The Wu Residence on Yueguan Lane

The Wu Residence on Yueguan Lane

The Wu Residence on Yueguan Lane is a cultural relic protection unit of Hangzhou.

The Wu Residence on Yueguan Lane is located at No. 4, Yueguan Lane, dating back to the Ming Dynasty.

Yueguan Lane in Hangzhou runs east from Xinhua Road to the west end at Liuke Lane. During the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, academic officials Shu Yunqiao and Shu Longshan resided here, hence the lane was originally called Xueguan Lane, but later mispronounced as Yueguan Lane.

In the Xianfeng era of the Qing Dynasty, Wu Zhenyu, Viceroy of Yunnan and Guizhou, claimed the residences of Shu Yunqiao and Shu Longshan as his own and expanded them, naming it the Wu Residence. During the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty, academic official Weng Songnian also lived in the Wu Residence. He successively held positions such as Principal of the Ministry of Revenue, Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and Education Commissioner of Guangdong. He was known for mentoring young talents. Notably, when supervising exams in Guangdong, he once learned that the examination site had been set in Leizhou, requiring candidates from Qiongzhou (i.e., Hainan Island) to cross the sea to attend. Weng Songnian said, “How could I risk one life for the sake of thousands?” He then moved the exam site to Qiongzhou so candidates could take the test locally. Despite the sea crossing risks, he personally went to the Qiongzhou Strait by boat to oversee the examination affairs—an act that became widely celebrated.

The Wu Residence features five courtyards with typical Jiangnan architectural characteristics and is one of the few remaining wooden structures from the Ming Dynasty in Hangzhou. The residence was largely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, and at one point was home to 47 households. In 1986, the Hangzhou municipal government designated it as a key cultural relic protection unit. It was restored to its original appearance in 2000 and is now open to the public as a specialized museum.

Protected area: East to the boundary of Qingchunfang, south to the red line of the road on the southern side of Yueguan Lane, west to the red line of the road on the eastern side of Liuke Lane, north to the southern wall boundary of the residential buildings on the north side, covering a total area of 5,192 square meters.

Construction control zone: East to the red line of the road on the western side of Xinhua Road, south to approximately 45 meters south of the protected area, west to the red line of the road on the western side of Liuke Lane, north to the red line of the road on the southern side of Changqing Street, covering a total area of 15,352 square meters.