Attractions

Ruxin Pavilion was built in 1768 during the Qianlong reign. It stands near the centre of the village and was designed as a place where travellers could rest. Along the riverside is a ‘Flying Chair’, also known as the Beauty’s Rest, from which visitors can admire the mountains, water and open sky. The name Ruxin expresses the wishes that affairs proceed as one hopes and that people may advance and retreat with ease. Looking back along the approach, three steps lead up to the pavilion. Walking from east to west is traditionally called ‘rising three ranks, higher with every step’; walking from west to east is said to make each step higher than the last.

The eastern entrance lintel carries a group of brick carvings. At the centre is Guo Ziyi’s Pavilion of Ten Thousand Longevity. Guo Ziyi was a celebrated Tang general who rose through military service to become a frontier commander and governor. He helped defeat major rebellions, recover Chang’an and Luoyang, and protect the empire from invading forces. In Huizhou folk tradition, Guo Ziyi represents great wealth, honour, happiness and longevity, so scenes of him appear frequently in Huizhou brick and wood carving. The carvings on either side show melons and butterflies, known as ‘everlasting generations’. The image uses the homophone between butterfly and young melon to express the hope for abundant descendants, while the flying butterflies and still melons create a lively contrast of movement and stillness.