Weishan Ancient City Misty and Rain Walk

Number of days: 1 day
Tour kinds: Semi-free
The author went to these places: Weishan Weishan Ancient City Gongchen Tower Star Arch Tower Wenhua Academy Weishan Confucian Temple
Updated: 2020.11.05

at noon on October 21, 2020, I came from Donglianhua Village, Weishan County, Dali City, Yunnan Province to a restaurant near the Gongchen Building at the north gate of Weishan Ancient City for lunch, and walked through Weishan Ancient City in the drizzle.

Weishan Ancient City was founded in the 22nd year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1389) and has a history of more than 600 years. The "Menghua Chronicle Manuscript City Chronicle" records: "(Weishan) The city is like a seal, and the Zhongjian Wenbi Building is the seal handle." "From the Wenbi Building as the center, extending in four directions: east, west, north, south, and north are the four main streets of the ancient city. The ancient city of Weishan is shaped like a chessboard, with 24 streets and 18 alleys dotted and crisscrossed, which is a typical Ming and Qing style "checkerboard-style" city layout. Today, the three ancient city towers in the east, west and south of Weishan Ancient City have been destroyed, only the north city gate tower and the Wenbi Tower (Star Arch Tower) in the center of the city have survived, and the ancient city streets are still relatively intact and maintain the checkerboard pattern when the city was founded more than 600 years ago, which is one of the best-preserved ancient buildings of the Ming and Qing dynasties in China. Compared with the newly built ancient city of Dali, Weishan Ancient City is an ancient city in the true sense.

Come to the Gongchen Tower at the north gate of Weishan Ancient City, this city tower built on the masonry wall more than two feet high was originally built in the twenty-second year of Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty (1389), It is said that the city tower was burned in the early morning of January 3, 2015, and the current city tower should have been rebuilt.

Gongchen Building is a civil structure, The lower tongue city wall is 8.3 meters high, 23.4 meters high, 41.7 meters long, and 24.8 meters wide, supported by 28 large columns that embrace each other, and is majestic on all sides.

On the south side of the eaves of the city tower, there is a giant plaque of "Kuixiong Six Edicts" inscribed by Kang Zhen, the deputy governor of Menghua Prefecture in the thirty-sixth year of Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1771); On the north side hangs a large plaque of "Ten Thousand Miles to the Sky" written by Huang Dahe, deputy governor of the Menghua Zhili Department in the 50th year of Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1785). I wanted to climb the Gongchen Tower to overlook the mountains and rivers overlooking the Weishan Dam, but unfortunately the two small doors to the east and west were closed.

Leaving Gongchen Tower, heading south into Weishan Ancient City, but seeing that the houses on both sides of the south and north main axes of the ancient city have been completely preserved, Architectural styles and styles of the Qing Dynasty.

Most

of the houses in the ancient city are courtyard-style, reflecting the common characteristics of civil structure architecture in Dali houses. Most of the houses face north and south, with an orientation of about 15 degrees south-west, obviously taking into account the best lighting angle required by the local "four-in-five patio" building.

Walking on the stone streets that have been polished by the years and washed by rain, the ground floors of the buildings on both sides of the street are all shops, the facades facing the street are all wooden, the small shops do not have eye-catching fashion signs, and most of the daily necessities sold in the shops are the daily necessities of residents. On the corner of the street, in the simple and quiet courtyard, you can often see fragrant flowers and trees, which is an ancient city that is humble and elegant and full of life.　　　　　　

　　Weishan is the birthplace of the Nanzhao Kingdom, and in the twenty-third year of the Tang Dynasty (649), the ancestors of the Yi people, Xinuluo, established the Nanzhao Kingdom here, after 13 generations and more than 200 years. Although the capital was moved to Dali more than ten years after the founding of Nanzhao, the roots of Nanzhao are in Weishan. Weishan is also one of the areas with the longest implementation of the chieftain system in Yunnan, there were villages in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty began to build an earthen city, and the Ming Dynasty was changed to a brick city, in the ancient cultural accumulation and inheritance, Weishan City has a temple, a shop, a snack, a street and alley, all of which are traces of history, as if they are all in memory, and the style is still there.

Come to the Star Arch Tower located in the center of the ancient city of Weishan, which is also known as the Wenbi Building, which has become a landmark building of the ancient city of Weishan together with the Gongchen Tower of the North City Gate.

I wanted to go upstairs to look out, but the small door was also closed, but I couldn't do it.

There are many ancient buildings in the Ming and Qing dynasties in the ancient city of Weishan, including the Temple of Confucianism, the Temple of Wealth, the Temple of Wealth, the Wenhua Academy, the Sun Palace, the Cold Spring Monastery, etc., these ancient buildings with exquisite craftsmanship, rigorous structure, carved beams and painted beams and painted buildings, reproduce the prosperity and superb architectural art of the ancient city of Weishan in the past. Experts and scholars believe that "the style of Weishan Ancient City is so complete that it is rare in Yunnan and even the whole country." I wanted to walk and taste the whole picture of Weishan Ancient City one by one, but because the time for the team to gather was up, I turned back to Gongchen Tower and said goodbye to Weishan Ancient City.

After dinner, take advantage of the short gap before departing for Dali to stroll through the streets of Weishan Ancient City at night, and go south along the main street from Gongchen Tower to Xinggong Tower.

The

lights are dim, and the night view of Weishan Ancient City has a unique warmth and wild fun.

Not far west along the street from the Star Arch Tower, you will come to the gate of Weishan Confucian Temple. Under the reflection of the halo street lights, the gate of the Weishan Confucian Temple with carved beams and painted beams is beautiful.

The

respect for knowledge and culture has made Weishan, a border city on the southwest plateau, barbaric, with a gentle and elegant temperament, calm and leisurely, and endless historical context.