My Visit to Digang: Ancient Village

I have visited Digang three times. The first was in midsummer days and the second in the depth of a winter. The third was in early April， 2010. The 1，000-year-old village is tugged away in a river area 10 kilometers southeast of Huzhou， a key urban center in northern Zhejiang. The ancient village is quietly encircled by fishing ponds and mulberry woods.

Bridges

I take an early morning stroll around village and come to many bridges. Digang is said to have had 23 bridges in ancient times. Today， not so many bridges remain. They are like swansongs of the past.

While walking along a riverside street in the village I encounter Xiushui Bridge built in the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The 11.8-meter-long and 3-meter-wide one-span stone structure is by no means magnificent; instead， it is slender and graceful. Four of the short decorative pillars on the bridge present carved lions. They look wickedly vivid. Beside the bridge stands a stone stele indicting that the bridge is under the protection of the city government.

Take a few more steps and I come to Longxing Bridge， a three-span stone bridge built in the Qing Dynasty. The three-span Bazi Bridge was first built in the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty. In good old days， local residents engaged in business or government employment or academic studies in places away from home would take a walk across this bridge whenever they were back home in Digang. The ritual was said to help people achieve their ambition.

The small and delicate bridges are cultural symbols of Digang. They suggest the past， the culture， the way of life，

Dominant Families

In ancient feudal China， Digang produced some metropolitan graduates and 100 plus graduates at provincial and local levels. A cultural history of Digang centers on three major families of Zhang， Wu and Zhu. The well known 36 halls were actually magnificent residences built by celebrities produced by the families of Zhang， Wu and Zhu.

The Zhang family moved to Digang from Shaoxing in ancient times. By the Qing Dynasty， this family had grown into number one clan in Digang. In 1778 (the 43rd year of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing)， the Zhangs in Digang pooled their resources and built a spectacular garden and in 1810 (the 10th year of Emperor Jiaqing)， the emperor wrote an inscription for the garden. Today， only part of the garden is still around: a pond， a five-span stone bridge， a square foundation of a house no more， a stone monument， and two trees.

Sanrui Hall is a relatively well preserved residence of the 36 in Digang. It is the former residence of Zhang Hongzhao (1877-1951)， one of the four founding fathers of China’s modern geology. In the central patio of the residence used to be a magnolia and a sweet osmanthus， symbols of wealth and fame. The 230-year-old magnolia is still here. Walking around the huge residence and seeing the dilapidated condition of the tall wall， I feel my heart cold and heavy， thinking I am face to face with history， time， and lost wealth.

Hongzhi Hall is the former residence of Zhu Wulou. He used to be president of Shanghai Financiers Association and father-in-law of Chen Guofu， a high ranking KMT official. Zhu Wulou supported Sun Yet-san’s revolutionary activities and boycotted the circulation of foreign silver dollars in China. What remain today to indicate the past wealth are a stone ingot in front of the totally dilapidated residence and some brick and wood carvings on the gate.

Ligeng Hall has its door face the main village road which is no more than 2 meters wide. The door is locked. It is hard to imagine the enormous residence has three rows of houses in the compound. It used to be the best residence owned by the Wu family. For a while， the residence housed the Wuxing County business school. An old saying in Digang compares the wealth of the Zhang family and the Wu family: Zhang has millions but Wu’s wealth is countless. The wealth difference is testified by the stone-slab roads in the village: those paved with stone slabs arranged horizontally pointing from side to side were built by the Wu family and those paved with stone slabs placed pointing forward were built by the Zhang Family. The former apparently needed more stone slabs.

Canal and Riverside Arcade

Digang leans on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Along the canal is a some 500-meter long arcade. It looks deserted now， but in the good old days during the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republican years， it was a flourishing business center. Digang is quieter now.

The business center of the village is scattered along a narrow street about 1 to 2 meters wide. All the shops are small: a small drug store， a small din sum store， a small restaurant， a small barber’s shop， a small tailor’s shop， a small food shop， a small tea house， a small electric appliance store. All the basic everyday household goods and services could be found along the street.

Preservation and New Construction

New villa-styled houses stand beyond the old village， which is left alone and kept intact. Refurbishment projects are implemented inside the village in the principle of maintaining the old look.

Digang is rich now. The village’s economic output was 705 million in 2009 and the per capita income for villagers stood at 16，540. Chongwen Garden， the newly built one-hectare culture center， is the place where villagers hang out. The garden has a lotus pond， a stone-arch bridge， a pavilion， rockeries， and fitness ground. The 600m2 club has a library， a multi-media center， a lecture room. Fishing farmers talk with scientists at Zhejiang University through the remote education system installed at the center. Villagers dance on the culture square in the evening.

A 66-year-old villager tells me that he regularly comes to the center to do some exercises in the morning. The village has many entertainment teams. A program choreographed and staged by the residents of Digang has been screened on CCTV， the country’s largest television network. □