Homesickness—— Legend of Zhuge Village, oh

The chirping of birds in the early morning awakened an ancient village with a history of over 700 years located in central Zhejiang. Zhuge Yi, a 75 year old descendant of Zhuge, stood by the wall as the main ancestor worshipper. More than 200 ancient buildings with blue bricks and gray tiles were covered in sunlight on their roofs, and the sound of children's early reading could be faintly heard from the school, just like his memory from many years ago.

Walking in Zhuge Village, Lanxi City, Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, the largest settlement of descendants of Zhuge Liang in China, the halls, houses, and alleys outline the texture, muscles, and bones, and the family tradition inherits the cultural heritage and charm. Anqi Ju and Leqi Customs, descendants of Zhuge have gathered here for hundreds of years to build, protect, and inherit.

In recent years, Zhuge Village has adopted the protection concept of "everyone is a cultural protector, everyone is a beneficiary", allowing this ancient village in Jiangnan, which has a long cultural heritage, to retain its "roots and soul" in active protection and development. In a tangible and intangible way, it has created a beautiful picture of contemporary rural China amidst nostalgia.

Ancient Village Protection: "Everyone is a cultural heritage worker"

Zhuge Village covers an area of 2.3 square kilometers and was built by Zhuge Dashi, the 27th generation descendant of Zhuge Liang, in the Yuan Dynasty. The village is centered around Zhongchi, with eight small alleys extending in all directions. Its plan resembles the Eight Trigrams diagram, and there are many narrow alleys horizontally connected in the alleys. Ancient residential buildings are scattered among the alleys, and there are over 3000 residents surnamed Zhuge in the village.

Bird's-eye view of Zhuge Village. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

It is said that Zhuge Village, due to its unique location and layout, hid in the mountains and avoided multiple historical conflicts and setbacks. In fact, the reason why an ancient village is so well preserved is not just a "hidden" word.

Zhuge Kunheng, the Secretary of the Party Branch of Zhuge Village, introduced that the tradition of co building and co prosperity, as well as living together among ethnic groups, has always been in Zhuge Village.

The Prime Minister's Shrine, Hall, and Conference Hall... Zhuge Kunheng is already in his old age and has personally witnessed the village's spontaneous fundraising for the construction of ancient buildings multiple times. "Spending money outside and contributing at home, although funds were often tight in the past, the renovation and renewal of ancient buildings in the village never stopped."

Tourists are visiting the Prime Minister's Shrine in Zhuge Village. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

Entering the new century, the protection and development of ancient villages have entered a new stage.

"At that time, there was already a certain amount of collective income in the village, and the enthusiasm of the people was also high. However, we did not seek short-term benefits, but continued to invest all profits in protection." Zhuge Kunheng said, "Under the concept of 'everyone is a cultural heritage worker, everyone is a beneficiary', benefits are not just wealth, nor can they be temporary."

Since 2003, Zhuge Village has been implementing the "one household, one policy" policy. Some villagers still stay in their old houses, while others enjoy the policy of relocating and building houses. Their old houses are collectively collected by the village and repaired by party member repair teams. They are integrated into traditional activities such as ancestor worship and traditional Chinese medicine experience for Zhuge descendants, and new formats such as homestay tourism and study experience are appropriately introduced. While the popularity of tourists continues to rise, the income of villagers gradually increases.

Tourists are visiting Zhuge Village. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

In order to restore tradition to a greater extent and reduce costs, the village has also established Lanxi Zhuge Ancient Architecture Repair Co., Ltd. with the help of old craftsmen in the village. Currently, it has a first-class qualification certificate for cultural relic protection engineering construction.

Lanxi Zhuge Ancient Architecture Repair Co., Ltd. is a "native" company that relies on its old craftsmanship to be responsible for the daily repair and maintenance of ancient buildings in the village. Feng Shuigen, the person in charge of the company, said that the villagers have feelings for ancient buildings and understand technology. This autonomous management model not only promotes the growth of the regular repair team and the improvement of technical level in ancient villages, but also enables the inheritance of ancient building construction techniques and the protection of cultural relics into a virtuous cycle.

Zhuge Kunheng said that in the past 20 years, protection has been prioritized over development, and the "red line" of "development nurturing protection" has never changed. "The first step for any development capital to come in is to comply with our cultural relics protection regulations. We would rather not develop than destroy cultural relics."

Everyone is a cultural security worker, and everyone is a beneficiary. Over the past 20 years, Zhuge Village has always adhered to this concept, promoting the improvement of people's livelihoods while carrying out cultural relic protection: rolling investment of over 300 million yuan, overall repair of over 10000 meters of roads, and repair of over 60000 square meters of ancient buildings. The protection of achievements has resulted in receiving more than 600000 tourists this year and ticket revenue of over 20 million yuan; At the same time, nearly 500 villagers are encouraged to work at their doorstep, and an average monthly living allowance of 300 yuan is provided to village residents aged 60 and above

The staff of a homestay in Zhuge Village are tidying up their rooms. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

Inheritance of Context: Retaining the "Soul" of Traditional Culture

During the summer vacation, villager Zhuge Pinyu would open a fan in his shop along the street every day and transcribe Zhuge Liang's "Book of Commandments" and "Departure from School". Passing children would occasionally look around, and some would simply enter the house and recite along with him. A folding fan souvenir, carrying the rich culture of traditional villages.

The villagers of Zhuge Village are writing fans at home. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

If the villages arranged according to the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams form the "body", then the customs, family traditions, and intangible cultural heritage skills preserved are the "soul" of Zhuge Village's traditional culture.

A carpenter is cleaning up works in Zhuge Village. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

Zhuge Yi is the 50th generation descendant of Zhuge Liang and a representative inheritor of Zhuge's national intangible cultural heritage for ancestor worship. According to clan regulations, Zhuge Village holds two ceremonies in spring and autumn each year: all villagers gather to participate, and 18 ritual procedures are performed to pay homage to the ancestors. The more than 400 person ancestor worship and welcoming team is divided into 9 teams to welcome and parade the streets, with tens of thousands of onlookers.

In November 2014, the custom of ancestor worship was approved to be included in the expanded project list of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects.

"Sacrifice is a comprehensive ritual that includes human etiquette, traditional culture, music and dance, scene arrangement, and so on. It is an internal centripetal force for our own people and an external attraction for tourists," said Zhuge Yi.

Li Qiuxiang, a senior engineer at the School of Architecture at Tsinghua University, has long been committed to the protection of traditional Chinese villages and is also one of the planners and promoters of the overall protection of Zhuge Village. She said that as an important cultural heritage, traditional villages need to protect both their local architectural entities and the cultural characteristics that integrate with architecture. The two cannot be separated, otherwise the protection of architectural heritage will be a shell, lacking soul and life.

In addition to the two national intangible cultural heritage projects of ancestor worship by descendants of Zhuge and the construction techniques of traditional houses in Wuzhou, Zhuge Village also preserves more than 10 traditional crafts that have been listed as provincial and municipal intangible cultural heritage, such as the craftsmanship of making Kongming locks and Zhuge traditional Chinese medicine culture.

Intangible cultural heritage inheritors make Kong Ming locks in Zhuge Village. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

Zhuge Kunheng said that the attractiveness of traditional villages lies not only in their natural scenery and historical architecture, but also in the rich and profound excellent traditional culture they contain. This is the internal driving force and external attraction of village development. "There are still many villagers living in Zhuge Ancient Village, who are the nourishers, witnesses, and disseminators of traditional culture, allowing our ancient village to be truly and vividly inherited."

Continuation of Homesickness: Rooted in "Local China" and Blooming "Flowers of the Times"

Looking at the current rural regulations, governance, and value norms in Zhuge Village, it reflects the compatibility between traditional Chinese agricultural culture and socialist core values.

——The idea of benefiting the world in traditional culture continues. What aspects are most of the collective income of Zhuge Village used for? Zhuge Kunheng said, "The first is the protection of cultural relics, and the second is the welfare of the people."

Provide living allowances to elderly people aged 60 and above in the village, provide scholarships to eligible students, and handle medical insurance and pension insurance for villagers; Mobilize party members to conduct large-scale research, widely collect public opinions, understand public demands, and handle livelihood issues such as fire exits and aging power lines.

Zhuge Village has also established a team of party member "runners", set up a party member "runners" platform, and built a party member "runners" network system, forming a party member volunteer service pattern of "more party members running errands, less worries for the masses". The masses can accomplish things without leaving the village.

Tourists are visiting Zhuge Village. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

——The pursuit of harmonious coexistence has been passed down from generation to generation. Zhuge Village's unwavering commitment to the protection of ancient villages not only represents respect for history and harmonious coexistence with nature, but also subtly promotes harmony between people.

Leading development with the rule of law and resolving conflicts internally with autonomy. Since 2014, Zhuge Village has set up a "Villager Affairs Office" in the village office building. Members of the village committee and party members take turns to work, resolving conflicts and disputes through work shifts, home visits, and key follow-up visits, and continuously improving the sense of gain and satisfaction of the masses.

The pursuit of harmony has a long history. Strolling through the village, it is not difficult to find that there are no gates facing each other on either side of the narrow alley. In the past, people believed that this pattern design helped to handle neighborhood relationships and avoid conflicts. According to the description of the elderly in the village, there used to be a custom of "drinking and talking about tea" in the village. When someone had a conflict, everyone sat together to drink tea and chat, explained the situation, and the problem was solved easily.

——The eternal family motto of self-cultivation and determination is timeless. On the main wall of the grand hall on the north side of Zhongchi, the full text of the "Jiezi Shu" hangs high. This is Zhuge Liang's teachings on arrogant children, and it is also one of the moral standards for generations of people in Zhuge Village to cultivate themselves and establish themselves. Among them, "one cannot achieve success without detachment, and one cannot achieve success without tranquility" is even more profound and well-known.

"I only wish that no one in the world is sick, why worry about putting medicine on the shelf to produce dust." Zhuge Village Traditional Chinese Medicine Hall has a history of over a hundred years. There are 14 traditional Chinese medicine families with over four generations in Zhuge Village, and more than 300 pharmacies have been opened at home and abroad.

Tourists are inquiring at a traditional Chinese medicine clinic in Zhuge Village. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

"For example, we have known from a young age that there is a rule in family rules that says' poetry and books are precious, but farming, commerce, and household affairs are dedicated to one profession, so they are filial sons and compassionate grandchildren ', which also has great inspiration and reference significance for the career choices of our young people today." said villager Zhuge Haofu.

In order to strengthen the education of moral governance, Zhuge Village has launched a variety of moral education activities, such as moral lectures and awards for excellence, with the theme of "Jiezi Shu" and family rules and ancestral teachings. It has established a family rules and regulations museum and a family culture inheritance education exhibition hall, advocating the governance of the village with morality and improving the quality of the villagers.

Blue bricks, gray tiles, and horse head walls continue to evoke nostalgia in Zhuge Village.

The villagers of Zhuge Village are drying lotus seeds by a pool of water. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

Lively inheritance, vibrant vitality, and vibrant fragrance, countless Zhuge villages in ancient China are singing the songs of youth and blooming the flowers of the era.

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