Jingping Ancient Village in Zhongfang County is 15 kilometers away from Huaihua City, covering an area of 1.5 square kilometers. It is National 3A Tourist Attraction, National Agricultural Tourism Demonstration Site, National Cultural Relics Protection Unit, a famous historical and cultural village in Hunan Province, and featured tourist village in Hunan Province. Jingping is an ancient village with a history of thousands of years and the birthplace of Wushui culture. According to historical records, this village was an ancient city in the Warring States Period (475-221 B. C.), the capital of the ancient Zangke State, Wuyang County in the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.-220), and Xuzhou City in the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties. It was abandoned in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) due to the war, and gradually became a place of thorns. Pan Zhenzhou, the grandson of Pan Renmei, Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty, led the Pan family to exile here, and built a village on the flat land by using thorns. So it is called Jingping. There are more than 20 ancient cultural relics in the village, including ancient ancestral temples, ancient post roads, ancient trees, ancient wells, and ancient folk houses. The village is also the hometown of Pan Shiquan, Emperor Qianlong’s enlightenment teacher. Jingping Ancient Village is also a place with beautiful environment and clean village appearance. It is a provincial spiritual civilization village and one of the province’s “pollution-free” vegetable bases. The main scenic spots are Pan’s Ancestral Hall, Wutong Temple, Pan Shiquan’s Former Residence, Tang Dynasty Ancient Well, Seven Star Beidou Ancient Trees, Hydrological Stele, Bagua Lane, Festival and Filial Piety Square, etc. According to the research of the cultural relics department, there is a paleolithic site named Xinyuan Site in the village, which dates back to 50,000 to 100,000 years ago. Its discovery filled the gap of the Paleolithic in Hunan Province at that time.

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1. Pan Ancestral Hall. According to the records of the Pan clan genealogy in Jingping, the Pan clan ancestral hall in Jingping was first built in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). At that time, because there was no custom of building ancestral halls among the people, only one ancestral temple was built to worship ancestral tablets and simply offer sacrifices. The existing Panshi Ancestral Hall was first built in the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Six large-scale additions and repairs were carried out in the sixth year of Jiaqing (1796-1820), the fourteenth year of Daoguang (1820-1850), the eighth year of Guangxu (1875-1908), the thirty sixth year of the Republic of China (1949), 1993, and 2002. The Pan Ancestral Hall is not only a simple record of the clan and memorial to the ancestors, but also a symbol of spiritual dependence and embodiment of the family name culture. Pan’s Ancestral Temple is built on the bank of Wushui River in Jingping Ancient Village. It is close to the mountain and the water, facing the east in the west. Surrounded by ancient trees, it has beautiful scenery and gathers the essence of Jingping Fengshui. Looking from the riverside, the huge archway with dragons winding around it is magnificent, solemn and exquisite.

2. Wutong Temple. Wutong Temple is built on the left side of Pan’s Ancestral Hall, with a small gate on the right side connecting with the ancestral hall. When holding a large temple fair and a celebration of paying the gods for their vows, you can borrow the space and functions of the ancestral hall. Wutong Temple was first built in the 19th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It was moved from Shunfu Village, ten miles downstream. The monument to the temple built in that year is still in the temple. The architectural structure of Wutong Temple is basically the same as that of Guansheng Temple on the right, and the building area is also roughly the same. However, because of the different terrain, Wutong Temple is built according to the situation, and there are buildings on all sides. Therefore, unlike Guansheng Temple, the garden in front of the main hall has only one patio, and Guanyin Hall and God of Wealth Hall are built on both sides of the patio. The buildings on both sides were rebuilt in 2008. The gate of the temple was an ancient Chinese post house at that time. The Wutong Temple was located at the mouth of the town. The ancient Chinese post house connects Chenzhou Prefecture in the north, Jingzhou Prefecture in the south, Baoqing Prefecture in the east, and Yuanzhou Prefecture in the west. It was an important passage to provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan. There were a lot of business travelers coming and going. In order to ensure the safety of business travelers in all directions, and drive out local disasters and epidemics, the temple was specially built here. The temple was dedicated to the Great Emperor of the Five Connections and Five Manifestates. For four hundred years, Wutong God has blessed the land and water in Jingping, where homes are safe, diseases and disasters are eliminated, and prosperity, wealth and wealth are all available. Until now, the incense sticks in Wutong Temple are still thriving.

3. Former Residence of Pan Shiquan. The former residence of Pan Shiquan is located in Wufangzi, the courtyard of Pan’s family, with an original building area of more than 1,000 square meters. It consists of a gate, a lobby, a courtyard, left and right horizontal houses, a main house and a backyard. The patio is very spacious, and the hall has two floors, which are respectively connected with the left and right horizontal houses and the horse walking tower. There is also an interlayer built inside the fire wall. When entering the interlayer, you can only enter from the movable plank upstairs. There is no sign outside. If the bandits invade, the elderly, women and children can be hidden inside. With preparation of a few days of food and water, they can safely escape the bandits. However, in the 10th year of the Republic of China, a frustrated landlord of the Pan clan in Tongling called Gou Hung Beard killed the bandit leader at that time because he refused to pay the protection fee of the bandits. Thousands of bandits near Western Hunan set fire to Pan’s family. The former residence of Pan Shiquan was burned down in the same year, and the gate and hall were rebuilt and demolished by the owner in the 1970s. At present, the former residence of Pan Shiquan is still inhabited by his nine generations of descendants. The front half of the existing gate is a screen wall, and the four fire sealing walls are basically preserved. The original gate foundation and patio bluestone ground are preserved as well.

4. Ancient Wells in Tang Dynasty. On the longan in the Longmai Cave of Jingping Ancient Village, the ancestors of Jingping “mutually inscribe yin and yang and deeply cut several grooves” to dig this millennium old well here. For thousands of years, the sweet water of the well has been continuously feeding generations of Jingping people. An old man in the village told us that even in the case of a hundred year drought, the well would not dry up, and the water level of the ancient well was about 12 meters away from the wellhead all the year round (the depth of the well was 19.5 meters), because the ancient well was completed by the unique “1,000 layer masonry” process. The so-called “thousand layer masonry” refers to building a layer inside the well with stone chips and three compound mortar, then tamping a layer with three compound soil, and then building the outside with stone chips. The houses are stacked, which is called “thousand layer masonry”. This process can ensure the quality of well water, prevent surface water from entering and ensure that there is clean groundwater in the well. According to the inscription on the ancient well which was built in the 36th year of Qianlong’s reign, the ancient well has been built for “many years”, so the date of its construction cannot be verified. However, the bluestone well edge of the well has been carved 36 and a half deep grooves with hemp rope by people who have been drawing water here for many years, with the deepest reaching 10.5 cm. This can prove that the well is at least more than 1000 years old, and it can also prove that the population living in Jingping was relatively large at that time. There is another story about the thirty-six and a half deep grooves. It is said that scholars from other places came to Beijing to take an exam. They came to Jingping to ask for water. The local villagers would ask them to count the grooves on the wellhead. If they counted correctly, they would succeed in the Imperial Examination. If not, they would have to go back home to study hard for three more years. It is said that few people can count the thirty-six and a half grooves correctly.

5. Seven Star Ancient Trees. There are seven thousand-year-old trees in Jingping, all arranged according to the position of the Big Dipper. Seven ancient trees are classified from species and belong to Euphorbiaceae Chongyang species. Locals call them Chongyang trees. According to the estimation of the forestry department, it is more than 1,000 years old. At that time, it was said that the seven trees were planted by Duke Zhen of Jingping, the ancestor of Jingping, because it had been 936 years since Zhenzhou to Jingping, which was just the same as the estimated age of ancient trees by the forestry department. According to the Records of Qianyang County in the 13th year of Tongzhi’s reign in the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912), “Shuangfeng Bridge is 60 miles north of Qianyang County. There are two bridges, seven Chongyang trees beside them, and things from the Song Dynasty (960-1279).” It can be seen from the ancient county annals that it is credible that Chongyang trees were planted by the first ancestor of the Pan family, Duke Zhenzhou. In those years, Zhen Zhou found that there was not a “Wenfeng Mountain” among the many peaks in Jingping Mianping (called the high and sharp mountain in the southeast, which looks like a pen tip in feng shui). In order to make up for the style of Jingping, he planted these seven Chongyang trees in the southeast of the village entrance, which were arranged according to the Big Dipper. Because the Big Dipper is a symbol of cultural prosperity, and the Pan family built the “Wenchang Pavilion” and the “Paper Tower” in the position of the “Wenqu Star” among the seven stars in order to make cultural prosperity. So at that time, the Pan family in Jingping was once in vogue for literary style and a large number of talents emerged. During the “Great Leap Forward” period (1958-1960) after liberation, ancient trees were destroyed all over the country, but the Pan family in Jingping survived the calamity. They believed that the seven trees were the cultural shield that protected the Jingping’s children and the literary style. If they were damaged, the geomantic omen of Jingping would be affected.

6. Hydrological monument. On the fire sealing wall of the ancestral hall on the right side of the entrance to the Wutong Temple, 4.5 meters above the ground, a 32 cm long and 20 cm wide rectangular blue stone brick was embedded in the wall, on which 15 characters were engraved in regular script with clear characters, “The flood rose to this point three days after the Dragon Boat Festival in the sixth year of Jiaqing (1796-1820).” This is a hydrological monument. It records that the water level of Wushui River rose to this position in the sixth year of Jiaqing. At that time, the whole village was like a vast ocean, which was also the earliest hydrological record found in the Wushui River Region. It provided important historical data for the study of hydrological changes in the Wushui River Region and flood control and disaster relief. There are also two hydrologic tablets at the lower left of it, which record the water levels of the floods in June 2004 and June 1995 respectively. The flood in 2004 is also a once-in-a-century event, but it is still two feet lower than that in 1801, and much smaller in 1995. But why did so many floods not damage the ancient buildings and folk houses in Jingping Village? This is also due to the fish shaped geomantic treasure land chosen by the ancestor Duke Zhen Zhou in those years, which enabled the descendants of Pan family to live and work here for thousands of years and flourish their families.

7. Bagua Lane. Jingping Bagua Alley was designed by the ancestors of the fifth and sixth houses of the Pan family when they first built the Pan family courtyard. It was built in the Yuan (1271-1368) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties. At present, it is mainly inhabited by two groups of villagers, namely Jingping Memorial Archway and Xinyuan. They are all descendants of the fifth and sixth houses of the Pan family, with a total of about 100 households and 500 people. The Bagua Alley is composed of nine bluestone alleys with a length of 100 meters. There are square and arch gates at the entrances of the alleys in eight directions. These nine alleys are two to three meters wide, which is completely different from the alleys in ancient villages in the south. They are designed with wide alleys and high walls in northern villages. All the nine alleys are south-north. Countless T-shaped alleys and S-shaped turns are designed between the nine alleys. This design turns the Pan’s compound in Jingping into a nine palace and eight trigrams formation. First, it can regulate geomantic omen to “hide wind and gather qi”. The ancients believed that the roadway was designed as a cross, which was an image of money leakage. It was unfavorable. The T-shaped roadway and the “S” turning were conducive to gathering wealth and luck, while the north-south Jiugong roadway was convenient for ventilation, making the courtyard inside warm in winter and cool in summer. Second, it can guard against theft and bandits. The eight gates opened in eight directions of the ancient village are all tall iron gates, while Jiugong Lane and Chess Lane are zigzag. It is difficult for outsiders to get out if they have entered. If a bandit enters one of the doors, the local villagers can close all the doors so that they can shut the door and put the bandit in an inescapable situation. It is said that in ancient times, a thief climbed the wall and entered the Pan’s compound at night. He stole a lot of things, but he couldn’t find the exit at dawn, so he was caught by the local villagers.

Although the current Bagua Alley is not complete, only four alleys and two gates survived yet. The Ming Dynasty Bazizhai Gate in the north of the Panjia Courtyard also has only a space and a vaguely recognizable foundation of the Bazizhai Gate. However, some foreign tourists sometimes turn around here for a long time without finding the exit.

8. Arch of Chastity and Filial Piety. The Arch of Chastity and Filial Piety was built in May of the fifth year of Yongzheng’s reign and completed in July of the seventh year of Yongzheng’s reign. It was built to commend the aunt of Pan Shiquan, Mrs. Li. Fourteen years after Li’s marriage to the Pan family, her husband Pan Jun (a top five official) died in office. She endured hardships and raised her four sons as widows for half a century. All four sons passed the examinations and became officials. In addition, in order to save her seriously ill father-in-law, Li Shi used her own milk to feed him, which can be described as “filial piety that moves heaven”. So Li’s deeds can be regarded as a paragon of virtue. At the age of 51, the king of Qianyang Main Hall made a commendation and Wang Guanguang wrote an inscription. Emperor Yongzheng gave her such a chastity memorial arch. The archway was made of blue bricks and red sandstone, with four columns and three open double eaves. On the archway is written the word “filial piety”. On the top is the design of two dragons and two phoenixes. On the top of the archway is embedded two dragons robbing the treasure, and in the middle is a word “imperial edict” to show the meaning of “imperial edict”. The crossbeam is engraved with the story of “Twenty four Filial Pieties” and “Li’s Teaching for Her Sons”. In particular, there is a piece of sand and stone in the story of Li’s teaching, which is engraved with the Chinese character “Zhong” (忠). On the picture, Li wrote a big “Zhong” on the ground with a stick, and beside it, his son read the character “Zhong” with his finger touching the ground. There were two pairs of lion embracing drum carved with red sandstone on the four pillars of the archway. Unfortunately, they were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). There are two inscribed bricks on the brick wall behind the archway. One is above the lintel, engraved with “July in the 7th year of Yongzheng”, indicating the time of completion. The other is on the lower right, engraved with “Made by Shunfu Craftsman”, indicating that the brick was fired by the craftsmen of Shunfu Village, and it was so durable that could test the time.  

(Translated by Tian Xia)