We stayed in Longnan for four days and visited more than ten enclosed houses, including Xichang Wai, Kansai Xinwei, Tian Xin Wai and Yuzitan Wai. The largest one is Kansai Xinwei (introduced by Yu Fan in the last article), and the oldest one is Xichang Wai, the ancestral home built by Xu Mingjun, the owner of Kansai Xinwei.
Xichang Fair, commonly known as "Lao Wei", was built in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. One of the oldest buildings has a history of more than 500 years. It is the ancestral home of Xu Laosi (formerly known as Xu Mingjun), the owner of the new Kansai Wai. This is an irregular closed house gradually built by his ancestors, father and brothers. When the Xu family ran the timber business, the ship number and timber were branded as "Xichang"
During our visit to Xichang Wai, we met Xu Laobo, a descendant of Xu Mingjun, the builder of Kansai New Wai, and listened to him explain the history of Xichang Wai in nonstandard Mandarin. The old man said: Xichang Wai is mainly composed of Li Jiaoyuan (Li Xiao, the father of Xu Mingjun), ancestral hall and Sixth Hall (Xu gave birth to six sons, and this group of houses belongs to six sons with houses. According to legend, the paddock is modeled after the toad shape of Xu's geomantic treasure house, so the paddock is shaped like a toad.
Xu Bo told Yu Fan that their ancestors were descendants of Xu Da, the founding father of the Ming Dynasty. As Xu Da was the first hero of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, ranking first among the six founding kings, and enjoying the ancestral temple, he was regarded as a new national interest in the Yuan Dynasty, so dragon and phoenix sculptures can still be seen on his royal beams.
Although it is a Hakka enclosure, Xichang enclosure has a strong Huizhou architectural style. The horse head wall is very high, but there are crests on the cornices, which is quite distinctive. I asked Xu Bo why he built it into a phoenix head, but he only said it was more atmospheric, but in Fan's opinion, this should not be the original intention of the builder. It's been over 500 years. Who can say for sure that he didn't take the postgraduate entrance examination seriously?
On the beams around Xichang, dragon and phoenix patterns can be seen everywhere, which is quite rare in folk buildings. I don't know if it's really like what Xu Bo said, because his ancestor is Xu Da, so he can carve dragons and paint phoenixes at home. However, in Fan's view, in order to avoid war and resist foreign invasion, Hakka people built a highly defensive enclosure like Xichang Wai, and incorporated auspicious patterns such as dragons and phoenixes into the building, perhaps praying for God's blessing.
Among the numerous dragon and phoenix patterns, a round phoenix on the top of the main hall is particularly distinctive. Xu Bo said that the logo of Phoenix Satellite TV came from this, and the truth is unknown. The pattern is 0.8 meters in diameter and distributed in a circle, with a single-layer topcoat. The design is based on the burning sun, where a Darkmouth, hermaphrodite and golden phoenix soars with rich tail wings. Phoenix's eyes are bright, its chin slightly raised and it looks down at the earth, and it is heroic. There are also four little phoenixes painted in the four corners. Phoenix is surrounded by auspicious clouds, and many small black dots on its wings symbolize the worship of birds.
In addition to the dragon and phoenix sculptures, the painted sculptures on the window sash, door leaf, doorpost and ceiling of Xichang Wai are also very beautiful, and each sculpture is different. Each sculpture has different metaphors, such as the meaning of farmers plowing in spring and sneaking into Longmen.
There are many sculptures here, and I have photographed many, but it is impossible to show them all here. The theme of the sculpture has auspicious metaphors, some hope that the younger generation will be promoted and made a fortune, while others pray for good weather. For example, in the dragon sculpture above, Xu Bo said that the Dragon King was in charge of water and carved it in the hope of good weather.
Xichang paddock was gradually built by several generations, so the buildings in the paddock are integrated, and there is no unified planning and layout, so the layout is a bit chaotic. It is a building integrating home, temple and fort, and the middle building is Xu Shi Ancestral Hall. I don't know if it's because of geomantic omen. Its orientation is different from that of all other buildings. Surrounded by thick walls, there are shooting holes in the middle and watchtowers in the four corners, which has strong defense function. Its overall design and construction are scientific, practical and ornamental, showing the outstanding talents and superb skills of Hakka ancestors.