According to statistics, Anyue County has more than 300 ancient villages. The oldest ancient village can be traced back to 1000 years ago. Today, only broken walls is left in some ancient villages, but there are still dozens of well-preserved ancient villages with high cultural relics value. Some people praised that "every village has endless stories, and a village is a book". Anyue is also known as the "ancient village kingdom" because of its large number and long history.
Why are there so many ancient villages in this county located in the hilly area of Sichuan Basin? The answer to this question should be pursued in history.
An Yue was named after "living in the mountains". In the fourth year of Jiande in the Northern Zhou Dynasty (AD 575), two counties, Zhou Pu and Anyue, were established to govern the same city. Located in the throat of Bashu, it is a battleground for military strategists and famous achievements are stationed here. In the war-torn era, in order to "live in the mountains", building a village on the mountain became the choice of local officials and squires, and the stone village, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack, also became their refuge.
According to the Preface to Anyue Ancient Village, the functions of Anyue Village are as follows: first, to avoid the war, the squire pays the money and the neighbors contribute; Second, it was built to block the world and raise funds from temples; The third is to defend the country for the army and build it by the government; Fourth, it was built by gentry to protect property and occupy a treasure house of geomantic omen.
According to experts' research, the ancient stockade, which began in the Tang Dynasty, mainly assumed the function of military defense. The newly built ancient villages in Ming and Qing dynasties mainly played the role of preventing bandits and protecting wealth. During the Republic of China, many ancient villages became garrisons of various armed forces. Later, these ancient villages were gradually transformed into houses, temples or tourist attractions, and they have survived to this day.
Nowadays, famous ancient villages such as Qianfo Village, Yaojiazhai and Wangjiazhai attract many tourists, but there are still many ancient villages in Anyue "locked in boudoir" for the world to visit and explore their stories.