Ancient Charms of Pan’an

Pan’an， a mountainous county in central Zhejiang， looks like a sycamore leaf on the map. A visit to the rural region offers insights into its ancient charms maintained and made vivid by local people.

Yushan， a tableland surrounded by mountains on all sides in Pan’an， is famed for tea production since ancient times. In fact， the tea produced in Yushan used to be a tribute to imperial houses. The tea cultivation in Pan’an dates back to more than 1，500 years. By the Song Dynasty (960-1279)， Yushan was one of the four major official tea production bases in the country. The tea compound where tea was processed and warehoused still remains today. As a matter of fact， the compound is a large square structure with a front hall and a back hall， two courtyards， wing rooms， and two two-storied houses where accommodation was offered to visiting buyers. The tea compound testifies to the flourishing tea trade in ancient times. Tea trade in China started in the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-8AD). It became a staple trade item in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and reached a peak in the Song. The Yushan Tea Compound was situated in close neighborhood of a post station on a transport route that connected Wuzhou with Xinchang， Tiantai and Ningbo， all important places in Zhejiang. The tea produced in Pan’an was shipped to the outside market by this route.

Beside the compound stands an office where government officials used to supervise the market and levy tax on tea transactions in ancient times. Adjacent to the office and to the east stands the Tea Temple built in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The tea god worshiped there by local tea farmers is named Xu Xun. As legend goes， Xu Xun， a Taoist， came to Pan’an and taught local farmers how to process tea and how to include tea as an ingredient into traditional Chinese medicines. On October 16th on the lunar calendar every year， people from neighboring villages conduct a memorial ceremony in honor of the tea god in the temple. On the day， tea farmers join a contest to see whose tea is the best by terms of color， flavor and aroma. The champion will lead a procession parading through villages.

The biggest event on this day is to raise the Dragon and Tiger Flag. The big flag is so huge that it measures 350 to 400 square meters in size and the flagpole stands at 35 meters in height. It takes 120 men to raise the flag. The flag-raising is a complicated ritual. After the firecrackers are set off and amid the weighty beating of gongs and drums and the loud noise of trumpets， the flag is slowly set up onto a flagpole supported by a complicated structure of bamboo and wood poles manipulated by arrays of men. When the flag is finally raised and the flagpole stands straight pointing to the heaven， spectators from all over the county burst into loud cheers.

The Confucius Temple and Residence in Juxi， Pan’an are a history worth telling. In 1120， the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) collapsed as the northern nomads invaded. Descendents of Confucius fled southward in the step of the Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty. The 48th-generation descendent Kong Duanyou settled down in Quzhou. His brother Kong Duangong stopped in Juxi which is now part of Pan’an County when his father took ill and died there. After the burial， Kong Duangong found that a young cypress they had carried all the way from Shandong had put its roots down and had some new leaves. Kong Duangong thought it was his destiny to settle down in Juxi. So he put his roots down there and had Confucius Temple and Residence built. He and his descendents engaged themselves in education for centuries. The cypress is now more than 800 years old and still towers in the village. The descendents of Kong Duangong now number more than 10，000 in 13 sub groups scattered in Juxi and neighboring regions. Today， the blood of Confucius runs in more than 1，000 residents in Juxi alone.

Fire-walking Festival is an event that goes back to ancient times in Pan’an. The festival is usually held in evening. A ceremony was once documented by a television crew. The altar is set up in a village opening. Flowers， wine， big heads and a sheep are presented at the altar. After the ceremony in honor of the heaven and the earth， the charcoal that covers half a basketball playground is ignited. The charcoal heap burns fiercely and the temperature rises to more than 700 hundred degree. After three rounds of firecrackers， about 20 villagers dressed like ancient warriors blow trumpets. 18 men， each wearing something like a red turban on the head and holding a halberd， set out from the north gate and stepped onto the burning charcoal. They walk fast and left the flaming charcoal through the south gate. Then they come back to the flames through the north gate. They repeatedly come back and forth. Pretty soon， more villagers join them to walk on the burning charcoals. The whole ceremony lasts about an hour.

The fire-walking originated as a tribal ritual in very ancient times. It survives today partly thanks to some celebrities closely associated with Pan’an. Hu Ze， a local who later became a high-ranking official in the royal court and managed to exempt taxes for people in Quzhou and Wuzhou， is widely worshipped as a god. The man was an enthusiast about the fire walking before he rose in the world. A duke named Lu Yan in the Song Dynasty retired to Pan’an. He was also an enthusiast for the fire-walking events in neighborhood. The descendents of Confucius in Pan’an were also a force that kept the ceremony alive. Today， the fire-walking is no longer conducted to please gods. It is held to entertain people.□