Shanhou Folk Culture Village is located at Jinsha township, on the side east of Kinmen island. It was built by Wang Guo-jhen and his son Wang Jing-siang, who co-sponsored the construction after getting wealthy through business in Japan. The construction took about 24 years during the Ching dynasty form 1876 to 1900. After completion, the Wang father and son presented the houses to the whole clan to live in gratis.(1) The Village is Fujian-style, consisting of 18 houses with two wings, and they are also called the "Shanhou 18 Residences," i.e.,(2) 16 grand houses, one ancestral hall,(3) and a private school.
山后民俗文化村位於金沙鎮﹐在金門的東半島﹔是由當年到日本經商致富的華僑王國珍和王敬祥父子出資建造而成。民俗村古厝興建於清光緒2年到26年間（西元1876年─1900年）﹐共約花了二十四年的時間﹔完工後﹐王氏父子將古厝贈送給王氏宗親居住。而民俗文化村的聚落為十八棟雙落（二進式）的閩南古厝﹐也稱為「山后十八間」﹐分別是十六間民宅﹑一間宗祠和一間學堂。

Most buildings of the Folk Culture Village are houses with two wings with swallow-tail shaped roofs, with a few exceptions of saddleback(4) shape. Nevertheless, all of the houses are arrayed in conformity.(5) The walls of the houses are decorated with colorful exquisite(6) bricks and ceramics that show the traditional culture of the village. In addition, Shanhou is located below Wuhu Mountain (literally "Five Tigers Mountain"), and is described as the "reversing(7) head of the 5 tigers". By the side of the Wang Family Ancestral Hall, there is a "dragon's cave" where it is said lived a dragon with an invisible tail. According to legend, one of the huge rocks sticking out of the ancestral hall is said to be the head of the dragon that can protect the younger generations. So Shanhou is one of the best places for sightseeing as well as for studying traditional houses and culture in Kinmen.
民俗文化村的大部份的建築為燕尾型的雙落大厝﹐但有少部份是採馬背型的房子﹐聚落的整體建築具有一致性。在古厝牆面的裝飾採用花磚﹑燒陶等細膩的工法﹐表現出聚落的特色與傳統的文化。另外﹐山后位於五虎山下﹐風水上稱作「五虎回頭」﹔在王氏宗祠旁則有「神龍見首不見尾」的龍穴﹐傳說宗祠旁的突出岩石﹐被認為是龍穴的龍首﹐可以庇蔭後代子孫。因此﹐山后村是個值得參觀以及研究金門傳統建築和文化的最佳地點之一。

Tourist: How long did it take to build the old houses here?
遊客﹕這些古房子花了多久的時間才蓋好﹖

Tour Guide: About 24 years.
導遊﹕大約二十四年。

Tourist: Why did it take so long?
遊客﹕為什麼需要那麼久的時間﹖

Tour Guide: Because the main building materials came from Jhangjhou, Ciyuanjhou of Fujian Province, and even from Jiangsi Province of mainland China. In those early days the traffic and transportation were not so convenient between Kinmen and the mainland; therefore, the construction took a long time.
導遊﹕主要是因為房子的建材大都來自大陸的漳州﹑泉州及江西一帶。早期往返金門和大陸的交通不是很便利﹐所以耗費這麼多的時間。

Tourist: So that's it. Here is a characteristic old house, with a pond in front of it.
遊客﹕原來如此。這兒有一間很有特色的房子﹐前面還有水池。

Tour Guide: Yes, it was a private school called "Hai Jhu Hall," and the pond in front is called "Half Moon Pond". The school faces the eastern direction, and in the distant foreground(8) is the sea. From here you can see the sun rise every morning, just like a bright pearl floating in the sea, so the hall is called "Hai Jhu Hall,"-the Sea Pearl Hall.
導遊﹕這間房子以前是學堂﹐叫做「海珠堂」﹐前面的小水池叫做「半月池」。因為學堂面向東方﹐前方最遠的地方是海﹐在這兒可以看到每天太陽升上來的時候﹐就像是海上的一顆明珠﹐所以叫做「海珠堂」。

Tourist: That's interesting. But didn't the houses get hit or damaged during the battles?
遊客﹕真有意思。這些房子在金門發生戰爭時都沒有被打到或破壞嗎﹖

Tour Guide: Yes, they did. Flames of war plus long exposure to the sun and sea wind badly damaged the old houses. Therefore, Kinmen County Government spent a lot of money to renovate(9) them in 1979. The renovation included setting up an antiquities hall, a ceremony hall, a wedding hall, a martial arts hall and so on, all providing exhibitions for tourists.
導遊﹕有的。戰爭時期戰火的砲擊下﹐再加上房子長期日照和海風的侵襲﹐使得房子的原貌受到破壞。因此﹐在民國六十八年（西元1979年）時﹐金門縣政府出錢修護改建﹐並開設文物館﹑禮儀館﹑喜慶館﹑武館等幾個展示館﹐讓遊客欣賞。

Tourist: That's why the houses are kept so well.
遊客﹕原來如此。難怪這些房子保存的如此完整。

Tour Guide: Yes. By the way, there is an old saying which goes "Iou Shanhou Fwu, Wu Shanhou Cwu." It means that in Kinmen though one is as rich as the people of Shanhou, one has no house as elegant as those in Shanhou. So this proverb highly values these grand and elegant houses in Shanhou.
導遊﹕嗯﹐在金門當地有一句諺語﹕「有山后富﹐無山后厝」﹔意思是﹐在金門縱使有像山后村那麼富有的人家﹐但是卻沒有那麼漂亮的房子。這諺語用來讚美這裡宏偉和精緻的古厝。

Tourist: Without a doubt.
遊客﹕一點兒也沒錯。

Tour Guide: Besides those, the village contains other houses with traditional beauty of architecture; therefore, it is often used for shooting domestic films or TV shows. You can take many pictures around here.
導遊﹕此外﹐由於民俗村非常有傳統建築的特色﹐所以常被用來當作本土電影或是電視劇的拍攝景點。你可以在這裡多多拍照哦﹗

Tourist: I will. Please let me do that later on.
遊客﹕我會的﹐待會兒再多拍一些。（二十四）


■1. gratis-(adv.)免費地。
■2. i.e.-是拉丁文id est的縮寫﹐指「即﹔換言之」。
■3. ancestral hall-宗祠。其中ancestral是形容詞﹐指「祖先的﹑祖傳的」。
■4. saddleback-(n)鞍狀山脊。也就是所謂的「馬背式」。
■5. conformity-(n)一致﹑相似或順從。通常in conformity with～﹐指「與～一致」。
■6. exquisite-(adj.)精緻的﹔精美的。
■7. reversing-(adj.)相反的。此處指虎頭面向尾端。
■8. foreground-(n)前景。
■9. renovate-(vt.)修繕﹑修復﹐改善。名詞為renovation

資料來源：金門縣政府
原書作者：陳建民、漢貴恩