Former Residence and Tomb of Wu Jintang

Former Residence and Tomb of Wu Jintang

The Former Residence and Tomb of Wu Jintang is a cultural relic protection unit of Zhejiang Province.

Wu Jintang, also known as Wu Muo, was born in 1855 during the fifth year of the Xianfeng reign of the Qing Dynasty, in Dongshantou Village, Guanhaiwei Town, present-day Cixi City. In 1882, introduced by fellow villagers, he went to Shanghai to seek employment. In 1885, he crossed the sea to Japan to engage in business. Thanks to his integrity and steady development, he eventually established himself in the commercial world. In 1890, he founded the “Yisheng Trading Firm” in Kobe, Japan, dealing in trade between China and Japan, including goods such as cotton, soybeans, matches, and cement, and earned substantial profits over the years. During the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, Wu Jintang gained huge profits by subscribing to Japanese military bonds and transporting military supplies. Around the time of the Xinhai Revolution, Wu had become a major shareholder in several companies, including the East Asia Cement Company, with assets worth millions, rising to become one of the “zaibatsu” (industrial conglomerates) in the Hanshin region of Japan, and served as the director of the Kobe Chinese Association.

Wu Jintang’s former residence was built while he was residing in Kobe, Japan. It is located in Dongshantou Village, Guanhaiwei Town, Cixi City, and is a two-story brick-and-wood structure with a flush gable roof, featuring six pillars and seven rafters. The overall layout consists of five bays: the central bay is 4.4 meters wide, the side bays are 3.8 meters wide, and there is a front eaves corridor. The two end bays connect to two wing rooms, each 5.1 meters wide and 3.3 meters deep, forming a three-bright-two-dark architectural pattern. The courtyard is paved with stone slabs, covering an area of 39 square meters. A surrounding wall connects the east and west wing rooms, and at the center of the wall is a brick gate tower inscribed with brick carvings. The outer plaque reads “Rising Sun and Eternal Moon,” symbolizing flourishing business, while the inner plaque reads “Fragrance of Orchids and Osmanthus,” symbolizing lasting virtue. In the central bay hangs a portrait of Wu Jintang. The architectural components and interior decorations are solemn and unadorned.

Wu Jintang was an outstanding patriotic overseas Chinese businessman. When Sun Yat-sen was promoting the revolution and establishing the Tongmenghui (Chinese Revolutionary Alliance) in Japan, Wu hosted banquets for Sun, Soong Ching-ling, and their colleagues multiple times, vacated his private residence, donated funds, supported the revolution, and even joined the Tongmenghui as the head of the Kobe branch. He was also extremely generous toward his hometown’s development. In the 31st year of the Guangxu reign (1905), he returned to China to visit his ancestral grave. Deeply moved by the poor harvests and the difficult livelihoods of his fellow villagers, he took it upon himself to focus on water conservancy projects. He personally invested heavily to redeem lake fields, build reservoirs, dredge lakes and rivers, construct bridges, pave roads, and build sluices, often braving wind and rain to oversee the work on site. He then established the Jintang School to cultivate talent. In the early years of the Republic of China, a tsunami caused disaster, submerging crops and cotton, and leaving people destitute. Mr. Wu repeatedly contributed funds to aid the victims and bring benefit to the locality.

As a wealthy businessman, Wu Jintang could easily have built himself a luxurious mansion in his hometown. However, he spared no expense for public welfare projects back home, while his own accommodation during visits was merely a modest 360-square-meter residence. This stood in stark contrast to his reputation as a “leading industrialist in the Kansai region” who was well-known across Japan. To commemorate this patriotic son of Sanbei (northeastern Zhejiang) who loved both his country and hometown, in August 1986, the Cixi County Government designated Wu Jintang’s former residence as a third batch cultural relic protection unit.

On January 14, 1926, Mr. Wu Jintang passed away at his Yanghe Villa in Kobe, Japan, at the age of 72. On his deathbed, he repeatedly instructed his descendants to bring his remains back to his homeland for burial. On the tenth day of the fourth lunar month in 1929, his son Qi Pan and others transported his coffin from Shanghai and Ningbo via waterway to northern Cixi, where a grand memorial and funeral ceremony was held at Jinxian Temple. Recalling his virtuous act of “not wanting to accumulate wealth for his descendants,” the local people of northern Cixi spontaneously came in great numbers, old and young, to pay their respects and mourn.

The tomb of Mr. Wu Jintang is located by Baiyang Lake in Minghe, Guanhaiwei Town, Cixi City, and consists of two parts: the tomb garden and the tomb hall, covering a total area of 1,354 square meters. A lake embankment runs east-west in front of the tomb, connecting to Jinxian Temple to the east, Hukou Village to the west, Duhu Lake to the southeast, and the reservoir to the northwest, situated right at the center of the key water conservancy projects that benefited the locality during Wu Jintang’s lifetime.

The tomb garden is built on a raised platform, enclosed by strip stones on all sides, forming a large rectangular platform measuring 38.3 meters north-south and 25.4 meters east-west, elevated above the road surface. The front features a stone fence, while the east, west, and north sides have cement railings. Upon entering the tomb garden, stone drums are placed on either side of the path, with stone lions guarding the outer courtyard and stone drums lining the inner courtyard. Long stone slabs also serve as benches. At the center is a conical tomb mound, 4.81 meters high, surrounded by 32 flower stands planted with pines, cypresses, and flowers, creating a serene environment. The tombstone is inscribed with six large characters “Tomb of Mr. Wu Jintang” written horizontally by Zhang Jian, the top scholar of the last imperial examination of the Qing Dynasty. The tomb epitaph was inscribed by Zhang Taiyan, a democratic revolutionary thinker of China. On both sides are engraved couplets composed by Wu Jintang himself: “For love of hills and lakes, here lies my bone; regardless of feng shui, only my heart knows,” expressing his deep attachment to his homeland.

The tomb hall is a two-courtyard, five-bay building with side wings, laid out in a square shape, featuring a high single-story brick-and-wood structure with a flush gable roof. The walls are constructed with blue bricks laid in staggered courses. The main facade has a plaque inscribed with “Tomb Hall of Wu Gong.” In front is a stone-paved courtyard of about 390 square meters, connected to the tomb garden. The second courtyard’s central and side bays form the worship hall. The lintel above the gate bears a plaque inscribed “Fame Lasting for Millennia” awarded by the Cixi County Government. The central bay displays a plaque awarded in August of the fifth year of the Republic of China, inscribed “Dedicated to Public Welfare” by the then President. At the center is a portrait of Mr. Wu Jintang, flanked by a couplet: “Dredging lakes and ponds ensures bountiful rice and cotton every year; revitalizing education produces talented generations.” This expresses the remembrance of later generations. The left side bay displays a plaque inscribed “Benefiting the Hometown” awarded in the fourth year of the Republic of China by Qu Yingguang, the Zhejiang Provincial Governor, in special recognition of Wu Muo’s charitable relief efforts. The right side bay displays a plaque inscribed “A World Apart Like Paradise,” written by Feng Huan of Jiangyin in the autumn of the year of Jiwei.

During the Cultural Revolution, the tomb and bronze statue were damaged. In 1984, the Cixi County Government rebuilt the tomb garden to its original state to honor Mr. Wu Jintang’s patriotism and love for his hometown. In the autumn of 1986, Chen Deren, a leader among overseas Chinese businessmen in Kobe, visited Mr. Wu’s tomb and built the “Ze Xiang Pavilion” and erected the “Ze Xiang Stele” on the east side of the tomb. In August 1986, the Cixi County Government designated Wu Jintang’s tomb as a third batch cultural relic protection unit, and in January 2017, it was announced as a seventh batch provincial-level cultural relic protection unit by the Zhejiang Provincial Government.

Wu Jintang (1855–1926), also known as Wu Muo, used the courtesy name “Jintang” and was widely known by it. He was from Xifang Village, Dongshantou, Cixi (now part of Dongshantou Xifang Village, Guanhaiwei Town), and worked in farming in his early years. In his spare time, he studied under his clan uncle and learned to read and write. In 1882, during the eighth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty, he went to Shanghai and worked at the Cuifeng Oil and Candle Shop in Hongmiao. Diligent and prudent, he earned the shop owner’s appreciation and was assigned to manage branch businesses in Suzhou and other places. In 1885, he pooled a thousand taels of silver with friends to go to Nagasaki, Japan, to do business, later moving to Osaka. In 1890, he went to Kobe, founded the Yisheng Trading Firm, dealt in Japanese matches, and earned substantial profits. He also co-invested in... More details about Wu Jintang++

Guanhaiwei Town: Located in the eastern part of Cixi City, Guanhaiwei Town covers an area of 150.20 square kilometers, with a total population of 200,000, including 50,000 migrants. Guanhaiwei is the eastern wing of Cixi City’s “one body, two wings” urban development strategy, and is a central town at both the municipal and provincial levels in Ningbo, as well as a pilot town for comprehensive small-town reform in the province.

Guanhaiwei Town enjoys favorable conditions for economic development, and has seen significant progress in its economy and various social programs. In 2001, the town’s GDP reached 2.064 billion yuan, per capita GDP was 13,760 yuan, and fiscal revenue was 114 million yuan. Guanhaiwei... More details about Guanhaiwei Town++

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units