Wugui Lou

Wugui Lou

Wugui Lou is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Wugui Lou is located on Dongmen Lane, Xiastreet, Liangnong. It is a two-story, three-bay wooden structure built during the Qing Dynasty, constructed by a local man named Huang Chengliang as a place to house his book collection. Huang’s ancestors were known for their refined tastes. During the Southern Song Dynasty, five brothers from the family passed the imperial examination together, served as officials in the same court, and returned home in glory. Emperor Gaozong of Song wrote a poem titled “Farewell to the Five Sons Returning Home,” which included the line “Immortal records fragrant with osmanthus branches,” and thus it was named “Wu Ming Lou” (Five Fragrant Laurels Tower).

Wugui Lou features horse-head walls styled after the shape of five horses to guard against wind and fire. There are four-meter-high walls surrounding the front and back. On the east and west sides of the wall are gates, with the western one serving as the main entrance. Upon entering, you’ll find a courtyard paved with cobblestones, adorned with stone carvings, wood carvings, flowers, bamboo, and trees, creating a serene, leafy, fragrant atmosphere free from dust and noise—quiet, rustic, and elegant. The first floor consists of a unified space divided into front and rear sections; the front hall serves as a place for lectures and scholarly gatherings, while the rear hall houses the staircase. The second floor contains twenty-four rows of bookshelves, storing over 50,000 volumes of ancient books, rare editions, famous paintings, stone rubbings, and handwritten manuscripts, along with nearly a hundred wooden printing blocks. The roof is designed in a “crowd” character shape, featuring hidden compartments. Although it appears to have only two floors from the outside, there is actually a third floor. Legend has it that during times of war, rare editions were often stored in the hidden upper compartments. To this day, a “hundred-foot bamboo pole” measuring 9.8 meters in length remains in the hidden compartment, inscribed with various dimensional data and structural symbols used in the building’s construction, resembling a modern architectural blueprint.

Climbing Wugui Lou offers a panoramic view of the seventy-two peaks of Siming Mountain, hence its alternate name, the “Seventy-Two Peaks Thatched Cottage.” The currently hung plaque inscribed with “Wugui Lou” was written by Hu Qin, a calligrapher of the Qing Dynasty, while “Seventy-Two Peaks Thatched Cottage” was penned by Lü Jishan, another Qing Dynasty calligrapher. Wugui Lou has a relatively strict and unique system for preserving its books, which is why, in terms of collection size, it ranks second only to Tianyi Pavilion in Ningbo within Eastern Zhejiang, earning it the title “Second Library of Eastern Zhejiang.” It is now a Provincial Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The book collection at Wugui Lou was not just for hoarding—Huang Chengliang also made it a point that “for every book acquired, a record is added; for every book read, whether one, ten, a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand, what is remembered visually is also remembered mentally, which also aids in broadening knowledge and strengthening memory.” He further encouraged his children and grandchildren to read together. Huang Chengliang also implemented a book preservation system different from that of Tianyi Pavilion in Ningbo, striving to maximize the practical value of the collection. He opened the library to the public, providing access to any literati or scholars who came to consult the books, breaking the conventional practice of many book collectors who only collected but did not allow reading. This attracted many scholars who endured long and arduous journeys, trekking through mountains and rivers to reach the western foothills of Siming Mountain in Liangnong, eager for the opportunity to visit Wugui Lou.

Address: Xue Tang Lane, Liangnong Town, Yuyao City, Ningbo

Type: Historical Architecture

Recommended Visiting Time: About 0.5–1 hour

Ticket Information:

Free admission.

Huang Chengliang (birth and death years unknown), courtesy name Shiquan, literary name Shiquan, was a native of Liangnong, Yuyao. A scholar who once traveled to the capital for official duties, he never invested in property but had a passion for book collecting. In the 12th year of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty (1807), he built Wugui Lou in Liangnong, housing 50,000 volumes of books, many of which were fine editions from the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, earning it the reputation of “Second Library of Eastern Zhejiang.” Ruan Yuan’s “Preface to the Catalog of Books in Huang Family’s Wugui Lou” mentioned that Huang Chengliang “admired his distant ancestor from the Song Dynasty, known as the Five Laurels, where the five brothers all enjoyed noble reputations, and thus named the tower after the Five Laurels.” He claimed that his book collection rules differed from those of Tianyi Pavilion. In the colophon of the “Wugui Lou Bibliography,” he stated: “Having constructed a three-room tower to house these books, my intention was to…” More detailed information about Huang Chengliang ++

Liangnong Town: I. Town Overview: Liangnong is a famous historical and cultural town in Zhejiang Province and a central town of both Zhejiang Province and Ningbo City. Located at the southern foot of Siming Mountain in Eastern Zhejiang and south of the Yao River, it is a uniquely distinctive town along the golden tourist route from Hangzhou – Shaoxing – Ningbo – Zhoushan. Liangnong has a long history; it belonged to Kuaiji Commandery during the Qin Dynasty. Legend has it that it was originally named “Liangfeng” due to settlements primarily by the Liang and Feng families, and by the Later Tang Dynasty, it had become “a bustling town with a dense population,” eventually becoming “Liangnong” due to its many lanes and alleys, and is known by reputations such as “Ninth Grotto Heaven” and “Blessed Land of Grotto Heavens.” The town governs 17 administrative villages and 1 community, covering an area of… More detailed information about Liangnong Town ++

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units