Wang Family Ancient Well

Wang Family Ancient Well

The Wang Family Ancient Well is a cultural relic protection unit of Hunan Province.

Since the Han dynasties, the ancient town of Zhutang gradually became a distribution hub for goods from You, Xiang, Heng, and Li regions, with a growing population. In the early years of the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty, ancestors of the Wang family migrated from Anhui to Zhutang, which was originally under the jurisdiction of Xiangtan. As the ancient town of Zhutang was bustling and populous, and located with the Xiang River in front and Lion Mountain behind, whenever the Xiang River flooded and the water turned turbid, residents faced difficulties accessing drinking water. In the past, several ancient wells were dug for drinking purposes, such as the Wang Family Well, Lü Family Well, Songbai Forest Well, and Quanjialing Well. Among them, Songbai Forest Well and Quanjialing Well were buried during the construction of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway tunnel. The Lü Family Well is located at Gangjie Neighborhood Committee in the town, built during the Qing Dynasty, with a small temple erected beside it. Its water is sweet and never runs dry, serving as a drinking source for residents of the old street to this day, and is a county-level cultural relic protection unit. The most renowned among them is the Wang Family Well, which was designated as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit in 2011.

The Wang Family Ancient Well is situated in a low-lying area on Gangjie, an old-fashioned street in Zhutang Town, close to the river harbor and about 1 meter above the river surface. Dug during the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty, it is quite ancient and has undergone maintenance through the ages with inscribed steles. It remains in use to this day and is the earliest ancient well discovered in Zhuzhou City, and also quite rare within Hunan Province. As one of the very few remaining and well-preserved ancient drinking water projects, it fills a gap in our city’s historical category of ancient wells and provides valuable physical material for researching the social, economic, and cultural development of Zhuzhou County during the Ming Dynasty, as well as the culture of ancient wells in that period. The Wang Family Ancient Well holds high historical value and stands as a witness to the town’s prosperity and development.

The ancient well originally had three sections—upper, middle, and lower—used respectively for residents' drinking water, washing, and livestock consumption. The design was scientific and reasonable, with simple yet beautiful shapes, reflecting high scientific value as well as the ancients’ good habit of scientifically recycling water resources and emphasizing hygiene. Unfortunately, due to the construction of the Zhuzhou Navigation Power Hub project in 2005, the water level of the Xiang River rose, submerging the middle and lower wells. The upper well is still used by local residents for drinking and washing. Its water comes from deep underground and gushes year-round, sweet and refreshing. Regardless of drought or flood seasons, the quality and flow of the spring water remain constant, with the water temperature staying around 10°C all year. Truly, it's a celestial well and an underground treasure. Locals say: using this water to brew tea not only enhances the tea's aroma but also, if consumed long-term, may even result in having twins.

The existing upper well has a beautiful and upright shape, measuring 2 meters in length, 1.5 meters in width, and 3 meters in depth. Its walls are built with rammed stone. Five steps are built alongside the well leading down into it. A white marble stele stands atop the well opening, with the four large characters “Wangshi Gujing” (Wang Family Ancient Well) engraved in intaglio in the center. The back of the stele bears the intaglio text “Record of Wang Family Well.” Another white marble stele is buried within the well wall, inscribed in the center with the vigorous and rustic four large characters “Wangjia Gujing,” the right side showing “Eleventh Year of Tiancong,” and the left side reading “Wang Linlu Established.” The white marble stele erected when the well was built retains relatively complete inscriptions, documenting the year, background, and people involved in the well’s construction. The carved intaglio regular script is clear, vigorous, concise, and graceful, holding high artistic value. The inscription on the well stele reads: “In ancient times, the Yellow Emperor created wells, aligning with celestial phenomena above and suiting human needs below—the significance of wells is indeed great. Yet, change is unpredictable; it is common to see wells that run dry or become undrinkable despite once having water. Some wells remain unchanged, yet their names are forgotten. But the Wang Family Well in Zhutang Town is different. The Wang family was a prominent clan in the region, having migrated from She County to Tanzhou in the early Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty. Their ancestor, Guangfa, gathered the clan in Wangjiawan in the county, now known as Wangjiadaba in Sixteenth District, and descendants later settled respectfully in Zhutang.”

For thousands of years, the ancient well has nurtured generations of locals, who in turn have cherished it dearly. Whenever the Xiang River floods and submerges the well, residents voluntarily organize to clean the well once the waters recede, removing filth to keep the water clean. Although residents around the well now mostly use tap water, they still rely on the well’s water for daily use. The well has become an indispensable part of their lives. In 2007, the local government funded improvements to the area around the well, constructing a semicircular well platform along the riverbank with cement.

The Wang family, who migrated south from Anhui, settled in Zhutang and gradually grew into a prominent clan. Descendants of the Wang family built an ancestral hall in Xiankou Village near the Pioneer Group during the late Ming Dynasty, in the Ningzong era, to worship their ancestors and commemorate those who dug the well by erecting a stele. It is unknown in which year the ancestral hall was destroyed, but according to nearby elderly villagers, the original site of the Wang Family Ancestral Hall is still marked today by a towering ancient maple tree, about 40 meters high, next to the road in the Pioneer Group. Times have changed; descendants of this branch of the Wang family have either left to become officials or merchants, migrating elsewhere, or due to the town being too small for building homes, have settled in nearby Pingshan Township and Shuikou Village under Zhutang Town’s jurisdiction. According to elders in the town, although there was no mass relocation of the Wang family, there are now no descendants of the Wang family living in the ancient town.

In the writings of Jiang Yibin, a leading figure of Hunan’s literary scene and director of the Provincial Writers Association (notable work: “Fire Carp”), the Wang Family Ancient Well is endowed with even greater spiritual significance: though all is water, and even though the edges of river and well water intermingle, the well water maintains its clarity. The well water seems to have a solid defense line, keeping the muddy river water out. One can almost hear the well water disdainfully saying to the river water, “Hmph, you little thing, I’m not playing with you. You’re all muddy, mixed with dead twigs and leaves, and yet you think you can sully my pure self?” Therefore, the ancient well always keeps its small domain serene and azure. And so, the Wang Family Well stands like an honorable man, never changing name or nature, maintaining its independent character and refusing to be tainted—something both admirable and humbling.

In Xiao Youzheng’s local literary work “The Zhutang People Who Escaped from Wang Family Well,” it is recorded that: “In late May 1944, the Japanese invaders, like frenzied beasts, stormed into Zhutang Town. One morning in June, a young man named Wu Gusheng was drawing water from the Wang Family Well. Just as he pulled up a bucket of water, he saw two Japanese soldiers approaching fiercely, rifles in hand. Knowing he was outnumbered, Wu dropped the bucket and carrying pole and fled quickly. He begged along the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, later worked in factories, joined the Party, participated in the Korean War, and fought bandits in western Hunan. During this time, he returned to Zhutang Town once. What upset Wu was that all his relatives had passed away. That day, he stood in front of the Wang Family Well and cried for two full hours… The homeland is unforgettable, and like leaves returning to roots. Decades later, Wu still dreamed of the old home well many times. In 2015, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Anti-Japanese War, the 86-year-old finally fulfilled his wish. Supported by his children, he returned to his hometown from Shanghai, and went specifically to the millennia-old, shimmering Wang Family Well, scooped up its sweet water, and wept with emotion.”

This riverside cultural ancient town, with its millennia of history, where every bluestone street, every dim wooden house, and every cool ancient well carries deep historical stories—let us continue to explore this historic and cultural town.

Zhutang Town: Zhutang Town has been formally merged with Longfeng Township to establish Zhutang Town.

Zhutang, anciently called Puwan, is located at the southern end of Zhuzhou County, bordering Pingshan to the north, Hengdong to the south, Fenghuang to the east, and the Xiang River to the west. The Beijing-Guangzhou Railway runs straight through, while the Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway and S211 Highway pass through the area. The town covers an area of 88 square kilometers with a population of 25,700. Its administrative structure has undergone several changes: it was incorporated into Huanglong Town in 1998, and on September 25, 2002, with approval from the People’s Government of Hunan Province, Huanglong Town was renamed Zhutang Town, thus restoring its original name.

Zhutang, as an ancient... More details on Zhutang Town++

Further Reading:

· Ninth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Hunan Province