Global Times: Ancient wisdom meets modern revival in China’s living masterpiece

Beijing, China, Nov. 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In the gentle embrace of the autumn sun, the ancient village of Hongcun in Yixian county, East China's Anhui Province awakens as a living masterpiece. Its iconic Huizhou-style residences, with their pristine white walls and deep black tiles, form a serene backdrop that suddenly bursts into vibrant life. Long wooden racks stretch across rooftops and courtyards, laden with strings of fiery red chili peppers glistening like rubies in the light. Nearby, golden corn kernels spread out in wide, shallow bamboo sieves, drying slowly under the warm rays. This is the "Autumn Sun-Drying," known as shai qiu in Chinese, an age-old agrarian tradition that paints the village's monochrome elegance with strokes of abundance and color.

Far from a mere practical chore for sustenance, this ritual has evolved into a magnetic spectacle, drawing travelers from around the world. Sun Min, a member of the post-1985 generation, embodies this shift. After years in bustling Shanghai, he has returned to his roots, now guiding international visitors through Hongcun's winding paths.

For him, the village is a treasure trove of childhood wonders: the chirp of insects, the melody of birdsong, the vast starry skies and the fiery hues of sunset. He recalls games in the courtyards and along the shores of Nanhu lake, moments that fuel his passion for sharing this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Sun's story reflects a broader resurgence - a reconnection with cultural heritage amid rapid urbanization. As Geng Han, director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Center at Tianjin University's Feng Jicai Institute of Literature and Art, shared with the Global Times, "China's traditional villages are the physical carriers of our thousands of years of agrarian civilization." Echoing the words of writer Feng Jicai, they serve as "living gene banks," safeguarding the profound, deeply rooted legacy of the Chinese nation.

Picturesque village

Nestled in Yixian county, Huangshan city, Hongcun captivates with its Huizhou-style architecture: white walls, black tiles, meandering flagstone lanes, and crystal-clear brooks weaving through the settlement. Mountains cradle the village, waters nourish it, creating a harmonious paradise where visitors often whisper, "It's like a village in a painting."

From an aerial view, the village mirrors a slumbering green ox, nestled against the mountains and a gentle stream. Two towering relics - a red poplar and a white ginkgo - stand as the "ox horns," Leigang Mountain as the backbone, and four river bridges the hooves, and clustered homes the body. An intricate water system pulses like veins throughout this "ox body."

Zhao Changheng, a professor at Huangshan University's School of Life and Environmental Sciences, explained that this connected layout draws from ancient principles, symbolizing reverence for the ox and the philosophy of "harmony between Heaven and humanity." In agrarian times, the ox represented diligence, selflessness, bravery, resilience, and prosperity. Water, essential for life and labor, was ingeniously managed.

"The ancients harnessed terrain gradients, embodying the agrarian wisdom of 'following nature's laws' and 'circular utilization,'" Zhao noted. Villagers like Sun grew up beside these waters without the fear of floods.

During the flood season of 2024, Huangshan experienced heavy rainfall and various degrees of flooding, with many tourist attractions urgently evacuating visitors and temporarily closing. However, Hongcun withstood the test of the heavy rain and was one of the few scenic spots in Huangshan that remained open, the People's Daily reported. Behind this is a scientific water system design embodying ancient wisdom, as well as the modern maintenance and upkeep of the system.

Furthermore, traditional Anhui architecture also plays a unique role in Hongcun's water system. Huizhou-style architecture emphasizes "four waters returning to the hall," where rainwater from the four sides of the roof flows through gutters into a central courtyard.

Most of Hongcun's ancient residences are designed based on this principle: Some water is stored for subsequent production and daily life, while the rest is connected to the water channels and drained away in a timely manner.

Ancient Chinese villages such as Hong­cun have fascinated French architect and urban designer Olivier Greder, who has completed various research projects on villages. In his eyes, the foundation of ancient Chinese villages was designed according to morphogeographic criteria in accordance with feng shui, Yingshui or Bagua geomancy, while the settlement of villages depended on water resources and agricultural capacity. In the southern regions of East China's Zhejiang Province, villages are generally located at the foot of a mountain, slightly elevated and set back from a river.

"With these road characteristics, and buildings made of natural materials, these villages are harmoniously integrated with nature and, if well maintained, have survived to the present day. And all this is to be linked with the intangible culture that has developed there throughout the centuries," Greder told the Global Times.

Allure of Huizhou-style aesthetics

Greder's fascination with southern Chinese villages mirrors that of famous filmmaker Ang Lee, who showcased Hongcun's archways, tiles, walls and intricate carvings in the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000 alongside Xidi village, which is also in Yixian county, Hongcun exemplifies Hui aesthetics.

In a typical home, a horse-head gable raises the gable walls at both ends of the house above the roof and ridge, capping them with horizontal-line gable eaves. To avoid an excessive height difference between the gable eaves and the roof, a stepped form gradually descending toward the eaves is adopted, which saves materials and creates a varied, picturesque skyline. Crucially, as the primary building structure is wooden and not fire-resistant, the raised gable walls help isolate fires, hence the common name "fire-sealing walls."

Hongcun's architecture often features high walls and high windows because, in ancient times, men frequently traveled for business, leaving women alone at home. High walls and windows provided good security against intrusion.

The Huizhou patio is an adaptation of the northern Chinese courtyard, or siheyuan. Due to the hilly terrain and scarce land area for building in the Huizhou region, the spacious siheyuan transformed into an internal patio within the building. Although the form changed, it still embodies the concept of harmony between nature and humankind, "borrowing" exterior space and bringing it into the interior, making the building an organic whole.

Particularly, the art of the "Three Carvings" - wood, brick, and stone - exemplifies the exquisite skill of Huizhou artisans and the life philosophy of the Huizhou people living in harmony with nature.

Farming-and-studying civilization

The buildings of Hongcun are not merely the accumulation of the material but also a transmission of spirit and culture. The village is a settlement primarily inhabited by the Wang family. The Wangs were a prominent clan from the Central Plains who migrated southward around the end of the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220), with their descendants spreading throughout the Jiangnan region.

The Wang clan of Hongcun originated from Jinling (modern Nanjing of Jiangsu Province) and moved to Huizhou around the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), becoming the founders of Hongcun.

The same as other villages in South China, Hongcun carries the spirit and moral pursuits of local scholars and the wealthy, which is reflected in the names of buildings like Zhi Dao Tang (Hall of Aspiration to the Way) and Kuan He Tang (Hall of Tolerance and Harmony).

Each building carries rich cultural significance, conveying deep historical and philosophical meanings through its name and structural design, noted Zhao.

Take Lexu Tang, or Hall of Joyous Orderly Discourse, as an example. It exemplifies the profound connotation of harmonious beauty. The Chinese character "le" in its name means joy and harmony, while "xu" represents orderly discourse. Lexu Tang not only bears the family history of the Wang clan in Hongcun but also embodies the profound essence of harmonious beauty. It also symbolizes the harmonious coexistence of culture and human nature, deeply touching every visitor.

Protection and inheritance

Three decades ago, professor He Keren from the China Central Academy of Fine Arts visited Huizhou villages as a student. He was awestruck by their feng shui integration, ecological harmony and artistry. "These were treasures of Chinese civilization," she recalled.

"Their overall layouts were closely integrated with traditional feng shui culture and ecological concepts. The exquisite architectural techniques and artistry were truly treasures of Chinese civilization, deeply moving us young students at the time."

However, back then, the clan culture that sustained these traditional villages was already declining. Young people in the villages had begun migrating to big cities for work, leaving many traditional houses to deteriorate without funds for repair, and the protection of traditional villages had not yet been prioritized.

"We lamented the situation but could only do what we could - meticulously recording everything we saw," she said.

According to CNR News, Yixian county annually allocates 20 percent of ticket revenue from the World Heritage Sites to a Cultural Heritage Protection Fund specifically established for the protection of these sites.

Professor He expressed that the most crucial aspect for achieving sustainable development of traditional villages is attracting and retaining people. Besides well-protected villages like Hongcun, there are many villages lacking sufficient overall architectural and planning resources to attract tourists. However, their ecological and environmental resources can be tapped to try to retain people, she noted.

After a short trip to the village, Armin Schober, from Innsbruck, Austria, and his Chinese wife, Huang Qiong, now run a homestay and a pizza and coffee bar in Hongcun. "This ancient house tells a lot of stories, and that is what makes it special. It sparks my imagination about what life was like 200 years ago," Schober said.

While the buildings have many stories from the past, the aesthetic system inherent in the architectural essence of traditional villages like Hongcun also serves as an inexhaustible reservoir of resources for the creation of modern aesthetics.

"It offers architectural paradigms beyond Western-centric aesthetics, enriching the connotations of modern spatial aesthetics," Geng said.

Moreover, preserving the physical and spiritual heritage of traditional villages provides a spiritual homeland for people amid urbanization, fulfilling the cultural pursuit of "keeping nostalgic sentiments alive," Geng added.

Hongcun endures not as a relic but as a vibrant testament to ingenuity, harmony, and renewal. In its sun-dried harvests and flowing waters, the village has whispers of ancient wisdom while embracing the future, inviting all to partake in its timeless canvas.

Source: Global Times:
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Contact Person: Anna Li
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