Lijiang (Dayan Town) -Bright Pearls of Chinese Architecture
The Location of Lijiang
Beneath snow-capped peaks, ancient Lijiang City covering an area of 1. 5 square kilometers is located on lhe embankment of Lijiang (Hu Li River) in Yunnan Province. More than 4, 000 families live in the city, which includes the ancient town and the new town. It is su~ounded by the Lion Mountain in the west, the Elephant Mountain and Golden Row Mountain in the north. The mountains shelter it from the cold wind. Fertile fields of dozens of kilometers long grow to the southeast of the city. Clear spring water named Jade Spring flows in three streams from the west and north through the city i re c n s " e e ' Di~ewr~dtaha~nel ,of there spring household. Local inhabi have nventlon of dnnkmg in the first spring, washing vegetables in the second spring and washing clothes in the third spring. The flowing stream and drooping willows have earned it the nickname "Venice of the East". The city is also favored with plentiful sunlight and east west winds.
2 The Local Residenls
Lijiang is the home of murals painted by people of Naxi, Han and Tibetan nationalities. Many artists were invited to paint them by herdsman Mu during the Ming Dynasty. The murals cover a total a~a of 139.22 square meters on 55 walls of Debaoji Palace, Dabao Pavilion, Liuli Hall and Daque Palace in Lathe. The largest mural is 2. O7 meters high and 4. 48 meters wide containing 600 figures on it. The murals are mainly about religious themes, and are drawn meticulously in bright and vivid'colors. They are a combination of various culture and customs of different nationalities and religions in Chine. It not only reflects the open-mindedness of Naxi nationality to other cultures and beliefs, but also a valuable treasure of the Chinese art and culture.
The Naxi people today engage in agriculture, handicraft industries, animal husbandry arid tourism. The Naxi men dress more or less as their Han compatriots do. The women wear big-sleeved, long and wide jackets and vests, pleated aprons and sheepskin capes embroidered with symbolic constellations representing their life "under the canopy of the moon and stars". Naxi people celebrate their ethnic festivals with vitality in early spring. The ancient traditional culture of the Naxi ethnic group is the Dongha culture based on the Dongba religion. Some Naxi people believe in Taoism or Buddhism. Its culture is passed on through literature and art. Dongba language is called- the living fossil of Chinese pictographic characters. It belongs to the Yi branch of the Tibeto-Burman group of the Hen-Tibetan language family. It comprises two dialects and two written scripts known as "Dongba" and "Geba". The language has more than [, 300 separate words taking up 20, 000 volumes. More than 1,400 scriptures cover wide fields like religion, philosophy, history, literature, art, astronomy, medicine, calendar, geography, painting, music and local customs. The majority of the local residents are of the Naxi nationality. They trace their origin to the Maoniu tribe, which lived in the time of the Han Dynasty (2f16BC--220), They moved southward and settled in the present Lijieng, Weixi and Zhongdian areas of Yunnan Province in the 7~ century.
In ancient times, the old town of Lijiang was an important transfer station for
businessmen on horses carrying goods to South West China. The hard working Naxi
women supported their families by providing provisions for the passing businessmen.
Many a time, businessmen required reliable and warmhearted Naxi women to sell or store
goods in their shops for them. The ancient town is a living museum of centuries-old
heritage of Naxi people. The square center was first built in 1126 in the late Song
Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty had thstituled a Ideal administrative government in Lijiang
by the 13'h century. There are more than 1, 0O0 households in the city in the Ming
Dynasty. The city's hereditary chief Mu and his family dwelled in an elegant and
magnificent mansion in the city. This world-renowned ancient city is built in a simple and
artistic style and scientifically laid out. The streets are paved with the local stone slabs,
which are free from dust (from Oct. to May) in the dry season and do not get muddy in
the rainy season (from Jun. to Sop. ). Many stone bridges and arches were built during
the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Different from most ancient cities, Lijiang has no wall but
orderly roads and lanes extend to four directions from the central square. It is an ancient
city inhabited mostly by Naxi ethnic people. They still llve in traditional homes which
build in a special Naxl architectural style. Residential houses are made of timber with
screen walls to the front. Some houses have a quadruple courtyard planted with flowers.
The rooftops, stones and tiles of the houses are of strong Naxi style, The houses are linked
together by a web-like network of narrow, cflss-erossing stone pathways.