Shiqiao Ancient Village

Shiqiao Ancient Village

Shiqiao Village is located in the western fields of the Qingxi Plain in Shiqiao Village, Taiping Town, Qingxin County. It was established in the 13th year of the Republic of China (1924). The village features typical Cantonese residential architecture from the Republican era, with neat layout and simple folk customs, and was one of the model villages of Qingyuan County at that time. Its founder was Zhang Shanqing (circa 1862–1951), the grandfather of Zhang Run, an elder of the Zhang family’s “Da” generation (i.e., the ninth generation). The village now has over 80 households, with about 600 residents. Villagers mainly engage in farming and business outside the village, with main crops including rice and peanuts. Provincial Highway S354 runs 500 meters in front of the village, traversing the entire area, making transportation convenient.

The buildings face west and are arranged along thirteen lanes with three courtyards each. Each lane consists of three sets of three-bay, two-corridor houses, separated by Qingyun (Azure Cloud) alleys. The structures feature flush gable roofs, grey brick walls, and front courtyards with ponds. The stone plaques above the gates of the fourteen lanes' Qingyun alleys each commemorate the deeds of a notable figure in the Zhang family's history and carry different symbolic meanings. They are, in order: “Jiangu” (Reflecting Antiquity), “Maige” (Wheat Song), “Tuteng” (Totem), “Liangmou” (Good Strategy), “Wensheng” (Literary Voice), “Zaidao” (Carrying the Way), “Sanjing” (Three Banners), “Gongshi” (Beginning of the Bow), “Gangzheng” (Upright Principles), “Rongfeng” (Honored Title), “Faping” (Fair Law), “Huabo” (Learned and Broad), “Linghan” (Soaring Han) (the stone plaque for “Gongshi” no longer exists). Each gate tower is 4.54 meters wide, 2.07 meters deep, with a floor area of 9 square meters, wall thickness of 0.39 meters, and ridge height of 5 meters. Among them, the “Yihan” (Soaring Han) gate tower is inscribed with the large characters “Yihan” carved in bluestone, with the inscription “Winter, 1930, the 19th Year of the Republic of China, by a resident of Gengwu Lane.” The thresholds of the main gates are inlaid with bluestone components, accompanied by sliding wooden bolts and solid wooden doors. The function of the gate towers is primarily to guard against thieves, featuring thick, sturdy walls.

Source: Qingyuan City Museum

Taiping Town: Taiping Town covers a total area of 208 square kilometers, with 38,000 mu of arable land and 190,000 mu of forested land. It governs 23 village (residential) committees, with a registered population of 62,000 and a migrant population of nearly 30,000. It is designated by Qingyuan City as a demonstration zone for modern agriculture and by Qingxin County as an industrial hub. In 2001, it was named a “Municipal Civilized Well-Off Town,” in 2004 a “Municipal Advanced Town for Quality Family Planning Services,” and in 2005 a “Guangdong Provincial Civilized Town.”

In recent years, Taiping Town has focused on its role as an industrial hub in western Qingyuan, vigorously developing its industrial economy and establishing... More details about Taiping Town ++