The Dayingying Ancient Architectural Complex

The Dayingying Ancient Architectural Complex

The Dayingying Ancient Architectural Complex is a cultural heritage site protected by Hunan Province.

The Dayingying ancient residences were first built in the second year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty (1876), located in Yagonglong Village, Zhousmensi Town, Zixing City. These are Xiangnan-style residences constructed with brick, wood, and earth. The main building covers an area of 1,490 square meters and is a well-preserved architectural structure from the Qing Dynasty, featuring the typical traditional style of Xiangnan dwellings. For over 130 years, the walls and battlements of Dayingying have remained upright and unleaning, with all 36 main rooms intact. The upper, middle, and lower halls are interconnected as one unit, showcasing a rigorous layout and simple yet refined decorations. The arrangement of nine courtyards ensures excellent lighting and ventilation. The carved and gold-laminated shrine plaques and couplets, the bas-relief landscapes and figure scenes on the door panels, as well as the sculptures of auspicious creatures such as dragons, phoenixes, qilins, and bats, are all thoughtfully arranged and neatly placed. A six-foot-diameter Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams totem, carved in wood, is inlaid at the base of the carriage-roof framework connecting the upper and middle halls. Viewed from the ground, it appears as a decorative ceiling element under the carriage roof, exuding solemnity and grandeur.

Historical records indicate that the construction of Dayingying was completed in three phases over three years. On the day before the completion banquet, a ceremony was held to hang the plaques and couplets—an extremely rare practice in the history of rural residential architecture. Among them, the gold-laminated shrine cabinet is inlaid with ancestral mottos: “Continue the legacy as solid as bedrock; pass on the family through dedication to education,” and “Plan far ahead with enduring wisdom.” These aim to teach descendants to build their homes and careers on solid foundations, and that passing on the family line values moral education. One must think and act with foresight, untroubled by immediate worries. Additionally, the central gate features the carved couplet: “Noble aspirations match the clear moon; refined tolerance blends with spring breeze.” Above the middle hall hangs the horizontal plaque “Kuanhou Hall” (Hall of Generosity), while the screen wall bears inscribed paintings with texts such as “Virtue bears blessings” and “Harmony brings good fortune.” These reflect not only the ideology of Neo-Confucianism at the time but also the needs of building a harmonious society today.

From these couplets, we can see that refined scholars have always favored imagery of wind, moon, and the “Four Gentlemen”—plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum. “Clear moon after rain” represents mood, breadth of mind, artistic expression, and the demeanor of a great family.

Forty meters to the left of the main gate stands an old study hall, also known as a private school. This two-story, brick-and-wood structure features a small enclosed courtyard and includes classrooms, living quarters, and a kitchen, covering an area of about 600 square meters. It served as a place for clan members to study and become literate. The private school operated from 1876, when it first opened, until 1879, when Lanxi Academy began its classes. During those three years, Huang family children aged eight and up, to young men in their twenties, all began reading and learning characters. It was considered a matter of pride at the time that no one in the family remained completely uneducated.

The plaque hanging above the shrine, inscribed with “Wuzu Shen” (Deity of Martial Ancestors), recounts the story of Dayingying’s ancestor Huang Zecheng serving the imperial court and suppressing banditry. It also bears an inscription by Magistrate Lu Fei: “Glory that will never fade.” This occurred during Huang Zecheng’s 61st birthday celebration, when relatives and friends presented clothes and congratulatory plaques, demonstrating the flourishing prestige of the Huang family.

The inlaid plaque “Kuanhou Hall” symbolizes the honor bestowed upon the Dayingying family for their virtues of yielding and maintaining harmony with neighbors. Over 130 years ago, members of the Huang clan reclaimed a gentle slope of land behind and to the left of Dayingying, turning it into paddy fields capable of yielding 40 dan of rice (approximately 4,000 jin). However, constructing an irrigation channel for the fields required laying a waterway that passed behind the homes of the neighboring Wang family. The waterway, compacted with a mixture of yellow mud and lime, was riddled with holes dug by snakes and rats, leading to unstoppable leaks that dampened the Wang family’s residence. When the Wang family confronted the Dayingying residents, the Huang ancestors resolutely blocked the waterway, abandoning the fields and converting the land. Moved by the Huang family’s magnanimity, relations between the Wang and Huang families grew increasingly amicable, with intermarriages occurring across generations. The plaque “Kuanhou Hall” was gifted by the Wang family at that time, and the Huang ancestors used it to teach their descendants to treat others with generosity.

The Dayingying ancient residences house a rich collection of plaques and couplets, which sufficiently demonstrate the family’s reverence for Confucian teachings and their emphasis on upholding family discipline through ethical principles. Here, we can perceive the Dayingying philosophy of treating others with “lofty aspirations” and “refined tolerance,” prioritizing self-cultivation—what is called “enlightening education, rectifying hearts, beautifying customs, and enriching human relations.” This classic family ritual culture carries both the characteristics of its time and modern relevance. It is not only “applicable to governance and practical use” but also provides a tangible setting for studying family rituals and discipline today. It serves as a rare historical lesson guiding the direction of modern education.

History is always full of twists and turns. From its construction in 1876 until 1956, the Dayingying ancient residences were inhabited and maintained by the Huang family. From 1957 to 1960, the compound was used as the office of the “Hongqi People's Commune,” then later as a carpentry and blacksmith factory and a soil pesticide processing plant. Starting in 1961 and continuing to the present, it was returned to the Huang family. After moving back into their ancestral home, the family cherished it deeply, conducting annual roof repairs, tile replacements, and drainage maintenance. Unfortunately, the Cultural Revolution destroyed plaques and couplets such as those of “Kuanhou Hall,” and smashed doors and windows adorned with floral patterns. “Generosity” was deemed as not advocating class struggle, and floral designs were labeled as bourgeois thinking. Fortunately, the gold-laminated couplets on the shrine cabinet and the ancestral tablets were dismantled and hidden by three elderly villagers piece by piece in the attic of the upper hall, thus escaping destruction. After the Cultural Revolution ended and order was restored, the Dayingying family, having settled back into their ancestral home, cherished this legacy left by their forebears even more.

In April 2006, in order to better restore the ancestral style and reestablish the elegance of a distinguished family, the respected Huang family members organized themselves and raised 54,000 yuan. Following the principle of restoring the old as it was and preserving its ancient charm, they carried out comprehensive and systematic repairs and reinforcement—from the roof to the ground, from the framework to the ornaments, and from the front to the back of the residence. All wooden ornaments inside the residence were restored to their original appearance. The long-obscured wooden inlaid “Eight Trigrams” and the two beams adorned with flying dragons, along with two plaster qilins and landscape figure carvings, were carefully cleaned and returned to their original state, allowing more people to appreciate the charm and spirit of the Dayingying ancient residences.

Author: Huang Yanjing

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Further Reading:

· Ninth Batch of Hunan Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units