Why is there a "city of the sky" on the top of the mountain?
More than 2000 years ago, there were traces of human activities here. At that time, there were different opinions about why people chose the top of the mountain instead of the Red River at the foot of the mountain. Yisa means "drought and water shortage" in Bula language of Yi people. A local folk song sings: the mountain is high for hometown, and there is a river on the left and a river on the right. Grains are hard to come out of the mountains, and water is hard to make a life-saving soup.
Therefore, some people think that the valley below the mountain is sultry and uninhabitable, but the top of the mountain is cool and pleasant; Some people think that the landform under the mountain is mostly undulating mountains, and there is almost no contiguous flat land; However, at the top of the mountain, there is a fairly flat open space for human beings to inhabit and reproduce for generations.
From the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, it was also an important trade channel from southeastern Yunnan to southern Yunnan. Many business travelers from the mainland immigrated here. In order to keep their wealth, they chose to build a fortress on the top of the mountain that is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Therefore, if you know the history of Yisa County, you will find that the past here is closely related to the caravan, and it is even called the city on horseback.
Caravans thrive for survival.
As early as the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty, Yisa's copper industry made it prosperous. However, with the depletion and shutdown of copper resources, Yisa's economy once fell into depression. In order to survive, the Tosa people, who lacked land and land, took risks and began to travel in caravans. They climbed mountains and opened up 1 1 trade routes, including transnational trade routes to Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and other places.
From the Republic of China to the founding of New China, this period was the peak of Martha's caravan development. Hundreds of caravans and nearly a thousand people go abroad for business every year, and going abroad has become a local fashion. Later, Yisa became one of the three hometown of overseas Chinese in Yunnan. There are more than 654.38 million overseas Chinese in Honghe County, and 75% of the returned overseas Chinese and their relatives live in Yisa Town.
Returning home in splendor, the hometown of overseas Chinese is emerging.
Not only the exchange of materials, the circulation of money, but also the prosperity of caravans brought back foreign cultures. At that time, Southeast Asian countries had become colonies of Britain and France, and European architecture appeared. Caravans have seen a lot. After returning to China, they also brought this exotic building back to Yisa, forming a hometown of overseas Chinese with a strong family. This is why there are not many ethnic minority buildings in Yisa Town, but more are traditional Chinese and French buildings. Therefore, it is known as "Grand View Garden of Architecture Outside the River" and "Little Hong Kong Outside the River".
In today's Tusa, people are still used to calling the old city of Tusa the ancient city of caravan. There are Dongmen Street, Nanmen Street, Ximen Street and Beimen Street in the ancient city. There are many century-old houses that combine Chinese and western styles in the extended alley, still telling the historical clouds handed down from caravan culture.
"Castle-style" Dwellings Combining Chinese and Western Cultures
The most representative building in the ancient city is undoubtedly the Honghe County Museum, which took five years to build. It is a model of Chinese and Western architecture in the hometown of overseas Chinese, relying on Yao Chuyuan (Yao Zhaozong House) and Qian Erguan House (Qian Wanxing House) in the Republic of China. It is not only the east gate of Yisa Town, but also a "castle"; Not only the appearance is domineering, but also practical. There are two kinds of defensive shooting holes in the hard wall, and defensive doors in the building corridor; It is a castle that is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Visiting the Honghe County Museum is like walking into the Chinese and Western Architecture Expo Park. Chinese patios, flower windows in the south of the Yangtze River, French cloisters and cave arches in the north all show the combination of Chinese and Western in this castle. In the era when there was no expressway, Yao's compound was still building its own mansion with the most advanced cement at that time. Cement was "imported" from Vietnam and brought back by caravan; I used to be heroic and generous, but I can still feel it after I stepped into Yao's compound.
The war has passed, and this "city of the sky" is still like a legend, entrenched at the top of the mountain. Just like a centenarian who has experienced the world, waiting for the town; Visitors can also see the vicissitudes and glorious historical traces of the hometown of overseas Chinese through the style of the old buildings in the ancient city.