UNESCO site
Date of Inscription: 1997
Lijiang is an exceptional ancient town set in a dramatic
landscape which represents the harmonious fusion of different cultural
traditions to produce an urban landscape of outstanding quality.
In the 13th century AD, during the later Southern Song
dynasty, the ancestors of the ruling Mu family moved their main centre from
Baisha to the foot of the Shizi Mountains to a new town known as Dayechang
(later Dayan), where they began building houses surrounded by a city wall and
moat. After Azong Aliang submitted in the 1250s to the authority of the Yuan
Emperor Hubilie, Dayechang became an administrative centre. The Lijiang Junmin
prefecture was established when the region came under Ming rule in 1382.
In 1724 the first non-native prefect began building
prefectural offices, barracks and educational facilities at the foot of the
Jinhong Mountain. Lijiang County was created as part of Lijiang Junmin
Prefecture in 1770. The old town of Lijiang is built on a mountain slope
running from north-west to south-east, facing a deep river.
The northern part of the city was a commercial district. The
main streets in this part of the old town radiate from the broad street known
as Sifangjie, which has traditionally been the commercial and trading centre of
the north-western part of Yunnan Province. On the west side of the Sifangjie is
the imposing three-storeyed Kegongfang (Imperial Examination Archway), which is
flanked by the Western and Central rivers.
A sluice on the former uses the different levels of the two
waterways to wash the streets, a unique form of municipal sanitation. The
streets are paved with slabs of a fine-grained red breccia. Water flows from
here to the Shuangshi Bridge, where it branches into three tributaries. These
subdivide into a network of channels and culverts to supply every house in the
town. This water supply is supplemented by many springs and wells within the
town itself. A system of watercourses of this complexity necessitates a large
number of bridges of varying sizes. There are 354 bridges altogether; they take
several forms. It is from these structures that Lijiang derives its name, the
'City of Bridges'. The feature of Lijiang that is most representative of the
Naxi minority culture is its wealth of domestic dwellings. The basic
timber-framed structure developed into a unique architectural style with the
absorption of elements of Han and Zang architecture. Most of the houses are
two-storeyed. The chuandoushi wooden frames are walled with adobe on the ground
floor and planks on the upper floors; the walls have stone foundation courses.
The exteriors of the walls are plastered and lime-washed, and there are often
brick panels at the corners. The houses have tiled roofs and an external
corridor or veranda.
Special attention is paid to the decoration of the houses,
especially in the arches over gateways, the screen walls, the external
corridors, the doors and windows, the courtyards and the roof beams. Wooden
elements are elaborately carved with domestic and cultural elements - pottery,
musical instruments, flowers, birds, etc. - and gate arches take several
elegant forms.
The Lijiang Junmin Prefectural Government Office and Mujia
Compound were established in 1368, during the Ming dynasty, in the eastern part
of the city. The 286 m long government office was a complex of halls, towers,
bridges, terraces, pavilions and palaces. To the north was the official
residence, known as the Mujia Compound. It was largely destroyed by war during
the Qing dynasty and only the Yizi Pavilion, the Guagbi Tower, and a stone
archway survive. The group known as the Yuquan architectural structures is in the
Heilongtan Park and date from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Most notable is the
Wufeng Tower (1601), moved from the Fugue Temple, of which it formed part, and
now designated as one of the major historical sites in Yunnan Province. In
addition to the Dayan old town, established in the Ming dynasty, the earlier
Baisha quarter, the centre during the preceding Song and Yuan dynasties,
survives 8 km to the north.
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
Thanks Zihu!
