Kaoshui Village

Kaoshui Village

Kaoshui (also known as Kaochuan) is the birthplace of China’s “Mingjing Hu Clan.”

Kaoshui has long been renowned as a “family of scholars and a land of etiquette.” Zhu Xi once inscribed the phrase “A school of Mingjing teachings, a household of poetry and rites” to praise Kaoshui. The founding ancestor of Kaoshui, Hu Jinggong, advocated the study of the classics and was revered as a master Confucian scholar. His descendants carried on the tradition of valuing education and Confucian ideals, producing generations of scholars and officials. During the Song Dynasty, there was Hu Shen, hailed as one of the “Two Treasures of Jiangnan” alongside Wang Zao; in the Yuan Dynasty, there were the “Seven Sages,” known as the “Seven Philosophical Masters.” Over the dynasties, twenty individuals from Kaoshui achieved the prestigious status of Jinshi (advanced scholars). The ancestral homes of many notable figures are also in Kaoshui, including the renowned modern scholar Hu Shi, the wealthy Hu Guansan—one of the richest Huizhou merchants of the south, the calligraphic Hu Kaiwen family, and the traditional medicine entrepreneur and prominent late-Qing businessman Hu Xueyan.

The Kaoshui settlement blends the beauty of its mountainous landscape with the artistry of ancient architecture in a layout that is both rational and uniquely picturesque. The preserved traditional houses in Kaoshui all feature Huizhou-style characteristics: horse-head walls, upturned eaves, intricately carved beams and painted rafters, all exquisitely delicate; the depictions of figures, flowers, birds, and beasts are strikingly lifelike. The Weixin Bridge was rebuilt during the Kangxi era and features a pavilion atop it, providing travelers and farmers with a place to rest. An inscription inside the pavilion reads: “The bridge and pavilion resemble a fine villa; the towering lodge veils the village entrance.”