Enshi is the capital of Tujia Autonomous Prefecture. Here, since ancient times, the Tusi will be in this area alone, not listen to the court orders. Qing Yongzheng thirteen years, although the implementation of the so-called "land return to the stream", but also only "to barbarians to barbarians" policy, so that the Tujia tribes nominally subordinate to the court, its internal enjoy full autonomy.
The Tusi, in fact, is the "emperor of the soil".
Was there really a Tusi Imperial City? Yes, but the location is not in Enshi City, but in Xianfeng County's Jianshan, which was built in the Yuan Dynasty (1346 AD), the first year of the Ming Dynasty (1621 AD) Tangya Chief Secretary Qin Ding expansion, two streets, 18 alleys and 36 courtyards, within the marshal's residence, the official speech hall, the academy, the depository, the left and right barracks, the racecourse, the gardens, the prison, etc., covering an area of 1,500 acres.
We are now visiting the "Enshi Tusi City" is the end of 2003 completed the ancient building complex. It combines the traditional architecture of the Tujia, Miao and Dong ethnic minorities, with the most distinctive feature being the "Nine Halls".
Standing in front of the hall, looking up, pavilions, corners, eaves and claws, high and low up and down, staggered, really strange modeling, upright and lofty. The total height of this building complex 99.9 meters, 29.9 meters wide, was a longitudinal layer of progressive layout, it is said that all the building components, there are 303 column bases (Enshi said plinth pier), 330 doors, 90 windows, all by the mortise and tenon riveted wooden structure. Total floor area of 4300 square meters. All the door pillar couplets for the province's famous writers and inscriptions, straight grass, scribe and seal script with style, all carved doors and windows from the folk collection.
The Nine Steps Hall consists of two parts: the Ancestral Hall and the Manor House. The so-called nine into, but that there are nine deep into the meaning, it includes the ancestral hall has four into the manor of the five into, collectively known as the nine into. "Nine" is an extreme number, and only the ancient emperors enjoyed "the honor of nine or five".
Nine into the hall both "nine into the", and stroll between them, feel the wisdom of the ancestors of the Tujia people and architectural style it!
One into the feeder hall for the manor gate gatehouse, two white tigers in front of the door, the lofty separation of the left and right, in the "dragon and phoenix" deep relief stone carving. Couplet written on the "clear river even nine schools, the white tiger perched on a thousand years", the plaque on the door is written "nine into the hall" and "the soul of the nation", both sides of the cliff carving for the Tujia honored the four great gods of the heavens, that is, the guardian gods. The layout of the gatehouse of the ancestral hall can be described as a concentrated expression of the spirit of the Tujia people in the building.
? The second entry is the theater building. The building is three stories high, flying eaves and claw corners, layers of eaves towering, majestic. Theater decorated with dragon and phoenix motifs, theater on both sides of the corner staircase can be up and down, the layout is very decent.
? Three into the "watch tower" or council chamber adjacent to the theater. It is a place for people with status and position, such as patriarchs, dignitaries and masters of houses, to watch plays and discuss matters.
? The fourth is the "Pendulum Hall". It is a unique national architecture of the Tujia ethnic group, according to the design of heaven and earth, the upper three layers of round symbolizes the sky, the following two layers of square symbolizes the earth. The symbolism of "heaven and earth" is also in line with the national character and behavioral norms of the Chinese people, who respect softness on the outside and firmness on the inside. "Pendulum Hall" is 25 meters high, five layers of flying eaves, the upper three layers of the dome, the lower two layers of the square, the size of wood, stone reliefs 499, of which the largest three stone reliefs for the "Nine Dragons Playing with Pearls", "Nine Dragons Painting Chinese The largest three stone reliefs are "Nine Dragons Playing with Pearls", "Nine Dragons Painting China" and "Nine Dragons Monument". The largest three stone reliefs are "Nine Dragons Playing with Pearls", "Nine Dragons Painting China" and "Nine Dragon Tablet". The "Pendulum Hall" is a place of entertainment for the Tujia people to worship their ancestors from the first to the fifteenth day of the first month of the year, in which statues of ancestors and tabletops are enshrined, and the open space in front of the building is a place for groups of people to dance with pendulum hands. The Tujia language is called "Shezhiba", which means "jumping and waving hands". Every year in the first month of the Tujia people will gather here, the first to pay tribute to their ancestors, after the circle, with the rhythm of the gongs and drums swinging hands dance up, "swinging hands dance" divided into a single pendulum, double pendulum and the Hui pendulum three kinds of dance content reflecting the Tujia people and their forefathers Baren early production of life content, such as hunting, fishing and so on. The dance is simple and rhythmic, with strong group participation.
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? Five into the manor gatehouse, also known as the slot door. ? Into the gatehouse but to the sixth into the hall in front of the front hall is the master to welcome guests outside. From the second into the theater building to the sixth into the front hall, five consecutive five into the five platforms, both sides are connected to the corridor connected.
Between the sixth and seventh, there are study and embroidery buildings on both sides of the east and west, the study is a place for young men of Tujia to study, and the embroidery room is naturally a place for young girls of the boudoir to learn embroidery or tracing dragons and embroidery. Below the study and the embroidery building are warehouses, called "Chang Xi Ku" and "Reserve Ku" respectively. They were called "Chang Xi Ku" and "Reserve Ku" respectively, which were places for storing grains. It can be seen that the Tujia people attach great importance to reading and farming. It seems that the concept of "farming and reading" is not unique to the Han Chinese.
? Seven and eight into the manor for the hall, is the manor owner to deal with the important things in the family and the implementation of the home affairs of the place, in addition to nine, in the first seven into the above, showing a special prestige.
Ninth into the back of the hall, also known as the "White Tiger Hall", the Tujia language called "Jabalou". The building is five stories high, towering in the sky, located in the highest outside of the whole nine into the hall. It is the highest and most honorable place of the ancestral hall and manor, and also a mysterious and deep place. Here is enshrined the tablet of the ancestor of the Tujia forefathers - Ba Moushang (or Gogun) and the "White Tiger" god that symbolizes Ba Moushang. Clansmen not only in the years and years of festival ceremonies, in order to pray for ancestral blessings, that is, in normal times, but also incense, visible Tujia heavy and deep sense of reverence for the ancestors.
Walking out of the back of the Hall of Nine, in the half-slope stone steps of the city wall, you can see in the layer of platforms into the roof of the Hall of Nine, molded with 169 by a variety of cranes, bats, deer, magpies and other birds and animals such as ridge claw angle decorations, these decorations in addition to the enhancement of architectural Ling transparent beauty, it is also on behalf of the "blessing, fortune, longevity, jubilee" auspicious objects. "The mascot, these mascots are symbols of the pursuit of good Tujia people.
Jiuzhintang will be the traditional Tujia dry bar residential footstools, pendulum hand hall, the official speech hall, the academy, platform, playhouse, etc. fusion into a fantastic scenery, pavilions and pavilions scattered, carved beams and paintings pleasing to the eye, carving doors and windows of primitive simplicity, set of Tujia architecture, carving, painting the art of the great achievements, roaming among them, it is really dizzying feeling.
In the primitive and simple to walk between, I am happy. And in the Tusi city climbing the walls, but do not want to move.
This is the first time I've ever seen a walled city. Around the Tusi City is 2320 meters long, 1.2 meters wide of the new wall, although with the mountain construction, according to the shape of the mountain, winding and stretching, but it is too new, it looks quite uncomfortable. Really want to understand the Tujia Walled City, it is best to go to see the Lichuan fish wood cottage, Xianfeng daughter cottage or Dashuijing Li's ancestral temple, that is the original count of the original flavor, people respect and think about it.
Wandering nine into the hall, browse the layout of the exquisite and architectural marvels, quite a delightful feeling. Though it is not really a royal city of Sisi, it might be considered a modern building. This may be regarded as an example of the organic combination of modern construction technology and ancient architectural style.