Former Residence of Li Xiangcheng

Former Residence of Li Xiangcheng

The former residence of Li Xiangcheng is a cultural tourism attraction.

The former residence of Li Xiangcheng is located on Xueqian Street in Wuxi. The residence is divided into three parts: the central section is the “Imperial Grant Mansion” built during his diplomatic service, consisting of six courtyards in sequence — the gatehouse, sedan hall, main hall, and living hall — each nine bays wide, with a service alley on each side. The rear section is a building with a square-shaped revolving corridor, eleven bays wide, and thirteen bays including the side wings. At the very back is a garden, with a library building located at the northwest corner. The eastern part includes flower gardens, a stage, and utility rooms. The western part has been destroyed. Although this residence was built relatively late, its scale is rare in Jiangsu.

The former residence of Li Xiangcheng originally had a layout based on left, middle, and right axes. The main buildings along the central axis consist of six courtyards. The first courtyard is the gatehouse, nine bays wide and six rafters deep. The central bay features a “six-panel” main gate. Outside the gate stands a tall, “eight-shaped” screen wall with the brick-carved characters “Hongxi” (Great Blessing) in the center. Inside the gate, there was originally a “Seven-Star Gate,” above which hung a vertical plaque inscribed with “Imperial Envoy Mansion” in gold characters on a blue background, framed with carved floral patterns and a gold border. The second to fourth courtyards are, in sequence, the sedan hall, main hall, and living hall — all nine bays wide, with depths varying from seven to ten rafters. The central three bays of each courtyard serve as the main hall, while the three bays on each side are auxiliary halls. Between the main and auxiliary halls, the pillars and stone drum bases are all split vertically, leaving expansion joints that run from top to bottom. Between the roof tiles and wooden rafters, wooden boards are placed, covered with a mixture of hemp fiber and lime plaster, which prevents rainwater leakage and provides insulation. Each courtyard has an open space (tianjing) in front, where small gardens were originally located aside from the passageways. The halls are adorned with painted beams and carved windows, with the long windows also featuring opera-themed carvings. In the main hall, “Wuben Hall,” the main beams and ridgepoles are decorated at both ends with intricately carved “mountain mist cloud” motifs, a rare feature in residential architecture of the Qing Dynasty in southern China. On both sides of the four courtyards, there is a service alley running through the front and back; the fire walls rise impressively in succession. The fifth and sixth courtyards are both two-story buildings, eleven bays wide, connected by wing rooms and surrounded by a “square-shaped” corridor, allowing access between the front and rear buildings, upstairs and downstairs — hence the name “revolving corridor building.” This type of building is a unique Qing-style structure in the south of the Yangtze River. Among Wuxi’s revolving corridor buildings, although the Xue family’s building is earlier in date, it is the largest in scale, and its corridor railings are wrought with a touch of Western style.

To the east of the central axis, separated by a service alley, lies the left axis. There are two sets of buildings in sequence: the front set includes a stage and a flower hall, with a pond, rockery, and flower plants between the stage and the flower hall, and corridors on both sides connecting them. The stage is small and exquisite, and remains well-preserved to this day. It is one of the nine surviving ancient stages in downtown Wuxi and the only complete private family stage in the city. Behind the flower hall is a set of buildings called the Granary Hall, used by the Xue family for rent collection and grain storage. It originally had over ten storage rooms, several accounting offices, and an open drying area.