Nanshanhou Longevity Village

Nanshanhou Longevity Village

Over five hundred years ago (during the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty), the area now known as Nanshanhou Village was uninhabited. On the slopes rising upward to the west and central parts of the current village site lay the burial grounds of the Shi family from Daitou. Among them were the tombs of Shi Xue, who served as Vice Provincial Administrator of Shandong during the Ming Dynasty, and his wife. Shi Xue had three sons: the eldest, Jing, held office in Guangxi; the second, Huai, served in Nanjing; and the third, Jizhang, once served alongside his father in Shandong. The family was of noble lineage. The three sons funded the construction of memorial archways and stelae for their father, erecting five stone archways and several inscribed tablets, and assigned tomb guards to maintain the site. The eldest son Jing, his wife Lady Zhang, concubines Lady Jiang, Lady Wang, Lady Zhan, and Lady Xiao, as well as the second son Huai and his wife Lady Yu, were all buried here after their deaths. Generation after generation of tomb guards gradually settled here, becoming the village’s first permanent residents.

Shanghuang Town: Located in the northeastern part of Liyang City, Shanghuang Town is 18 kilometers from downtown Liyang and lies at the tri-junction of Liyang, Yixing, and Jintan. The town covers a total area of 47 square kilometers, governs 8 administrative villages and 1 neighborhood committee, with a total population of 26,500. Nestled among mountains and water, Shanghuang enjoys a beautiful environment.

The land of Shanghuang embodies the simple charm of a rural idyll. Historically part of Yixing County and governed under Changzhou Prefecture, it was reassigned to Liyang in March 1950 due to administrative boundary adjustments after the liberation. According to the Huang family genealogy: During the Southern Song Dynasty, General Huang Dui, a subordinate of Yue Fei, retired from military service and went into seclusion here after Yue Fei was wrongfully executed by the treacherous official Qin Hui... More information about Shanghuang Town ++