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Pingyao Historic City and Qiao Family Courtyard Zhang

1. INTRODUCTION positive impact on China’s modern economic
This research article comprises two parts. The development, and it is one of the birthplaces
first part investigates the historic city of of the famous Shanxi Shangren [1-3] .
Pingyao in Shanxi Province of China. It starts
by exploring Pingyao’s key urban elements, 2. PINGYAO HISTORIC CITY
including the city wall, city gates, and street Pingyao (平遥) is located in Jinzhong, in the
pattern; it then outlines Pingyao’s Ming middle reaches of the Yellow River, and
(1368‒1644) and Qing (1644‒1911) southwest of the Taiyuan Basin in the east of
architecture of social, cultural, and economic the Loess Plateau. Pingyao has a temperate
significance. The second part of the paper monsoon climate, with four distinctive
traces the footprint of Qiao Family Courtyard seasons and abundant sunshine. Summer is
in Qi County nearby, as it is an outstanding hot with plentiful rains, and winter is cold and
example of vernacular architecture of the dry. July is the hottest month, and January the
Qing dynasty in the region. The study ends coldest. The precipitation varies greatly from
with a discussion about the success and year to year, and the distribution is uneven
failures of Shanxi shangren (merchants), or throughout the year, mainly in the four
Jinshang, and draws a preliminary conclusion months from June to September. The
about their historic contributions and what northeast of Pingyao is 616 km from Beijing,
has made Pingyao City and Qiao Family its north is 90 km to the provincial capital
resilient and responsible. Taiyuan, its west is 543 km to the ancient
Many people have regarded Shanxi as capital Xi’an, its east is 758 km to Tianjin port,
one of the poorest provinces in China. and its south is 2,390 km to the coast of
However, from the mid-15th to the mid-20th Guangzhou . Therefore, Pingyao’s location
[2]
centuries, Shanxi was among China’s richest was superb as a trade center in China.
provinces. Shanxi shangren dominated the Pingyao city wall is one of the largest,
top ten trade groups in the Ming and Qing earliest, and relatively well-preserved city
dynasties; they once controlled the lifeline of walls that reflects the development of Chinese
China’s economy. History shows that as early urban planning and architectural design for
as the Spring and Autumn Period (770‒476 more than 500 years. As early as 2,800 years
BCE), merchants appeared in Shanxi. During ago, in the reign of King Xuan of the Western
the Sui and Tang dynasties (581‒907), Shanxi Zhou ( 周 宣 王 , c. 862‒782 BCE), the
shangren opened up a commercial network
connecting parts of China, Southeast Asia, the rudiment of Pingyao city wall was formed,
Middle East, and Europe. In the Ming and which was to be laid out in square, sitting
Qing dynasties, Shanxi merchants crossed the north and facing south, 15° to the east, in line
Great Wall to the north and reached Europe with the prevailing wind direction [Figures 1–
with an amazing scale and wealth. In the Qing 2]. Thus, the city dwellers could bath daily in
dynasty, Shanxi had the biggest capital and abundant sunshine. Since the Qin-dynasty
the widest distribution of national commerce. government implemented the “County
In each national fundraising, Shanxi shangren System” in 221 BCE, Pingyao has existed as
donated the largest amount of silver a “County Governance” to this day. Pingyao
nationwide. Until the beginning of the 20th County has an area of 1,260 sqkm, and the
century, Shanxi was still a trade center in historic City has 2.25 sqkm. Within the city
China. The headquarters of major financial wall, streets, shops, and municipal buildings
institutions in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, retain Ming and Qing architectural styles,
Wuhan, and other big Chinese cities, were whereas outside the city wall, modern
mostly located in the ordinary streets of buildings dominate the New City. There are
Pingyao and Taigu. Pingyao was one of the more than 300 historic and cultural
most developed cities in the financial industry complexes inside and outside the Old City,
in the middle and late 19th century, it had a with nearly 4,000 Ming and Qing courtyard
houses still in existence today [1, 2, 4, 5] .

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