Cungeng Hall

Cungeng Hall

Cungeng Hall is a cultural heritage site protected by Fujian Province.

Cungeng Hall

Cungeng Hall is an ancient large-scale building with traditional Hakka architectural features. Constructed between 1716 and 1781 (late Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty), it covers a total area of over 13,000 square meters, making it the largest and best-preserved residential building in Zhongdu Town. During the Qing Dynasty, it was as renowned as the “Sanli Hall” (now defunct) and the “Baierjian” (later downsized to Tiande Hall), and was unrivaled, often referred to as the “Nine Halls and Ten Courtyards,” famous far and wide. During the commune period, it housed 33 households with over 130 people from an entire production team, including grain yards and storage facilities all located inside. The central hall served both as a dining hall and a meeting venue, exuding grandeur with its “feast under bells and tripods.”

The hall is situated at the head of Luoxi Village (following the water flow direction), backed by mountains and facing water, oriented southeast to northwest. It is a timber-and-earth structure with stone foundations and rammed earth walls. The back building’s foundation wall is 1.5 meters thick, tapering floor by floor. The entire complex has five courtyards and four wings, each successive section slightly higher, creating a magnificent view from afar. The first section is the walled gate tower, with a spacious front courtyard that can accommodate horses and carriages. The second is the lower hall, featuring a stone door frame flanked by fixed couplets that read: “A noble heart remains indifferent, like a gentleman; farming and singing follow the ways of the ancients.” The third is the middle hall, where a high plaque hangs from the top of the screen wall, inscribed with “Cungeng Hall.” The characters “Cungeng” are said to have been written by a renowned scholar from eastern Guangdong, while the character “Hall” was added later. “Cungeng” conveys the meaning of “accumulating goodness and leaving a legacy for descendants.” Mr. He Shangwen, one of the hall’s owners who now resides in Taiwan at the age of 94, built a new home in Hualien County named “Cungeng Xiaozhu,” in memory of his ancestral home and his roots. The middle hall is spacious enough to host around ten tables of banquets. Its walls and wooden pillars were once adorned with calligraphy and paintings by famous figures, most of which have been lost over time. Only one carved wooden couplet remains, inscribed with: “A family that accumulates goodness will have abundant blessings; those with wealth who value education will enjoy lasting years.” At the end of the inscription, the bold signature “Song Xiang of Zhizhou” is prominently displayed, along with an ancient seal script stamp. This is the authentic handwriting of Song Xiang, one of the Seven Great Hakka Poets. As a result, on December 17, 1996, the People’s Daily published a special report titled “Calligraphy Remains of Qing Dynasty Hakka Poet Song Xiang Discovered in Shanghang.” On either side of the main hall are wing rooms (side chambers). On the second-floor wall of the right wing room, brush-written words state: “On a certain date, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s King Kang stayed here.” Legend has it that on the second day of the fifth lunar month in the fourth year of the Tongzhi reign during the Qing Dynasty, Wang Haiyang, a later leader of the Taiping Army, led his troops across the Ting River from Lufeng into Zhongdu and stayed in this house. Hence, in Mr. He Shangwen’s book “Hundred Songs of Hangchuan Scenery” published in Taiwan, there is a line: “My home once hosted King Kang, ink traces still stain the walls.” Unfortunately, fearing the suppression of the Qing rulers, the writings were erased after the Taiping Army moved into Jiaying (now Songyuan, Meizhou), and they are now unrecognizable. The fourth courtyard and the two rows of wing rooms are mostly two-story buildings, except for the last row, which is a three-story structure. Standing in the courtyard in front of this building and looking up, you can only see a “sliver of sky,” giving a sense of profound mystery. The entire hall is orderly and dignified. Between each courtyard and the main hall, there are open spaces (commonly called “cracked wells”), which were once filled with exotic flowers and ancient trees, including potted plants and directly planted greenery. With the breeze, fragrances waft through the air. The eaves inside and out are edged with long stone slabs, fitted tightly together. In the depth of spring, the courtyards resemble the palaces of ancient officials. Legend has it that the design of this house was modeled after the Guangzhou Foshan Jiaochang. When I was a child, every time I entered this house, I felt overwhelmed and awestruck, clutching an adult’s sleeve and looking around in fear of getting lost in the maze and never finding my way out. The entire hall has 180 rooms, nine main halls, and eighteen courtyards, hence the name “Nine Halls and Eighteen Courtyards.” The entire building’s flooring, at a time when cement and tiles were unavailable, was covered with the most advanced rammed earth mixture, while the floors of the upper levels were inlaid with ceramic bricks.

Construction Process

This luxurious grand building was constructed by He Chongshan, an ancestor of the He family who owned the house (1716–1781).

Having run a dyeing business in Sansuozhu, Guangdong for many years, he developed a thriving enterprise and managed his finances wisely, accumulating sufficient funds. It took him 13 years and over 90,000 taels of silver to complete the construction. Some say that even assigning a strong laborer to open all the doors and windows of the house in the morning and close them again in the afternoon would leave them breathless and struggling to keep up. Similarly, hosting a grand banquet for a hundred tables could be done entirely within the house without needing to step outside, giving a sense of the immense scale of the structure and the exceptional craftsmanship of the builders at the time.

Other Related Information

According to available data, the house has stood for at least 200 years. Despite weathering over time, the building remains largely intact, retaining much of its original charm. In the past, it housed multiple families and was a place of cultural prominence, having produced five scholars, two tribute students, and one juren (successful candidate in the imperial examinations) during the Qing Dynasty. However, in the past two decades following the reform and opening-up period, due to improved living standards, residents gradually moved out and built modern brick-and-wood or brick-concrete homes on the hill behind the hall and the surrounding open spaces. Today, seven elderly or low-income households still reside in the house.

In 1993, the Shanghang County People’s Government designated the house as a third-batch county-level key cultural heritage protection unit.

Luoxi Village: Luoxi Village currently has nine villager groups, 258 households, 1,039 residents, and 41 Party members. It has 858 mu of arable land and 2,113 mu of forest. The local climate is mild, with spring-like weather year-round, ample rainfall, and fertile soil. In addition to growing grain, villagers actively develop flue-cured tobacco. In recent years, some have built pig farms, biogas pits, and planted fruit trees to promote a circular economy. The village hosts two enterprises (Fangling Machine Brick Factory and Paper Product Processing Factory), providing jobs for over 80 surplus laborers. The village prioritized the implementation of village office construction projects in 2008.

The village’s ancient architecture includes the earthen building Cungeng Hall, San... More details about Luoxi Village++

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of Fujian Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units