【4K】Traditional Chinese village: Lidukou Village, Henan traditional building complex.

Lidukou Village is located on the bank of Lanhe River. It belongs to Zhuotou Town, Jia County, 8 kilometers away from Jia County. It was built in the Western Han Dynasty and has a history of 2,000 years. In the seventh year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1374), the Li brothers from Hongdong County, Shanxi responded to the national immigration policy and moved through this place. They also matched the surnames of the original inhabitants of the village, so they decided to set up camp here and multiply.
Lanhe River is the second largest river in Jia County. The water and sky meet, the smoke and waves are vast, and it directly leads to the Beiru River. Boats can reach the river and the sea. The Zhuotou Town where it flows is flat, the land is fertile, and it is rich in grain. It was once a thousand-year-old commercial town. Lanhe Ferry was built in the Ming Dynasty, flourished in the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, and was once a node and water transport hub of the Tea Road. In ancient times, bulk goods needed to be transported by water, and the role of Lanhe Canal Transport was prominent. Lanhe Ferry became an important commercial distribution center for dozens of miles. The hustle and bustle of the time was a true portrayal of the time. Over time, Lidukou Village became an important commercial port for the Blue River Canal.
In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Lidukou Village had a population of more than a thousand, with merchants and celebrities gathering to build houses and buy property; there were dozens of businesses, and cars and mules and horses were connected on all sides of the land. Business was booming, people were constantly flowing, and it was prosperous for a while. At that time, there were butchers, taverns, pharmacies, flower shops, dyeing shops, and cotton-spinning machines. There were also industries and businesses such as the cigarette machine factory headed by Li Guanru, Jizhong Mao and Li Caiwa Hotel, Li Laochen and Wang Qingxian Silver Goods, and Li Fengchao Coal Shop. It became a well-known commercial gathering place and reached its heyday. According to the "Jia County Chronicles", there were 25 trade markets in the county in the third year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1864), and Lidukou was one of them, which shows its important commercial status at that time.
Lidukou Village is surrounded by fertile fields on three sides and faces the water on one side. It is known as "the eternal beauty of Huanggang in the east and the eternal green of Lanhe in the west". In the village, there are stone gate towers, ancient village walls, ancient streets and alleys, ancient wells, ancient trees, wine shops, pepper shops, vinegar shops... a strong ancient style; Li Hefeng's old house, Li Zhiyin's former residence, Li Hesan's former residence, Jia Jiqing's old house, Li Qiliang's old house, Jia Tongwa's old house, Li Bingxian's former residence, Li Chaoyong's former residence, Li Faliang's old house, Li Nanwa Flower Shop, Li Zezhi's former residence, Yang Qifeng's former residence, Li Yiren's former residence, Li Guanru's old house, Juzi House, Hongyun Butcher Shop, Xinglong Liquor Shop, Jishitang, Huachang Cigarette Factory and other 77 existing Ming and Qing ancient buildings with a total of 853 rooms, which are concentrated and well preserved, making people feel as if they have traveled back to the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The existing ancient buildings in Lidukou Village from the Ming and Qing Dynasties are mainly quadrangle courtyards, with two-entry and three-entry courtyards in the majority. There is a gatehouse in the front, a hall in the middle, a hall in the back, and east and west auxiliary rooms (buildings). The red stone foundation, brick and wood structure, five ridges and six beasts, and the upper shed is covered with small gray tiles. The ancient buildings, ancient houses, ancient windows, ancient alleys, ancient trees, ancient wells, and ancient villages are well preserved. The building structure is rigorous and magnificent, and the stone carvings, wood carvings, and brick carvings are exquisitely crafted, with high architectural historical and artistic value. The large-scale and continuous ancient building complex records the rise and fall of Lidukou Village from the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the Republic of China, the rise and fall of the economy, and the rise and fall of culture. The layout, shape, ridge decoration, etc. of the existing buildings, as well as the natural concept and feng shui concept, show the aesthetic concepts, psychological characteristics and value orientation of ancient craftsmen and people at that time, providing an important historical basis for the study of architecture, folklore, etiquette, feng shui, and environmental ecology of the society at that time, and also leaving a valuable cultural heritage for the descendants of Lidukou Village.