The Grand Courtyard of the Qiao’s

The Grand Courtyard of the Qiao’s lies in Qiaojiabao Village in Qi County of Shanxi Province, with 54 kilometers (33.5 miles) away from Taiyuan City in the north and 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away from Dongguan Town in the south, which was originally the residence of the famous financial capitalist Qiao Zhiyong in the Qing Dynasty (1,616 A.D.-1,911 A.D.). Initially built in the 20th year of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1,616 A.D.-1,911 A.D.), the Grand Courtyard of the Qiao’s was renovated twice and enlarged once in the later times, and it has come into being the present architectures after several generations’ hard working, which is very large and magnificent as a whole, fully representing the unique style of civilian residences in the Qing Dynasty (1,616 A.D.-1,911 A.D.). As enclosed architecture clusters in the form of a castle, the Grand Courtyard of the Qiao’s covers a total area of 10,642 square meters (12,728 square yards) with the construction area of 4,175 square meters (4,993 square yards) in an antique flavor. As a matter of fact, the Grand Courtyard of the Qiao’s are composed 6 main courtyards and 20 smaller yards with 313 rooms in all. The courtyard is just like a castle with three sides facing the streets, and there is a high parapet wall with 10 meters high (32 feet) around the whole courtyard, safe, steady and stately. The delicate design and the fine techniques of the architecture have high scientific and historical value, which is indeed the treasure of the nation, and it was appraised by the experts as “a Pearl of Civilian Residence in North China”.

The main features of the Grand Courtyard of the Qiao’s
Seen from a high position, the distribution of the courtyard is just like the character “Xi”, which means happiness and enjoyment in Chinese dictionary. There is a paved path as long as 80 meters (87 yards) leading to the main hall with the Ancestral Memorial Hall in the end of the path, which divides the 6 courtyards into two sections: the southern section and the northern section. The southern section is composed of the Southeast Yard, the South Yard and the New Yard; and the northern section is made up of the Old Yard, the Northwest Yard and the Study Yard.

As you set feet on the courtyard, firstly you will see the stately Main Gate with an attic on the top, and a tablet on the top of the attic was presented under the verbal instruction of the Empress Cixi in the Qing Dynasty (1,616 A.D.-1,911 A.D.), which read “Fu Zhong Lang Huan”. A large bluestone with two characters “Gu Feng” is embedded on the top of the Gate, which reflects the true life style of the owner of the courtyard. There is a screen wall opposite to the Main Gate with a pair of couplets engraved in each side, which were presented by Li Hongzhang (1832-1901, the famous general of the Qing Dynasty (1,616 A.D.-1,911 A.D.). Walking along the paved road, you will get to the Ancestral Memorial Hall, which is very solemn in the shape of a temple with lion-head pillars and stone carvings inside. There is a stele with 4 Chinese characters “Ren Zhou Yi Fu” by the general Li Hongzhang of the Qing Dynasty (1,616 A.D.-1,911 A.D.) in the hall as well as three layers of ancestral memorial tablets of the Wang’s. There are 4 main buildings in the courtyard as well as Gate Tower, the Bell Tower and the Watching Tower, 6 in total. The roofs of each house in the courtyard are connected by walkways, which make it easier to patrol and protect the whole courtyard at any time. The reasons why this courtyard is famous all over the world are not only for its large scales and sizes, but also are for its brick sculptures, its wood carvings and its murals, which are very delicate and wonderful in appearances.

Brick Carving
Brick carvings are very common in the courtyard, reflecting various subjects such as flowers and dragons as well as figures. For example, the flowers on the screen walls and the pillars, the carving “the Unicorn Sending a Son Home” (the Unicorn is thought to be a talisman in traditional Chinese culture according to legends), which expresses people’s desire to have more babies and live a happy life in the future; the carving “the Pied Magpie Stepping on a Plum-tree”, which shows people’s desire to looking forward to the good news in the near future.

Wood Carving
Wood carvings can be founded everywhere in the courtyard, which are very vivid with some special folk-custom meaning, and different kinds of figures are engraved on each main gate of the courtyard.
The wood carvings are in different sizes and shapes, for example: the carvings of “Eight Immortals Toasting Health”, which means longevity and happiness in the future; the carvings of “the Three Immortal Stars”, representing the Immortal Star of Fortune, the Immortal Star of Prosperity and the Immortal Star of longevity, which is said to bring good luck in the following years; the carvings of the peonies represent richness and noble social status.

Murals
There are wonderful gold murals from the eaves of each house in the courtyard, and the subjects are mainly about the legendary men as well as the flowers, the birds, the insects, fishes and vehicles, etc. The murals in the courtyard are just the same as they used to though hundreds of years’ exposure to the wind and the sun.
Besides, Qi County Folk-Custom Museum was established in the site of the Grand Courtyard of the Qiao’s in 1958, which was open to the public in 1968, and there are more than 5,000 precious culture relics displaying in the museum, fully reflecting the folk customs in the center of Shanxi Province with the rich and colorful contents: Farming Custom, Social Manners, Folk Crafts, the Treasures of the Qiao’s and the Qiao’s History. More than 30 films shot in the museum, and the TV play Series “the Grand Courtyard of the Qiao’s” were shot in the courtyard, broadcast in the golden time in CCTV-1, which catches eyes of many people.

Getting there
The Grand Courtyard of the Qiao’s lies in Qiaojiabao Village in Qi County of Shanxi Province, which is 54 kilometers (33.5 miles) away from Taiyuan City, so you can take by railway or by air to Taiyuan first, and then transfer a bus there directly from Taiyuan Bus Station. There are tourism buses from Taiyuan City to the Grand Courtyard of the Qiao’s directly every day. And you can also stop at Qiaojiabao Village by the buses towards Pingyao and Lingchuan. And it is open to the public from 8:00 am to 7:30 pm in summer and 8:00 am to 6:00 pm in winter every day.