The Cheng Family Mansion

The Cheng Family Mansion

The Cheng Family Mansion is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Jiangsu Province.

The Cheng Family Mansion is located on the north side of Pailou East Road in Xinghua City. Initially built during the Yongle era (1403–1424) of the Ming Dynasty and renovated in the first year of the Hongxi reign (1425), it originally had eight sections along both the east and west axes. Today, 15 sections remain—six on the east and seven on the west—all featuring grey-brick walls, black tiles, and horse-head gables, largely preserving the original scale. Among the 11 existing courtyards, the eastern ones are connected longitudinally via an outdoor fire lane, while the western ones are linked by connecting corridors, and the central area is interconnected through interior corridors, forming an architectural layout that is both divided and unified. Most of the existing structures were built in the Ming Dynasty and renovated in the Qing Dynasty, with ancient wells, hanging lattices, stone carvings, and wood carvings distributed throughout. Rooms such as the reception hall, corridor hall, main hall (Chu Jing Tang), plank hall, inner courtyard, and study (Xiao Ju Zhu Xuan) are arranged in an orderly fashion. Plaques once hung here bearing inscriptions such as “Loyal and Devoted Across Two Dynasties” and “Soaring Aspirations Like a Phoenix,” making it one of the relatively large surviving Ming Dynasty mansion complexes in the city.

The original owner of the mansion was Cheng Wangjin, styled Gongkai, a native of Xinghua from the early Ming Dynasty. In the 22nd year of the Hongwu reign (1389), he entered officialdom as a tribute student and successively served as the educational commissioner of Daizhou, prefect of Yuzhou, and administrative consultant of Beiping. Later, for his contributions to the Jingnan Campaign, he was successively granted the honorary titles of Vice Minister of Personnel and Minister of War (Grand Marshal).

After enduring 600 years of vicissitudes, by the time of China’s reform and opening-up, the complex had been divided into a residential compound. Parts of the buildings were altered or expanded artificially. In 2009, the Xinghua Municipal People's Government carried out relocation and restoration work. Today, aside from the first section, which has been restored and displays the original layout (Chu Jing Tang, Xiao Ju Zhu Xuan, and the inner courtyard), the rest serves as the Xinghua Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition Hall and is open to the public.

In 2009, it was designated as a cultural heritage site by the Xinghua Municipal People's Government; in 2011, it was listed as a cultural heritage site by the provincial government.

Further reading:

· Seventh Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Heritage Sites