Photo exhibition highlights murals found on ancient buildings in China’s Fujian

A photo exhibition that opened recently showcased the charm of murals found on ancient buildings in Youxi, a county known for its ancient buildings in Sanming city, southeast China’s Fujian Province.

A guide to the Museum of Youxi county introduces photos of murals found on ancient buildings at a photo exhibition held in Youxi county, Sanming city, southeast China’s Fujian Province. (Chinanews.com/Liang Wenbin)

The exhibition, which will last until late May at the Museum of Youxi county, displayed 113 photos of murals on ancient buildings scattered across the county.

Youxi is home to a national famous historical and cultural village, a key historical and cultural site under national-level protection, 15 such sites under provincial-level protection, 81 such sites protected at the county level, and 564 unmovable cultural relics, said Huang Chunlin, deputy curator of the museum.

Huang introduced that the museum has committed itself to conducting surveys of cultural relics in recent years and has found a large number of murals on ancient buildings scattered in towns across the county.

These murals have rich cultural connotations that depict different themes, such as history, operas, famous anecdotes, auspicious animals, flowers, birds, fish, insects, and traditional graphic patterns.

Photo shows a mural featuring the giant Chinese character ‘Fu,’ meaning fortune and good luck in English, found on a wall of an ancient building in Jingtong village, Youxi county, Sanming city, southeast China’s Fujian Province. (Chinanews.com/Liang Wenbin)

Huang pointed out that these murals reflect Youxi county’s profound historical and cultural legacies and people’s pursuit of a happy and harmonious life.

“This is a photo of a 4-square-meter mural featuring the giant Chinese character ‘Fu,’ meaning fortune and good luck in English. The original mural is found on a wall of an ancient building in Jingtong village, Meixian township of the county,” Huang said.

Photo shows an ancient residential complex in Youxi county, Sanming city, southeast China’s Fujian Province. (Chinanews.com/Liang Wenbin)

The mural also depicts ancient people celebrating someone’s birthday with a large number of gifts, symbolizing their longing for fortune and good luck, Huang added.

Most ancient buildings in Jingtong village were built during the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912) and some of them have since fallen into disrepair.

In 2017, Wu Xixiao, a local resident who had started a business outside of the village, donated over 900,000 yuan (about $133,576) to restore ancient buildings in the village. In the same year, the village was included in the list of Fujian’s traditional villages.