Hongcun

Hongcun (宏村; Pinyin : Hóngcūn ) is a village of the south of the Chinese province of the Anhui, located near the south-western slopes of the Mont Huangshan. Jointly with the village of Xidi, it was registered in 2000 on the Liste of the world heritage of UNESCO, under the denomination “old villages of the south of Anhui”.

The village was founded in 1131, under the Dynastie Han, by two Wang family members. This family, which counted in her ranks of many dignitaries and merchants, was at the origin of the prosperity of the village, and built splendid buildings there.

The village as a whole with the form of a Ox : the Hill of Leigang in the extreme west of the village represents of them the head, and the two trees which draw up the horns there. Four bridges on the Jiyin brook make think of its four legs, and the houses of the village form the body of them. The meanders of the brook through the village can be seen like its intestines, and the lakes like the various pockets of its stomach.

The architecture and carved decorations of some 150 residences dating from the dynasties Ming and Qing are among most remarkable of all China. One of the vastest residences open to the visitors, the House of Chenzhi , shelters a small museum.

Hongcun was also used as framework with part of turning of the film Tigre and dragon .

External bonds

Card of the World heritage
Document of evaluation (2000) Evaluation preliminary to the inscription with the world heritage realized by ICOMOS
Xidi and Hongcun: two jewels of Ming architecture and Qing of the south of Anhui (china.org.cn)
Hongcun Site of the village
Article on Xidi and Hongcun (china.com)
Photographs of Hongcun in '' Panoramio ''

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