Fenghuang Ancient City is a national historical and cultural city, and is praised as the most beautiful town in China by the famous New Zealand writer rewi alley. It is adjacent to Dehang Miao Village in Jishou, Mengdong River in Yongshun and Fanjing Mountain in Guizhou, and it is the only passage between Huaihua, Jishou and Tongren in Guizhou.

As a national historical and cultural city, Phoenix's scenery organically combines natural and human characteristics, and the heavy feeling after perspective may be its charm essence of attracting tourists from all directions.

This "Fenghuang Ancient City", which was once called one of the most beautiful towns in China by New Zealand writer rewi alley, was built in the Kangxi period of Qing Dynasty. This "Pearl of Xiangxi" is really "small", so small that there is only one decent thing facing the street in the city, but it is a green corridor.

The origin of ancient city

According to legend, the heavenly bird "Phoenix" of Tianfang Kingdom (ancient India) set himself on fire after living to 500 years old. Resurrection from the ashes is delicious and will never die again. This bird is Phoenix, the king of birds in China. There is a mountain in the southwest of Phoenix, which looks like a phoenix spreading its wings and flying, hence its name.

Historical Fenghuang County has always been a settlement of Miao and Tujia people since ancient times. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a long lawsuit of Wuzhai, and the Qing Phoenix Hall was named after Phoenix Mountain in China. 19 13 changed to Fenghuang county. 200 1 year, with the special approval of the State Council, People's Republic of China (PRC), it became one of the national historical and cultural cities.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Phoenix was the "Five Rivers Miao Di", which belonged to the territory of Chu. According to the textual research of the cultural relics unearthed in this county, China culture had influenced here at that time. Qin unified the whole country, which was divided into 36 counties. Fenghuang was then a county in central Guizhou.

In the fifth year of Emperor Gaozu, Qianzhong County was Wuling County. Therefore, Phoenix was the land of Chenyang County in the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty, belonging to Wuling County.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Phoenix first belonged to Chenyang County and Wuling County, and then to Shu. After Liu Bei's defeat, Wu occupied his land, and Phoenix still belongs to Wuling County.

In the Western Jin Dynasty, Fenghuang belonged to Gaocheng County and Wuling County. Wuyang County and Wuling County in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Phoenix always belonged to Wuling County.

The Sui Dynasty unified the whole country and changed Chenyang County to Chenxi County. Phoenix belonged to Chenxi County at that time and was subordinate to Yuanling County.

The early Tang Dynasty belonged to Jinzhou, Tang Gaozu Wude for three years, located in Mayang County, and Fenghuang belonged to Mayang County. After the Tang Dynasty, the arch hung for three years, and the Phoenix was separated from Mayang County. Weiyang County was set up the following year, and Huangsi Bridge was set up at the county site, which is now the ancient city of Huangsi Bridge. Guyang County belongs to Luyang County of Jinzhou.

In the seventh year of Song Taizong, Weiyang County was changed to Zhao Yu County. In the eighth year of Xining in Song Shenzong, Zhao Yu County was abolished, Mayang County was restored, and Weiyang was transferred to Mayang County.

The Yuan Dynasty established Wuzhai Division, which was subordinate to the Pingding Division of Sizhou. This was during the Tusi regime, when the minority rulers in this county came to power, and Wuzhai Division was located in today's Fenghuang County.

The Yuan system was adopted in the Ming Dynasty, and the Wuzhailong case and the Ping Long case were two cases under the jurisdiction of Baojing Xuanwei Department. In the third year of Yongle in Ming Dynasty, the lawsuit against Director Dianziping was still under the jurisdiction of Baojing Xuanwei Department. In dragon three, Phoenix Camp was established in Phoenix Mountain.

In the third year of Shunzhi in Qing Dynasty, in order to suppress the Miao nationality, the Qing Dynasty took a series of military and political measures and set up the deputy commander of the Town Staff Association in Wuzhai Division. In the third year of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty, he was ruled by Chen Yuan and Yong Jing. In the thirty-ninth year of Kangxi, the company commander of Yuanzhou Town moved to Wuzhai Sicheng, and the deputy commander of Zhengan was relieved in Yuanzhou. In the forty-third year of Kangxi, the Miao people changed their culture, cut off the Tusi, set up Phoenix Camp in this county, and set up judges in the original Phoenix Camp in Fenghuang Mountain. Tongguan should have managed local administration, but at that time, the toast was in power, forming a situation of coexistence of water and soil. In the seventh year of Yongzheng, Chen was appointed as a Taoist garrison. In the first year of Qianlong, Yuanzhou was changed to a government soldier, and in the sixteenth year, Phoenix Camp was changed to Phoenix Hall, and Tongzhi was promoted. In the second year of Jiaqing, the Phoenix Hall was promoted to Zhili Hall, which belonged to Hunan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After the Revolution of 1911, the Qing Dynasty was overthrown. 19 12 On New Year's Day, Phoenix recovered.

In September of the second year of the Republic of China, Fenghuang Hall was abandoned and rebuilt as Fenghuang County, and it is still the military and political ruling center of western Hunan.

1949 Fenghuang County was liberated and originally belonged to Yuanling District. 1955 was assigned to Xiangxi Miao Autonomous Region, and 1957 was changed to Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Region.

build

Fenghuang Ancient City was built in the 43rd year of Qing Emperor Kangxi [1704]. After 300 years of vicissitudes, its ancient appearance still exists. At present, the ancient buildings of the East Gate and the North Gate are still there. The city's bluestone streets, wooden stilts along the river and buildings such as Chaoyang Palace, Tianwang Hall, Dacheng Hall and Wanshou Palace all have the characteristics of the ancient city.

Fenghuang ancient city is divided into old city and new city. The old city is surrounded by mountains and waters, and the shallow Tuojiang River passes through the city. The walls made of red sandstone stand on the shore, and ancient pagodas are arranged on Nanhua Mountain. These towers are still rusty iron gates in the Qing Dynasty, and you can still see the magnificent appearance of that year. There is a narrow wooden bridge across the wide river at the north gate, with stones as piers. Both of them should pass sideways. This used to be the only way out of town.

Flavor gourmet

Xiangxi Phoenix Ginger Sugar, Phoenix Blood Duck, Sour Soup Boiled Tofu, Camus Sour Fish, Camus Roasted Vegetable, Peasant Tofu, Hot and Sour Fried Mushrooms, Xiangxi Ciba, Xiangxi Bacon, Phoenix Sour Radish and Fried Pteridium with Smoked Bacon in the Next Year.

artware

Brocade, batik, tie-dyeing and silverware here are unique in technology, with strong local characteristics and high artistic value.

Phoenix batik is primitive and simple, which can be divided into two schools: one is Tujia batik printed cloth; One is Miao batik homespun. Tujia batik printing pays attention to pure color matching and composition, and the cloth formed is colorful, with unique and pure artistic style and outstanding technological characteristics of hot color; Miao batik homespun pays attention to pure dyeing, not gorgeous carving, giving people a natural and pure artistic sense, and its outstanding technological feature is cool color.

Tie-dyeing can be called the sister art of batik, but its special technological performance has been highlighted in the manual tie-dyeing production. Use white string to tie patterns, birds, insects and fish with different images to pure white smooth cloth, soak and cook in the prepared blue energy solution, and dry the string in a ventilated and light-transmitting place, and then vivid images will appear in front of your eyes. Finally, do some technical treatment to prevent the foot from falling off, and the whole process is completed.

Brocade mainly reflects Tujia style, hand-woven, fine workmanship; It takes longer than tie-dyeing and batik.

There are many silver ornaments in the ancient city, with exquisite craftsmanship and diverse styles. The silver ornaments here are divided into old silver and new silver. Old silver is collected from the people, and it has strong folk characteristics in both workmanship and design. Generally speaking, Miao silver ornaments are the mainstay here, and such silverware is more expensive. New silver, modern processing and design, has a standard silver content, and the price varies with different styles and workmanship.

There are also some folk arts and crafts, such as folk paper-cutting and weaving ribbons.

Tourism taboo

1. Don't enter other people's homes with an open umbrella.

Don't step on other people's doorstep.

Men and women can't stay in the same room when visiting other people's homes.

4. When visiting the Miao family, don't step on other people's tripods or sit in the main hall (in the direction of the shrine).

Try not to make friends with married women in Miao village.

6. Don't whistle (summon ghosts) casually in Miao Village and Tujia Village.

Introduction of scenic spots

Tuojiang rafting

Tuojiang River is the mother river of Fenghuang Ancient City. It flows slowly along the city wall, feeding generations of children in the ancient city. Sitting on Wu Peng's boat, listening to the singer's songs and looking at the Tujia diaojiao building with a history of 100 years on both sides of the strait, it has a unique charm. Down the river, across Hongqiao, a picture of a water town in the south of the Yangtze River is displayed: Wanshou Palace, Wanming Pagoda and Duocui Building ... A feeling of being far away from the world is slowly emerging.

The south bank of Tuojiang River is an ancient city wall, which is made of purple sand and stone, elegant and majestic. There are two towers in the east and north of the city wall, which are still spectacular after vicissitudes.

Tuojiang River is clear, the river near the city wall is shallow, and the water flow is leisurely and gentle. You can see the water grass swaying in the gentle waves, which can support a long pole. The diaojiao building built along the Tuojiang River is near Hongqiao in the east gate and Tiaoyan in the north gate, standing alone in the Tuojiang River with thin feet, like a landscape that will never come back.

Dongmenta

Dongmen Building is located in the east of the city, adjacent to Tuojiang River. It was called "Shenghengmen" in ancient times and is one of the four gates of Fenghuang Ancient City.

Dongmen Tower was built in the fifty-fourth year of Kangxi in Qing Dynasty (17 15). The lower part of the city gate is made of purple sandstone, and the upper part is made of ancient bricks. The gate is 3.5 meters wide and 4 meters high, with a semicircular arch. Both doors are wrapped in iron sheets and nailed with round-headed nails, which are strong and firm. All the city walls are made of red sandstone, with fine drilling and consistent specifications. This wall is 0.8 meters thick. The inner and outer sides of the lower part are made of sandstone and lime slurry, and the middle part is filled with gravel clay and compacted layer by layer. The middle filler at the top became concrete mixed with lime, pebbles and loess, with a thickness of about 0.33 meters and covered with red sandstone.

Tower height 1 1 m, and there are 8 holes above the door. Xieshan roof, covered with waist eaves, cornices upturned, exquisite and spectacular.

shen congwen's former residence

Shen Congwen, formerly known as Shen Yuehuan, is a famous writer, historian and cultural relic expert in China. His literary works have been translated by dozens of countries such as Britain, America, Japan, France and Switzerland, such as Border Town and Research on Ancient Chinese Costume. Known as the father of world local literature.

He is not only the pride of the Chinese nation, but also the pride of the people of Phoenix. His works of more than 5 million words in his life are the treasures of world literature, and also left valuable historical documents for future generations to study China and Xiangxi.

The former residence was built in Tongzhi of Qing Dynasty for five years (1866). It is a wooden quadrangle building, covering an area of 600 square meters. It is divided into two houses with a total of 10 rooms. Mr. Shen was born here on February 28th, 1902, and spent his childhood and adolescence here. 1988 died in Beijing and was buried in the columbarium.

Xiong Xiling Former Residence

Xiong Xiling's former residence is located in an alley in the ancient city of BeiWenxing Street, and the beautiful Tuojiang River is 200 meters east of the former residence. The former residence is a quadrangle with ancient wooden tile structure in the south, which is short but exquisite. The four existing houses in the former residence basically keep their original appearance and are full of Miao sentiment. The former residence is a key cultural relic protection unit in the county.

1June 25th, 869 (Lunar New Year) Mr. Xiong Xiling was born here and spent his childhood here. Because of his natural intelligence, he is called "Hunan prodigy". He was a scholar at the age of fifteen, a juren at the age of twenty-two, a scholar at the age of twenty-five, and later became an academician. 19 13 was elected as the first elected prime minister of the Republic of China, and was forced to resign shortly after opposing Yuan Shikai's restoration of monarchy.

Mr. Xiong devoted himself to charity and education in his later years and founded the famous Xiangshan Kindergarten on 1920. 1937 65438+On February 25th, the man of the hour died in Hong Kong at the age of 68. At that time, people said that a state funeral ceremony was held for him.

Yangjia ancestral hall

Yangjia ancestral hall was built in Daoguang 16( 1836). It is a two-story wooden quadrangle, covering an area of 770 square meters. It consists of a gate, a stage, a hall, a gallery and a main hall, and is rectangular. The stage rests on the top of the mountain with a single eaves, and the eaves are decorated with wishful bucket arches, with a height of16m. The four pillars are carved with dragons and phoenixes. The stage is bucket-piercing, and the main hall is beam-lifting. The whole building is exquisite in craftsmanship and full of national characteristics, and it is a key cultural relic protection unit in the county.

Yangjia Ancestral Temple is located at the edge of the ancient city wall in the northeast of the county seat. In the 16th year of Qing Daoguang (1836), Prince Shaobao, Guo and Zheng 'an gave money to build it. Ancestral hall consists of gate, stage, pavilion, corridor, main hall and wing. It is a typical quadrangle building with an area of 770 square meters. The stage rests on the top of the mountain with a single eaves, and has a bucket structure, with a height of16m, a width of 7m and a depth of 8m. There are jade arches under the eaves, and dragons and phoenixes are carved on the pillars. The main hall is a girder-lifting building, and the gable is a cat's back arch, which is divided into three rooms: one bright and one dark. Both sides have wings. The Yangjia ancestral hall is exquisitely designed and beautifully made. Windows, doors and eaves are all hollowed out and carved, and the whole building has distinctive national characteristics and high architectural artistic value.

South Great Wall

The Great Wall of South China was built in the thirty-third year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1554) and completed in the third year of apocalypse in Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1622). It starts from Tingzi Pass, which borders Tongren, and ends at Magpie Camp in Jishou, with a total length of 382 miles. It is called "the Great Wall of Wan Li in Miaojiang" and is one of the grand ancient buildings in the history of China.

The South Great Wall has border gates, camps and checkpoints every three or five miles along the wall to prevent the Miao people from uprising. Such as Tingzi Pass, Wuchaoguan, Alaguan and Jingbian Pass. Today, bunkers, forts and side walls are still faintly visible on this line. It separates the northern and southern Miao areas in Xiangxi, and the northern part is the "living boundary" for foreigners, which stipulates that "Miao people do not leave the country and Han people do not enter the cave", thus prohibiting trade and cultural exchanges between Miao and Han people.

The South Great Wall is a true historical and cultural relic, which shows the characteristics of a dynasty, contains the political, economic, military and cultural phenomena of that dynasty, and frames the spiritual essence of the method of governing the country in that dynasty. It is a vivid historical material to study the conquest and rule of remote ethnic minorities in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Huangsiqiao ancient city

Huangsiqiao ancient city is located 24 kilometers west of the county seat, which was called Weiyang City in ancient times. It was built in the second year of the Tang Dynasty (AD 686) and has a history of 1300 years. In the thirty-ninth year of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty (1700), in order to appease and suppress ethnic minorities, the court set up the Phoenix Zhili Hall and the Yuan Yongjing Military Reserve Road here. In the fifty-ninth year of Qianlong (1794), the biggest Miao uprising broke out here in history, which is what historians call a war of the Qing Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty went to extinction. Huangsiqiao ancient city is a part of the South Great Wall, and it is the frontier of the struggle between Miao and Han.

The west of the ancient city faces east, and it is a stone city with bluestone structure. The stone materials used in the city wall are all limestone bluestone, the largest of which weighs about 2000 Jin, and the smallest is 1000 Jin. The stone has a smooth surface and exquisite workmanship.

The circumference of the city wall is 686 meters, the east-west length is 153 meters, and the north-south length is 190 meters, with a total area of 29,070 square meters. The wall is 5.6 meters high and 2.9 meters thick. The walkway on the wall is 2.4 meters wide and can be used for horse racing. There are 300 large and small arrow piles, which are open to the east, west, north and south respectively. 1983 10 huangsiqiao ancient city is listed as a provincial key cultural relics protection unit.

Qiliangdong

Qiliang Cave, located four kilometers north of the county seat, is a typical carbonate cave, which is famous for its four characteristics: strangeness, beauty, vastness and seclusion. The cave is more than 6000 meters long and is divided into five scenic spots: ancient battlefield, gallery, paradise, Dragon Palace and Galaxy. There are mountains in the cave, and there are holes in the mountain, and the holes are connected. It combines strange stones, beautiful stones, flowing springs and waterfalls in one cave, and is composed of various stalagmites, stone pillars and stalactites, forming a magnificent picture.

A stream passes through the hole, and the water flow is gentle, and the light hits the rock wall, and the wrinkles are reflected in the water, which is like a dream.

Stalagmites, stone curtains and colorful neon lights on stone flowers in the cave create a colorful world. There is a hall in the cave, which is said to be the place where Miao people gather. There is a stone with a small hole in the hall, blowing at the small hole. The whole hall will resound with a low horn, which is the way the Miao people sent orders in those days.