When it comes to Shanxi merchant culture in Ming and Qing Dynasties, there must be Qiao Family Courtyard and Pingyao Ancient City in front of everyone. However, in a village in Taigu County, Shanxi Province, there is a house with the word "Shou"-Cao Family Courtyard, which is a bit inferior to the Qiao family, but it always gives people a quiet beauty.
Shanxi merchants are the earliest businessmen in China, and their history can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The Ming and Qing Dynasties were the most prosperous period for Shanxi merchants, which made them the top ten business gangs in China and dominated the business circles in China for 500 years.
Cao Family Courtyard, the mansion of Cao Shijia, a Shanxi merchant in Ming and Qing Dynasties, is located in Beiyang Village, Taigu County, Shanxi Province, next to 108 National Road. It is one of the main cultural relics tourist attractions in Shanxi Province and one of the top ten famous tourist attractions in Shanxi Province. Unlike escort agency, its owner mainly deals in furniture, so Cao Family Courtyard is also called North China Classical Furniture Museum.
The three main courtyards of Cao Family Courtyard are: Duoshou Courtyard, Duofu Courtyard and Duozi Courtyard, so it is also called "Sanduotang". Sanduotang covers an area of *** 10638 square meters and has 277 guest rooms. It has a history of more than 400 years, and it is a castle-like building complex that has remained intact after modern wars and turmoil.
Taigu Cao Shi family started their business from their ancestor Cao Sanxi. At the peak of their business, there were more than 640 companies and nearly 50,000 employees in China. Caojia Courtyard consists of three halls and courtyards side by side, connected by three high-rise buildings, with a small courtyard 15 and more than 270 houses. The whole courtyard has a courtyard, which is strewn at random and has the characteristics of towering, thick and simple. This architectural system with complete layout not only combines the characteristics of north and south architecture, but also absorbs the concept of European architectural culture. The "three carvings" of brick, wood and stone in the courtyard are superb in skills and exquisite in painting art. Duofu Courtyard is the main courtyard opposite to the main entrance, and the plane layout is two courtyards. When entering the hospital, pay attention to the length-width ratio of Huamen Courtyard on the second floor of the south, which is 5: 1. There are five rooms in the east and five rooms in the west, three halls in the north, eight beams in the depth, and another passage next to the hall. The east wall of the front yard is connected with the master yard by a side door, and the second yard has five east and west wing rooms. There is a small building with three rooms and five halls in the north, which was built in the Ming Dynasty and lived by the owner of Sanduo Hall.
Sanduotang Museum mainly displays Cao Shi family economic and commercial history, antique furniture exhibition in Ming and Qing dynasties, porcelain exhibition, treasure hall and other projects. There are more than 2,000 "The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival", including feather mirrors, longevity screens, plum flower arranging and wreath bottles in Yuan Dynasty, gold motorcycle clocks and Ming and Qing furniture.
Among them, there is a pure gold locomotive, made of yellow, white and Ukrainian gold, embedded with clocks and barometer, which is a gift from France to the Qing court. It is exquisite, unique and priceless. It is said that it was because the Empress Dowager Cixi borrowed money from the Cao family as collateral when she made a western expedition to Taigu that this treasure was left in the Cao family courtyard, thus leaving a century-old laughing stock of "Admiralty is now in the west, and if Cao family has no such thing, how can it return to the west?" In fact, with Sanduotang's strength at that time, importing and selling western watches was already his own business.
In many rooms of Cao Zhai, calligraphy works of different styles are hung. These calligraphy works are the original works of Zhao Tieshan, a calligrapher in the late Qing Dynasty. Friends who like calligraphy visit the whole Sanduo Hall, and they have a feeling of watching calligraphy exhibitions with specific themes. These works complement each other in Cao Zhai and are particularly harmonious with the surrounding environment.
Sanduotang was once praised by Zou Jiahua as "the treasure of Shanxi merchants". The Cao Family Courtyard in my impression is like a woman who just joined the WTO. Although graceful, gentle and graceful, unobtrusive and not sharp ... What matters is not fame and value, but connotation.
Friends who like to study ancient buildings and Shanxi merchant culture, Sanduotang is really worth a visit. ...