Chronicles of Mu Mansion (Yunnan Sketches 4)

Within the ancient city of Lijiang in Yunnan, there lies an ancient and magnificent place called Mu Mansion, officially known as the 'Lijiang Mu Family Tusi Yamen'. The entire Mu Mansion covers an area of 46 acres, with a central axis stretching 369 meters, and the architectural complex faces east from the west. Mu Mansion reached its zenith at the end of the Ming Dynasty, with its architecture grand and majestic on a massive scale. The famous ancient traveler Xu Xiake once exclaimed: 'The splendor of its palaces and chambers rivals that of the royal family.' The saying passed down among the people of Lijiang, 'The Forbidden City in the north, Mu Mansion in the south,' reflects its renown. The Mu family Tusi, as leaders of the Naxi people, originally did not have a surname but used a father-son joint naming system, where the last one or two characters of the father's name became the first one or two characters of the children's names. The 'Mu' surname is actually a Han Chinese surname. In 1382 AD, the then Naxi Tusi of Lijiang, Ajia Ade, submitted to the might of Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty and was thus favored by the Ming founder, who bestowed upon him the 'Mu' surname. This 'Mu' surname lasted through the Ming and Qing dynasties for over 470 years, spanning 22 generations. It is said that because of this character 'Mu', the ancient city of Lijiang never built city walls, for 'Mu' with a frame around it becomes 'trapped', which was a great taboo for the Mu family Tusi. In the history of Yunnan's Tusi, the Lijiang Mu family was the earliest to embrace Han culture. History records: 'Among all the Tusi of Yunnan, those who knew poetry and books, and valued rites and righteousness, the Mu family of Lijiang was the foremost.' Mu Mansion was also the political and cultural center of the ancient city of Lijiang in the past. Hence, the ancient city of Lijiang has been able to prosper to this day.