|
Tunbao, Where Time Frozen for 600 Years
 For most people, the life of the ancient
Chinese could only be pieced together through historic books, relics, or the
less reliable costume dramas. But there is an area in China's southwestern Guizhou Province where the time seems to have been frozen for
more than 600 years, offering a rare chance to experience life in an ancient Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) city -Tunbao.
With Anshun County as its centre, the area covers hundreds of square
kilometers in the hinterland of Guizhou, a major gateway to the southwestern
Chinese province of Yunnan, an important military fortress over the centuries.
For more than 2,000 years, the area witnessed numerous wars and now still plays
an important role in land transportation.
Back in the year of 1381, hundreds of thousands of troops, who were sent to
clear the remnant forces of the previous dynasty in Yunnan, didn't return to
their home in eastern and central China. The Ming Emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang , had ordered them to station and settle down
with their families along the strategic passage to safeguard his kingdom.
At the time, no one knew that the soldiers' offspring would stay for hundreds
of years and never go back to their hometown. Those immigrants brought with them
not only the military mission, but also the elegant culture of the south. Even
today, the descendants still claim that they are the offspring of Ming Emperor
Zhu Yuanzhang and have kept the Ming language, customs, clothes, architecture,
beliefs, and lifestyle, unchanged for more than 600 years.
 The Living Fossil of an Ancient
Life
When staying in a Tunbao village , you may have the strange feeling that you are
in a scene of a costume drama, and there must be cameras hidden somewhere - only
to find that the antique clothes, the accent, the houses, the beautiful
hairstyles, and the "actors" are as real as life itself.
The legacy of the ancient military troop can first be found in the name of
the place itself, Tunbao. A military residence area is called Tun in Chinese,
while the immigrants' residence is called Bao.
|
|
E-Mail
This Article 
Print
Friendly Format 
For most people, the life of the ancient
Chinese could only be pieced together through historic books, relics, or the
less reliable costume dramas. But there is an area in China's southwestern Guizhou Province where the time seems to have been frozen for
more than 600 years, offering a rare chance to experience life in an ancient Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) city -Tunbao.
