The Shi family was located in Shijiagou, 5 kilometers away from present-day Fenxi County, Shanxi Province.
The Qing Dynasty cave dwellings in Shijiagou flourished in the 32nd year of Qianlong's reign. According to legend, they were built by the four brothers of the Shi family after they became officials and became prosperous. Over the past two hundred years, they have gone through several generations of careful construction and expansion, forming a total complex. A cluster-type, family-style complex with an area of ??more than 50,000 square meters. Its architectural style has typical northern and Shanxi residential characteristics, and is divided into two parts: the main body and the auxiliary building. Due to its unique, elegant and prosperous architecture, Shijiagou enjoyed the reputation of "the best village in the world" in the Qing Dynasty.
Historical origins:
The formation of Shijiagou and the fame of Shijia Courtyard are inseparable from the rise and fall of the Shi family. The huge Shi family line has developed through the Ming and Qing dynasties and has a history of three to four hundred years. The reproduction and development of the family have gone through a process from rise to decline. Starting from the time when the founder Shi Wen Bing settled in Shijiagou, after nearly a hundred years of hard work, the third generation Shi Fa Ze gradually developed and expanded. At that time, it was the prosperous age of Qianlong, and the feudal commercial economy was developing rapidly. The families of the masters and sects were engaged in farming and studying, and the farmers and commerce were integrated. They also ran banks and pawnshops, made loan sharks, and developed continuously. The funds continued to accumulate and grow, and they gradually joined the ranks of Shanxi merchants and occupied a large share of the market. a place.
When the Shi family became prosperous, like other Shanxi merchants, they used the money they earned to purchase land, expand their family business, and build houses, showing their wealth. They spared no expense and spent more than two hundred years building a vast mansion compound to show their wealth. During the construction process, due to the constraints of traditional feudal concepts and rural customs, the architectural layout has typical feudal hierarchical concepts, and the decorative art is steeped in rich rural customs. The building has its owner and its subordinates, hidden and exposed, which can not only meet the owner's requirements for external contact and accommodation, but also meet certain requirements for concealment and privacy. The patriarchal etiquette of ethics between elders and young, differentiation between inside and outside, and the return of men and women fully demonstrates the contemporary, social, and national characteristics of architecture. It also presents its three characteristics of variability, balance, and conservatism based on tradition. kind of situation.
The Shi family:
There are 6 villages including Shijiagou Village, Qiangou Village, Wayaogeta Village in Sengnian Town, Zhangwagou Village and Yaoli Village in Heping Town. Distribution of teacher surnames. 800-1,000 people, all came from Shijiagou. In the early Qing Dynasty, they were a prominent family in the central and southern areas of Shanxi Province. Due to various reasons, the Shi family began to decline during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty.
Celebrity Magi
●Shi Faze
The third generation. The founder of the Shijia Courtyard.
Characterly named Renhou, he was born in the early years of Qianlong's reign. He was lonely and poor when he was young. After he became an adult, he started a business and it became more and more prosperous. Soon, the family's financial resources became stronger. While doing business, the Shi family attached great importance to cultural education. Among the 28 people in the fifth and sixth generations of the master's family, as many as 11 have received the honors of being a supervisor, a tribute student, a Zengsheng, or a martial artist. The "combination of Confucianism and businessmen" greatly improved the social status of the Shi family. Shi Faze himself also enjoyed a certain prestige and social status in the neighboring villages because of his good family management and high moral prestige. He was promoted as a senior citizen of the village.
●Shi Mingfeng
The fifth generation. In the fifteenth year of Daoguang's reign (1835), he was donated to the county magistrate of Zangjiang Dong Autonomous County in Hunan Province. In the 29th year of Daoguang's reign (1849), he was promoted to the magistrate of Xiangxiang County, Hunan Province. During this time, he had a close relationship with the Zeng brothers, who had not yet made their fortune at that time, and spent a lot of effort to guide and recommend Zeng Guoquan into his official career. In the second year of Xianfeng (1852), due to his military merits and the title of magistrate, he entered the officialdom and became one of the prominent figures in the officialdom of the Shi family, paving the way for his family's official career. In the early years of Guangxu (1875), Zeng Guoquan became the governor of Shanxi. He opened the central gate to Shi Mingfeng, who was about to return home and visit Taiyuan. Zeng Guofan, the arrogant governor of Liangjiang at the time, also sent letters and large sums of money to express his gratitude. Zeng Guoquan personally wrote a plaque with the title "Doctor's Title". The plaque was titled Magistrate of Xiangxiang County and Mingfeng, a fellow teacher in Baoqing Prefecture. Later, important officials were sent to send Shi Mingfeng back to his hometown in an eight-carriage sedan. Passing through Taigu, Qixian, Pingyao, Jiexiu, Lingshi, and Huozhou, officials from various states and counties came out of the suburbs to welcome him off with extraordinary style. Immediately, a grand plaque-hanging ceremony was held in Shijiagou. Pingyang Prefecture and Fangyuan County officials and celebrities came to congratulate the band and theater troupe for more than a month. Since then, Shijiagou's reputation has greatly increased, and it once became the first village in the Three Jin Dynasties that high-ranking officials and literati often visited.
●Self-examination
A stone archway at the entrance of Shijiagou Village has gone through more than a hundred years of baptism. Although some places have been destroyed, it has not reduced in any way its majestic appearance. The stone archway was built in the seventh year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (1857). It is said that Shi, a descendant of the master's family, died of an illness when he was 39 years old. His wife Zhao, who was only 30 years old at the time, and Zhang, who was 25, did not remarry and had been serving their parents-in-law and raising children. Children, it’s very hard. Later, Shi Bingcheng became proud of the officialdom and reported to the emperor for approval to build this "Filial Piety Archway". The shape of the archway is four pillars and three doors. Eight wind chimes were originally hung on the eight wing corners. When the wind blows, it becomes even more crisp in the dead of night. There are 465 spiritual creatures carved on the stone archway, the most numerous being 360 cats, and the most valuable being 59 elephants. What these numbers represent remains an elusive mystery.
Due to its unique, elegant and prosperous architecture, Shijiagou enjoyed the reputation of "the best village in the world" in the Qing Dynasty. And because it is located in a remote mountainous countryside, it has survived hundreds of years of turmoil and war. Survived. With its high-grade cultural content, Shijiagou's unique value has gradually been discovered and recognized. In March last year, Shijiagou, with its extraordinary charm, was recognized by the Xi'an International Heritage Academic Association as "the No. 1 village in the world for spatial expansion and utilization of architectural structures in mountainous areas", winning glory for Shanxi.