Anren County 安仁县

History and festivals

Local legend holds that the farming god Shennong (神农), the Yan Emperor, invented farm tools, opened fields and first tasted the hundred herbs in this area. From that grew Anren Ganfenshe (安仁赶分社), whose name joins fen, the spring equinox, and she, the spring sacrificial day (社日); it was added to the national intangible-heritage list in 2014 under the Twenty-Four Solar Terms. On the she day, rites to Shennong are held at the Shennong Hall (神农殿) in the county town. The festivities centre on three days around the equinox and run for half a month, with village operas, stilt walking, fish-drum singing, land-boat and dragon and lion dances, and river lanterns at night. A large market on Nanmenzhou (南门洲) trades farm tools, household goods and herbal medicines. Families then eat medicinal dishes made to folk recipes before going out to plough.

In 1983 the county was briefly placed under Zhuzhou (株洲) and returned to Chenzhou the same year.

What to see

Jiaodingwu (轿顶屋), a site of the Xiangnan Uprising (湘南起义), is part of a group listed as a national key protected site in 2013. Provincial protected sites include the former residence and tomb of Tang Tianji (唐天际), and the former residence and tomb of Ouyang Houjun (欧阳厚均) with the Ouyang ancestral hall. Lugu Hall (卢古祠), the pagoda forest of Yihai Temple (义海寺塔林), and the former residence and tomb of Hou Caiji (侯材骥) with the Hou clan hall are also on the provincial list.

Getting oriented

The county seat is Yonglejiang town (永乐江镇), formed in 2012 by merging the old Chengguan town with four other towns and townships. The Ji'an-Hengyang railway (吉衡铁路) has two stations in the county, Anren and Heshi (禾市); Anren station opened to passengers on 1 July 2014. National Highway 240 also passes through.

Highlights

• Anren Ganfenshe 安仁赶分社: Spring-equinox rites to Shennong with an herbal-medicine and farm-tool fair; national intangible heritage since 2014.
• Jiaodingwu 轿顶屋: A Xiangnan Uprising site in a group listed as a national key protected site in 2013.
• Yihai Temple pagoda forest 义海寺塔林: A Qing-era provincial protected site.
• Former residence of Tang Tianji 唐天际故居: A provincial protected site; his tomb was added to the listing in 2011.