A Brief Introduction to Taoyuan Village---Century-old Stone Houses in Living Smoke， Tens of Thousands of Persimmon Trees with Special Redness.

在中國湖北省廣水市，大別山與桐柏山交匯的武勝關(guān)下，有一個(gè)人與自然和諧之美的小村莊——桃源村。 桃源村源于明代嘉靖年間，丹靈毓秀，古風(fēng)猶存，自然生態(tài)保護(hù)完好。明清時(shí)代的百年石屋，千畝有機(jī)茶園，萬棵古柿樹，曾吸引全國各地的驢友前來品茶嘗柿及攝影， 被譽(yù)為“蒼桑野性美”。

In Guangshui City of Hubei Province， PR China， lying below Wusheng Pass on the intersection between Dabie Mountain and Tongbai Mountain， there is a great village called Taoyuan， where man and nature are in perfect harmony. The village of Taoyuan， dating from the Jiajing years of Ming Dynasty， with the ecological system well preserved， is beautiful beyond description. Stone houses of the Ming and Qing Dynasties， and vast areas of tea farms have attracted travelers from all over the country to come to take photographs and to taste the excellence of tea here， making the village known for "the wild beauty of history".

古時(shí)的桃源曾經(jīng)是廣水至大悟、河南省九里關(guān)的交通要道，一腳跨兩地（孝感和隨州）、兩縣共一灣（大悟和廣水）、一水分兩系（長江和淮河）”是該村的一大特色。 話說桃源的百年石屋，確實(shí)有一番來歷：永樂元年間，明成祖朱棣思慮遷都北京，前后從全國各地招來二十多萬民工，營建都城，并開始修建他的陵寢。沈姓和江姓的兩位工匠聽說皇帝會(huì)在工程竣工后殺死他們，以保護(hù)布局機(jī)關(guān)的秘密，兩個(gè)人尋機(jī)逃出了京城。他們一路南下，走到武勝關(guān)下的桃源村，發(fā)現(xiàn)山谷與世隔絕，水土肥沃，于是就地取材，開山鑿石，建房定居繁衍生息，形成了后來的江家桃源和沈家桃源。先民們因地制宜，采用山石做房屋和生活器具，在村里，到處可見石碾石磨，石桌石凳，石墻石屋。特別是石頭與粘土做的房屋別具特色（也有少量的土坯磚），他們采用抬梁式和穿斗式建筑構(gòu)架，石頭、木料、布瓦巧妙的結(jié)合，形成獨(dú)特的民居模式；古柿樹群落分布在桃源村山谷中，因“柿”諧音“四”，村民們?yōu)槠砬笞约核募酒桨?，故有家家都有種柿子樹的習(xí)慣，村里兩萬棵柿子樹，百年以上樹齡的就有600多棵。

The ancient Taoyuan Village lay on the important transportation routes from Guangshui County to Dawu County and to Jiuliguan of Henan Province. It was a unique place where， as was passed down， “one single foot of a human being could be set on two cities of Xiaogan and Suizhou”， “one village was shared by two counties of Guangshui and Dawu” and “one river flew to both the Yangtze River and Huai River”， forming a special feature. So the stone house of centuries in Taoyuan Village does have a story which goes as follows： During the Yongle Period of Ming Dynasty， the emperor planned to move the capital to Beijing， so about two hundred thousand workers from all over the country were called out for the construction of the new capital. When the emperors mausoleum began to be built， two craftsmen surnamed Shen and Jiang heard that the emperor would have them killed after the completion of the project， in order to protect the layout organs secret， so the two of them managed to catch an opportunity to escape from the building site. They fled all the way south until they came to Taoyuan Village， where they found that the village was isolated， with the land and water fertile and abundant. They started to make use of the materials they could find， building up their homes and opening up fields. As a result they settled down there and bred their later generations， subsequently forming the Taoyuan villages of Jiang family and Shen family. The ancestors of the Taoyuan Village took advantage of the materials available， using rocks to build houses and making living appliances. Stone roller mills， stone tables and stalls， stone walls and houses can be seen everywhere in the village. Houses made of stone and clay are especially distinctive （with a small amount of adobe bricks）. Special and delicate architecture styles were adopted， and stone， wood， fabrics were perfectly combined to form a unique pattern of ancient dwellings. Huge numbers of persimmon trees have been grown in the valleys of the village. Because "persimmon" is homophonic to "four" in Chinese， the villagers have been growing persimmon trees to pray happiness and security for themselves， for all the FOUR seasons， and as a result every family has got the habit of planting persimmon trees. Now there are about twenty thousand persimmon trees in the village， of which more than 600 are over 100 years old.

早在春秋戰(zhàn)國時(shí)期，鄂北豫南大部分地區(qū)都附楚、屬楚，其文化、民風(fēng)、民俗、民情、建筑大致相近。楚人崇尚巫術(shù)，尊從自然，信奉道教，這種思想也體現(xiàn)在其古民居的建筑上，人字形布瓦屋頂，承接上天恩賜的鴻福；瓦沿低垂，傳遞給地面的萬物生靈，體現(xiàn)“天人合一”的思想，同時(shí)也利于排水。這些用石頭泥漿堆砌成的石墻，歷經(jīng)幾百年的風(fēng)吹雨淋而不倒塌，可見我們古代桃源人民的高超的建筑技術(shù)和聰明才智。

As early as the Spring and Autumn periods， most areas in North Hubei Province and South Henan Province were attached to Chu in culture， with similar folk customs， and architecture. Chu people advocated witchcraft， respected nature and believed in Taoism， which is reflected in the ancient residential architecture. Roofs placed with clay tiles in herringbone to undertake blessings from God，tiles falling towards the ground to benefit the land creatures， not only embody the philosophy of "harmony"， but also contribute to drainage. These walls made of piled stones have lasted hundreds of years of wind and rain， indicating the superb architectural technology， abilities and cleverness of the local people.

桃源村的彭二灣現(xiàn)居30余戶人家，90多間石頭布瓦民居保存最為完整，整個(gè)灣依山而建，灣中一條古老的山村街市，渾然天成、錯(cuò)落有致、古樸簡潔，是最原始的集市遺址，這里地質(zhì)結(jié)構(gòu)穩(wěn)定，沒有地震，沉降等破壞。村中建于清朝的“七星橋”至今依然完好，正常使用。

PengErwan of Taoyuan Village has more than 30 families， with 90 stone houses best preserved. The entire residential area is built alongside the hillside， with an ancient village street running through， all the buildings well-proportioned， simple and unsophisticated， like nature itself. Here its geological structure is stable， without earthquakes or subsidence damage. The Seven-star Bridge， dating back to the Qing Dynasty is still in perfect condition and in normal use.

桃源村周邊地區(qū)有眾多的自然風(fēng)光和人文景觀，雞公山風(fēng)景區(qū)、黑龍?zhí)讹L(fēng)景區(qū)、全國九大名關(guān)之一的武勝關(guān)、孝子碑、將軍寨、千姑寨、穆桂寨、大城寨、樂城寨等均在其5公里半徑范圍內(nèi)，具有很高的歷史價(jià)值及觀賞價(jià)值 。

There are many places of natural， historical and cultural interest around the village of Taoyuan， such as the Rooster Mountain Scenic Area， the Black Dragon Pool Scenic Area， Wu Shengguan Pass， the Monument of Dutiful Son， the Village of Generals， Mogu Stronghold， Dacheng Stronghold， Lecheng Stronghold and so on， within a distance of 5 kilometers， all having great value of history and appreciation.