timber, fields for farming, roads for travel, and springs for drinking. The buildings are closely situated, providing mutual support while being separated by wide flagstone paths. Each building has a main gate, side doors, and a rear door, offering both unity and relative independence. The fireproof walls, double-eaved upturned eaves, gate towers, bluestone-paved roads, and complete drainage systems reflect architectural features characteristic of Henan style.

There are 26 existing ancient residences, along with one gate tower, one ancestral hall, one post station, and one embroidery tower, covering a total construction area of 6,800 square meters. Most of these date back to the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, among which the most representative are the Wenxi Ancestral Hall, gate tower, post station, and embroidery tower. The ancestral hall is a three-courtyard brick-and-wood structure, consisting of a front stage, central courtyard, east and west wing rooms, and a rear main hall; the gate tower features a double-eaved hip-and-gable roof. The residential buildings share a consistent architectural style: a front hall, rear shrine, and two wing rooms on each side. All the ancient structures are built with brick and wood, adorned with stone carvings, wood carvings, murals, couplets, plaques, brackets, and decorative ridge beasts. The entire complex is magnificent and solemn, with exquisite carving craftsmanship, beautifully designed painted patterns, and a rich tradition of couplet inscriptions.

Tanwenxi is a mysterious ancient village that retains numerous Ming and Qing dynasty structures, preserving historical information about local architecture and craftsmanship from those periods as well as the Republican era. Since its establishment during the Ming dynasty, the village has produced five imperial examination graduates (jinshi) and over ten scholars (xiucai), making it a place of outstanding talent. In 2009, it was designated a provincial-level Historical and Cultural Village, in 2011 a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit, and in 2018 it was honored as a “China Traditional Village.”

Further Reading:

· Ninth Batch of Cultural Relics Protection Units of Hunan Province