Pingyao Ancient City, located in the middle of Shanxi Province, is a famous cultural city with a history of more than 2,700 years. With Langzhong, Lijiang, Yunnan and Shexian, it is also called "the four best-preserved ancient cities" and the second batch of national historical and cultural cities. It is also the only ancient county in China that successfully declared the world cultural heritage with the whole ancient city.

brief introduction

English Name: Pingyao Ancient City English Name: Pingyao Ancient City Approved Time:1997 65438+February (Pingyao Ancient City in Shanxi Province was listed in the World Heritage List+0997 65438+February) Heritage Category: Selection criteria of cultural heritage: Pingyao Ancient City was evaluated by the World Heritage Committee as China. In the historical development of China, it shows people a complete picture of extraordinary cultural, social, economic and religious development. Pingyao was once called "ancient pottery". The city wall was built in the early Ming Dynasty to prevent foreigners from disturbing the south. In the third year of Hongwu (AD 1370), the old wall was rebuilt and expanded, and it was all brick. Since then, Jingtai, Zheng De, Jiajing, Qin Long, Wanli and so on have made up the night view of the ancient city for ten times.

Repair and update towers and increase enemy platforms. In the 43rd year of Kangxi (A.D. 1703), the emperor toured Pingyao to the west and built four towers, which made the city more spectacular. The total circumference of Pingyao city wall is 6 163 meters, and the height of the wall is about 12 meters, which divides Pingyao county with an area of about 2.25 square kilometers into two different worlds. The streets, sidewalks and urban buildings within the city walls retain the shapes of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Outside the city wall, it is called the new city. This is a wonderful place where ancient and modern buildings are integrated, reflecting each other and making people memorable. In 2009, Pingyao Ancient City was awarded the most complete ancient county seat in China, world record association, and won another honor.

Ancient city history

Pingyao Ancient City is located in the middle of Shaanxi Province in the north of China. It was built in the period of West Zhou Xuanwang (827-782 BC) and expanded in the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1370), with a history of more than 2,700 years. So far, it has preserved the basic features of the county town in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (A.D.1368 ~191), and it is the most complete existing ancient city in the Han area of China. Pingyao is located on the east bank of Fenhe River, at the southwest end of Taiyuan Basin, adjacent to Qixian County, another famous national historical and cultural city. Tongpu Railway and Dayun Expressway run through the county. The economy is dominated by agriculture, mainly producing grain, cotton, beef and lacquerware. Among them, beef is quite famous, and there are folk lyrics of "Pingyao Beef Taikoo Cake". Pingyao was once the financial center of China in the late Qing Dynasty, with the most complete ancient county structure in China. Beauty Pingyao

In the Spring and Autumn Period, it belonged to the State of Jin, and in the Warring States Period, it belonged to the State of Zhao. Tao Ping County, located in Zhongdu County in Qin and Han Dynasties, is the capital of clan acting as king. The Northern Wei Dynasty was renamed Pingyao County. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were more than 20 banks headquartered in Pingyao, accounting for more than half of the country, also known as "China's ancient Wall Street". The largest of these is Rishengchang, the first bank in China, which was founded in Daoguang period of Qing Dynasty and is known as "Huitong World". Pingyao has basically retained the embryonic form of the county seat in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and is known as the "turtle city". The street pattern is in the shape of "earth", and the architectural layout follows the direction of gossip, which embodies the urban planning concept and shape distribution in Ming and Qing Dynasties. There are more than 300 sites and ancient buildings inside and outside the city, and nearly 4,000 well-preserved Ming and Qing dwellings. The shops on the street all reflect the original appearance of history, which can be called a living sample for studying ancient cities in China. Pingyao City Wall was built in the third year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty, with 6 city gates, 4 watchtowers and 72 watchtowers. Among them, the south gate wall collapsed in 2004, and most of the rest are still intact. It is one of the large-scale ancient city walls with an earlier existing history and relatively complete preservation in China, and it is also the core component of Pingyao Ancient City, a world heritage. In addition, Zhenguo Temple, Shuanglin Temple and Pingyao Confucian Temple are also included in the scope of world heritage protection.

One of the birthplaces of Shanxi merchants.

In the 4th year of Qing Daoguang (A.D. 1824), Rishengchang, the prototype of China's first modern bank, was born in Pingyao. Three years later, Rishengchang has set up branches in several provinces in China. From 65438 to 1940s, its business further expanded to Japan, Singapore, Russia and other countries. At that time, driven by Rishengchang Bank, Pingyao banking developed rapidly. At its peak, there were as many as 22 banks here, which once became the center of China's financial industry.

Ancient County Prototype in Ming and Qing Dynasties

1997 12.3 The 2nd1session of the World Heritage Committee convened by UNESCO in Naples, Italy, decided to include the ancient city walls, official residences, markets, dwellings and temples of Pingyao as a whole in the World Heritage List, which is a physical specimen for studying the political, economic, cultural, artistic and religious development of China. The ancient city of Pingyao was established according to the cultural thought and architectural style of Han nationality in China. At present, the city walls and buildings have maintained the historical features of14-18th century. It is a typical representative of the ancient county town of Han nationality in Central Plains of China. Due to the establishment of the county seat, in the third year of Qing Daoguang (1823), the first draft bank "Rishengchang" was born in Pingyao Ancient City. The establishment of Rishengchang is of epoch-making significance in China's ancient and modern financial history. It marks the emergence of a new financial industry in modern China in the commercial financial body in the late feudal society of China.

Birthplace of Rishengchang Draft Bank

In the Qing Dynasty, with the development of commercial economy, some large firms of Shanxi merchants gradually formed a commercial system with general numbers in Shanxi and semicolons in other places, operating across regions. In this case, a large number of wholesale, transportation and marketing brought huge cash transportation business, hence the name Pingyao Ancient City.

A new payment method-exchange of bank numbers came into being. In the fourth year of Daoguang (AD 1824), the first Rishengchang bank in China was established on the basis of Pingyao West Street and Xiyucheng Pigment Store. Three years later, we set up branches in Shandong, Henan, Liaoning, Jiangsu and other provinces, and further expanded our business to Japan, Singapore and the 1940s. At that time, driven by Rishengchang Bank, Pingyao banking developed rapidly. At its peak, there were as many as 22 banks here, which once became the center of China's financial industry. It can be seen that Pingyao occupies a very important position in the modern financial history of China.

Edit this story and legend

Pingyao Ancient City was built during the Zhou Xuanwang period from 827 BC to 782 BC, and was the residence of Yin Jifu, the general of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Pingyao City has been the seat of county administration since the Qin government implemented the "county system" in 22 1 BC and continues to this day. Pingyao ancient city experienced vicissitudes and became the most complete prototype of ancient county town in China in Ming and Qing Dynasties. The ancient city we are seeing now is what it looked like after the expansion in the third year of Ming Hongwu (1370). Pingyao city after the expansion is magnificent, with a circumference of 6.4 kilometers. It is the oldest and largest county wall in Shanxi and China. A bird's eye view of Pingyao ancient city is even more amazing. This flat square wall, shaped like a turtle, has six doors, one in the north, one in the south and two in the east and west. The south gate of the city is the turtle head, and two wells outside the gate symbolize the turtle eye. The north gate is the turtle tail, which is the lowest place in the city, and the accumulated water in the city will flow out through it. There are four crocks in the city, facing each other. The doors of the upper west gate, the lower west gate and the upper east gate all face south and look like turtle claws, but the outer door of the lower east gate of the crock directly faces east. It is said that the tortoise was afraid of crawling away when building the city, so he stretched his left leg and tied it to the foothills twenty miles away from the city. This seemingly illusory legend shows the ancient people's great worship of turtles. Turtles are immortal, and in the eyes of the ancients, they are naturally sacred as gods. It embodies the deep meaning of hoping to make Pingyao ancient city rock solid, golden soup forever solid, safe and sound, and last forever. There are also 72 enemy watchtowers on the wall, and there are 3000 cribs on the outside of the wall. It is said to be a symbol of Confucius' 3,000 disciples and 72 sages.

National historical and cultural city:

Pingyao National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units: Pingyao City Wall, Zhenguo Temple, Pingyao Shuanglin Temple, Cixiang Temple and Pingyao Confucian Temple Tickets: Pingyao Ancient City Tickets: 150 yuan (Pass) Student Tickets Half Price Shuanglin Temple: 25 yuan Spring Festival Tickets: 160 yuan (Pass) Buy one get one free.