China News Service, Jinhua, October 3 (Linbo) Yongkang, Zhejiang Province has many business cards, and the "Hardware Capital" is the brightest one. But if you walk into its countryside, you will find another quieter and more ancient power - the plaques in the ancestral halls, the carvings on the old houses, and the singing voices of the representative inheritors of intangible cultural heritage are being re-visited bit by bit.
From "selling products" to "selling culture", from "industrially strong city" to "civilized city", Yongkang's rural revitalization practice is answering a more universal proposition: How can cultural inheritance condense civilization identity, and how can it be deeply integrated with rural revitalization?
Recently, a scene was taken of the first cafe in Houwu Village, Yongkang, Zhejiang. Photo by Lin Bo
Rebirth of the ancient village: new daily life "grows" in the old house
Houwu Village was built during the Jiading Period of the Southern Song Dynasty and has a history of more than 800 years. There are more than 100 ancestral halls, halls and ancient houses from the Ming Dynasty, Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China preserved in the village.
“We adapt to local conditions and each house has its own characteristics.” Wu Yichun, secretary of the Party branch of Houwu Village, introduced while standing in front of Guihuaju. This old house from a Su-style family has now attracted calligraphy and painting enthusiasts and has become the "Osmanthus Residence Calligraphy and Painting Club". Retirees often come here to create art, and old houses have new uses.
Not far away, the centuries-old iron tree in Cuncheng Hall is still vigorous. Wu Suxing, the village guide, said: "No matter how long it is, it will never exceed the owner's eaves. People in the village regard it as a treasure."
On September 4 this year, Houwucun Xiaocun Story Cafe officially opened. The manager, Wang Zhenzhen, pointed to the ancient trees and said: "After I opened this cafe, many young people will come here to sit, have a cup of coffee, look at the ancient trees, and chat."
She designed the cafe herself. "The village said it wanted to develop it, so I thought if it could give young people a place to stay when they return to the village, instead of sitting in their rooms playing with their mobile phones."
From Houwu Village to Yalu Village, the revitalization paths are different, but they point in the same direction: to make the ancient village "live" in the present.
With the "Nine Lions Picture" intangible cultural heritage as its soul, Yalu Village creates the brand "Yalu·Saturday", allowing the ancient village to wake up to the sound of gongs and drums every Saturday. Representative inheritors of intangible cultural heritage and village cadres work together to integrate living inheritance into daily life.
"The key to keeping an ancient village alive lies in its people," said Lu Gexin, secretary of the village party branch and director of the village committee.
The village is also home to the "Zhejiang Provincial Rural Museum" - Yalu Paper-cutting Museum, which contains more than 3,000 paper-cuts of opera stories from the Ming, Qing and Republic of China periods, with rich and diverse content. The museum also has functional areas such as exhibition area, training area, and experience area, which attracts a large number of tourists and makes the paper-cutting museum a popular research base for teachers and students.
Recently, "post-90s" paper-cutting craftsmen demonstrated their paper-cutting skills in Hukuxia Village, Yongkang, Zhejiang. Photo by Wang Gang
A new voice in the ancestral hall: new stories are "told" in the old ancestral hall
Hukuxia Village is the hometown of Hu Ze, a famous official in the Northern Song Dynasty. There are 14 ancient ancestral halls preserved in the village, and there are Hu Gong Cemetery, Hu Ze Historical Relics Museum, and Integrity Education Base. In recent years, 18 ancient buildings have been renovated in the village.
Hu Jiyang, secretary of the party branch of the village, took the lead in promoting the ancient village revitalization path of "hardware gene + Hu Gong culture" and transformed the ancient ancestral hall into a moral lecture hall.
"The core of Hu Gong's spirit is serving the people, being pragmatic and honest." Hu Jiyang said that the 14 ancestral halls are no longer dusty places for ancestor worship, but cultural fulcrums for grassroots governance. In the anti-corruption education base, party members and cadres reviewed Hu Ze's admonition of "serving an official for one term and benefiting the whole party"; in the ethics lecture hall, village rules and regulations and ancestral family mottos confirmed each other.
The ancient ancestral hall not only "speaks" of family traditions, but also "lives" in young people. Jin Shenhao, a "post-90s" paper-cutting craftsman, was attracted by Hu Gong's culture and settled in the old ancestral hall to open a paper-cutting workshop.
The old house has a new owner, and the sound of scissors replaces the silence of the past. When tourists come here, they can not only listen to Hu Gong’s stories, but also take away a paper-cut.
Qianhuang Village uses "Red Research" and "No. 1 Scholar Chen Liang" as its two wings to build the "Cunma" brand. Walking into the village, a statue of Chen Liang stands at the entrance of the village, and there is an endless stream of research teams.
Li Dingshi, secretary of the party branch of the village, introduced that thinker and writer Chen Liang's idea of "equalizing justice and benefit" is in line with the pragmatic spirit of Yongkang hardware culture. "Chen Liang talks about 'righteousness and benefit'. When we, Yongkang people, make hardware, we also focus on morality and efficiency."
The superposition of red studies and ancient village culture has allowed Qianhuang Village to find its own identity in the integration of culture and tourism. On the village road, runners and tourists pass by, and the "Village Horse" brand is turning traffic into retention.
From Hukuxia Village to Qianhuang Village, ancient ancestral halls and ancient villages are no longer static exhibits, but cultural scenes that "tell" new trends and "run" new vitality. The millennium cultural context is being transformed into governance efficiency and development momentum.
Recently, the scene was viewed from the top of Zhoucun Mountain in Yongkang Garden, Zhejiang Province. Photo by Lin Bo
Symbiosis of old and new: new synergy emerges from old context
The development trajectory of Yuanzhou Village provides another footnote to the "symbiosis of old and new". In 2006, the village revitalized existing land in old villages and received 51 million yuan in funding. At that time, more than 90% of the cadres and the masses wanted to divide the money. Zhou Shuangzheng, secretary of the village party branch, withstood the pressure - "This money must not be divided. This is the engine of village development."
Facts have proved that this money has stimulated the renovation of rural houses and the development of cultural tourism. Today, the village’s collective assets reach 1.5 billion yuan, and the per capita income exceeds 60,000 yuan.
At the same time, Yuanzhou Village has also deeply explored Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor culture, Xiannong culture, and jade culture, and created more than 10 integrated cultural and tourism attractions such as the Little Great Wall, Yinghu Ecological Landscape Park, and Xuanyuan Cave Mansion. In 2024, Yuanzhou Village was selected as a characteristic village for Zhejiang Art and Township Construction.
Cultural identity is becoming an endogenous driving force for industrial upgrading.
The practice of Dachen Village also confirms this point. Chen Jianwei, secretary of the party branch of the village, said that Dachen Village has transformed from a beautiful countryside to a beautiful economy, and more than 1,000 acres of specialty crops have gone from "unsellable" to "can be sold at home." Products such as taro mooncakes, taro milk tea, and taro chips are sold nationwide.
"Rural civilization has driven our development and contributed to the prosperity of the people." Chen Jianwei said that more and more young people are returning to their hometowns and villages, the number of B&Bs has increased from 7 to more than 20, and the number of beds has increased from more than 120 to more than 1,600.
From the rebirth of old houses in Houwu Village, to the new sound of ancestral halls in Hukuxia Village, to the integration of culture and tourism in Yuanzhou Village and Dachen Village, Yongkang’s rural revitalization practice reveals a common logic: culture is not an embellishment of development, but the core of development. When history “speaks”, civilizational identity will have a foundation and rural revitalization will have a soul.
Lizhou has a long history of thousands of years. Yongkang is taking "revitalizing" rural history and culture as its starting point to transform natural resources and traditional culture into continuous productivity. From the "Hardware City" to the "Civilized City", the essence of this transformation is to make culture the foundation of common prosperity and civilization the engine of rural revitalization.
