Dadu Ancient Village, Gan County, Jiangxi Province

Originally named Choushanyantang, Dadu Village was renamed Dadu during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty. It is the birthplace of Zhou Qingzhang, a court official during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, and Xie Tangzhong, a major general of the People's Republic of China. The village is located in a hilly area and covers a total area of 16 square kilometers. Dadu Village has a long history and rich culture. According to legend, the village was founded by the Zhou family 1,500 years ago, while the Xie family moved in 500 years later. According to the Xie family genealogy, Xie Yuanqing moved here from Tangshi, Xingguo County, in the second year of the Taiping Xingguo period of the Northern Song Dynasty (977), and the village was originally named Choushanyantang. In ancient times, the Gan River was difficult to navigate, so some merchants bypassed the dangerous Shibatans by traveling through Bailu and Tian Village, and then entered Ganzhou and Donghe via the Dadu River and Pingjiang. This brought great development opportunities to the people of Dadu, located on the side of Baohua Mountain, the watershed between Ganzhou and Ji'an. The development of water and land transportation (the Dadu River was navigable in ancient times) brought commercial prosperity, and a prosperous village gradually formed, which was renamed "Dadu." As a result, local culture and talent also developed, and during the reigns of Emperor Renzong and Emperor Lizong of the Song Dynasty, the village produced Zhou Qingzhang, a court official, and Zhou Jinshu, a scholar and official. Dadu Ancient Village is the core area of Dadu Administrative Village, consisting of 10 villager groups, including Tangtou, Beitian, and Dawu, forming a complete natural village. The village has a history of over 1,100 years since the Xie family moved in, and is composed of a large number of ancient Huizhou-style buildings with blue bricks and gray tiles, ancient rammed earth buildings, and traditional Hakka four-panel three-room buildings (with dry-laid and rammed earth walls). The ancient buildings in the village are represented by Chongbentang, Dunyongtang, and Zhonghetang, and mostly feature Huizhou-style architecture. Juexing Temple, located on Guihu Mountain in the east of the village, was founded by Xie Mingtang, the fifth ancestor of Dadu, in the second year of the Huangyou period of the Northern Song Dynasty (1050). It is a large and ancient temple, and is recorded in the Qing Dynasty's "Ganzhou Prefecture Gazetteer" as a famous temple in Qianzhou. It is one of the fifth batch of Chinese traditional villages.