Investigation And Research On Ancient Well Group In Urban Area Of Dafang County,Guizhou Province

Since its establishment as a county,Dafang has been known for its large number of wells,winning the reputation of "the county of ninety-nine wells".All those wells show unique characteristics in water quality due to the different water sources and geographical locations,therefore forming the unique ancient well culture in Dafang.For example,the Shuangshui well located in the old salt storage is composed of two boreholes,which carry strong characteristics because of huge difference in water quality.Generally,one hole is full of clear and sweet water and local residents can boil soft and rotten bean in thick soup.The other whole offers bitter water,which can not used to cook beans,but only suitable for washing and sugar production.Although from the same well,the two boreholes show different water quality and therefore different functions.Ancient wells vary greatly in water quality,forming distinctive characteristics.As the saying goes,the unique features of a local environment always give special characteristics to its inhabitants.Similarly,the well culture of Dafang is closely related to social life.Wells not only feed hard-working and generous people,but also nourish their spirit.They live by wells and form unique living customs,living patterns,faith and rituals.The ancient well group has served as a physical evidence of Dafang as a famous historical and cultural city,which carries far-reaching social and historical value and ideological and cultural significance.By means of field investigation and historical document collection,the author analyzes the historical development,features of distribution,shape and structure and so on,adopts ecological anthropology,sociology,folklore and other theories to study the functions of Dafang’s ancient well group and further explores its preservation status and protection measures.This paper can be divided into five parts.The first chapter is mainly a summary of the living space of ancient well group and exploration of the historical evolution of Dafang as "the county of ninety-nine wells".Dafang’s natural conditions serve as the material space of the ancient well group,while its humane environment acts as the cultural space.The ancient well group is closely related to the social life of residents in Dafang County,strongly affecting the cultural customs.The second chapter,on the basis of field investigation,is a record of relevant information collected such as the time of construction and repair,current situation,distribution features and others concerning the ancient well group as well as a summary of well-preserved well groups.The third chapter is mainly a summary and understanding of the shape,structure and protection of existing ancient well group in Dafang County as well as an analysis on the supporting buildings around the ancient wells.Based on the data obtained from field investigation and interview records,the fourth chapter is an analysis that Dafang’s well cluster is not only small water conservancy facility,but also typical cultural object,which affects the production,life and folk customs and therefore carries rich cultural value with great significance in exploring the living space and production characteristics of urban area in Dafang county.At last,although the ancient wells in Dafang are still in use and the government has carried out large-scale restoration and even listed as county-level cultural relics protection unit.However,with the wild application of tap water and weak protection consciousness of residents,Dafang’s ancient wells have kept decreasing,some ancient wells have gradually dropped from people’s lives,and ancient Wells are facing the danger of withdrawing from the historical stage.Therefore,scientific protection and utilization of ancient Wells have become an urgent matter.