Description of attraction

王家大院

王家大院位於山西省靈石縣城東 12 公里處的靜升鎮。距世界文化遺產平遙古城 35 公里、介休綿山 4 公里、十八羅漢頭像海外回歸故里資壽寺 2 公里，是山西省近年來以“名城、名山、名院、名寺”為優勢，推出的一條精品旅遊線路。同蒲鐵路、 108 國道縱貫縣境，新開通的大運高速公路靈石出口距王家大院 2 公里，交通十分便利。

王家大院是清代民居建築的集大成者，由歷史上靈石縣四大家族之一的太原王氏後裔 --- 靜升王家於清康熙、雍正、乾隆、嘉慶年間所建，總面積達 25 萬平方米以上。現以“中國民居藝術館”、“中華王氏博物館”開放的高家崖、紅門堡兩大建築群和王氏宗祠等，共大小院落 123 座，房屋 1118 間，面積 4.5 萬平方米。

高家崖、紅門堡東西對峙，一橋相連，皆黃土高坡上的全封閉城堡式建築。外觀，順物應勢，形神俱立；其內，窯洞瓦房，巧妙連綴。博大精深壯觀，天工人巧地利。於貌似千篇一律中千變萬化，在保持北方傳統民居共性的同時，又顯現出了卓越的個性風采。總的特點是：依山就勢，隨形生變，層樓疊院，錯落有致，氣勢宏偉，功能齊備，基本上繼承了我國西周時即已形成的前堂後寢的庭院風格，再加匠心獨運的磚雕、木雕、石雕，裝飾典雅，內涵豐富，實用而又美觀，兼融南北情調，具有很高的文化品位。

高家崖建築群兩主院均為三進式四合院，每院除都有高高在上的祭祖堂和兩廂的繡樓外，還有各自的廚院、塾院，並有共同的書院、花院、長工院、圍院（家丁院）。周邊牆院緊圍，四門因地制宜，大小院落既珠聯璧合，又獨立城章，其或隱或現，多種多樣的門戶，給人以院內有院，門裏套門的迷宮式感覺。現在，高家崖各院廳堂及居室內，依照“尊卑分等，貴賤分級，上下有序，長幼有倫，內外有別”的封建禮制格局，將靜升王氏家族歷代流傳下來的大量家什物品已分門別類地陳列於其中，基本上恢復了王家當年的歷史風貌。

紅門堡建築群的總體佈局，隱一個“王”字在內，又附會著龍的造型。除前堂後寢的院落外，為順應地形，一部分又應變為前園後院。各院間有的富麗堂皇，有的曲幽小巧。其磚、木、石三雕，有些因出自乾隆早期，古樸粗獷，還保留著明代風格；大多數同高家崖一樣，皆清代“纖細繁密”之典範。設立於紅門堡東三甲的中華王氏博物館，是目前海內外惟一的王氏家族文化博物館，開館後，幾乎天天都有來自國內外的王姓族人到此旅遊觀光、尋根謁祖或信函、電話諮詢。

王家大院作為我國優秀的傳統建築文化遺產和民居藝術珍品，開放幾年來，在海內外產生了積極的影響，被廣譽為“華夏民居第一宅”、“中國民間故宮”和“山西的紫禁城”。首都一家報紙曾以“王家歸來不看院”的醒目標題發表長篇報導，在北京及周邊省市引起了廣泛關注。朱鎔基、尉健行等當時一批党和國家領導人以及國際知名學者鄭孝燮、羅哲文、余秋雨、王魯湘等視察王家大院後，亦都欣然題詞賦詩，給予很高的評價。

1999 年，王家大院被評為“山西省十大著名優秀旅遊景區”和“省級文明景區（點）”； 2001 年，通過了 ISO9000 國際品質管制體系認證； 2002 年初，王家大院又被評定為國家 AAAA 級旅遊景區和中國“品質萬里行”全國示範單位； 2003 年，被評為中國（首選）十佳文明示範旅遊景區。

Wang's Grand Courtyard

Wang's Grand Courtyard is situated in Jingsheng Town 12 km east of Lingshi County Town, Shanxi Province, 2 km from Zishousi, a millennium old ancient temple (the home town of head statues of 18 disciples of Buddha returned from abroad). It is at the same tourist line as Yungang Grotto of Datong, Jinci Temple of Taiyuan, Ancient City of Pingyao and Hukou Waterfall, with very favorable traffic of railways and highways.

Wang's Grand Courtyard is an example in handing down and inheriting the five thousand years' old Chinese civilization and a peak-usurping masterpiece of Chinese civil residence architecture of Qing Dynasty; with a total area of up to 0.15 million sq.m., of which 0.045 million sq.m ranks in the provincial-level cultural relic protection. The three huge architectural complexes of Gaojiaya, Red-Gate Fort and Piety-righteousness Ancestral Temple now opened up as "Chinese Civil Residence Art House" and "Wang's Museum" were built in the periods of kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong and Jiaqing of Qing Dynasty, with an sum area of 45000 sq.m. and covering 123 large and small compounds and 1118 houses.

The two architectural complexes of Gaojiaya and Red-gate Fort confronting each other in the east-west direction and connected to each other through a bridge are both the full-closed type buildings on the loess high slope. They have the general characteristics of relying on mountains and complying with the terrain, buildings and courts in layer upon layer and well-proportioned, great momentum and complete functions, and basically inherit the courtyard style of front halls and back bed houses. In addition, the brick carvings, wood carvings and stone carvings have great originality and, with their elegant decoration, rich connotation, unified practicability and beautiful look and the compatible south and north sentiments, rank in an extremely high cultural grade.

The two main courtyards of Gaojiaya architectural complex are 3-year Siheyuan (quadrangles), which have separate kitchen yard and home school yard with private tutor as well as common classics-learning academy, flower yard, long-term hired farm-laborer yard and enclosed yard (servant yard), in addition to the sacrificial ancestral hall at high place and the embroidering buildings on both sides. The fort wall encloses the fort along its periphery, several gates were set up in the selected positions, and the large and small courts are connected like bead strings or joined by a common wall while being independent in separate structures, some hidden while some appearing, with different households of various kinds and multiple styles as if there are yards inside the yards and there are gates behind. the gates just like a labyrinth.

In the overall layout of Red-gate Fort architectural complex are both hidden one Chinese character "Wang" (王) and attached a modeling of dragon. Except the courtyard with front halls and back bed houses, a part of the courtyards change to have front gardens and back yards to suit the geographical conditions. Some of the courtyard houses are sumptuous and some are winding and quiet as well as small and exquisite. Like Gaojiaya, the combination of the cave dwellings with houses is proper, with the carving skills being the type of fineness and denseness of Qing Dynasty, while the difference lies in that some of the courtyards were built in the early Qianlong period and their carving style appears to be of primitive simplicity, straight forwardness and uninhibitedness, close to style of Ming Dynasty. The Wang's Museum set up in Red-gate Fort will be the study, exhibition, collection and development centre of Wang's culture and also the historical destination of the overall image of Wang's family. Now, the family-tree collection pavilion has been basically well prepared, ready for opening to tourists and the calligraphy and painting house and jewellery house have been opened to the tourists.

Since 1996, stressed by the leadership at various levels, the people's government of Lingshi County has raised great amount of money to repair Wang's Grand Courtyard and the restored Wang's Grand Courtyard looks brand-new, with the tourists coming incessantly like a stream without end. As one of the legacies of excellent traditional architectural culture and an excellent traditional civil residence artistic treasure, Wang's Grand Courtyard has been extensively attached high importance to by the experts in architecture, history, social ethics, industrial art, movie and television and photography as well as the mass media. Mr. Zheng Xiaoxie, a architectural authority of the old generation of our country, has, after making investigations in Wang's Grand Courtyard for 4 times, wrote an inscription: "National treasure, human treasure and invaluable treasure; not weary of it even if coming for one hundred times and not weary of it even if seeing for one hundred time, wish it to climb one storey higher." After a series of reports about Wang's Grand Courtyard were published in succession in the programme "One Peak in China" of the Central Television of China, overseas edition of the People's Daily and Wenhuibao Newspaper of Hongkong, the Wang's overseas representatives have come to Wang's ancestral temple to seek their ancestors and offer incense and Wang's Grand Courtyard attracts still more worldwide attentions.