A Glimpse at Fangshan County to See the Beauty of Shanxi

Sketches amp; Notes by Li Fang

Translated by Hong Ziyun

Academy Press

October 2022

60.00 （CNY）

In July 2021， ten teachers and students from the Design Innovation Practice Group of the College of Design and Art carried out a one-week field investigation in Fangshan county， Lyuliang city， Shanxi province during the design and service project of Beijing Institute of Technology’s counterpart support for the integration development of culture and tourism in Fangshan county. Fortunately， as one of the leading teachers of the practice group， I experienced the cultural journey of “Rural Revitalization， Fangshan has Me” with the students.

When I first came to Lyuliang， I w

as attracted by its climate and natural scenery. After arriving at Fangshan， we first conducted an investigation in the North Wudang Mountains. Starting from Zhenwu Taoist Temple in Wudang village， along the way， there are various temples and archways. We were not only amazed at the diversity of Taoist worship sanctuaries， but also enjoyed the natural scenery of the North Wudang Mountains. Such feeling was wonderful and left a lasting impression. As a national key scenic spot， the North Wudang Mountains were the first stop of our practice group， and also the most distinctive natural landscape representative of Fangshan county.

In addition to the north Wudang Mountains， Pangquan Ditch Nature Reserve， at the junction of Fangshan county and Jiaocheng county， is also a rare oasis on the Loess Plateau. There are unique rare birds such as the Brown Eared Pheasant， and plants like larch and dragon spruce trees. The biological resources are rich and diverse. Additionally， Meidong Valley Wetland Park in Fangshan county is a part of Guandishan National Forest Park. With lush forests and picturesque scenery， it is also a shining gem in the treasure house of Fangshan natural resources. Besides， there is a large water conservation project， Hengquan Reservoir， in the middle and upper reaches of Beichuan River， which provides sufficient daily use of water for Lishi， Liulin and Zhongyang counties in the lower reaches. In a word， Fangshan is worthy of the name “Lyuliang city’s back garden.”

During the research period， the practice group also focused on Yu Chenglong Integrity Cultural Park， Zhang Jiata residential villages of Ming and Qing dynasties， the ancient city site of south village， the ancient city site of the Ming Dynasty in Fangshan， the Dawu Wooden Building and Helong Middle School in Dawu town， etc.， so as to fully understand the natural landscape and historical and cultural resources of Fangshan county. The square cave dwellings， courtyards， and remnants of the city wall， all embody the historical significance of Fangshan.

The natural landscape and the cultural landscape of Fangshan complement each other， attracting people to stop and explore the vicissitudes of life she experienced， and to understand the things she left for future generations. It was under such emotional trigger that I came up with the idea of recording Fangshan in the form of pen sketches. This book describes and records four different types of Fangshan county： historical sites， rural architecture， natural scenery， and folk customs and culture.

The first part is the historical sites， which is also the longest part. There are many cultural relics under protection in Fangshan County， including three cultural relics under national protection， the South Village City Site， Dawu Wooden Building， and Yu Chenglong’s former residence. I used the pattern of systematic thematic arrangement in this section. The second part is rural architecture， which mainly shows the traditional local folk buildings built by the people in the Ming and Qing dynasties and the Republic of China in Fangshan county. The third part is the natural scenery， in which the depictions are focused on the peaks and valleys， rare animals and plants， and rock landscapes mainly in the North Wudang Mountains， Pangquan Valley， Meidong Valley and Hengquan Reservoir. The fourth part is folk customs and culture， which mainly shows the characteristic folk culture of Fangshan from the perspectives of Zhenwu Mountain Temple Fair， Fangshan Umbrella Yangko， ventriloquism， paper cutting， pyrography， and other projects. This book presents the unique charm of Shanxi at Fangshan with pictures and words， providing help for people to learn of， understand， and love Fangshan.

Li Fang

Now working as a post-doctoral researcher at the School of Design And Art at the Beijing Institute of Technology， she has continued to pursue her studies in the fields of the protection and utilization of cultural heritage， cultural anthropology， and design anthropology.