Revival and Heritage of Hongcun: Chinas Living Masterpiece

A living village in an ink painting

In the calm light of autumn, Hongcun in Yixian County comes alive with color against a canvas of white walls and black tiles. Strings of red chili and trays of corn dry on wooden racks in courtyards and along rooftops, a seasonal ritual known as shai qiu. Visitors watch and photograph, but for locals it remains part of daily life, a practice that ties the village to centuries of agrarian wisdom. The effect is striking. A monochrome settlement appears to bloom, then return to quiet, in step with the harvest.

That rhythm, and the architecture that frames it, earned Hongcun a place on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2000, paired with nearby Xidi. The village is not a museum behind ropes. It is a community that endured a severe rainy season in 2024 and stayed open to guests, a sign that old waterworks and careful maintenance still work. Returnees from cities now guide tours and open small businesses. Newcomers settle in as residents. Together they are shaping a living heritage that must be protected while serving real needs in a fast changing country.

What UNESCO protects in Hongcun

UNESCO recognizes Xidi and Hongcun for preserving the look and life of traditional non urban settlements that have vanished or changed elsewhere. The street plan, the relationship between houses and water, and the delicate decorative arts are valued for their integrity and authenticity. The two villages sit in the hills of southern Anhui, built along streams and pools that shape a tranquil landscape. Their architecture reflects local craft and the influence of scholar officials who returned home after careers in government and trade, bringing a taste for orderly layouts and Confucian values. Official protections and management plans aim to keep the spatial pattern and way of life intact while managing tourism and development pressures. See the official listing on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Many features date from the 14th to the 20th centuries. Houses combine plain colors with intricate carved details. Gables, courtyards, lanes, and water features create a style that recalls an ink painting. The site also preserves intangible culture, including foodways, medicine, and local handicrafts. Long term preservation relies on legal protection, active management, and a balance between economic vitality and the daily needs of residents.

Ancient design that still works

Hongcuns design rests on careful site selection and an understanding of landscape, a way of thinking often explained through feng shui. Villages in this region tend to sit at the foot of a hill, set back from a river, with buildings made from local timber, brick, tile, and stone. The result is a settlement that reads as part of the terrain, not a structure imposed on it. French architects and urban designers who study these villages describe a morphogeographic logic, a layout shaped by landforms and water that remains practical and resilient.

A village shaped like an ox

From above, Hongcun is said to resemble a resting ox. Leigang Mountain forms the backbone. Two ancient trees are the horns. Bridges arch like hooves. Clusters of homes create the body. More than a pleasant image, this reflects a traditional respect for the ox in agrarian life. The animal signified diligence and prosperity. A village that mirrors this symbol signals a belief in harmony between people and the land, a theme that runs through local architecture and ritual.

A water system that kept the village open in 2024

Channels lace through the village, linking ponds and courtyards in a connected network. During a spell of heavy rain in 2024, many scenic areas in the region closed and evacuated visitors. Hongcun stayed open. The reason lies in engineering that guides water through a sequence of intake, circulation, storage, and discharge. Water moves from higher ground to Moon Pond at the heart of the settlement, then to South Lake, before flowing back to the stream. Local caretakers maintain the channels and inlets. The system slows and sheds stormwater, reduces sediment, and keeps paths and foundations safe.

Four waters return to the hall

A signature of Huizhou houses is the saying four waters return to the hall. Roofs slope inward so rainwater falls toward a central patio. Some water is stored for household use. The rest exits through carved stone spouts into lanes, then feeds the village channels. Patios also bring light and ventilation to deep, narrow homes. In a time before modern plumbing, this approach conserved water, cooled interiors, and helped carry wastewater away. It remains a smart response to heat and heavy rain in a hilly landscape.

Huizhou homes, carvings, and everyday life

Hongcuns skyline is defined by horse head gables, where gable walls rise above the roof in stepped tiers. The effect is elegant, yet it also serves an urgent purpose. Most structures are timber framed. The raised masonry gables act as fire sealing walls, slowing flames from leaping between buildings. Security shaped design as well. Men often traveled for trade, so many homes have high walls and small upper windows. The patio, adapted from the northern courtyard, brings the outside into the center of the house, joining light, air, water, and family life in one space.

Detail is everywhere. The Three Carvings, wood, brick, and stone, decorate lintels, beams, screens, and doorways with scenes and motifs that encode wishes for virtue, longevity, and good fortune. Building names express ideals of learning and harmony. Lexu Tang, the Hall of Joyous Orderly Discourse, blends joy and reason in its very title, a reminder that architecture here carries moral language as well as shelter.

Living heritage and the people who guard it

Preservation depends on people who live and work in these places. Fire safety teams patrol lanes and check alarms in centuries old houses. Ancestral hall conservators clean, repair, and interpret the halls that hold a villages memory. Local authorities set aside a portion of ticket revenue for a dedicated protection fund, an important source for repairs that private owners might struggle to cover on their own.

Professor He Keren of the China Central Academy of Fine Arts first studied Huizhou villages decades ago and still sees lessons for today. She recalls the balance between practical siting, spiritual belief, and craft.

“Their overall layouts were closely integrated with traditional feng shui culture and ecological concepts. The exquisite architectural techniques and artistry were truly treasures of Chinese civilization, deeply moving us young students at the time.”

He also points to a social shift that once emptied many houses, as young people left for cities. Population loss meant fewer hands and less money for maintenance. Keeping villages alive now depends on local livelihoods and a sense of belonging. New residents are part of that picture. After a visit with his wife, a couple from Austria and China settled in Hongcun to run a homestay and a small cafe. Co owner Armin Schober said the building itself drew him in.

“This ancient house tells a lot of stories, and that is what makes it special. It sparks my imagination about what life was like 200 years ago.”

Across the heritage site in Xidi, a nearby homestay owner described a similar sense of commitment to place and to careful tourism. He grew up there and returned to help raise the villages profile while protecting what makes it special.

“I was born in 1986, the year when tourism started to develop in Xidi. I always feel proud as a local and want to make a contribution to the development of my hometown.”

Tourism without losing authenticity

Hongcuns lanes and courtyards appeared in Ang Lees film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and the village often sees heavy visitor traffic. The challenge is to let people experience shai qiu, carved screens, and ancestral halls without turning the place into a stage set. Studies of visitor perception in other Chinese villages find that tourists connect first with architecture, then with emotion and meaning as they learn more. The lesson is practical. Preserve both structure and symbols, and tell stories clearly in person and online. Avoid heavy commercial signage and keep residents at the center of planning.

That balance helps maintain the plain palette, alley calm, and sound of running water that drew travelers in the first place. It also spreads spending beyond the main gate, supporting craftspeople, guides, and small inns that grow directly from the villages heritage.

Where policies and practice must align

Researchers propose using the Historic Urban Landscape approach to guide conservation in villages like Hongcun and Xidi. The idea is to knit cultural and natural values into everyday decisions. It stresses four linked areas, public participation, planning and guidance, legislation and regulation, and finance. Conservation plans have kept core areas intact, but there are gaps. Many traditional houses that fall outside protected lists receive less attention. Owners face high costs, and poor repairs risk damaging historic fabric.

• Survey every traditional building at regular intervals, logging materials, decay, and hazards such as moisture and insects.
• Publish clear repair standards for timber, brick, tile, and stone, and require qualified teams for specialist work.
• Expand legal coverage to include unlisted houses that contribute to the historic scene, not only famous halls.
• Create grants and low interest loans for private owners who follow approved conservation plans.
• Build village level councils that include residents, artisans, and local businesses, so decisions reflect daily life.
• Set visitor capacity for narrow lanes and key halls, and stagger flows during peak seasons.
• Train local fire and flood response teams, and maintain channels and roofs as part of risk management.
• Use tourism revenue transparently, with a share earmarked for routine maintenance and documentation.

Hongcun as a model for rural renewal

Heritage can support community life, not replace it. In Fengwu Village, also in Yixian County, a new Rural Memory Museum was designed to fit the local texture with whitewashed walls, timber, and tile. It functions as a public gathering space and a modern counterpart to an ancestral hall. Exhibits focus on family objects and stories, with rooms for screenings and events. The building uses local materials and a courtyard logic that echoes Anhui houses, while opening outward to invite neighbors in. That mix shows how design can carry history into daily use.

Scholars who study the sustainability of traditional villages point to consistent strengths: a strong sense of place, shared practices, careful adaptation, rich symbols, and social networks. Hongcun displays those traits in its water system, house names, and seasonal rituals. Policies that support adaptive reuse, fund owner repairs, and nurture community groups can keep that fabric intact. The goal is simple. Let the village remain a place to live, work, and celebrate, while welcoming visitors who come to learn from it.

Key Points

• Hongcun and neighboring Xidi were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000 for their preserved village layout, Huizhou architecture, and integrated water systems.
• Shai qiu, the autumn drying of crops, is a living agrarian practice that draws visitors and anchors seasonal life.
• Ancient water engineering, including channels, Moon Pond, and South Lake, helped Hongcun stay open during heavy rain in 2024.
• Huizhou house features such as horse head gables, high walls, and patios serve both beauty and function, from fire control to ventilation.
• The Three Carvings, wood, brick, and stone, encode values and history in doors, beams, and screens.
• Community stewards, from fire safety teams to hall conservators, and a dedicated protection fund support day to day preservation.
• Research highlights gaps in legal coverage and funding for privately owned historic houses and calls for wider participation and clear repair standards.
• Newcomers and returnees are opening homestays and small shops, adding livelihoods that help keep the village alive while maintaining authenticity.