Former Residence of Wang Shizhen and the Wang Family's Double Chastity Shrine

Former Residence of Wang Shizhen and the Wang Family's Double Chastity Shrine

The Former Residence of Wang Shizhen and the Wang Family's Double Chastity Shrine are cultural heritage sites protected by Zhengding County.

Former Residence of Wang Shizhen

Wang Shizhen was a well-known figure in modern Chinese history. Together with Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang, he was called one of the "Three Northern Warlords" and referred to at the time as "Wang the Dragon, Duan the Tiger, and Feng the Leopard." He held positions such as Minister of War in the late Qing Dynasty, Minister of the Army in the early years of the Republic of China, and Premier of the State Council, and was honored with the title of General of Virtue and Might. Wang Shizhen was intimately involved in many pivotal historical events of the period and, in his role as an elder of the Beiyang clique, repeatedly mediated conflicts between various warlord factions, helping shield Beijing from the ravages of war. He died of illness in Beijing on July 1, 1930.

The Former Residence of Wang Shizhen was built in 1912 and is a typical northern-style courtyard house from the Republican era. It is located on the north side of Zhongshan West Road in downtown Zhengding. Originally divided into eastern, central, and western sections, it covered a total area of 10,102 square meters. Only the central section remains today, consisting of a two-courtyard siheyuan (traditional quadrangle) with a delicate and elegant floral-pendant gate at the front. A couplet written and inscribed by Wang Shizhen himself hangs above the gate: “Seek fame and wealth only through your own efforts, not others’; cherish clothes and food not for their cost, but for the blessings they represent.” This reflects Wang Shizhen’s personal philosophy. The main house of the first courtyard is five bays wide and three bays deep, with a single-eave corridor at the front and back. Side passageways on the east and west lead directly to the rear courtyard. The main house of the rear courtyard is seven bays wide and two bays deep, with a single-eave corridor at the front. The east and west wing rooms in both courtyards are three bays wide and two bays deep. All these structures feature tiled roofs with flush gables.

From 1948 to 1949, the North China University was established in Zhengding, with its Fourth Department—the Research Department—housed in Wang Shizhen’s former residence. Fan Wenlan, the university’s vice president and head of the Fourth Department, as well as a renowned historian, lived here. The well-known book A Concise History of China was revised here.

Wang Family's Double Chastity Shrine

The Double Chastity Shrine was initially built in the early years of the Republic of China. It is situated on the south side of Zhongshan West Road in downtown Zhengding, facing north, directly opposite the former residence, and currently covers an area of 878 square meters.

The main gate of the shrine is three bays wide and one bay deep, featuring a blue-tiled roof with flush gables. Inside the gate lies a spacious and neat courtyard, in the center of which stands a tall and imposing Chastity Archway. It was erected in honor of Wang Shizhen’s adoptive mother, Madam Liu, and his birth mother, Madam Ding. The archway was built in the ninth year of the Republic of China (1920), with four pillars and three bays, designed to resemble wooden architecture but made of stone. The central stone plaque bears the engraved inscription in regular script: “Chastity Archway of Madames Liu and Ding, Wives of Wang, Honored as First-Rank Imperial Consorts.” The inscription is dated: “Respectfully erected by Adopted Son Wang Shizhen and Biological Son [Name] in the sixth month of the Gengshen year, the ninth year of the Republic of China (1920).” On the inner side of the archway, the central stone plaque is inscribed in intaglio with the characters “Zhong Hao Chui Xing” (exemplifying the virtues of Zhong and Hao), dated: “April, Gengshen year, the ninth year of the Republic of China, inscribed by Xu Shichang.”

The main hall, also known as the Ancestral Hall, is three bays wide and two bays deep, spacious and lofty, serving as the place where ancestral tablets were enshrined. Originally, there was a side room outside the main hall used for storing ritual items during ceremonies. The east courtyard was formerly a stable for horses, housing service personnel and shrine caretakers; the west courtyard was the residence of the clerk Cai Shoushan, which no longer exists.

On November 13, 1982, the People’s Government of Zhengding County designated it as a County-Level Key Cultural Heritage Protection Unit.