Lijiang, located in the upper reaches of Jinsha River, has a long history, beautiful scenery and magnificent natural environment. It is a descendant of the ancient Qiang people and the hometown of Naxi people. Old Town of Lijiang, with an altitude of 2,400 meters, is the central city of Lijiang Naxi Autonomous County, one of the famous historical and cultural cities in China and a national key scenic spot.
Lijiang County, which is surrounded by mountains and waters, is said to be named "Dayan Town" because it looks like a big inkstone. Exploring its past, people find that this once forgotten "Ancient Naxi Kingdom" has been inhabited and multiplied by human beings since ancient times. Today's Naxi people are descendants of the Qiang people who moved south in ancient times. In the long years of thousands of years, they worked hard and built their own beautiful homes.
Located in Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet traffic arteries. In ancient times, frequent commercial activities promoted the prosperity of local people and soon became famous markets and towns. It is generally believed that Lijiang was built in the late Song Dynasty and early Yuan Dynasty. In 1253, Kublai Khan (Yuan Shizu) was stationed here when he conquered Dali. From then on, until the early Qing Dynasty, Lijiang was ruled by the Mu ancestor of Naxi nationality and the Mu Tusi (founded in 1382) under the jurisdiction of the central dynasty for nearly 500 years. In the meantime, Xu Xiake (1587- 164 1), a geographer of Amin Dynasty who traveled all over Yunnan, described Lijiang City as a "private house community with rows of tile houses", showing that there were more than 1000 residents in the ancient city in the late Ming Dynasty.
Looking from the north of Lijiang, it is the towering Yulong Snow Mountain with magnificent and changeable scenery. Folk songs say it is "one mountain with four seasons, and ten miles is different from the sky". Known as the "treasure house of animals and plants", it is also a huge natural reservoir.
Walking into the ancient street paved with colored stones in Lijiang, and wandering around the square street in the commercial center of the north of the town, you will see flowing rivers and canals, weeping willows along the river, small bridges in front of shops or houses, or streams behind houses, and countless trickle in the streets and lanes, winding through the walls and surrounding residents. This clear water comes from Yuquan at the foot of Xiangshan Mountain in the north of the city.
In the early years of the city, Baima Longtan and several Jing Quan, which were built according to underground springs, still exist today. People have created the method of "one pond, one well and three ponds", that is, drinking water in the first pond, washing vegetables in the second pond, washing clothes in the third pond, and the clear water is decreasing in turn, which is both scientific and hygienic. Residents also use water to clean streets. As long as the sluice is put to stop the river and the water overflows the stone pavement, the pollution can be washed away and the market can be kept clean.
Lijiang Dayan Town, which is surrounded by mountains and waters, has neither a tall besieged city nor a spacious avenue, but it is simple and picturesque, showing natural harmony everywhere. Because of the terrain and flowing water, the houses in the town are scattered and undulating. People use wood, stone and mud to build beautiful and applicable houses, which are integrated into the traditions of Han, Bai and Tibetan dwellings and form a unique style. The common local houses are "three squares and one wall", that is, a courtyard surrounded by a main room, a wing room and a wall. Each room has three rooms and two floors. The main room facing south is occupied by the elders, and the east and west rooms are generally the next substitute. Most houses are decorated with a fish-shaped or leaf-shaped wood chip under the eaves of two gables, which is called "hanging fish" to pray for "more happiness and more celebration". Many courtyard gates are beautifully carved and the ground is covered with pebbles, tiles and tiles. There are generally six doors and windows in the front hall, and the carvings in the center of the window are mostly four seasons flowers or auspicious birds and animals. Most of the eaves in front of the hall are wide, which is a warm and comfortable activity space.
The Naxi nationality in Lijiang has always attached great importance to literature teaching, and many people are good at poetry, piano, calligraphy and painting. Among the colorful festivals in the ancient city, apart from the all-night national songs and dances and local operas, the amateur "Naxi Ancient Music" is the most famous. Among them, "Bai Sha Xi Le" is a large-scale classical music suite which integrates song, dance and pleasure, and is known as the "living fossil of music". Another Lijiang "Dong Jing Qu" is derived from ancient Taoist music, and retains the rhyme of many long-lost lyrics of the Central Plains. Lijiang Naxi ancient music was invited to perform in many European countries, which was warmly welcomed and praised by the audience. Because the members of the band are mostly old people who are over the age of ancient times, they are also called "Naxi Shouxing Orchestra".
The world-famous Lijiang murals are distributed in the ancient city and its surrounding 15 temples. These murals in Ming and Qing dynasties have the outstanding characteristics of coexistence of various religions and sects. The large-scale mural "The Tathagata Endless" existing in Dabaoji Palace in Baisha Village, Lijiang, brings together hundreds of Buddha statues of Han Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism and Taoism, which embodies the characteristics of Naxi Nationality Religion culture.
Up to now, there is a hieroglyphic "Dongba" circulating in Lijiang area. This unique script used by Naxi ancestors to record Dongba scriptures is the only living hieroglyph in the world. Today, libraries and museums in China and some European and American countries have collected more than 20,000 Dongba classic ancient books, which have recorded the splendid history and culture of Naxi people for thousands of years. Among them, the Dongba dance score named Cuomo, including dozens of ancient dance arts, is an extremely rare and precious document. Dongba Sutra, known as the "encyclopedia" of ancient Naxi people, is of great value to the study of Naxi history and culture.