dai yang ancient town

Visit - Shanxi - Dai Yang Ancient Town

8/31/2015

Photo: BWPI

Shanxi has a plethora of ancient villages, estimated to be over 3500 in number, many with features over 800 years old. Some 500 of these are well preserved whilst others crumble.

The province has a long history, as one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. It is impacted by multi ethnic inhabitation, multi cultural integration and large difference in terrain.

The many ancient villages and towns reflect the farming, business, literary and military cultures along with other local characteristics.

Whilst on vacation, Barry Wilson visited one such village, Dai Yang Ancient Town near Jincheng in southern Shanxi, in order to survey the traditional village layout, review the life conditions of the inhabitants there and to consider options for invigorating their economy with a view to preserving village structures and traditions.

The village put on a marvellous festival of local music, food and culture, including a unique puppet wrestling show carried out by 3 male generations of a local family, where each member fake wrestled with their puppet strapped to their bodies. Also witnessed was domestic needle making, using small fires and bellows within the traditional four building courtyards. Such intangible cultural heritage is invaluable to the future of such villages yet rapidly becoming lost.

The economic livelihood of the village inhabitants was generally poor. Income sources are unreliable, predominantly based on agriculture and sanitary and health conditions basic. The life improvements generated through urbanising Chinese cities has yet to manifest itself in these rural areas.

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