Hongcun - Living Ancient City

“Lies! All lies!” I grunted to myself while watching Kung Fu Panda I, then II – and because one cant stop half way thought, III, “I’ve been in China a good year and am yet to see a town like that!”

And then… after a 6.5hr train ride, a three hour hike and an unfortunate lunch we found ourselves at the entrance to a UNESCO World Heritage Listen 900 year old village by the name of Hongcun.

Upon arrival you are greeted with a flat lilly littered lake, we were fortunate with a sky blue day and peaceful breeze. Moving from the car park there is a que divider which implies that at certain times there are large crowds that make their way through. Fortunately, Robyn and I had come the day before the big-move, that is… all of China going from one place to another during the Dragon Festival long weekend, so once tickets were purchased we walked easily through the entrance gate into a still functional ancient Chinese village.

Established in the Song Dynasty, this village still has about 1500 residence, mostly ancestors of the original residence holders. There are few shops in terms of tourist haunts, so you do feel as if you’ve stepped back in time when wandering the narrow white slate streets.

As with most villages in China is was the victim of the Farmer Rebellion, where farmers from (so I was told) the North, made their way down South and through different villages, burning houses, shops and generally rebelling due to increasing tax, general farming pressures and the agrarian crisis. It was thought that the South were taking advantage of the farmers of the North and an uprising eventuated. This is also known as the Yellow Turban uprising.

Please note I have a very limited knowledge of Chinese history and am basing this on information provided by dear Libby, our extremely knowledgeable guide, and my own very basic research. The point is, however, that during this uprising much of Hongcun was burned around the year of 1381.

The town was rebuilt, according to our tour guide they employed a Feng Shui master to assist in its reconstruction and ensure that the village would never again be threatened by fire. The man made river, attached the a natural lake nearby, also runs along all of the homes. It unique and genius and inspiring, and I wish I could remember that ladies name!

All well and good and then… the Cultural Revolution… groups of people came through the village, as they did towns, cities and villages throughout China, trying to irradiate the past in order to focus on the Red Revolution. 

There was suddenly a hatred (if you ask me, more a fear) of the past, of values that had been long held, and so those part of the ‘Cultural Revolution’ (which I’ve since discovered was not a required action by Mao, but youths taking on a doctrine and expanding on this ‘the future – the new’, to remove the old, the historic, what was conceived as the ‘bourgeois’, these hysterical groups came through Hongcun, however, the delightful truth is that rather than completely destroying homes, temples and murals, they would cut off heads of murals… but leave the rest – I wonder if they still retained attachment to the past, and so did the bare minimum to placate the group.

Oooo well, lets not go on about the Cultural Revolution, it was so frustrating to learn that it was not Moa that instigated this, but a frustrated youth than wanted to focus on the party, to make changes to the status quo.

The Communist ideology of purging all that was considered capitalist… and excuse that enabled the deliberate destruction of the past, not to mention the tormenting of those who did little more than be teachers, be academics, be religious followers – when frustration turns to anger, turns to hate, turns to blame and needs to find a focus for its attention, and admittedly, Mao and his compatriots did nothing to stop ‘the march’.

Any way! The point is, and apologies for taking so long to get here! Is that I was fortunate enough to step on stones that had been stepped on by ladies and men 500 years ago. The subtle scent of the near-by lake, the quiet smiles of villagers as your passed by, the sinking sun and shifting shadows, the bamboo forest just beyond.

Libby took us to a few of the most important houses of the village, where the religious leader, the educator and ‘mayor’ might live.

As you walk in there is almost a courtyard, directly infront of you a table, a chair on the left, a chair on the right. To the direct left and right, there are two separate bedrooms, these are for the Man and Woman of the house, their sleeping quarters. Look above and there is a second floor, this is where the children sleep.

The room you first step in to is often used as the study room, education, since ancient times, has been the most important aspect of existence. Richer families, and even those with only reasonable means, will hire a tutor for children from the age of three to start the education process.

It’s a value that is still held in the highest esteem in China – education… its key. The kids I teach are up at 5am for breakfast and general personal preparation, then by 6.30am they are studying, up until about 10 – 11 at night. I’ve just been told I’ll be doing an “intensive” two weeks with 6 – 11 year old children, two hours a day for two weeks, the poor wee things! I shall endeavour to make it enjoyable!

Oh though, as much as I love and abhor the history in equal parts, I cannot but admire that a village could still exist, primarily in its original state, for 900 years… not to mention my gratitude in being able to step on those stones, touch the awnings, admire the man-made lake that was older than the colonisation of the country where I was born. Its nothing but inspiring, the genius of it all.

One of the buildings I decided must be a school house, there were a few desks and more essentially, a couple of people having a nanny nap on said desk – well, it was midday after all! I was apparently correct in my summation, I asked about the giant intentional hole in the roof…

Given 900, 800 and quite possibly 500 years ago, there was no air conditioning, there was, however, hot weather. So, the genius architects of the time realised that a) allowing the sun to enter the space would warm that space up, and in the hottest months, the humid months, this opening would allow rain to run through and cool the space down, the water would then run through the man made channels along and through other houses / businesses, cooling or heating them up depending on the weather.

Pretty incredible.

For me, just stepping the paved and cobbled stones, seeing elderly ladies washing clothes or making food products, with toothy or toothless smiles, the mountains rising up in the horizon and whiskered ancient white walled buildings shadowing my wander on either side… The red lanterns, the silent man made lake.

This was where some of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was filmed due to its authenticity… because… it is actually authentic. How many places in the world can you say that about? And here I was, in amongst it, walking pavements, observing places of honour, houses with hanging pieces of pork, washing lines hanging fish out to dry, a horse and cart doing rounds around a tree dedicated to life, across from the tree dedicate to death where a body, during the funeral procession, would be walked around and around three times.

To wander the streets, silently, to enjoy the awnings of tigers and fish and dragons and… to observe the lake and stand on the walking bridge, to breath in the scent of wood, the awnings that adorned these ancient homes, to smile at the toothless woman who’d lived in this same village since a young child, who had seen it in its greatness, in its isolation, in its fame and now, in a more multicultural world – a time when China is open and people from the West come to explore.

Robyn, Libby and I ended up in secluded place overlooking the town. We had a beer and discussed our own lives, however I do believe Robyn, like myself, was looking over this ancient place and thanking what ever we thought should be thanked, for being here, in China, in an ancient city, drinking beer amongst a bamboo forest. 

If I met someone wondering where they should visit in China, without a doubt I would suggest Hongcun - this is where the history begins, its not made up, not remade, rebuilt... there are not plastic market traders, no "this is how China looks" pretensions... it is what is it, and its as true as I've found - a pretty incredible piece of retained history.