A city rich in heritage — Xiushui
Departing from the steel city of Xinyu, speeding north along the highway for about two and a half hours, you arrive at Jiujiang’s Xiushui.
This is my second visit to Xiushui.
As the largest county seat in Jiangxi Province, Xiushui is located at the junction of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces, nestled between the Mufu Mountains and the Jiuling Mountain range, bordering nine counties and cities across the three provinces. Some even say Xiushui is the central area of the three provinces, with driving times to each provincial capital city ranging between 150 to 180 minutes.
This is a city with profound cultural heritage. Its history can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty, when the Ai Hou Kingdom was established here. As a county seat, it dates back to the Tang Dynasty. During the Tang, it was called Fenning County; in the Song Dynasty, it was Ning County and Yining Army; in the Yuan Dynasty, it was renamed Ningzhou. There were several more name changes afterward. However, no matter the changes, the character “Ning” always remained, such as Fenning, Ningzhou, and Yining. Until 1914, when the Republic of China government adjusted administrative divisions and found there was already a Yining County in Guangxi, to avoid confusion, they renamed Jiangxi’s Yining County after the Xiushui River within its borders.
The characters “Ning” and “Xiu” both literally imply beauty and peace. The Xiushui River (also called Xiushui or Xiujiang), one of the five major rivers in the Poyang Lake water system, originates from the foothills of the Mufu Mountains at the junction of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces. It is the largest river within Jiujiang’s jurisdiction. The Xiushui River flows far and wide, calm and beautiful, like a green ribbon gracefully drifting among the verdant mountains and lands of northwest Jiangxi.
Perhaps nourished by the Xiushui River, Xiushui has been a gathering place of culture and talent, producing many outstanding figures. According to incomplete statistics, from the Sui and Tang dynasties when the imperial examination system began, until the late Qing Dynasty, over 380 scholars from Xiushui passed the imperial exams. Especially notable is Shuangjing Village, known as “China’s Number One Village of Jinshi Scholars.” During the Song Dynasty alone, the Huang family produced 48 Jinshi scholars, the most famous being Huang Tingjian, a great literary master and founder of the Jiangxi poetry school, who was as renowned as Su Shi.
Even in modern times, Xiushui’s literary fame has not waned. The “Five Heroes of the Chen Family” represent five outstanding figures from four generations of the Chen family in Yining. Among them, the highest-ranking official was the first generation Chen Baozhen, the only local official who supported the Guangxu Emperor’s reform movement. The most famous was the third generation Chen Yinke, who mastered seventeen languages and was praised by Hu Shi as “the most erudite, insightful, and resourceful person today.” With his spirit of independence and freedom of thought, and his groundbreaking achievements, he became a master and an enduring academic icon. Other celebrated figures include poet Chen Sanli, painter Chen Hengke, and botanist Chen Fenghuai, all widely acclaimed.
From Huang Tingjian to Chen Yinke, people from Xiushui seem to share common traits: earnest and stubborn, upright and expressive, deeply cultured yet pioneering. This character formation and cultural heritage have given Xiushui’s history and culture a unique tone.
The ancient city of Ningzhou, winding along the Xiushui River, is undoubtedly one of the better-preserved ancient districts. On a day in March, amidst the fragrant tea aromas of Ninghong and Shuangjing teas, I began to stroll through this ancient district, personally experiencing the exquisite urban layout of Ningzhou Ancient City, with its “nine wells and eighteen alleys, every alley leading to the main street.” Many buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties remain here. The long ancient alleys, the still ancient wells, and the deep courtyards of old ancestral halls all bear witness to history, preserving the stories of the ancient city over centuries.
Within the ancient city district, the people of Xiushui have established many distinctive exhibition halls with clear themes, some promoting Xiushui’s development history and its outstanding figures, others showcasing local intangible cultural heritage and famous specialties. Of course, the most eye-catching is the Autumn Harvest Uprising Memorial Hall and related historical exhibits. This is a must-visit spot on this trip to Xiushui.
As the main force of the Autumn Harvest Uprising, the First Army, First Division of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army was formed in Xiushui. When the first shot of the Autumn Harvest Uprising was fired here, the military flag of the First Army, First Division of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army was already flying high in the sky over Xiushui.
This was the first military flag of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army.