Geomantic layout of Pingyao ancient city

In ancient China, geomantic omen was highly valued, especially in architecture, which must be built by using geomantic omen knowledge. Pingyao said that nature is no exception. The ancient city of Pingyao is like a turtle's back pattern, which is a rare land of geomantic omen. This issue of architectural feng shui takes you to understand the feng shui layout of Pingyao ancient city.

"In ancient China, the layout of any city was exquisite, and Pingyao ancient city was no exception." Dong Peiliang, an expert in folklore and honorary chairman of Pingyao County Federation of Culture and Art Circles, said.

At that time, the designers were also ingenious, because the Liugen River was in the south of Pingyao ancient city, and the south city wall was built with its shape winding, while the south city gate was placed in the southeast of the city wall, and the northwest corner of the north gate urn was designed to be obtuse and curled, making the turtle's limbs bend and crawl. Looking at the Liugen River in front of us, this god's glans is swaying from side to side and vivid.

In order not to let this "turtle" slip away and take away the local wishful geomantic omen, the ancients also used their imagination to build Guancheng outside Xiadongmen, and tied the turtle's leg (Xiadongmen) to the foot tower in the east of the city 12 Huali with ropes. Therefore, today, it seems that the inner and outer doors of the four urn cities in Pingyao ancient city are all 90 degrees, but the lower east gate is straight, which symbolizes the "turtle" crawling forward.

In addition, there are four main streets, eight small streets and seventy-two dragonflies in Pingyao ancient city, which are like turtle-backed patterns, forming a well-connected and orderly transportation network in the city, reflecting the idea of "harmony between man and nature".

"From the perspective of geomantic omen, the ancients designed the ancient city of Pingyao as a' turtle city', hoping that the ancient city of Pingyao will be strong and long-lived, and Pingyao people will be lucky from generation to generation, which can be described as well-intentioned." Dong Peiliang said.

Pingyao Ancient City was successfully applied for the World Heritage on 1997, and became the 18 World Heritage Site in China.

Geomantic omen of Pingyao ancient city

Pingyao Ancient City is located in the middle of Shaanxi Province in the north of China. It was built in the period of West Zhou Xuanwang (827-782 BC) and expanded in the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1370), with a history of more than 2,700 years. So far, it has preserved the basic features of the county town in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (A.D.1368 ~191), and it is the most complete existing ancient city in the Han area of China.

In ancient times, building cities in the shape of turtles came from the ancient practice of using tortoise shells to identify locations. In addition, the turtle is a spiritual object in folk beliefs, symbolizing longevity and eternity. The attached city is turtle-shaped, and good fortune makes good fortune. Pingyao ancient city is known as the "turtle city". The plane of the ancient city is square, with the east-west length of about 1500M and the north-south direction of 10- 15, covering an area of about 2.25 square kilometers.

The walls on the east, west and north sides are basically straight lines, "only the south side shrinks into a turtle shape", which is built according to the winding of Zhongdu River. Located on the east bank of Fenhe River and at the northern foot of Taiyue Mountain, it highlights the meaning of immortality and invincibility. The south gate is the head of the turtle, which means "if you hit the turtle, the mountains and rivers will rise, and the city will win." It turns out that the well outside the south gate has two eyes, called turtle eyes. The north gate is cinnamon, which is the lowest place in the city, so all the accumulated water flows out from here. The four Weng cities in the east and west face each other in pairs, forming a turtle-shaped quadruped.

The pattern of Pingyao ancient city takes the south street as the central axis and the tower as the center, forming "four streets" and eight small streets. Seventy-two Dragonfly Lane "road network. The city wall and the street form a huge gossip pattern. The city layout is rigorous, so it is ingenious, rigorous and complete. In addition, the ancient temples, urban buildings, streets and houses in the city show the traditional civilization to the world. From the planning point of view, the planning of Pingyao ancient city is strictly in accordance with the layout system of Zuo Zu You She and Wen Xi, and the temples are opposite. More than 50 temples, altars, temples, halls, terraces and other public buildings in the city are in good order.