Fu Residence

Fu Residence

The Fu Residence is a cultural heritage site protected at the Zhenhai District level.

The Fu Residence (Fu Qianyue House), originally the home of Fu Xiao’an, the puppet mayor of Shanghai under the Wang Jingwei regime. Built in 1922, it is an outstanding example of Republican-era architecture that blends Chinese and Western styles. In 1999, it was listed among Ningbo’s “Top Ten” modern historical buildings. In December 2000, it was designated as a district-level cultural heritage site.

The Fu Residence faces south and covers a land area of 2,008 square meters with a built-up area of 1,600 square meters. It is a two-story frame structure featuring five bays, two lanes, and four wing rooms, arranged in a covered corridor courtyard. The exterior exhibits a classical European architectural style. The two higher gabled roofs on either side show traces of the French Louis XIII style, while the stone carvings on the central and side gates are quite intricate. Between the first and second floors, there is a discontinuous decorative band of corbelled projections, and the exterior wall material is cement mortar, durable and retaining an aged appearance.

Inside the main gate is a two-story covered corridor. The lower corridor features continuous arches with columns made of Meiyuan stone, exquisitely crafted. The column capitals combine Corinthian-style acanthus leaves with Ionic volutes. The upper corridor has naturally leveled railing-style handrails divided into two sections: the upper part with round columns and the lower part with square columns, topped with hybrid capitals differing from those below.

The floor of the covered corridor is paved with stone slabs, and the interior features colorful mosaic floor tiles from the Republican era, still vibrant as new. The indoor walls and ceilings are decorated with distinctly Western-style elements, and all doors and windows are made of wood.

The inner courtyard is five bays wide and four bays deep.

The east and west wing rooms, corridors, and southern corridor are European in style, while the north wing room and corridor are in traditional Chinese classical style, together forming the distinctive character of the Fu Qianyue House.

Fu Xiao’an (1872–1940), also known as Zongyao, used the courtesy name Xiao’an, which became his common name. He was a native of Zhenhai County. In the 18th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1892), he began working at the British-owned Yeson (some say Xiangsheng) Shipyard in Pudong, Shanghai, where he learned English at night school, gaining a basic proficiency. Skilled at currying favor, he was promoted to foreman and tasked with managing workers’ wages and other duties. Through embezzling workers' wages and falsifying claims, he amassed wealth, purchasing properties in Pudong which he rented out for profit. Later, he befriended Yan Zijun, son of Yan Xinhou, the then-chairman of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, and took over the management of the Yan family's rental properties. He even regarded Yan Xinhou’s concubine Yang as his adoptive mother. Through such connections and maneuvering, he eventually entered the Qing... [More details on Fu Xiao’an]++