Pingyao Ancient City
Pingyao lies in the middle drainage area of the Yellow River and on the western bank
of Fen River in Shanxi province, the birthplace of Chinese civilization, It is a city with a
unique style of a nlost perfectly preserved county in China as well as an outstanding city
model of Hart Nationality style in Ming (1368 164,4 ) and Qing (1644,--1911)
dynasties, it is said to be the home of Yao, a legendary sage king in ancient China, In
ancient, it was used to be called "Gutao", and over time was renamed Pingtao,
Zhongdu and Jingling. The name of Pingyao has been used for over 1,500 years since
North Wei Period(3g6 534).
It is said about 7O% of the ancient ground architectures and historical relics are
gathered in Shanxi Province. As an mportant ancient city in Shanxi, Pingyao has many
places of interest and a large number of ancient architecture and historical relics have
been left in its long history, which are rarely found in other parts of China. For instance,
there are 5 state-level and 4 province level historical sites included in the over 30O ground
and underground historical relics. There used to be thousands of ancient cities like
Pingyao throughout Chinese history. However many of them were reduced to relics or are
remembered only as memories. The history and the culture of Pingyao, the well
protected ancient city, is a rare treasure of human civilization unanimously recognized by
the world.
Pingyao, the important origins of Shanxi merchants, has been known for its large
number of people doing business throughout China in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Commerce in Pingyao led to great prosperity and nlerchants and dealers from all over
China gathered here. The city gradually becaine one of the main business centers of the
province in the past. The business of transportation, wholesale, sale and transfer were
highly developed. Pingyao's leading role in commerce supported the prosperity of the city.
It also stimulated the city construction and allowed the development of sophisticated
infrastructure and ~hitecture such as streets, stores, and dwelling houses. Rich merchants
built shops and houses according to high geomantic quality at that time.
The perfectly protected ancient city wall winds its way 6 kilometers firm barbican entrance to the city. Its imposing and tragic momentum, firm barbican entrance and the
superstructure piercing into the sky all make magnificent pictures at dawn or dusk.
Shuanglin Temple has over 2,000 ancient painted sculptures, which make it one of tile
most attractive and magnificent art museums in China, It earns the titles of "Treasures
House of the Orient Painted Sculpture Art" and "Treasure of the World".
The Ten-thousand-Buddha Palace in Zhenguo Temple is famous for its novel structures
and imposing manner. The palace is one of the oldest wood-structured builtiings still
remaining in China. The painted sculptures in the palace are important treasures of the
five dynasties~ The Cixiang Temple's brick tower of Jin Dynasty (265--420) is
prestigious in its unique sets of brackets on top of *he columns supporting the beams
within anti roof eaves consisting of tiers of outstretching amls, The Dacheng Palace of
~he Confucian Temple is magnificent and elegant, It is one of the oldest Confucian
temples in China~
Ri Sheng Chang, the first Chinese drafi bank, is noted for its capacity of remitting
money iu China. Since the prosperity of commerce promoted the development of
finance, the bank dealt with the business of remittance, deposit and loan through Cbina
and in Ancient countries, Compared with other banks in Pingyao, Ri Sheng Chang was
famous for its economic power and 400 branches coving 7O cities and various items of
service from government to owners of handicraft industry and commerce, During the
most flourishing 100 years of Shanxi, the fortune center was not in the provincal capital
Taiyuan but in Pingyao, Taigu and Qi County~