Yuci Ancient Town, which is now open, is a natural fusion of China urban culture and ancient architectural art in China, with an area of 1 10,000 square meters and a construction area of 600,000 square meters. The whole ancient town is like a pearl with a long charm. Its main attractions, Yuci City God Temple, Yuci County Government, Confucian Temple, Feng Ming Academy, Ximen Wengcheng, Ming and Qing Streets, Qingxu Pavilion, Dacheng Temple, Heritage Garden and East-West Garden, skillfully integrate nature, humanities, history and art, and folk art museums with various characteristics are scattered all over them, reflecting the ancient times. Chenghuang Temple, a famous temple in the ancient city, is one of the best-preserved Huangcheng temples in China and a national key cultural relic protection unit. 1999 was announced by the World Historical and Cultural Heritage Protection Foundation as one of the most exquisite ancient buildings in the world. After the wind and rain, the charm remains the same, carved beams and painted buildings, colorful. Its unique artistic ingenuity and unique architectural composition fully embody the ideological connotation of "Man and God ruling together" in ancient China. The whole old city integrates the ancient city walls, ancient county halls, ancient temples, ancient streets, ancient shops, ancient houses and other cultural landscapes as well as natural scenery such as mountains, waters, forests, springs and waterfalls, and integrates national culture, Yellow River culture, Sanjin culture, Shanxi merchant culture and urban culture in one furnace, fully demonstrating Yuci's profound cultural heritage. Yuci Old Town, located in the south of Yuci, was built in the second year of Emperor Kai of Sui Dynasty (AD 582) and has a history of 1400 years. It is an excellent gathering place for China's urban culture, political culture, religious culture, commercial culture and residential culture based on ancient architecture art. Yuci Ancient Town is a typical ancient city in China, which has both the size of a county seat and the characteristics of a rich city. Its magnificent momentum, exquisite art and complete functions are rare in China. I. Historical Evolution China's "city" began with the Yellow Emperor's "building a capital, establishing a city and distributing land among the people". Yuci City, which existed from time to time during the Warring States Period, was established by Wan Yu's Yuzhou State, but its establishment was abolished and it often changed. The existing Yuci Old Town is located in the southwest of Han Old Town, which was built in the second year of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty (582). When it was first built, it was a tucheng. The city is "Friday, three feet high, four feet wide, two feet wide, wide and high, half deep". Because Yuci is the south gate of Taiyuan, the provincial capital, and has always been a battleground for military strategists, the city must be strong. In the 23rd year of Ming Chenghua (1487), Liang Yan, a county magistrate, rebuilt the city wall, built a small part of it with bricks, wrapped the city gate with iron sheets, and planted willows all over the outer edge of the moat for protection. In the 20th year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty (154 1 year), Anda invaded Yuci. At that time, Li Peng, the magistrate of Yuci County, practiced with Kou Tianyu, a Yuci who was sent by the court to be the magistrate of Yuci County. After several months of renovation, all the earth walls have been built into brick walls, with the wall base widened by ten feet to five feet and the wall height increased by five feet to three feet and five feet. There are 20 enemy platforms, 4 watchtowers and 65,438+06 police shops on the city wall. At the same time, the moat was cleaned again. This is the largest and most thorough renovation in Yuci City. Since then, Yuci City has changed from a earthen city to a brick city, which can be described as a strict barrier. Yuci City has four doors and a superstructure. The east gate is called Yingxin Gate, the south gate is called Guanlan Gate, the west gate is called Daifen Gate, and the north gate is called Wangyue Gate. Nanguan Village in Yuci is located outside the south gate of Yuci City. In the 20th year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty (154 1), when Anda invaded Yuci, Yuci city was impregnable, and the officials and people in the city survived, but Nanguan, which is close to the county seat, was bloodbath by thieves and soldiers. Thieves and soldiers plundered for ten days, thousands of people stopped working, and half of them were burned and robbed. So the next year, in the twentieth year of Jiajing (1542), the magistrate of a county presided over the construction of Guo as Nanguan. Thieves and soldiers plundered for ten days, thousands of people stopped working, and half of them were burned and robbed. So the next year, in the twentieth year of Jiajing (1542), the magistrate of a county presided over the construction of Guo as Nanguan. Guo Cheng is a semi-circular tucheng, with its east and west ends connected with the county seat. "Zhouza is 547 feet high, 10 foot high, 10 foot wide, 2 feet wide, 20 feet wide and more than ten feet deep." To this end, Nanmen Wengcheng was demolished. Guo Cheng in Nanguan is low and shallow, so the attack of Anda is not enough to defend against the enemy, and it is suspected of involving big cities and pools, which is worried by the officials and people of Chengguan for a while. In the forty-first year of Jiajing (1562), Xiao Daheng, a magistrate of a county, planned to repair Nanguan Guo Cheng with bricks, but failed to move. Until the 21st year of Wanli (1593) and thereafter, with the strong support of Xiao Daheng (then Datong House), Xu Shouqian and Zhang Heteng strengthened Guo Cheng, raised Tucheng and built it with bricks, reaching the goal of "653 feet a week, three feet high, two feet and five feet wide at the base, one foot and eight feet wide at the top, and set up twelve enemy platforms, which are higher than buildings". The post outside the swimming pool is five feet high. "There are three gates near Yuci City in the north of the country: south, east and west. There is a guard room on the city gate. The plaque at the south gate is "Wanchun" (called Guomen in folk), the plaque on the left is "Zuo Dong" (called Xiaodongmen in folk), and the plaque on the right is "Xi City" (called Xiaoximen in folk). This year, the Yuci Old Town, which consists of the county seat and Guo Cheng, was basically finalized. Although it has been repaired many times, it has not changed much on the whole. By the end of the 20th century, as a symbol of the old city, Yuci old city only kept a small piece of wall soil at the west gate and the south gate. In May, 2002, under the concern of all walks of life, China Yuci District Committee and Government established the Assassinated Ancient City Cultural Tourism Development Co., Ltd. to carry out rescue restoration of Yuci Ancient City. The scope starts from Xiaojingxiang in the north, ends at Zhangjiaxiang in the south, ends at Jiapailou Street in the east, and ends at Ximen, including the inner south of Yuci old city and the north of Nanguan, as well as part of Ximen and Ximen in the old city. In September, 2003, the first phase of the project was completed, and the shops at Chenghuang Temple, County Government, Qingxu Pavilion, Shilou, South, North and East Streets and on both sides of the street were restored and opened to tourists. In September 2004, the second phase of the project was completed, the Confucian Temple and Feng Ming Academy were restored, and all the building facilities were improved. The open Yuci ancient town attracts tourists from all directions and countless officials, experts, scholars and artists, marveling at its exquisite architecture and profound cultural heritage. At the same time, the 6th China Folk Culture and Art Festival was held here, and Yuci became the first county-level city to hold a national art festival. Second, the structural layout Yuci old city is located on the alluvial plain formed by small rivers and Jianhe rivers, showing geometric orientation. It consists of the county town in the north and Guo Cheng in the south, also known as the mother town, with the county town as the mother town and Guo Cheng as the sub-town. Structurally, the mother city and the sub-city are connected to form Yuci carp city, with the head south and the tail north. The mother city is a fish belly, the sub-city is a fish head, the north and south streets are fish ridges, the east and west gates are fish side fins, and the Qingxu Pavilion in the middle of the south gate is a dorsal fin. According to folklore, there is a well in the underground center of Qingxu Pavilion, which leads to the sea in secret. Carps lie on it and have a long breath. The layout of the city is centered on the location of the tower, forming four urban main roads, east, west, north and south. The east is called East Street, which leads directly to the East Gate. Chenghuangmiao and the county government are just to the north of this street, which is the political center of Yuci Old Town. The west is called Longwangmiao Street, but it doesn't pass through the west gate. The street leading to Ximen is called Ximen Street, which is about 50 meters away from Longwangmiao Street in the south. Confucian Temple and Feng Ming Academy are located in these two blocks, forming the cultural and educational center of Yuci ancient town. North is North Street, which leads directly to the North Gate; South is South Street, which leads directly to the south gate. Out of the South Gate, you will arrive at Nanguan, Guo Cheng. The landmark building in Guo Cheng is called Qingxu Pavilion. With Qingxu Pavilion as the center, there are four main roads in Guo Cheng: Gebei, Genan, Ge Dong and Gexi Street, in which Gebei Street leads directly to the south gate of the county seat and forms a north-south street with Nanjie Street. North Street, South Street and Gebei Street together constitute the commercial street of Yuci Old Town, that is, the commercial center of the old town. Qingxu Pavilion is a religious building integrating Buddhism and Taoism. Out of the east gate of Qingxu Pavilion Square, there is a large-scale Buddhist building-Dacheng Temple. There are many streets and lanes in the old city of Yuci, and a large number of houses have been built in these streets and lanes. The regional division of Yuci City began in the fourth year of Yuan Dynasty (1344), and Liu Yong, then the magistrate of Yuci, divided the city and Nanguan into thirteen squares. The names of the thirteen squares divided by Liu Yong are Xuanhua Square, Shanzheng Square, Yuxian Square, Shumin Square, Xianning Square, Yanghe Square, Xiangui Square, Deng Shi Square, Xianxi Square, Purun Square, Dehui Square, Lishi Square and Yingen Square. At that time, the locations of thirteen squares were briefly recorded in the county annals: Xuanhua Square was in front of the county government (county government), Yuxian Square was in front of Confucianism (Confucian Temple), Yingen Square was in Beimen Street, Yanghe Square was in Nanmen Street, Shanzheng Square was in the west of the county government (county government), Shumin Square was in the east of the county government (county government), Xianning Square was in Dongmen Street and Xiangui Square was in Hufu Street. In the twentieth year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (154 1), when Anda invaded, there were sixteen police shops in Yuci, and the residents in the city were also divided into sixteen, which corresponded to the sixteen police shops one by one, and the army and the people were one, and * * * defended against the enemy. It divides the city into nine shops, five in Nanguan, one in Dadongguan and one in Xiaodongguan. The nine stores in the city are: No.2 Northwest Store, No.1 North Store, No.1 West Store, No.1 Southeast Store, No.1 Southwest Store, No.1 East Store, No.1 Northeast Store and No.1 County-centered Store. The five shops in Nanguan are: one in the west of Guancheng, one in the east of Guancheng, one in the northeast of Guancheng, one in the southwest of Guancheng and one in the southeast of Guancheng. In the eighth year of the Republic of China (19 19), the urban and suburban three tubes (Nanguan, Dadongguan and Xiaodongguan) were divided into seven districts: East Street, South Street, West Street, North Street, Nanguan, Dadongguan and Xiaodongguan, which were referred to as four streets and three passes for short. Among them, Guanxi Street in Beiguan belongs to West Street, Guanxi Road in Dongguan belongs to North Street, Wengcheng to Datong Road in the northwest, South Street and North Street in the south, which are divided into four streets, East Street from Fujiekou Road to Xiaojingkou, North Street from Xiaojingkou to Beicheng, West Street from Beicheng to Ximenkou, South Street from Ximenkou to Nanjie, and Xiaoxiguan belongs to Nanjie. Due to the uneven population distribution, the county government, the Confucian Temple and the difficult surrounding areas have become crowded areas. Therefore, the most distinctive houses in Yuci Old Town are located in the area of Hufu Street, south of East Street and east of South Street.