【Huizhou Trip】Hidden Painting - Experience in Zhaji Village during 2020 Mid-Autumn Festival

Zhaji (zhā jǐ), a village under Taohuatan Town in Jing County, Xuancheng City, Anhui Province, is so far the largest remaining Ming and Qing ancient village in China, known as 'a forgotten ancient dwelling in southern Anhui'.

Li Bai once visited Zhaji and left the timeless verse: 'You ask me why I dwell in the green hills; I smile without answering, my heart is at ease. Peach blossoms flow away with the stream; here is a different world, not of mortal realm.'

Zhaji originally had 108 bridges, 108 ancestral halls, and 108 temples. Now there remain over 140 ancient structures, including more than 40 bridges, 30 ancestral halls, and 4 temples.

By the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Zhaji's official careers reached their peak. It is said that the population reached as high as 100,000. Successive waves of scholar-officials emerged: six jinshi from one family, three jinshi, brothers both jinshi, civil and military jinshi, civil and military juren. Officials including Hanlin academicians, capital officials, frontier governors, prefects, sub-prefects, and county magistrates never ceased in the political arena. According to statistics, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, Zhaji produced as many as 129 officials above the seventh rank.

Degong Hall: Not only is it the only Yuan Dynasty building in Zhaji, but also one of the very few Yuan Dynasty structures in the southern Anhui region and even in Anhui Province. Using an archway from the previous dynasty as a gate, they built this unremarkable house called 'Degong Hall'. To avoid suspicion, the house, actually built in the early Ming Dynasty, was constructed in Yuan Dynasty architectural style. The painstaking effort is truly admirable.

From October 2 to October 5, 2020, I stayed here for three days. It rained on the 3rd and 4th. Zhaji in the rain had an even more painting-like flavor.

It coincided with National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival; bright red national flags fluttered in the wind.

Morning, the village in the rain...

At night, the village in twilight...

Zhaji residences are built along the stream, stretching for ten li. The stream is not circular; this angle happens to be at a bend, and under a wide-angle lens it appears round.

Along the way, scenes of ink and wash blending could be seen everywhere.

On the 5th, it cleared up... The sky was high and the clouds were not thin.

Driving from Wuhan to Zhaji takes a total of over 6 hours. After getting off the expressway, there are more than 20 kilometers of mountain roads. The road surface is good, but among them, a few kilometers are single-lane village roads, making it a bit troublesome to pass oncoming cars.