Chengzi Village
The ancient Chengzi Village is located in the joint of two prefectures (Honghe and Wenshan) and three counties (Luxi, Mile and Qiu Bei) that 25 km away from Luxi county belongs to Yongning township, Luxi county. Here has the most unique landscape of ancient Yi village called “Tu Zhang Fang – 土掌房”. With the long history and “Tusi Fu relic – 土司府遗址” of the Ming Dynasty making Chengzi Village become the political, economy and culture center of southeast Yunnan in that period.
“Tusi system – 土司 制度” is a kind of local organization forms and systems of local authorities. Tusi is an official position that chooses a local minority tribe leader to manage local people. This system is mainly used in minority areas of the Yuan, Ming, Qing dynasties in China.
Chengzi village is positioned on the 200 meters Feifeng slope with an area of 55.59 hectares. Local legend said that the ancestors of the Yi people choose here because they used one tree’s leaves to build 24 “Tu Zhang Fang – 土掌房” and 24 families lived here safe and happy then they decided here as a place of abode.
In the Ming dynasty, the Tu si Ang Gui a local tribe leader build an official house here then change “Bai Shao” (the old name of Chengzi Village) to “Yong An Fu – 永安府” that make “Tu Zhang Fang – 土掌房” got the large-scale development and formed the township pattern.
The most attractive characteristic of Chengzi village is “Tu Zhang Fang – 土掌房” the Yi people’s house style. Some translation tools call it “soil room” or “earthen house” but they are not very correct. The “Tu Zhang Fang” of the Yi people is very similar to the Tibetan’s stone building, with the same flat roof and thick body. What is different is that its wall is made of clay, which is fixed with splints when built it, then filled with earth and clay then rammed and raised layer by layer to form a wall. Tuzhangfang is distributed in central and southeast Yunnan. The soil in this area is fine, moderate wet and dry, that provides a lot of convenient materials and conditions for construction. Along with more than 500 years of history, this village is called the “living fossil” of the residential culture and construction technology development.
Cheng Zi village combined Karst Natural scenery and pastoral scenery. More than 1000 houses of the Yi nationality here are cascading and concentrating. The walls are connected with the walls. The roof looks like sharing each other, one roof of the house is the upper courtyard of the next house, which is straight up to the top of the hill and has great features. This style is what we called ancient “Tu Zhang Fang – 土掌房”. This village is also known as Luxi county’s “Potala Palace”.
Recommended Itineraries
- Route 1: Stone Forest – East and Western Pagoda
- Route 2: Western Hill – Yunnan Nationalities
Nearby Attractions
- Hewan Village
- Jiuxiang Caves
- Sanjia Village
- Sibeihou Village
- Yangzong Lake
Other Attractions in Kunming City Prefecture
- Bamboo Temple
- Dianchi Lake
- Dongchuan Red Lands
- Golden Temple
- Green Lake Park
- Jiaozi Snow Mountain
- Western Hills
- Yuantong Temple
- Yunnan Minorities Village
Image Source：Farmer’s Four-Season Fruits
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