"how many are there in the Wang Family Residence" -- the impression of Shanxi Studies (3)

After folk lunch on October 20, we drove to Lingshi, Shanxi.

After the team leader introduced the "Qiao family" family history of Shanxi merchants in the car, the students were fascinated by the words "legendary family motto", "rich enemy country", "never do business" and so on. These words have added more legendary color to our research trip. The guide told us that since most of the Qiao family compound has been privately owned, the "Wang family compound" will be chosen as a place to personally experience the culture of Shanxi merchants.

Walking into the Wang family compound, teachers and students personally experienced the three characteristics of Shanxi merchant architecture-1. The building of the Wang family compound has the characteristics of "expensive but not beautiful". And condensed with the natural simplicity, fresh and elegant, bright and concise local style. 2. The brick carvings, wood carvings and stone carvings of the Wang family compound are rich in themes and skillful, and have adopted a large number of symbols, metaphors, homonyms and even taboo art forms recognized by secular ideas. With the joint participation of scholars, painters and sculptors, flowers, birds, fish and insects, mountain stone boats, allusions, opera figures or carved in bricks, or carved in stone, or engraved in wood, reflecting the style of architectural decoration in the Qing Dynasty. It integrates the thoughts of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism with the traditional folk culture. 3. The architectural decoration of the Wangjia compound is a collection of "slender and dense" in the Qing Dynasty, and the structural accessories are gorgeous and exquisite, elegant and elegant, such as the wooden carvings on the porch, the forehead, the sparrow, etc., as well as the stone carving decoration such as the stone stone and wall cornerstone, as well as the couplet plaques in each courtyard, with various forms and excellent workmanship, reflecting the architectural characteristics of "sturdy, practical and beautiful" folk houses in the ancient north of China.

Walking in the row after row, the scale of the Wang family compound, we can not help but think of the last visit to Wuyuan, Jiangxi Huizhou merchants home, students enthusiastically discussed the similarities and differences between Huizhou merchants and Shanxi merchants.

Whether it is Huizhou or Jin style, business or official, history shows us the Chinese people pay the most attention to "loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, faith", the simple architecture can not speak, but let us more vividly experience the spirit of excellent traditional culture.