Memorial Hall of Zhan Tianyou’s Ancestral Home

Memorial Hall of Zhan Tianyou’s Ancestral Home

Memorial Hall of Zhan Tianyou’s Ancestral Home and the China Zhan Clan Grand Ancestral Temple. The Zhan clan, as a prominent family in the Jiangnan region, holds considerable influence both domestically and abroad, with nearly 3 million recorded descendants worldwide. Lukeng Village is the ancestral home of Zhan descendants in Taiwan and currently preserves the tomb of the first-generation Zhan ancestor, the ancestral tomb of Zhan Tianyou, Zhan Tianyou’s former residence, as well as firefighting equipment and the Zhan family genealogy that Zhan Tianyou gifted to his hometown during his lifetime. The Memorial Hall of Zhan Tianyou’s Ancestral Home and the China Zhan Clan Grand Ancestral Temple were established in 2010 by the Zhan Clan Economic and Cultural Exchange Association, with an investment of over 12 million yuan. The memorial hall houses artifacts such as the rail tracks of China’s first railway—the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, a bronze statue of Zhan Tianyou, and the stone flagpole bases inscribed with “Gongke Jinshi” (Imperial Examination Graduate in Engineering). In 2011, the Wuyuan Zhan Tianyou Memorial Hall was awarded the title of “Patriotic Education Base” by the Zhan Tianyou Science and Technology Development Foundation under the Ministry of Railways. A global gathering of Zhan clan descendants for ancestral worship is held every three years in Lukeng Village, bringing together more than 1,000 descendants from Europe, America, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and various parts of mainland China.

Shitian Guan Di (The Mansion of the Heavenly Official of the Era): Zhan Tongwen, the Minister of Personnel during the Ming Dynasty and one of the “Four Chancellors of Wuyuan,” had this ancestral residence built upon the foundation of his family home.

Hanlin Mansion “Taishi Di” (The Mansion of the Grand Historian): This mansion consists of two sections, front and back, and is a two-story building constructed with brick and wood. The front section features a fishpond and flower gardens, while the back section has side rooms on both sides and a spacious central hall with a floor paved entirely with flat bluestone slabs.