Jingxia Village "Zhengliangtang" Residence

Jingxia Village "Zhengliangtang" Residence

The Zhengliangtang Hakka Mansion is located at No. 4, Jingxia Village Group, Yanbei Village, Duiziqian Town, Suichuan County, Ji'an City. During the Qing Dynasty's Qianlong era, progenitor Huang Youxiang led his three sons—Yifang, Yiyen, and Yiqi—to establish a new settlement in Jingxia Village. In the 38th year of Qianlong (1773), after Huang Youxiang passed away, in the 59th year of Qianlong (1794), Yifang, Yiyen, and Yiqi built the Yanshan Academy and Zhengliangtang, completing them in the 11th year of Jiaqing (1806). The beam of Zhengliangtang still bears the inscription “11th Year of Jiaqing, Year of Bingyin.”

The Zhengliangtang Hakka Mansion faces south and is arranged in a row of five buildings. It features hip-and-gable roofs, double eaves, and a two-story brick-and-timber structure. The exterior walls are made of polished blue bricks, while the interior walls use earthen bricks and wooden partitions—commonly referred to as “silver wrapped in gold.” It is divided into several main sections, including the Zhengliangtang Ancestral Hall and residential spaces. The central “Zhengliangtang” building is the tallest, with the symmetrical residences on either side being 50 centimeters shorter in height. The entire complex is enclosed by walls and has an overall layout that is round in the front and square in the back.

Zhengliangtang serves as the ancestral hall for the Huang family. It has one courtyard and two courtyards in depth. A plaque inscribed with “Zhengliangtang” hangs high in the main hall, which is richly adorned with carved beams and painted rafters. The caisson ceiling features a gold-lacquered bas-relief of the “Fish-Dragon Painting.” The Nuo ritual supports consist of two pairs of lions playing with embroidered balls, vividly depicted. The surrounding screens are all carved from hardwood, with lively and expressive figures from historical stories, as well as elegant and refined floral and bird patterns. The ceiling is painted on a base layer made of rice paste mixed with specially selected yellow soil, resulting in bright and distinctive colors—a highly distinctive feature of Hakka residential decorative painting.

The residential area has a rectangular floor plan with two courtyards and three sections in depth, comprising nine halls, 18 courtyards, and 99 rooms—locally referred to as the “Nine Halls and Eighteen Courtyards.” The house passages are crisscrossed, interconnected yet distinct. Most of the doors, windows, and partitions inside the residence are crafted from hard wood and gilded with carvings, while the windows on the outer walls are made of stone.

On the left and right sides of the residence, there are two one-courtyard, two-wing buildings named “Gui Room” and “Lan Pavilion,” which served as study rooms at the time. In front of the residence, there is a sequence of features including a courtyard, a screen wall, the Juxing Pool, and a semi-circular earthen wall. The courtyard covers an area of 860 square meters and is paved with cobblestones. Between the courtyard and the pool stands a 1.26-meter-high screen wall. Beyond the screen wall, the Juxing Pool spans 1,280 square meters, surrounded by a semi-circular, 3-meter-high wall constructed from rammed earth. A memorial archway-style gate is situated at the junction of the courtyard and the pool, outside the west flower room. Outside the gate, there is an ancient well with sweet-tasting water that can supply up to 300 people daily without drying up. (By Gao Liren)

Duiziqian Town: A town under the jurisdiction of Suichuan County. It is the main base for the county’s kumquat production. Established as Duiziqian Township in 1949, it became a commune in 1958, reinstated as a township in 1984, and upgraded to a town in 1993. Located at the western border of the county, the town government is seated in Duiziqian Market, 22.5 kilometers from the county seat, covering an area of 105.2 square kilometers with a population of 19,000. The Suichuan–Jinggangshan Highway runs through the entire territory. The town administers the Duiziqian Town Neighborhood Committee and ten village committees: Duiziqian, Helai, Qiping, Jilong, Buhou, Miaojian, Yanbei, Hulu, Petian, and Jiudu. The area is mountainous, with the right branch of the upper Suichuan River flowing through the northern part. Agriculture... For detailed information about Duiziqian Town, click ++

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Jiangxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units