In the first year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty, Wang Xigun and his family entered the pass from Long. In the fourth year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1647 AD), Wang Xigun was granted the title of Yaoshan, Baoding, southwest of Beijing. Due to the title, he occupied a large amount of land in surrounding counties and counties. Later, Wang Xigun used the enclosed land to develop agriculture, collect land rents, create manors, open soy sauce gardens, and set up businesses.
Through the efforts of several generations of the Wang family, 12 complete sets of manors have been built in Yaoshan. From south to north, there are three building groups: Nanyuan, Shanglitang and Zunyitang. The fully preserved one is called "South Garden". The interior of the manor is bounded by the road and divided into two parts: the north is the construction area and the south is the courtyard. The outside of the courtyard is supplemented by ditches and courtyard walls. The existing buildings in the manor have two courtyards on the east road, a four-entry courtyard on the middle road, and only one courtyard on the west road, which is called the Puzi courtyard. There are two waiting rooms on the left and right of each door. Every time you enter the manor, there is a hanging flower door. The front of the door is exquisitely carved with lotus and hanging flowers, and the bluestone-carved drum is placed opposite it. There is a screen wall outside the main entrance, which is 12 meters long and 6 meters high. The wall base is exquisitely carved with limestone in the style of a Xumizuo. According to records, this screen wall alone cost one thousand taels of silver.
The main buildings of Wang's Manor in Yaoshan, Baoding are laid out in a square shape, arranged in a straight line from north to south. There are two rows of quadrangles arranged east and west. Each courtyard of the quadrangle is connected from front to back and connected from left to right. The whole building is mainly gray in tone, simple and elegant, giving people a solemn and elegant feeling.
One of the most important architectural features of the Wang Manor in Yaoshan, Baoding is its exquisite carvings. These carvings include brick carvings, stone carvings and wood carvings, all with the theme of "Fu, Lu, Longevity". The homophonic sounds of the carved objects form auspicious blessings. In Renhetang, Wang Xigun's residence, the brick carvings in the second courtyard are very outstanding. The brick carvings on the west end of the main hall are figures, peonies, longans, lions and leopards. They create a blissful realm of harmonious coexistence between animals and people, great wealth and great reunion. There are 13 small animals carved on the lower corner pillars. The upper part has "Become a Marquis immediately" and "Become a Marquis from generation to generation". The lower part has tigers, leopards, geckos, cabbages, and grasshoppers, which mean the wealth of the country. The texture is carved on the pine tree. The yin and yang of pine needles are in opposite directions, which is very particular. On the brick carving on the east end of the main hall, someone is drawing a bow and shooting an arrow, and a rooster is crowing, which means success and fame. The corner pillars below are carved with "Three Yang Kaitai".
After inspection, relevant experts believe that Wang's Manor belongs to the category of northern courtyard houses and is modeled after the Prince's Mansion in Beijing. It is different from the Qiao Family Courtyard in Shanxi and the Hakka residences in Guangdong. The construction skills of Wang's Manor are also very high. For example, the use of ground bricks and joints. At that time, the bricks were required to be large on the outside and small on the inside. The large screen wall opposite the main entrance of Renhe Hall is made of polished bricks and seams. It is about 9 meters long. Such a large screen wall is very rare in folk houses in northern China. It is also an intuitive textbook of modern history. The rise and fall of the Wang family and the manor reflects the rise and fall of an era and a nation. It is also an out-and-out folk museum, where the construction of houses, the use of decorations, and life scenes all highlight Established the etiquette and customs of large families in feudal society.
It is not only a precious material for studying the folk customs of the Qing Dynasty, but also a good place for tourism. In recent years, it has also become a film and television shooting location, such as "Wild Fire, Spring Breeze Fighting in the Ancient City" and "The First Floor in the World" , "The First Story of the Storm", "The Final Battle", many scenes in the TV series "Hot Land", "Song of Youth", and "The Granary of the World" were filmed here.
The Wang Manor in Yaoshan, Baoding is a typical group of Qing Dynasty ancient buildings with garden style and well-preserved.
The part of the South Garden that is currently restored and open has a square architectural layout and is arranged in a straight line from north to south. It is a large courtyard where four generations live together. There are two rows of courtyards arranged east and west, nine courtyards, and more than 100 houses. The fourth courtyard of "Renhetang" on the west road is the residential area of ??the old owner Wang Xigun; the third courtyard of "Menghetang" on the east road is the residential area of ??Wang Xisuo's third son Wang Pei.
The courtyards of the quadrangle are connected from front to back and connected from left to right. The nine main doors of the fourth entrance courtyard are all on a vertical axis, and all the porches of the first courtyard are on a horizontal axis. Its regulations from south to north are: shop, court room, waist room (family temple), bottom room (treasury); on the left and right there are study room, kitchen, long room, watch room, etc. The courtyard between the two roads is called Ronghuayuan, which is where the family holds large-scale activities and where the theater is located. There are towering ancient locust trees on both sides of the “Locust Tree Tree Road” in the east and west of the courtyard, blocking out the clouds and the sun. There are two main entrances and two side entrances in the north of the road.
There is a screen wall built outside the main entrance of "Renhe Hall". The wall pedestal is carefully carved from limestone into the style of a Xumizuo, and there is also a pair of horse stones with tiger skin patterns. The main building of the manor stands on a straight-walled bluestone platform nearly one meter high, with the platform height ranging from three to five steps. The square brick floor in the courtyard is in the shape of a single eaves hard mountain gray cloth roof and a raised beam wooden frame. The building color is mainly gray, simple and elegant. The brick, stone and wood carvings are exquisite and classical, giving people a sense of solemnity and elegance, which is rare in northern my country.
In addition to viewing the architecture of the residences of wealthy families, you can also take a look at the various exhibitions inside, such as the living customs exhibition of the large residences, the Shunping cultural relics exhibition, the Zhili wedding customs exhibition, etc.; If you are interested, you can participate in folk activities such as tea tasting, theater watching, dressing up and taking photos; sitting in a sedan chair, paying homage to the flower hall, and singing in the hall.
There are multiple houses distributed within the high walls of the manor, named "Tang". The layout of the entire manor is divided into four parts by three inner streets from north to south, namely the North Garden, the Middle Garden, the South Garden and the Changyuan. When the manor was built, the total construction area was more than 30,000 square meters, with more than 50 houses and more than 500 houses in three manor buildings.
The Wang Manor in Yaoshan, Baoding, is an ancient residence with typical characteristics of northern China. It adopts the architectural regulations of Beijing courtyards and boldly innovates, reflecting its unique architectural personality. It is a grand view garden of northern China's residential architectural culture. .