The Qiao Family Courtyard is located in the middle of Qiaojiabao Village, Qi County. This is a majestic building group. When looking at the layout of the courtyard from a high altitude, it looks like a double "happiness" symbolizing good luck. The entire compound covers an area of ??8,724 square meters, with a construction area of ??3,870 square meters. It is divided into six large courtyards, with 20 small courtyards and 313 houses. The courtyard is shaped like a castle, facing the street on three sides, and is surrounded by closed brick walls, more than three feet high, with a parapet and a lookout port above, making it safe, solid, and majestic. Its exquisite design and fine craftsmanship fully reflect the unique style of residential architecture in the Qing Dynasty in my country. It has very high ornamental, scientific research and historical value. It is indeed an unparalleled art treasure house and has been appropriately praised by experts and scholars as the "Northern Residential Building". A pearl of architecture." No wonder someone said with emotion after visiting: "The imperial palace has the Forbidden City, and the private residence is the Qiao Family."
The entrance to the Qiao Family Courtyard is an 80-meter-long straight stone corridor. The six courtyards are divided into two rows, north and south, with slope protection against the walls on both sides of the corridor. At the west end is the Qiao family ancestral hall, corresponding to the gate. The courtyard has four main buildings and six gate towers, watch towers and gazebos. There are walkways on the roofs of each courtyard, which are used for patrolling and guarding the courtyard. Looking at the whole courtyard, from the outside, it looks majestic, tall, neat and dignified; when entering the courtyard, it looks magnificent and orderly, showing the living style of a large feudal family in northern my country. The entire compound has a rigorous layout, elegant architecture, and changes in standards. It not only has an overall beauty, but also has its own unique features in local buildings. Even the more than 140 chimneys on the roof are unique. The pavilions, carved beams and painted buildings, and the piles of gold and powder in the whole hospital fully demonstrate the superb architectural art level of the working people in ancient my country. They are indeed rare art treasures.
The courtyard was first built in the 20th year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1756 AD). After that, it was expanded twice and renovated once. The first expansion was done around the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty and was presided over by Qiao Zhiyong. The second expansion was in the middle and late Guangxu years and was handled by Qiao Jingyi and Qiao Zuiyan. The last addition was completed ten years after the Republic of China by Qiao Yingxia and Qiao Yingkui respectively. It took nearly two centuries from the beginning to the final completion of the current layout. Although the time span is very long, the subsequent expansion and additions can be carried out according to the original concept, making the entire compound consistent in style and integrated.
According to the traditional name, the Qiao Family Courtyard has three courtyards in the north, which are called Lao Courtyard, Northwest Courtyard and Study Courtyard from east to west. The three courtyards in the south are the southeast courtyard, the southwest courtyard, and the new courtyard. The names of the six courtyards in the north and south reflect the architectural order of each courtyard in the Qiao family courtyard.
During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, part of the place where the Qiao Family Courtyard is located happened to be the intersection of the streets and alleys of Qiaojiabao Village. After Qiao Quanmei and his two brothers separated, they bought several homes in the northeast corner of the intersection and started building buildings. The main building is a hard-top brick house with brick and wood structure, with window lattice but no door, and stairs are built indoors to go upstairs. It is characterized by thick walls, small windows, solid structure, five inside and three outside. To the east of the main building is the original courtyard, which has also been renovated and used as a side courtyard. The second entrance door in the side courtyard was also converted into a book school. This is the earliest courtyard of the Qiao Family Courtyard, also known as the old courtyard. Legend has it that there used to be a Wudao Temple outside the side courtyard. There were two locust trees in front of the temple. They were so weird that they were called "sacred trees". After the Qiao family obtained the right to use this land, they originally planned to move the temple but not the trees. Later, Qiao Quanquan had a dream at night. He dreamed that the Golden Armored God told him: "If the tree is moved to live, the temple will be moved to bring wealth. If you want both to be suitable, the temple and tree should be moved together. Four or five steps to the east is the place where the tree is alive." If the temple is moved but the tree is not moved, the tree will die and the people will not be rich..." Soon, the tree was dying. Qiao Quanmei was afraid that he had offended the gods, so he moved the tree to the place indicated in the dream. The tree really came back to life, and its branches and leaves were as luxuriant as before. This seemed to be a "revelation of the true god", and he really had his god, so he built a five-way temple in front of the side courtyard, which still exists today. At the same time, there is a large brick earth temple between the main courtyard and the side courtyard, with carvings of stone mountains and deer holding Ganoderma lucidum in their mouths. There are four brick-carved lions and a handle of good luck on the forehead of the Tutu Temple, which is a metaphor for "good luck in the four seasons". There are also sycamores and pine trees on the walls of the temple, and six pairs of deer are joined together, which means "the world is smooth and smooth".
After Qiao Zhiyong took charge of the family, he continued to carry out large-scale construction projects to brighten the courtyard. He bought a large piece of land across the alley to the west of the old courtyard, and built a building courtyard with five inside and three outside, forming a two-story confrontation. The main building has a cantilevered top with exposed pillars. Tongtian Lingmen, the bayonet of the gate tower is a wood carving of the South Pole Star Riding a Deer and the Hundred Sons Picture. There is a balcony corridor.
Going up to the corridor, there is a brick handrail at the front. In the middle is a picture of a hundred grapes. To the east, there are Kuilong and magpies boarding the sea. To the west, there are herons playing with lotus and sparrows playing with chrysanthemums. The top is a wood carving with the inscription Kuilong Bogu. picture. Standing on the balcony, you can see the whole courtyard. Because the two-story courtyard is juxtaposed across an alley, and the north and south buildings are tilted up, it is called the "Double Yuanbao" style.
After the completion of Minglou, Qiao Zhiyong built two four-sided courtyards with five horizontal and five vertical ones across the street from the two buildings, so that the four courtyards were located exactly at the four corners of the intersection of streets and lanes, laying the foundation for Later, they formed a unified pattern.
In the middle and late Guangxu period, local security was unstable. In order to protect their own safety, Jingyi and Jingyan of the Qiao family went through a lot of troubles and spent a lot of money to buy the right to occupy the streets at that time. . After the Qiao family obtained the right to occupy it, they blocked the alley entrance and built the alley into the side courtyard of the northwest courtyard and the southwest courtyard; blocked the street entrance on the east side and built a gate; built an ancestral hall on the west side; and expanded the two-story courtyard on the north side into two buildings. Outside the courtyard, two new corridor gates are built. There are fences across the courtyards, and the arched gates are used as bridges to connect the north and south courtyards to each other, forming a castle-like building complex.
In the early years of the Republic of China, the Qiao family's population increased and housing became insufficient, so they purchased land and expanded westward. Ten years after the Republic of China, Qiao Yingxia and Qiao Yingkui built a new courtyard next to the southwest courtyard, with a similar layout to the southeast courtyard. However, the windows are all engraved with large glass panes, decorated in a Western style, and the red light effect is also very good. It is obvious that there has been a change in style. Even the carvings on the walls and doors in the courtyard are very detailed. At the same time, the northwest courtyard was also designed and renovated by Qiao Yingxia. The corridor in the outer courtyard connected to the old courtyard was blocked and converted into a living room together with the original kitchen. We also built a bathroom next to the living room and built a "foreign toilet" to add an exotic feel.
Near the northwest courtyard, there used to be a small courtyard, which was the private school of the Qiao family, so this courtyard was called the study courtyard. After the separation, Qiao Jian planned to build an inner garden and bought a complete set of rockeries from a dilapidated family in Taigu County. While it was being built, the "July 7th Incident" broke out, the Japanese army invaded China, and the project was stopped. During the Japanese occupation, the whole family fled, leaving an empty courtyard with only some family members to look after it. Continuing to this day, the Qiao Family Courtyard has become a dazzling pearl among northern folk residences.
The main gate of Qiao's courtyard faces east and is an arched doorway with a tall attic. In the middle of the attic hangs a plaque presented by the governor of Shanxi in response to the Empress Dowager Cixi's metaphor, which reads "Langhuan of Blessings" Four big characters. The black lacquered door leaf is equipped with a pair of large copper rings, and is inlaid with a pair of couplets on a copper base: "With good descendants, the family will be strong; if brothers are harmonious, the family will be prosperous." The words reveal the hopes and aspirations of the master of the central hall, Qiao. Pursuing, perhaps following this kind of family management, Qiao Zaitang achieved the glory of having a prosperous population and a huge family fortune through the efforts of several generations in Zhongtang.
A piece of bluestone is embedded in the middle of the top of the gate, with the inscription "Ancient Style" written on it. The vigorous writing power and the original intention of inheriting the ancient simple life style represented by these two characters complement each other and are thought-provoking. On the wall opposite the gate, there is a brick carving of "hundred years of life", each word is unique and elegant. On both sides of the wall is a pair of meaningful couplets in seal script inscribed by Zuo Zongtang, a minister of the Qing Dynasty: "In order to harm others, one can restore the principles of nature, and one can write articles by accumulating morality." The forehead of the couplet is "Luhe". This is very consistent with the golden mean that the Qiao family, as a giant businessman, adheres to and values ??harmony. After entering the gate and walking down the long corridor, at the west end is the Qiao Family Ancestral Hall with carved dragons and painted buildings, corresponding to the gate. The ancestral hall is very exquisitely decorated, with three steps and temple structure, with lion head pillars, white marble stone carvings, handrails with the word "longevity", and wooden carvings and fans on the lattice doors to the sky. The eaves are supported by four pillars, two bright and two dark. There are hollow wood carvings of eucalyptus trees, orchids, vines and pine trees on the capitals. The decoration is wonderful and magnificent. There is a plaque on the forehead with the four characters "Renzhou Yipu" written on it, inscribed by Li Hongzhang. The ancestral hall originally displayed three layers of ancestral tablets carved with wood carvings.
The corridor divides the six courtyards into two rows, the north and the south. The three courtyards in the north all have eaves gates with bays and dark lattice columns, which facilitate the entry and exit of cars and sedans. There are horse-tying posts and horse-mounting stones outside the gate. Counting from east to west, the first and second courtyards are three-in-five-connected courtyards. It is a typical courtyard in Qixian area with five interiors and three through-center buildings, and the inside and outside are connected by through-center halls. The main room on the north side of the inner courtyard is a two-story building, corresponding to the doorway building of the outer courtyard, and is magnificent. From the entrance to the main courtyard to the main room above, you need to climb three steps in a row. It not only symbolizes the auspicious meaning of "promoting to three levels in a row" and "stepping up to the top", but is also a scientific arrangement of the building's hierarchical structure.
The third courtyard in the south is a two-entry double-passage quadruple courtyard with a stepped gatehouse on the top of a hard mountain. The west span is straight and the east span is biased.
The middle one is slightly different from the other two courtyards. The front is the main courtyard, and there is a side door in the air duct of the main hall that connects to the side courtyard. The whole row of south courtyards, the main courtyard is where the clan members live, and the side courtyard is the flower garden and servants' dormitory. Each main courtyard in the south courtyard has a watchtower built on the roof, and a corresponding watchtower road is built to connect the entire courtyard.
The Qiao Family Courtyard is famous all over the world, not only because of its magnificent buildings as a group of buildings, but more importantly because of its exquisite architecture embodied in every brick, tile, wood and stone. skill. In the six courtyards in the north and south, brick carvings, wood carvings and paintings can be seen everywhere. Judging from the structure of the door, there are hard-mounted single-eaves brick gatehouses, half-eaves doors, stone-carved side-span doors, a bucket with three liters and eleven steps and a double-curved door, etc. The window formats include imitation acid twig windows, rhombus windows with sash windows, grilled windows, carved windows, double-hung type, suspended type and large-panel windows, etc., all kinds of and endlessly changing. Looking from the roof, there are resting tops, hard tops, hanging tops, rolled roofs, flat roofs, etc., which form flat, low, high, convex, ridgeless, ridged, and upturned roofs. , vertical arc..., every place is unique. Looking carefully, it is truly pleasing to the eye and endless taste.
Wood carving: There is something even more charming about the courtyard, which is the exquisite panel painting and ingenious wood carving art that can be seen everywhere. Each carving has its own folklore meaning. Various figures are carved on the main entrance of each courtyard. For example, the main entrance of a courtyard is a rolling purlin gatehouse with vertical columns of hemp leaves. On the vertical columns, there are moon beams and buckets, Kafengyunzi, and thirteen-headed dry buckets. Among them are pillar buckets, horn buckets, mixed buckets, and nine crows. Excellent craftsmanship. The second door is the same as the first door, with a chrysanthemum bayonet, a drought pattern on the window, and a grass dragon rotating plate in the middle. The wood carving bayonet of the three doors is a picture of a hundred grapes.
The wood carvings on the main entrance of the Second Courtyard include the Eight Horses and the Three Stars of Fortune, Luxu and Longevity, also known as the Three Stars Gaozhao Picture. The wood carvings on the second entrance door of the second courtyard include: Hua Bogu and the God of Wealth and Joy. The Flower Bogu is a type of miscellaneous painting. Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty ordered people to compile and draw the ancient objects collected in Xuanhe Hall, and it became the "Bogu Picture". Later generations would put pictures on the utensils to form decorative handicrafts, which are generally called "Bogu". For example, the "Bogu picture" with flowers and fruits as embellishments to complete the picture is called "Hua Bogu". The gate tower of the main room shows the pictures of the Antarctic Immortal riding a deer and the Hundred Sons. Other wood carvings include blessings from heavenly officials, rising sun and moon, unicorns sending children, attracting wealth and treasures, three stars of fortune, longevity and longevity, and two immortals of harmony. The Two Immortals of Harmony, also known as the "Two Saints of Harmony", is a theme of folk myths and stories. Tian Rucheng of the Ming Dynasty said in "History of West Lake Tour": "In the Song Dynasty, people in Hangzhou used the twelfth lunar month to worship Brother Wanhui. He looked like a disheveled smiling face, wearing green clothes, holding a drum in his left hand and holding a stick in his right hand. It is said that he is the 'God of Harmony'." It can make people return home even if they are thousands of miles away, so it is called Wanhui." Later it was divided into two gods, called "Two Immortals of Harmony". The two immortals also have disheveled heads and smiling faces, one holding lotus and the other holding a circle, which means "harmony and harmony". In the old days, they were usually hung in the hall during weddings to show good luck.
In addition, the wood carvings on the capitals are also diverse. For example, eight horses, pines, bamboos, and grapes represent vines that are fruitful, tall, and strong; hibiscus, sweet-scented osmanthus, and evergreen represent eternal wealth; the wooden folders in the hall are engraved with large-scale reliefs of "Flowers of the Four Seasons" and "Eight Immortals Offering Longevity" , one of the traditional decorative patterns. "Eight Immortals Offering Birthday" is a pattern and shape composed of the legendary Eight Immortals of the Han Dynasty Zhongli, Zhang Guolao, Han Xiangzi, Li Tieguai, Lu Dongbin, Cao Guojiu, Lan Caihe and He Xiangu who went to Yaochi to celebrate the birthday of the Queen Mother of the West. Beautiful and lifelike. There are more than 300 pieces of wood carvings in the hospital, and it is impossible to list them all here.
Brick carving: Brick carving craftsmanship can be seen everywhere, with a wide range of themes. There are wall sculptures, ridge sculptures, screen sculptures and handrail sculptures. For example, there are four lions carved on the gate of a courtyard, that is, the four lions (when) spit out clouds. The horse's head is engraved with "Two Immortals of Harmony", carrying gold and silver treasures. There are orchids carved on the card circle. On the wall is "tortoise-back brocade", which is a traditional decorative pattern and is a continuous geometric figure composed of a hexagonal skeleton. It is named because it resembles the pattern on the back of a turtle. In ancient times, tortoise shells were used as a divination tool to predict good or bad luck. The ancient book "Shu Yi Ji" says: "A tortoise that grows hair for thousands of years is called a divine tortoise with a lifespan of five thousand years, and a tortoise that lives for ten thousand years is a spiritual tortoise." The tortoise is a spiritual creature that symbolizes longevity and is used as a pattern to show good luck and prolong life. Opposite the gate of the first courtyard, there is a large brick-carved earth temple with carved pine trees, tung trees and nine deer riding on the stone mountain of Taihu Lake, symbolizing that the nine roads are smooth. There are four lions rolling embroidered balls on the pillars; there are five handrail carvings on the wall of the south room of the first courtyard. In the middle is a picture of a hundred grapes, which means that the vines are growing with many children and wealth is endless, and the remaining four grids are "Bogu pictures". There are four seasons flowers carved on the horse head in the main courtyard of the first courtyard. On the horse's head upon entering the second courtyard are the four fruits and the "Eight Dark Immortals".
The "Dark Eight Immortals" is also a kind of traditional decorative pattern, which is composed of the utensils held by the eight gods in ancient legends. According to legend, Zhongli of the Han Dynasty was very happy when he gently shook his small fan, and he always held it; Lu Dongbin's sword was so magical and frightening that he often carried it on his back; Zhang Guo's old fish drum was beaten with Sanskrit sounds, and he always held the fish drum; Cao Guojiu's jade plate harmonized with ten thousand sounds. In the Qing Dynasty, I often hold a jade board; there are only five blessings in the iron crutches and plum gourds, and I always carry the gourd; Han Xiangzi plays the purple flute to keep him quiet, and he always holds a flute; blue color and flower baskets contain extraordinary things, and he always carries the flower basket; He Xiangu holds lotus flowers in her hands, which are not stained by dust. She always holds lotus flowers. Because they only used the utensils they held and did not draw immortals, they were called the "Eight Dark Immortals", which had an auspicious meaning. They were mostly used in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The horse head at the gate of the second courtyard is a rhinoceros congratulations on the front and flowers of the four seasons on the side. The balustrade sculptures in the corridor in front of the main room of the second courtyard, numbered from east to west, are: magpie climbing plum blossoms, Kuilong soaring in the sky, grapes and seeds, herons and silk herons playing with lotus, and sparrows playing chrysanthemums. The carvings on the entrance door of the east side courtyard include flowers and fruits of the four seasons, as well as music, chess, calligraphy and painting, which also represent auspiciousness.
The large corridors of the three courtyards have a horse head on the front and a unicorn giving birth to a son. On the side are pine, bamboo, plum orchid, plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum. Chinese painting is the general term for the four kinds of flowers, plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum, and flower-and-bird painting is its branch. Many painters in the Song and Yuan Dynasties liked to paint plum trees and pine trees, which were called "Pine, Bamboo and Plum", and also called "Three Friends of Suihan". In the Yuan Dynasty, Wu Zhen added orchids to the "Three Friends", which was called the "Four Friends Picture". During the Wanli period of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty (AD 1573-1619), Huang Fengta compiled "Four Scores of Plum, Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum", and they were also called "Four Gentlemen". Later generations added pine trees or daffodils and strange rocks, collectively known as "Five Pure Ones" or "Five Friends". The third volume of "Picture Biography of Mustard Seed" compiled by Wang Gai in the Qing Dynasty is "Four Scores of Plum, Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum". This type of theme symbolizes noble character and integrity, strength, tenacity, optimism and the spirit of not being afraid of violence.
In the gate tower of the fourth courtyard is an incense burner, and on the side are music, chess, calligraphy and painting. In the courtyard, there are four lions (time) Ruyi, Megan dragon heads, four seasons flowers, flowers blooming and wealth on the "Ladder Cloud Sifting the Moon". There is also a wall on which Zhao Tieshan wrote the inscription. On the right side are the eight dark immortals and the lion rolling the hydrangea, which represents peace and prosperity. There are also phoenixes playing with roosters and deers and cranes springing together. On the left are double fishes and halberds, which are auspicious and one of the traditional decorative patterns. It refers to the picture composed of halberds in ancient weapons, qing and fish patterns in musical instruments, taking halberds and auspiciousness, qings and celebrations, and fish and The homophony of "yu" means that there is more than enough auspiciousness. There are grapes and chrysanthemums on the gatehouse of the main room in the west courtyard. The upper railings are decorated with music, chess, calligraphy, paintings and ancient paintings. There are four horse heads with four lions on the front and four seasons flowers on the sides. In particular, the "Provincial Proverbs" sculpture, like the "Hundred Life Pictures" sculpture mentioned earlier, is also a rare art treasure.
The horse head on the gate of the fifth courtyard is a unicorn giving birth to a son, and the four horse heads in the courtyard are deer, crane, tung pine. The gate tower of the south main room is decorated with chrysanthemums and hundreds of flowers, with seven civil and military stars in the center, which are written in the form of a palindrome of begging for skill, also known as the "Qixi Festival Picture of Begging for Skills". The picture of begging for clever things during the Chinese Valentine's Day is a theme of folk myths and stories. On the seventh night of the seventh lunar month, the Chinese Valentine's Day, it is said that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet at the Tianhe River. That night, women tied colorful knots, pierced seven-hole needles, and laid out melons and fruits in the court to beg for cleverness. Cowherd and Weaver Girl are both star names and evolved into mythical figures. Weaver Girl is the granddaughter of the Emperor of Heaven and has been weaving brocade for many years. After marrying a cowherd from Hexi, weaving stopped. The Emperor of Heaven was furious and ordered him to be separated from the Cowherd and allowed to meet only once every year on the seventh night of the seventh lunar month. "Customs" records: When the Weaver Girl met the Cowherd, magpies built a bridge for her on the Tianhe River, which was named Magpie Bridge. The Chinese Valentine's Day painting of begging for cleverness was originally created by Hou Yi, a painter in the Northern Song Dynasty, and later became widely spread.
On both sides of the entrance door of the east courtyard of the Sixth Courtyard are magpies climbing plum blossoms, and on the back are green bamboos and the three characters "Fu Lu Shou". The four horse heads are the eight dark immortals. There are grapes on the railings of the main house, lotuses in the east and peonies in the west. There is the "Fortune Temple" in the front yard. There are two vivid lions on the Eight Treasures Map and a pattern that is said to be auspicious.
Stone carving: Although the stone carving craftsmanship in the Qiao Family Courtyard is relatively rare, it is very delicate. There are several pairs of stone lions now. The stone lions have different shapes and can be very naive. Some stone lions are pacing forward, their knife patterns are as new as new, their sharp edges are still there, and they appear alert, mighty and active. Its head looks proudly, raising the spirit of the whole body, showing the majesty and heroism of the lion without distortion, giving people a feeling of health, activity and vitality.
There are also shaded line carvings, such as the base of the squatting stone lion at the gate of the five courtyards is "golden lion and white elephant", and in the middle are "immediately sealing the monkey (hou)", "Yanshan teaches the son", "generation after generation seals the marquis" ". The stone base of the pillar in the south room is inscribed with the words "Fishermen, Woodcutter, Farmers and Reading", "Magu Offers Shou" and so on. On the stone foundation of the squatting stone lion at the gate of the Sixth Courtyard, there are lines engraved on it, such as "Coming out of the gate and entering the prime minister", "Shen Tu and Yu Lei" (it is said that in ancient times, Shen Tu and Yu Lei were the door gods, who could ward off evil and avoid ghosts), and "Return to the court after victory". , the images are clear, the story is engaging, the lines are smooth, and the images are realistic.
Colored paintings: There are real gold painted paintings on the lower parts of the eaves of all rooms in the entire compound. The content is mainly about characters and stories, except for "Yanshan Godson", "Ma Gu's Birthday", "Full Bed with Wat", "Fishermen". In addition to "Woodcutter and Farming Reading", there are also various patterns of flowers, plants, insects and birds, as well as railways, trains, stations, clocks and so on. These patterns, including piles of gold and standing powder and paintings of three orchids and five colors, are unique in their own way. The gold foil used is of high purity and is still shining brightly despite being exposed to wind and sun for a long time. The standing powder process is very delicate. One layer must be dried before another layer is added. This is done layer by layer until a realistic relief of an ornament is made, and finally it is coated with gold. The gold coating is applied with oil stains on people's heads. Because it is too thin, the operation must be carried out on a sunny day without rain or wind. It can be seen that completing a pattern work is quite laborious and time-consuming. Others include gold lines and base coloring, all of which are natural stone colors, so they can remain durable and bright in color.
Plaques: There are many plaques hanging in each courtyard of the Qiao Family Courtyard, among which four are the most valuable. Three of the plaques belong to the Qiao family, and they are worthy of pride and honor. Those are the "Benevolent Zhou Yipu" written by Li Hongzhang himself in the fourth year of Guangxu, the "Blessed Plant Langhuan" sent by Shanxi Governor Ding Baoquan on the order of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and the "Blessed Plant Langhuan" given to Qiao Yingkui by Hedong 36th Village, Changyuan, Qi County in the 16th year of the Republic of China. The body is equipped with six elements." The first two pieces show that the Qiao family made donations to the government at a certain period, and were praised by high officials in the imperial court, so they are even more glorious. The latter part also reflects some of the Qiao family's good deeds and their way of dealing with people. Another piece of even greater value is the "Danfeng Pavilion" plaque inscribed by Fu Shan himself (now on display in the east room of the fourth courtyard of the Qiao family). After the "Danfeng Pavilion" was completed, Fu Shan wrote a plaque for it. At the same time, Dai Tingshi wrote "Danfeng Pavilion Notes", and Fu Shan added a postscript at the back. One plaque contains two notes and three postscripts, and the sentences are puzzling. A detailed analysis shows that the general idea of ??Dai Tingshi's "Danfeng Pavilion" is: In September 1660 AD, he had a dream in which he was walking outside the city with several people wearing ancient costumes. Suddenly a big change happened. When I looked back, there was no smooth road. In front of me was a cliff, covered with maple trees and pine trees. There was a small pavilion in the middle with the word "Dan Maple" written on it. …. After he woke up, he built the "Danfeng Pavilion" according to the pattern in his dream. In fact, Dai Tingshi dreamed of people traveling in ancient costumes, which symbolized his nostalgia for his homeland. There was a big change, a change in the political situation. The true meaning of "Danfeng Pavilion" is: the country was destroyed and the national crisis was imminent, so "Danfeng Pavilion" was built to express the pain of the Ming Dynasty's death. Fu Shan said in the "Postscript" written after "Danfeng Pavilion": "Dan" refers to the center of reading, "Feng" is Dai Tingshi's character, and "ge" is the place where Dai Tingshi studied. Therefore, "ge" was named "feng" and the word "dan" was written in front to make it more eye-catching. "Dan" means red and loyalty; "Feng" means integrity and red, both of which are full of nostalgia for the Zhu family of the Ming Dynasty.
In addition, there are plaques on the doors of each hospital, such as "Tong Yun Lao", "Scrupulous and thrifty virtues", "Book fields for generations", "Reading has a long taste", "A hundred years of cultivating people", "Wei Huai Yong" "Picture", "The most joyful thing is to do good", "Safety of residence", "Multiple blessings", "Building a good home", "Jingguanxuan", "Tianyun sifts the moon", etc. all have certain specific meanings.
In short, the Qiao Family Courtyard is not only a treasure house of architectural art, but also a palace of folklore. Stepping into it, you will not only enjoy the beauty, but also gain a lot of knowledge. Therefore, a visit to Qixian Folk Museum will make you feel that it is a worthwhile trip in terms of art, science, culture and interest.