The Ancient Residential Complex of Shigu Ancient Village

The Ancient Residential Complex of Shigu Ancient Village

The Ancient Residential Complex of Shigu Ancient Village is a cultural relic protection unit of Hunan Province.

The Ancient Residential Complex of Shigu Ancient Village is located in Chengshui Town, Zixing City, and got its name from a pair of stone drums bestowed by the emperor. The ancient village features four traditional old residences, one ancient academy, one ancient tomb, one ancient path, and numerous ancient trees. The largest among them is the Cheng Family Mansion, built in 1810. The main building has seven gates, six straight alleys, and two cross alleys that divide the entire structure into 21 courtyards across upper, middle, and lower sections. There are 72 main rooms, and the eaves and walls are adorned with chicken-cock-shaped brackets, featuring clay sculptures of dragons, phoenixes, and bats—impressive in grandeur, with the buildings being both spacious and practical. General Cheng Zikai was born here in 1827. In 1904, he went to Japan to study military science, joined the Tongmenghui (Chinese Revolutionary Alliance) in 1905, actively resisted the Japanese invasion, and died for his country. He was posthumously awarded the rank of General in 1946. In 2011, Shigu Ancient Village was listed as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit.

Cheng Zikai

(1872–1945)

Commander of the First Army of the Hunan Anti-Yuan Army, Army General.

A native of Xingning County (now Zixing City), Hunan Province, Cheng Zikai was born in 1872 on April 4th into a scholarly family in Shigu Village, Beixiang, Xingning County. In 1879, he was selected as a Bajin scholar and, after the imperial examination, was appointed as the magistrate of Zaoyang County, Hubei. In 1904, he resigned from office and went east to Japan, studying at the Tokyo Shimpū Gakkō and the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. He embraced Western bourgeois political and social theories, which significantly transformed his thinking. He organized revolutionary activities with Huang Xing, Song Jiaoren, and others… More details about Cheng Zikai ++