On the fifth day of the first lunar month, CCTV's Spring Festival special program gave a special introduction to Youyang. In the program, Gongtan Ancient Town, as one of the main filming locations, once again appeared in front of the national audience. As a famous historical and cultural town in China, the people of Gongtan Ancient Town have long been familiar with it, because of its simple nature and close to the landscape, it is the poetry and distance that the people of the world yearn for.
Gongtan Ancient Town, located at the confluence of the Wujiang River and the Apeng River, 70 kilometers away from Youyang County, was built in Shu Han, built in the Tang Dynasty, flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties, has a history of 1800 years, is a famous historical and cultural town in China, a national 4A-level tourist attraction, the first historical and cultural town in Chongqing, a new landmark of the Bashu Cultural Tourism Corridor, and is known as the "core scenic spot and bright pearl of Wujiang Gallery". Wu Guanzhong, a famous contemporary painter, oil painter and art educator, once stopped in Gongtan and created the famous Chinese painting "Old Street" here, praising it as "a museum of architectural art, a brand of people's life, a Tang Street, a Song City, and the home of grandparents!" ”
[It's Tang Street, it's Songcheng, it's the home of grandparents].
The quaint and authentic ancient town style of Gongtan evokes the memories of everyone who has been here about their hometown, and makes anyone willing to stop for it. 40 years ago, as soon as Master Wu Guanzhong walked into Gongtan, he fell in love with this place.
In 1984, Wu Guanzhong passed through the Three Gorges, entered Kuimen, went up the Wujiang River after arriving in Fuling, took a boat to Baili Gallery, and accidentally came to the ancient town of Gongtan, which is located at the junction of Chongqing and Guizhou, on the cliff at the foot of Phoenix Mountain, and couldn't help but stop, and lived for half a month. He stepped on the mottled stone road, looked at the dark green Wujiang River, and felt the strong style of the ancient town, which inspired him, and then waved the brush in his hand to create a number of classic paintings such as "Wujiang Old Street" and "Wujiang Town".
The following year, he recalled the unforgettable experience of collecting wind in Gongtan and published the essay "Scenery and Customs Say Wujiang" in "People's Literature". In the article, he truly restored the surprise when he took a boat in the Wujiang River and found Gongtan: "We traveled thousands of miles to find such a fairy residence and found Qionglou Yuyu, which is the Gongtan town in Youyang County in the upper reaches of the Wujiang River. ”
Wu Guanzhong wrote in the article: "Gongchang River to Gongtan into the Wujiang River, the water color is more dark green than the Wujiang River, deeper than the blue, should be called the Little Wujiang River." The two rivers meet, the river twists and turns between the cliffs, and the slopes are undulating and covered with rows of stilted buildings, can such Gongtan Old Street not attract painters? ......Go down to the riverside, draw the eaves up, the eaves are dense, uneven, the bright color blocks under the eaves are colorful, it is the clothes that are dried at home; The front of the window, under the porch, and next to the steps are covered with potted flowers, pots, in fact, broken jars and waste urns, and the flowers bloom happily. ”
Perhaps it was an obsession, after a lapse of 20 years, he once again used Gong Tan as the prototype to create the famous painting "Old Street". Many years later, Wu Guanzhong's paintings created with Gongtan Ancient Town as the background have been auctioned repeatedly, and Gongtan Ancient Town has also been able to get out of the "deep boudoir" and exude irresistible charm.
Nowadays, in the ancient town of Gongtan, you can see the artistic imprint left by Wu Guanzhong everywhere, and the most eye-catching is the Wu Guanzhong Memorial Hall at the entrance of the ancient town. The museum exhibits Wu Guanzhong's "Wu Guanzhong's Gongtan Love", representative paintings, published works and some manuscripts.
It can be said that Gong Tan has made more people know Wu Guanzhong; Wu Guanzhong also let more people know about Gong Tan.
[It is a wonderful piece of architectural art].
In Gongtan Ancient Town, ancient buildings such as art group carvings can be called historical treasures; The stone street is ups and downs, twists and turns; The Tujia stilted building rises in the air and is praised by experts as "the note on the cliff".
The streets of the ancient town have been repaired in successive dynasties, and they are all characterized by stone streets, stilted buildings, sloping roofs, and small green tiles. One of the old streets is 15 kilometers, temples, ancestral halls, ancient wharves, ancient fiber roads, ancient ladder roads, ancient bridges, ancient archways, ancient trees, ancient wells, ancient steles, etc. Bluestone Street divides the ancient town into five sections in the form of commercial formats according to different historical backgrounds and ethnic cultures, including the "Youfang Road" featuring oil pressing and weaving, the "Beifu Road" with the theme of the backman and footman culture, the "Xiqin Road" with the Xiqin Hall as the representative building, the "Slender Man Road" with the display of the slender man culture, and the "Old Salt Road" featuring the salt merchant salt number.
Walking along the bluestone slab road, the staggered Tujia stilted buildings, built by the mountain, different forms, heartwarming, it is said that this is the largest Tujia stilted buildings in Asia today, they constitute the most beautiful scenery of the ancient town. Each stilted building is made of timber and is supported by several logs with a diameter of about 20 to 30 centimeters, and is two to three storeys high. The eaves and tiles of the stilted building are all exquisite handicrafts, even if they are small corners and small details that are not noticed, they are also uniquely carved, highlighting the symmetrical aesthetics and rigorous craftsmanship of Chinese architecture.
In addition to these, there are many ancient buildings in the ancient town, such as the courtyard of the Ran family, the Xiqin Guild Hall, the Sichuan Temple, the Dong Family Ancestral Hall, the Sanfu Temple, the First Pass, the Banbiancang, the Mandarin Duck Tower, the Xia Family Courtyard, the Bridge and the Heavy Bridge, and the Yongding Chenggui, etc., which are distributed in the ancient town, and the architectural style is unique, showing people a dazzling historical picture scroll, telling the unchanging memory that has lasted for a long time. Gongtan Ancient Town is also the filming location of TV series such as "The Story of Bandits in Oolong Mountain", "Strange Man An Shimin", "National Action" and "Tung Seed Blossom". It was selected as one of the "Top Ten Ancient Villages and Towns Most Loved by National Netizens".
There are more than 150 fire-sealing walls, more than 200 courtyard houses, and more than 400 Tujia stilted buildings in the ancient town, which is a well-preserved and large-scale Ming and Qing dynasty building complex in China, and is praised as "architectural wonder" by experts and scholars.
[It is an intangible cultural heritage town].
In Gongtan, there are not only clear water near the river, green mountains and cliffs, old street buildings, Sichuan salt ancient road, but also intangible cultural heritage culture that can enjoy unique ethnic customs. Among them is a carved stage in the Qing Dynasty building of the Western Qin Guild Hall.
Every tourist season, on the stage of the Xiqin Hall, the actors are dressed in national costumes, wearing masks, beating gongs and drums, Youyang folk songs, Youyang ancient songs, Tujia masks and other intangible cultural heritage performances are dizzying. In the past, it was used for businessmen to gather, discuss and listen to operas, but now it has become an "important window" for Youyang to display intangible cultural heritage items, and a "stage" for tourists to understand local customs.
In order to further enhance the cultural connotation of the scenic spot, Gongtan Scenic Area has included and inherited 3 national intangible cultural heritage cultures, including "Youyang Hand Dance", "Youyang Folk Song" and "Youyang Ancient Song", 28 municipal-level intangible cultural heritage projects such as "Mask Yang Opera", "Baogu Lantern Opera", "Muye Blowing", "Three Stick Drums", "Shangdao Mountain" and "Xilankapu Traditional Production Skills", and 198 county-level representative intangible cultural heritage projects, and created an intangible cultural heritage program "Tima Ancient Songs", relying on the resources of the ancient town to hold two sessions of "Millennium Intangible Cultural Heritage Gongtan". The "Folk Culture New Year" intangible cultural heritage special exhibition and the series of activities of the gong and drum contest have appeared on the CCTV screen for two consecutive years and appeared on the "News Network", showing the unique charm of Gongtan Ancient Town to the world. Last year, the China Association for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage announced the 2022 "National List of Preferred Projects for the Integrated Development of Intangible Cultural Heritage and Tourism", and Gongtan Intangible Cultural Heritage Town was selected.
The charm of Gongtan Ancient Town also lies in the fact that you can taste many Tujia delicacies here: Gongtan mung bean flour, Tujia stuffed tofu, Tujia bacon, Gongtan crispy, Gongtan fragrant tofu, Gongtan mushrooms, buckwheat baba, tartary buckwheat wine, Wujiang fish, etc.
[It's a sketch town].
A river with clear water, green mountains on both sides. Famous for painting, prosperous because of travel, ecological and humanistic are suitable, Gongtan is really a natural ink landscape painting.
In April last year, the 2023 China Wujiang (Youyang) 7th National University Teachers and Students Sketching Art Season was officially launched.
In the 2023 Sketching Art Season, 14 associations, colleges and institutions from Fujian, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hunan, Hubei and other places awarded Gongtan the title of "Sketching Base". Ma Xinlin, director of the Chinese Artists Association and president of the Painting and Calligraphy Institute of the ** Museum of Culture and History, spoke highly of Gong Tan, saying: "For artists, this is a paradise for sketching, and it is a good work for art to revitalize the countryside." ”
From 2017 to the present, the Gongtan sketching season has gone through 7 spring and autumn. Through the first six sketching art seasons, more than 30 art academies, artist associations and art institutions around the country have left a large number of wonderful paintings here, among which Gongtan Art Museum and Wu Guanzhong Memorial Hall have permanently treasured the sketches of more than 70 artists, held more than 20 exhibitions, and exhibited more than 800 works.
At present, the Gongtan Ancient Town Scenic Area has gradually formed the "National University Teachers and Students Gongtan Sketching Art Festival" brand festival, which has effectively activated the "sketching economy" of Gongtan "Sketching Town". At the same time, by supporting a number of themed cultural and creative shops and boutique homestays, and completing a number of art museums such as Wu Guanzhong Memorial Hall and Gongtan Art Museum, it has injected a steady stream of vitality into the integrated development of culture and tourism in Gongtan Ancient Town.
[Yes Baili Gallery].
Thousands of miles of Wujiang, Baili Gallery, the most beautiful in Youyang.
Gongtan Ancient Town traces the water along the Wujiang River, passes through Tutuozi Gorge, Baiji Gorge, until Lizhi Gorge, there are Gongtan Gorge, Tutuo Gorge, Baiji Gorge, Lychee Gorge, Axe Split Gorge in the territory, known as the "Five Gorges of Wujiang River", the natural scenery of the canyon is self-contained, it is the essence of Wujiang Baili Gallery, and is famous for "strange mountains, strange stones, clear water, dangerous beaches, covered bridges, fiber roads, and hanging burials". The Qing Dynasty poet Mei Ruoweng praised the Wujiang Gallery in Gongtan Ancient Town in a poem: "The landscape in Shuzhong is strange, and this should be the first." ”
As the largest tributary of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the most beautiful section of the scenery is in Youyang, and the location of Gongtan Ancient Town is the starting point of the Baili Gallery, the scenery is particularly beautiful, and the landscape along the way emerges in endlessly, with the reputation of "a bright pearl on the Wujiang Gallery", it is a tourist attraction for tourists from all over the world to taste the ancient town, watch the landscape, and enjoy the Tujia style.
[It's poetry and distance].
Gongtan is a dream, drunk for thousands of years. For more than 1,800 years, the slender man has been flowing here, the trade has flourished here, and the art has been "wandering" here.
Gongtan Ancient Town Scenic Area actively explores the tourism business model of "Ancient Town Cruise", and introduces "Gongtan No. 1" and "Gongtan No. 2" cruise ships, where visitors can enjoy the whole picture of Gongtan Ancient Town on the cruise ship, and feel the poetry and distance of "Boat on the blue waves, people swim in the painting". There are 2 large cruise ships with 300 seats, 4 luxury yachts with 50 seats, and 15 30-seat painting boats in the scenic area, with a daily carrying capacity of about 5,000 people.
The quaint and quiet ancient town of Gongtan is in stark contrast to the bustling hustle and bustle of the city. If you are tired of the glitz and glitz of the city, then pack your bags, embark on a journey, forget your troubles, and come to Gongtan Ancient Town to feel its quietness, seclusion and beauty!
The boat is slow, the Wujiang River is long, and a leaf floats across the gallery ......
*: Youyang release.