Ganglang Hermitage

Ganglang Hermitage

Ganglang Hermitage is located in the southern suburbs of Zhonghe Town, Danzhou City. It was the residence where Su Dongpo lived for three years during his exile in Danzhou.

In the Shaoxing era of the Song Dynasty, when Su Dongpo and his son first arrived in Danzhou, the local prefect Zhang Zhong held Su in high esteem and allowed the father and son to stay in an official residence, providing them with regular rations of government grain. However, their good fortune did not last long. The following year, Dong Biwu from Hunan, upon learning of this while in Leizhou, sent people to drive them out. With nowhere to live, Su Dongpo and his son were in a desolate situation, which aroused great sympathy among the local officials and residents. They helped Su build a house together in the ganglang (areca) grove south of the city. With the assistance of the villagers, three thatched cottages were erected. Though surrounded by insects and ants, the cottage was situated in a ganglang grove with “green bamboo trunks and leaves, and crabapple branches,” which comforted Su Dongpo so much that he named the cottage “Ganglang Hermitage.” In the same year, Su Dongpo helped the villagers dig a well. The spring water was abundant and sweet, and the villagers named it “Dongpo Well.” For hundreds of years, the well has never dried up.

Ganglang Hermitage is a historical relic of Su Dongpo’s three-year life in Danzhou and has been repaired and expanded many times throughout the dynasties. The current Ganglang Hermitage was specially restored by the local government in recent years.

Address:

Southern suburbs of Zhonghe Town, Danzhou City