Ta’erpo Village is located deep in Yunqiu Mountain, Xiangning County, in the southwestern part of Shanxi Province. This ancient village, with a1500long history,is a living fossil of residential architecture. There are currently more than60cave dwellings50and more thanwooden houses. Mr. Ruan Yisan, Director of the National Research Center for Historic Cities at the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and Tongji University, Professor at Tongji University, and Doctoral Supervisor, personally visited the ancient village and commented, “The ancient dwellings of Ta’erpo have great architectural value.” Most villagers have moved out of the mountains, with only a few elderly people remaining. Although they have built new homes outside the mountains, they still feel attached to the old houses where their ancestors lived for generations. I saw an elderly couple, both nearly eighty years old — the man was carrying two buckets of water on his right shoulder and leaning on a tree trunk with his left hand as he slowly walked up the slope, while the woman followed behind, carrying a basket of freshly washed heavy laundry on her right arm. I asked them why they didn’t move out to live elsewhere. The old man said they were used to the tranquility here.
Since the beginning of human history, humans and nature have coexisted, relied on each other, and lived in harmony. With the progress and development of society, are we gradually losing not just ancient villages? Perhaps the civilizations that China has cultivated over thousands of years will also disappear forever from human sight.
