Gu'an County 固安县

Setting and landscape

Gu'an lies in the northern part of the North China Plain. The national heritage register describes the county as mostly alluvial plain laid down by two rivers, with sandy soils in the north where trees are plentiful and osier willow grows widely. Its neighbours are Yongqing (永清县) to the east, Zhuozhou (涿州) and Gaobeidian (高碑店) to the west, and Bazhou (霸州) and the Xiong'an New Area (雄安新区) to the south. The climate is warm-temperate and monsoonal, averaging 11.4°C with about 561 mm of rain a year.

History

The Western Han set up a county called Fangcheng here, and in 589 the Sui renamed it Gu'an. It was raised to a prefecture (zhou) in 1263 under the Yuan and returned to county status in 1368. In 1958 it was merged into Ba County (霸县), and the State Council restored it in 1962. The Wanglong Village Dharani Pillar (王龙村陀罗尼经幢), an inscribed Buddhist column, is protected at provincial level, and the nationally protected Border Tunnels (边关地道遗址) extend into the county.

Crafts and music

Gu'an willow weaving (固安柳编) entered the national list in 2011. The county gazetteer credits its start to a Song-dynasty magistrate from Qi County (杞县) in Henan who brought osier willow and weavers with him; the 16th-century gazetteer already lists willow grain measures and winnowing baskets. The Qianlong Emperor ordered willows planted along the Yongding embankments against floods, which also fed the craft, and baskets, trunks and trays sold to Beijing, Tianjin and other large trading towns. Exports abroad began after the 1950s.

The Qujiaying Music Society (屈家营音乐会), listed in 2006, is a village band of sheng mouth organs, guanzi pipes, flutes and a frame of small gongs (yunluo). It is said to descend from Buddhist temple music of the Yuan–Ming transition, plays at rites and funerals, and records its tunes in the old gongche notation. A full ensemble has 24 players and a half ensemble 12; 13 suites survive in its repertoire.

Getting oriented

Chinese Wikipedia puts the county 50 kilometres from Tiananmen and 8 kilometres from Beijing Daxing International Airport. The Beijing–Kowloon railway stops at Gu'an Station and the Beijing–Xiong'an intercity line at Gu'an East; the Daqing–Guangzhou and Capital Region Ring expressways and National Highway 106 cross the county.

Highlights

• Gu'an willow weaving 固安柳编: Osier basketry listed as national intangible heritage in 2011.
• Qujiaying Music Society 屈家营音乐会: Village sheng-and-guanzi ensemble listed as national intangible heritage in 2006.
• Wanglong Village Dharani Pillar 王龙村陀罗尼经幢: Inscribed Buddhist column protected by Hebei Province.