Huayuan
Huayuan is the heartland of the Miao people in western Hunan. From language to dress to daily customs, the Miao here have preserved many ancient shamanistic traditions, giving the place a mysterious air. What does the name Huayuan mean? The "Yongsui Prefecture Gazetteer" records: "The present prefectural seat was formerly a garden where the Peng family, hereditary chieftains of Baojing, held banquets, hence it was called Huayuan (Flower Garden). More than a li from the present seat, there still remains..."
This article is compiled from the original travel notes on the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com); it is a record of trips from earlier years. Time-sensitive information such as ticket prices, schedules, and accommodation prices is subject to the latest announcements from scenic areas and transportation authorities; the itinerary ideas and attraction introductions still have reference value.
Huayuan is the core settlement area of the Miao people in Xiangxi. From language to clothing to daily habits, the Miao people here have preserved many ancient shamanistic cultural customs, giving the place a rather mysterious quality. What does the name Huayuan mean? The Yongshui Prefecture Gazetteer once recorded: 'The present prefecture seat was formerly the banquet and excursion place of the Peng family, the Pacification Commissioner of Baojing, hence it was called Huayuan (Garden). More than a li from the present seat, there is still a Huayuan Village, as the garden and orchard were quite extensive in those days.'
Originally, the old Huayuan had no city walls. It was only after the Yongshui Prefecture seat moved from Jiwei to Huayuan in 1802 that city walls were built here. In the early years of the Republic of China, Yongshui abolished the prefecture and established a county, and after the founding of New China, Yongshui was renamed Huayuan. This is the sequence of how the chieftain's garden evolved into Huayuan County.
There are also past records about the construction of Huayuan's city walls. The walls were 1.5 zhang high, 6 chi wide, and 573 zhang in circumference, with 5 gates — east, west, south, north, and a small north gate — named respectively Taiping, Zhending, Guihua, Gongchen, and Ying'en. There were 5 gate towers, multiple corner bastions for cannons, and 717 battlements on the walls. This ancient city wall, after years of destruction by war, no longer exists today.
The shamanistic culture of the Miao people in Huayuan was once particularly strong. According to the Yongshui Prefecture Gazetteer: 'In total, there are over seventy halls of ghosts that the Miao villages should sacrifice to.' Ritual ceremonies included receiving the dragon, crossing the pass, building bridges, cutting off the cat, vegetarian fasting, beating the hundred mouths, sending off the Medicine King, the wooden-wrapped ghost, stripping the flag spear, redeeming the gate-blocking ghost, sacrificing to the thunder ghost, resolving the power ghost, and redeeming the high-slope soul, among others. During the Qing Dynasty, government authorities called the Miao area 'the realm of ghosts' and claimed the Qing army was 'coming from the west bearing the imperial mandate,' hoping to 'transform the Miao and dispel the ghost realm's clouds,' but unexpectedly the Miao people did not submit to their taming. During the Qianlong-Jiaqing period, a great Miao uprising shook the Qing Dynasty to its core and nearly destabilized the foundation of its rule. Thereafter, to prevent unrest in the Miao area, the Qing Dynasty strengthened its iron-fisted rule in Xiangxi, and the Yongshui Prefecture seat was promptly relocated to the place formerly known as 'Liuli' — Huayuan. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, Yongshui Prefecture was renamed Yongshui County. During the decades of Kuomintang rule, various resistance activities by the Miao people of Yongshui County never ceased. The most famous was the Ge-Tun Uprising that broke out in 1937. Long Ziyong, Wu Hengliang, Liang Mingyuan, and others from Yongshui became the leaders of the Miao people. This uprising led the Kuomintang to abolish the garrison-farming system that had weighed on the Miao people for 140 years; Provincial Chairman He Jian was transferred away from Hunan, and the Miao rebel army ultimately all accepted reorganization and joined the anti-Japanese forces.
After the Ge-Tun Uprising was suppressed, Yongshui County once became a place where the Kuomintang stationed heavy troops. In January 1941, the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan-Guizhou Bandit Suppression General Command was established in Huayuan. Its commanders were first Guo Siyan and later Fu Zhongfang, both lieutenant generals of the Kuomintang army. This command governed 29 counties, with main tasks including suppressing bandits in its jurisdiction, ensuring transportation safety, and monitoring and eliminating 'illegal party' activities. Many units of the Kuomintang's 86th Army, 56th Army, and the River Defense Independent Corps were once stationed in Huayuan. Because Huayuan is the gateway from Xiangxi to the southwest and commands the throat of the Xiangchuan Highway, its military geographical position was very important, so this military institution remained stationed here for 5 years and was only abolished in the year after the victory of the War of Resistance.
In October 1918 and March 1949, fierce battles also occurred twice in Yongshui County town. The former was a battle between local armed leader Song Haitao and garrison commander Xie Chongguang; the latter was a struggle between the 'rural faction' of Zhang Yuanyao, Wu Wenmin, and others against the 'urban faction' of Song Linqing, Liu Qicheng, and others. Both battles resulted in casualties on both sides, but those who suffered the most were the urban and rural common people.
During the War of Resistance, Kuomintang elder Bai Wenwei also lived in Huayuan for 6 years, only leaving for Nanjing after the victory of the War of Resistance.
Since the founding of New China, Huayuan County town has changed greatly. The old five-li long street has been extended longer and wider, and many new streets and various new buildings have been added. Huayuan is also rich in tourism resources. Within the county there are the famous ancient towns of Chadong and Jiwei, as well as Shilangan, the Great Dragon Cave Waterfall, the Small Dragon Cave Waterfall, the Zhurong Grottoes, and the Banshan Grottoes. Near the county town are the Huayuan River and the Xiongdi River, and the Eight Scenes of Suicheng: the Ancient Cave Storing Books, the Writing Brush Touching Emerald, the Taiji Diagram Water, the Tiger Roaring at the Shoal, the Water Buffalo Diving and Swimming, the Five Elders Viewing the Diagram, the White Spring Bubbling with Snow, and Brewing Tea at the Southern Ravine. These scenic spots are interwoven with some historical stories and moving legends of the Miao region, adding all sorts of mystery to Huayuan.