Introduction of the Ancient City of Lijiang
Inscribed on the World Heritage List according to Criterion C(II)(IV) of the Cultural Heritage Selection Criteria at the 21st Plenary Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in Naples, Italy, on December 4, 1997
No. 200-017
Evaluation of the World Heritage Committee: Ancient City Lijiang skillfully blends economic and strategic importance with rugged terrain, authentically and perfectly preserving and recreating the ancient landscape. The ancient city's architecture has been baptized by countless dynasties and suffered from vicissitudes of life, and it is famous for blending the cultural characteristics of various ethnic groups. Lijiang also boasts an ancient water supply system, which is crisscrossed, delicate and unique, and is still functioning effectively today.
Lijiang Ancient City was the first in the world to be recognized as a World Heritage Site for its "living space for ordinary people".
Lijiang Ancient City is located in Lijiang Naxi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, and was built in the late Song and early Yuan dynasties (late 13th century). The ancient city is located in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, more than 2,400 meters above sea level, the whole city covers an area of 3.8 square kilometers, since ancient times is known as the market and the "Tea Horse Road" on the town. The ancient city has more than 25,000 residents. Among them, the Naxi accounted for the vast majority of the total population, 30% of the residents are still engaged in the production of copper and silver, fur and leather, textile, brewing industry, mainly in the traditional handicrafts and commercial activities.
The streets in Lijiang Old Town are built alongside the mountains and the water, paved with red conglomerate rock, which is not muddy in the rainy season or dusty in the dry season, and the patterns on the stone are natural and elegant, complementing the whole urban environment. The Sifang Street in the center of the Old Town is the representative of Lijiang's ancient streets. In the Lijiang ancient city area of the Yu River system, the construction of 354 bridges, the density of which is an average of 93 per square kilometer. Bridges of various shapes, the more famous lock Cuiqiao, Dashiqiao, Wanqianqiao, Nanmenqiao, Ma'anqiao, Renshouqiao, were built in the Ming and Qing dynasties (14-19th century). Among them, the Dashi Bridge, located 100 meters east of Sifang Street, is the most characteristic.
Lijiang Old Town is also known as Dayan Town. In Naxi, it is called "Yinggudu", which means the land of the river. It was built in the late Song and early Yuan, more than 800 years ago. Located at the foot of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain on the banks of the Jinsha River, southeast of the ancient city is dozens of miles of fertile fields. The shape is like a large jasper inkstone, so the name of the town of Danyan (note: inkstone and research homophonic).
Lijiang ancient city is China's historical and cultural cities in the only ancient city without walls. It is said that, because the ancient hereditary ruler of Lijiang surnamed wood, if you build walls, as if the word wood plus frame into the word "sleepy", inauspicious. The ancient city combines the essence of Naxi, white, Tibetan and Chinese nationalities in the art of architecture. Explore its past, people found that this had been forgotten "ancient Naxi Kingdom", since ancient times there have been human beings living and reproducing. Today's master of the Naxi people, is the ancient descendants of the Qiang people moved south. In the long years of thousands of years, they worked hard and built their own beautiful homes. At present, the city preserved a large area of Ming and Qing Dynasty residential houses, all of which are adobe structures with tile roofs, mostly three houses and one wall. Residents of the flexible layout of the building, focusing on decoration, carving, planting flowers and trees in the courtyard, set up bonsai. The city is densely covered with canals, across the water near the canal building is very common. (See attached map)
Here is located in Yunnan, Sichuan, Tibet, the main traffic, frequent business activities in ancient times, prompting the local people to flourish, and soon became known as the market and the town. It is generally believed that Lijiang city began in the late Song and early Yuan. In 1253 AD, Kublai Lie (Yuan Shizu), when he conquered the Dali Kingdom in the south, was stationed here. From then on, until the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, nearly five hundred years, the Lijiang area is under the jurisdiction of the central dynasty of the Naxi ancestors of the Mu Clan and the Mu Clan Tusi (established in 1382) hereditary rule. During this time, the Ming Dynasty geographer Xu Xiake (1587--1641), who traveled throughout Yunnan, described Lijiang City in his "Dian Tour Diary" as "a cluster of houses, houses lined up", with more than 1,000 residents in the ancient city at the end of the Ming Dynasty, which shows that the town had been constructed on a fairly large scale.
The Wooden House in the ancient city was originally the Lijiang hereditary Tusi Wood's Yamen, was built in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD), was rebuilt in 1998 into the Ancient City Museum. Wooden House covers an area of 46 acres, there are large and small rooms in the House ****162. (See attached map.) Inside it also hangs eleven plaques given by successive emperors, reflecting the history of the Wood family's prosperity and decline.
Square Street for the center of the old city, all around, around the alleys, it is said to be the Ming Dynasty Wood's Tusi according to the beginning of its seal and built. Here is the center of the bazaar for generations, daily standing around, very lively. From the four corners of the four sides of the street extends out of the four main streets, through the southeast, northwest and four suburbs, and from the main street from the main street fork from the many streets, such as the spider web intertwined, the traffic is smooth and convenient. Streets are paved with colorful stones, flat and clean, sunny without dust, rain without water. Almost every street is accompanied by gurgling water. Spring water from the Jade River, the river to the town of production of double stone bridge, divided into east, west and center of the three streams into the ancient city, with the street around the alley, through the walls and houses. Willows drooping at the water's edge, small bridges under the willows, forming a unique style of "flowing water in every house, hanging in every house". When you come here, you will feel the flavor of "Venice of the East". The city was built in early years according to the underground springs of the White Horse Dragon Pool and many wells and springs still exist, people created a "pool, a well, three ponds of water" water use, that is, the head of the pond drinking water, two ponds wash vegetables, three ponds laundry, clean water in order to go down, both scientific and hygienic. Residents also wash the street with water, as long as the gate blocking the river, the water overflow stone pavement downstream, you can wash away the filth, keep the market clean.
Lijiang Danyan town on the mountain on the water, neither tall walled city, nor spacious avenue, but it is simple and picturesque, everywhere through the natural harmony. The houses in the town are undulating due to the terrain and flowing water, and people use wood, stone and mud to build up beautiful and suitable dwellings, incorporating the traditions of Han, Bai and Tibetan houses, forming a unique style. The local common is "three houses and a wall" type houses, that is, the main house, rooms and walls surrounded by the triple courtyard. Each room three two-story, south-facing room for the elders to live, the east and west rooms are generally used by the younger generation to live. House more in both sides of the wall outstretched under the eaves, decorated with a fish-shaped or leaf-shaped piece of wood, called "hanging fish", in order to pray for "auspicious surplus". Many of the courtyard doorway is well-decorated, the courtyard to pebbles, tiles, brick pavement floor, the front of the hall generally have six lattice doors and windows, window carvings are mostly the four seasons of flowers or auspicious birds and animals. Most of the eaves of the front porch of the hall are wide, making it a warm and cozy space for activities.
The Baisha residential complex is located 8 kilometers north of Lijiang Ancient City, which used to be the center of politics, economy and culture in Lijiang during the Song and Yuan Dynasties (10th to 14th centuries AD). Baisha residential complex is distributed in a north-south axis, the center of a trapezoidal square, a spring from the north into the square, four lanes from the square to the four sides, very characteristic. Bisha residential complex formation and development for the later layout of the old city of Lijiang laid the foundation.
Naxi people, that small bridge and water, flowers and shadows reflecting the quiet courtyard, it is said that one hundred people out of the fourteen college students, see the results of the important education and culture - this is a set of wisdom in this land and water.
Many Naxi people, especially Naxi men, good at poetry, qin, calligraphy and painting. In the ancient city's colorful festivals, in addition to all-night folk songs and dances and local opera, amateur performance of the "Naxi ancient music" is the most famous. (See photo) Among them, the "white sand fine music" for the set of song, dance, music as one of the large-scale classical music suite, known as "living music fossil"; another Lijiang "hole music" is derived from the ancient Taoist music, which retains many of the long-lost rhythms of the Central Plains rhetoric.
According to historical records, Lijiang mural paintings represented by the Grand Baojie Palace were painted successively over a period of 300 years from the beginning of the Ming Dynasty to the Pu Lixian period. At that time, the earth governor Muwang hired a group of Han Chinese painters led by Ma Xiaotian, in addition to Tibetan and Bai painters, Dongba disciples, Taoist disciples also participated in the mural painting work.
Distributed in the ancient city and around the 15 temples in the Ming and Qing dynasty murals, with a variety of religions and sects of the content of the fusion of coexistence of outstanding features. The large-scale mural "Immeasurable Life Rudraksha", which survives in the Dabaojigong Palace in Baisha Village, Lijiang, paints the images of hundreds of gods and Buddhas from Chinese Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism and Taoism together, reflecting the characteristics of the Naxi religious culture.
Baisha murals with its distinctive painting art style and precious historical and cultural connotations, y attracted domestic and foreign tourists. Located about 16 kilometers north of Lijiang city, Baisha is an ancient and beautiful town, which is the initial settlement of Naxi in Lijiang Dam, and also the birthplace of Lijiang Mu's Tusi, the earliest political center of Naxi.
Ming Dynasty period, Lijiang wood is in its heyday, political stability, economic prosperity, in order to show its rich, he built a large palace, built a number of large-scale architectural complex. Existing white sand glazed hall, big treasure accumulation palace and big fixed pavilion and other temples are built for the period. One of the hidden mural paintings of the Ming Dynasty, is extremely valuable cultural relics, is a national key cultural relics protection units. Dabaojigong existing mural 558, is Lijiang mural collection of the most places. Dabaojigong and Liulidian preserved murals are especially the essence of these two palaces in December 1996 was announced by the State Council as a national key cultural relics protection units.
Baisha mural paintings of various religious cultures and schools of art, unique, integration of Tibetan Buddhism, Chinese Buddhism, Taoism, as well as the Dongba religion and other religions in one. It is a unique art treasure. In artistic style, reflecting the traditional painting techniques and styles of Chinese, Tibetan, Naxi and other nationalities. The content of the murals shows the life stories of Tibetan Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. Painting layout, rigorous brush, colorful, accurate modeling, realistic characters, obviously absorbed the Dongba painting rough, strong color to the scripture, line uniformity, penmanship and other characteristics. Lijiang murals involved in a wide range of subjects, the galloping horses, blooming lotus, mountains and fields, flowers, birds, grasses and insects and other natural scenery are depicted, these paintings are clearly demonstrated the painter's keen observation ability and positive thinking and emotions into the world. The religious figures depicted in the murals, with religion as the refractive light, incorporate the aesthetic ideas of the painters, and either implicitly or explicitly express the social life of the time. （
A pictorial hieroglyphic script called "Dongba Wen" has been passed down around Lijiang. This unique script used by the Naxi ancestors to record the scriptures of the Dongba religion is the only living pictograph in the world. Nowadays, there are more than 20,000 volumes of Dongba scriptures collected in libraries and museums in China, Europe and America, recording the glorious history and culture of the Naxi people for thousands of years. Among them, the Dongba Dance Scripts called "Jiao Mode", including dozens of ancient music and dance dance art, is an extremely rare and precious document. Known as the ancient Naxi "encyclopedia" of the Dongba scripture, the study of Naxi history and culture has an important value.