The Zheng Family Manor in Yanzhou

The Zheng Family Manor in Yanzhou

The Zheng Family Manor in Yanzhou is a cultural heritage site protected by Shandong Province.

The Zheng Family Manor is located in Yandian Town. Originally, there were three large manors, but only the Hongfu Temple Manor and the Zhengxicun Manor remain. The Zheng family was a prominent and wealthy clan in the Zishan area, having amassed great fortune during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, after which they built these manors. According to inscriptions recently discovered at the Zhengxicun Manor, during the Jiaqing era of the Qing Dynasty, the manor stood prominently in the countryside with a grand scale, indicating that the Zheng Family Manor was built no later than the mid-Qing Dynasty. Below is a brief introduction to the two remaining manors:

The Hongfu Temple Zheng Family Manor is located on the southern side of Zishan Mountain, in Hongfu Temple Village. During the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty, the manor owner, Zheng Xiang, added three layers of walls to defend against the Nian Army and bandits, enclosing the village and the western peak of Zishan Mountain within. During the Republican era, it became the villa of his descendant, Zheng Peitai. Zheng Peitai’s two other brothers lived in the Yandian Manor and the Zhengxicun Manor, respectively. As the ancestral home of the Zheng family, the Hongfu Temple Manor was not only majestic and imposing, but its scale and architectural style also held an air of mystery. Folklore claims it was designed according to the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) diagram, causing thieves who entered to lose their way and get captured. A popular folk rhyme from the time went: “Hongfu Temple rivals Beijing, with Old Zheng the Devil ruling as king. Front halls and rear palace yards, surrounded by three imperial walls. Five gates welcome horses at the front, guards patrol at midnight without rest. Grain piles high like mountains, silver stacked just the same, every gate of the Zheng Manor a checkpoint in the game.” After liberation, the two outer walls were gradually demolished, but the inner walls remain, now part of the town’s grain management office. The walls stand 6.6 meters high, stretch 280 meters from north to south, and 140 meters from east to west, with watch holes and gun ports. The manor originally had over 300 rooms, most of which were altered or demolished in the 1970s. The rear courtyard still has about 20 halls, representing typical Ming and Qing architecture. It was designated as a Shandong Provincial Cultural Heritage Site in December 2006.

The Zhengxicun Zheng Family Manor is located about three li north of Zishan Mountain, in Zhengxicun Village. It is the best-preserved of the three Zheng family manors and is a Qing Dynasty structure. Originally, it had four courtyards across four rows, divided along left, center, and right axes, with two additional courtyards to the west, as well as a rear building and garden. Today, two courtyards along the central axis and three along the eastern axis remain, with 74 rooms in total. All the buildings are of brick-and-wood construction, featuring blue bricks, tile roofs, animal-shaped ridges, and elegant corridor designs. After liberation, the roof tiles were replaced to prevent leaks, but the overall architectural style remains unchanged. The manor’s walls measure 120 meters from north to south and 52 meters from east to west. The Zhengxicun Zheng Family Manor is also a Shandong Provincial Cultural Heritage Site.

Yandian Town: Yandian Town is located at the junction of Wenshang, Rencheng, the Jining High-Tech Zone, and Yanzhou, covering an area of 102 square kilometers. It administers four districts and 66 administrative villages, with a population of 68,000, including 17,000 households, of which 65,000 are agricultural residents.

Yandian Town boasts significant transportation advantages, abundant resources, and well-developed infrastructure. Its primary industry, agriculture, focuses on specialty "planting, breeding, and processing" sectors such as meat ducks, chili peppers, and seedlings. The secondary industry mainly includes food processing, adhesive tapes, chemicals, machinery, construction materials, and more, accounting for over 70% of the tertiary sector and contributing 90% of the local fiscal revenue... More details about Yandian Town++

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Shandong Provincial Cultural Heritage Sites

· First Batch of Jining Municipal Cultural Heritage Sites