Moli Village, XiuHui Town, Zhangqiu City

Moli Village, XiuHui Town, Zhangqiu City

Scenic Area Title: Rural Tourism (One of Shandong’s Most Beautiful Villages)

Moli Village is an ordinary small village in XiuHui Town, Zhangqiu City. However, this seemingly ordinary village has a rather extraordinary history and stories.

Moli Village has a long history. According to the "Luohe Bridge Stele" from the Ming Dynasty's Wanli era (1573–1619): “The village was originally called Mo Li Zhuang. In the late Qing Dynasty, a child of the villager Li Shanjia was run over and killed by a cart. Li did not pursue the matter and let the cart driver go free. Coincidentally, a county magistrate who was conducting an unofficial inspection witnessed the incident and was deeply impressed by Li’s magnanimity. He remarked: 'The Li family is kind and forgiving, surely they will prosper and flourish.' Thus, the village was renamed Moli Zhuang.” The Li family genealogy shows that during the second year of the Zhi Zheng era of the Yuan Dynasty (1342 AD), the founding ancestor of the Li clan, Li Shen, migrated from Zaoqiang, Hebei. Zaoqiang, Hebei is a place many are familiar with—it, along with Hongtong, Shanxi, were two major emigration origins during the national migration campaign in the early Ming Dynasty under Emperor Hongwu. The ancestor of the Li family in this village arrived in the second year of Zhi Zheng (1342 AD), which is over 40 years earlier than the first large-scale migration that began in the 21st year of Hongwu (1388 AD).

Moli Village is a typical representative of the ancient villages of XiuHui. It features numerous ancestral halls, old alleyways, ancient wells, and historic trees. Especially notable is the Li Family Ancestral Hall located south of the village, which is the only ancestral hall within Zhangqiu City’s jurisdiction to be listed as a Jinan Municipal-level Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit. It is also the highest-rated ancestral hall in terms of cultural relics status in Zhangqiu. The front hall of the ancestral hall has five bays and is largely well-preserved. In front of the hall are lush pines and cypresses, with arched gateways on both sides connecting to the backyard. The eastern archway is inscribed with “Pillar of Historical Legacy” and “Illuminate the Glorious Past,” while the western one bears the carvings “Virtue for Generations” and “Purple Haze over Hangu Pass.” The main hall in the backyard has five bays, with a plaque reading “A Hundred Generations Under One Roof” hanging at the center. The hall enshrines the ancestors of the Li family. On the back wall hangs a genealogy chart recording the names of generations of Li ancestors. Inside the archways are two weeping willows with twisted trunks resembling dragons—known as the “Reclining Dragon Willow”—offering a unique charm. Staff at the village committee say that there is a legend about these two willows recorded in the Li family genealogy: when Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was a child, he often lay in the shade on the stone slab beneath the trees. After he became the emperor, the true dragon, he named the tree “Reclining Dragon Willow,” and the stone slab beneath it was called the “Reclining Dragon Couch.” According to the "Li Family Genealogy" revised in the 12th year of the Republic of China (1923): the first-generation ancestor of the Li family migrated from Zaoqiang, Hebei to Moli Village, Zhangqiu during the Yuan Dynasty. The third-generation ancestor, Li Henglu, styled Bingli, “studied Confucian classics in his youth, had noble character and profound learning. In the second year of the Hongwu era, he was specially summoned and appointed as Left Censor, later bestowed the title of Imperial Counselor. Two generations of his family were granted honors, bringing him close to the imperial court. He was involved in advising on military and state secrets. He later died in office.” The ancestral hall was built during the Xianfeng era of the Qing Dynasty. By that calculation, the ancestral hall has a history of over 150 years.

Address: Moli Village, XiuHui Town, Zhangqiu City, Jinan

Business Hours: 24 hours

Visiting Time: Approximately 4 hours

Price Description: No admission fee is charged at Moli Village.

Featured Attraction: Li Family Ancestral Hall

Supporting Facilities:

Dining and Accommodation

Self-driving Guide:

Zhangqiu City – Huiquan Road – Chezhan Street – Hehua Square – S242 – Mingdiao Road – Moli Village

Parking Information:

Village parking area.