Zhanzhuang Old House

Zhanzhuang Old House

Zhanzhuang Old House is located in Zhanzhuang Group, Tianle Village, Yu Jing Town. The entire structure was initially built during the Qianlong era and constructed during the Jiaqing period. It was designed by Qing dynasty officials such as Yu Xingdu, a Fuzhi Doctor, Yu Fakun, a Grand Scholar, and Yu Yunxi, a candidate for county magistrate, who gathered skilled craftsmen to build it. The entire project took nearly 20 years to complete, resulting in the grand architectural scale seen today. The Yu family has lived here for nearly two hundred years, spanning more than ten generations. In the past, most of the tenant farmers in the village had the surname “Zhan,” so the area was called “Zhan Zhuang,” and the old house adopted the local name. Inside the house, there is a hall called “Shaoging Hall,” which still serves practical functions such as promoting farming and scholarship, upholding moral teachings, welcoming virtuous guests, respecting officials, ancestral worship, and ceremonies.

Zhanzhuang Old House features distinct Huizhou-style architectural characteristics. Externally: it has white walls, black tiles, horse-head walls, and flush gable roofs; structurally: it follows a symmetrical central axis, with a five-courtyard layout, compact structure, four horizontal and four vertical sections, bidirectional expansion, clear hierarchy between primary and secondary spaces, and bright, open layouts; in terms of plan design: it emphasizes the concept of “round sky and square earth,” taking a rectangular shape with a true north-south orientation; the interior “three carvings” (wood carving, brick carving, and stone carving) are especially exquisite in craftsmanship and rich in color. In short, the whole building is highly defensive externally, while interconnected internally, making it a classic example of courtyard-style architecture.

Zhanzhuang Old House is the general name for this residence. Originally, the main building was accompanied by auxiliary structures and leisure spaces such as “Chu Yue Xuan,” “Geng Shang Shan Fang,” “pavilions,” and a “fish pond,” but these were destroyed in different periods, although their foundations remain. Currently, the remaining structure has a total width of 62 meters, a depth of 43.90 meters, covering an area of about 2,722 square meters, with a total of over 90 rooms. Among them, over 90% are modern reconstructions or renovations, and only three rooms along the central axis — the entrance hall, the middle hall, and Shaoging Hall — can truly be considered Qing dynasty architecture.