Hanging House

Hanging House

The Hanging House is a cultural heritage site protected by Xuancheng City.

The "Thousand Legs of the South" — also known as the Hanging House — is located in Zhangdu Town, southwest of Jing County. This unique ancient residential architecture features tiled houses with wooden plank structures, combining shops at the front and residences at the back. The buildings face the river, with their bases suspended over the Qingyi River by wooden pillars, allowing the water to flow gently beneath them. This imparts a strong flavor of the Jiangnan water town aesthetic. The buildings stretch continuously for one or two li, supported by more than a thousand wooden pillars, hence the name "Thousand Legs." Viewed from across the river, rows of black-tiled wooden houses line the water's edge, resembling a large wooden raft floating downstream. At night, when the lights are on, their reflections shimmer on the water, creating a spectacular sight of "a myriad of lights above and below the water," interacting brilliantly. Each individual house resembles a lantern hanging from a pole, which is why it is also called the "Hanging Lantern House." Since the main beams of the houses are supported in mid-air by wooden pillars, it has earned yet another name: the "Hanging House." A single architectural complex bearing such rich and vivid names is a testament to the ingenuity of its builders and the deep affection people hold for it.

There are no precise historical records regarding the exact founding date of Zhangdu Town. According to legend, during the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, Zhang Zongdao laid out the foundation of the town and left behind the auspicious saying, "a town that will never fall." In fact, even earlier, during the Tang Dynasty, the poet Li Bai visited Jing County and stopped by Zhangdu, where he inscribed the phrase "the first town west of here," attesting to its long history. Thanks to its location against the mountains and beside the river, the geographical environment is highly favorable. The Qingyi River was also one of the most prosperous transportation routes in Jing County at the time. Guided by the traditional Chinese concept of "building houses against the mountain and settling villages by the water," Zhangdu Town’s population grew rapidly and soon flourished, becoming the second-largest commercial hub in ancient Jing County.

The old street of Zhangdu was built along the river on one side with wooden shops, while the other side featured rows of Ming and Qing dynasty buildings facing south. The street is over three meters wide. The riverside wooden houses are said to have been built in the mid-Ming Dynasty, numbering 108 in total, supported by 1,080 wooden pillars standing firmly in the vast waters. For centuries, despite storms and even when the river rose to flood the street level, these houses stood proudly without collapsing — a mystery that has intrigued visitors for generations. Even Japanese architects have come here out of admiration. There are many legends about it; some say that the Taoist master Zhang Tianshi of the Ming Dynasty pointed to the land and claimed it as a feng shui treasure, while others say that Liu Bowen, well-versed in astronomy and geography, revealed its potential. Based on my observations over the past 30-plus years, the true reason is that the sturdy flow of the Zhongcun Township tributary at the upstream left bank buffers the river current along Zhangdu, ensuring the wooden "Hanging House" structures have remained safe for hundreds of years.

Aside from its unique architectural scenery, the old street of Zhangdu is also steeped in revolutionary history. The famed Southern Anhui Incident took place along the banks of the Qingyi River, where the blood of many New Fourth Army soldiers dyed the river red. In those days, a small wharf at the entrance of the old street was where the beloved Comrade [name omitted] and General Ye Ting landed by bamboo raft. A small meeting was held in a wooden riverside tavern midway along the old street to discuss and plan new combat strategies for the New Fourth Army. A little further down the street, about ten meters away, was the New Fourth Army military supply station — a large Ming and Qing building capable of accommodating several thousand people. In those years, aspiring youths from all over southern Anhui flocked to the station to enlist in the New Fourth Army and head for the front lines of the Anti-Japanese War. Nearby, just a few meters from the military supply station, there was an old civilian house that once served as the office of the first Jing County Committee of the [Party]. It was also the original command center from which the committee led the county’s people in resisting the enemy. However, today, only a corner of the former military supply station remains, while the site of the former Jing County Committee lies in ruins, overtaken by wild grass.

Today, the reconstructed Hanging House streets still reveal traces of their former prosperity. Six stone stairways leading down to the river remind us of the bustling crowds that once shuttled between the docks and the streets. The town’s residences, wooden shopfronts, and workshops stood shoulder to shoulder, aligned along the riverbank and built close to the water’s edge, twisting and extending in an antique charm. Residents here "open their doors to the street and their windows to the river." The uniformly wooden houses stand in a row, with the inner sides of their bases built on foundations, while the outer sides are supported by just a few tree-trunk-thick round logs. A clear stream flows gently beneath the "Hanging House" complex — an extraordinary architectural ensemble that has weathered the ages, reportedly several hundred years old or even older. To a great extent, Zhangdu Ancient Town gradually became famous because of the presence of the "Hanging House." The harmony between humans and nature here makes this town uniquely charming and captivating.