Daqitou Village is located in Leping Town, Sanshui District, Foshan. It is an ancient village which was built in 1526 of Ming Dynasty. It covers an area of 52,000 square meters, which is a Provincial Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.
History of Daqitou Village
Daqitou Village’s history can be dated back to the early Ming Dynasty. Daqitou Village is also called Zheng Village, because most of the residents in the village are from Zheng Family.
In the early Ming Dynasty, the Zheng Family settled down in this area. At the first time, the village only has a small population. One of the descendants, Zheng Shaozhong achieved the illustrious battle victories and was praised by Empress Dowager Cixi. So the Empress authorized Zheng Shaozhong to rebuild the Daqitou Village as his own residence. After some reconstruction works, the village formed a large scale which people see today, magnificent and imposing.
Zheng Shaozhong once set the rules that no one could rebuild the houses and that people could only sell the houses to those who are from the Zheng families. These rules help to preserve this ancient village. This rule also reflects the development of the clans in the central Guangdong Province. Each descent enlarges his houses, builds up his own temple and ancestral temple on his land. As time passes by, a unified group and well-balanced architecture complex forms here.
However most of the historical relics of Daqitou Village suffered the devastating destroys later. After 1990, the local government has made efforts to protect and rebuild the ancient village. This wonderful Daqitou Village has renewed its beauty and splendor.
Features of Daqitou Village
In the Daqitou village, the houses were designed in the typical Lingnan style of the Qing Dynasty. The layout of the village is uniform and the houses are well-preserved. The ancient buildings are faced to the east, which means "the propitious omen". There are three rooms and two corridors in each house. The front part of the house is enlarged in order to build a stone ridge on it. The extended part is just like the shape of a kettle mouth.
The solemn ancestral hall, sedate ancestral temple, ancient pagoda, ancient houses, relaxing esplanade and clear pond add the harmonious charms of Daqitou Village. The ancient houses were made of blue brick and black tiles, standing quietly in lines and welcoming people to the peaceful town.