Zhang Residence

Zhang Residence

The Zhang Residence is a cultural heritage site protected by the Suzhou Municipal Government.

The Zhang Residence, also known as Hall of Zhang, is located at No. 44 Zhongshi Street in Zhouzhuang Town, Kunshan City, and faces south. During the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Zhang Yonglian opened a rice shop here and provided relief to disaster victims. He later expanded the property to include two large halls and over 20 additional rooms, extending all the way back to Yangjiatan. His great-grandson, Zhang Tenglong, styled himself Jinghan, used the alias Ruoxi, and in his later years adopted the name Lvtian. In his youth, he failed the imperial examinations and then turned to martial arts. Later, he traveled extensively through many provinces in southern and central China, gaining considerable experience. In his later years, he spent over ten years collecting local historical materials, and in the 18th year of the Qianlong reign (1753) of the Qing Dynasty, he compiled them into the book “Zhenfeng Provisional Chronicles.” The hall where Zhang Tenglong lived while compiling “Zhenfeng Provisional Chronicles” was called “Leshan Hall,” also known as “Green Sky Study.” It was later destroyed in a fire, leaving only some wing rooms with traditional features such as whitewashed walls, latticed windows, and carved beams. In the 9th year of the Xianfeng reign (1859), Tao Xu rebuilt “Yiyi Hall” on the site of the burned-down “Green Sky Study,” and before the 8th year of the Guangxu reign (1882), he compiled the “Zhouzhuang Town Annals” there — a remarkable coincidence, given the 120-year gap. Before and after the liberation, descendants of the Zhang family sold the remaining wing rooms to the Pan family, which have been well preserved to this day. The residence was listed as a controlled cultural heritage building at the Kunshan municipal level in 2005, and was designated as a Kunshan Cultural Heritage Protection Unit in August 2009.