Taiziwan Residential Houses

Taiziwan Residential Houses

Taiziwan Residential Houses

Taiziwan is located at the foot of Mingyue Mountain in the northwest of Taiping Town, approximately 4 kilometers from the town. Built during the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty, it has a history of over 600 years and is the oldest surviving Ming Dynasty residential building in Dianjiang County. Its earliest owner was Cheng Fu, the founding ancestor of the Cheng family in Dianjiang, which is why people later came to refer to this area as Chengfu Gully.

Taiziwan is situated at the foot of Mingyue Mountain, surrounded by undulating peaks. The hillside behind the houses resembles a meditating Buddha, hence it was nicknamed "Buddha in Meditation." In front of the bay lies a stretch of beautiful water, encircling the area like a jade ribbon. The county annals recorded: “Chengfu Gully is located thirty li south of Guixi governance, where the verdant western hills, known as Mashixiaolan (Mist over the Horse Gorge), have long been listed as one of the Eight Scenic Spots. Below, there are secluded streams stretching far, with stone marrow gushing forth, offering a delightful sense of purity.”

Taiziwan faces southeast and covers an area of over 600 square meters (excluding expansions made in later dynasties). It consists of a main house, lower rooms, side wings, and a front gate, enclosing a rectangular stone-paved courtyard that is 20 meters long and 15 meters wide — a typical siheyuan (courtyard house) structure. It earned the name Taiziwan (Stage Bay) because there used to be a stage for performances on its left side. Due to its great age, apart from three remaining main rooms and the stone courtyard, the other structures no longer exist, and their original scale can only be roughly estimated. Judging from the existing three main rooms, Taiziwan was a remarkable building for its time.

The architectural design of Taiziwan is unique. Its double-eave style, the small wooden loft above the hall entrance (similar to a modern balcony), and the design of using windows in place of doors in the central hall are all unique examples among the surviving residential buildings in the county.

The construction quality of Taiziwan is extremely high. All wooden components were made of cypress, and every beam, rafter, and column head was crafted to exacting standards. All rafters are four-sided and tightly fitted, running seamlessly from ridge to eave without joints. To this day, not a single column has shifted, nor has a single wooden panel developed a crack. Legend has it that during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, when fleeing (or hiding from) the White Lotus Sect, the house was often filled with water on the upper floor to prevent it from catching fire. When the owners returned after ten days or half a month, the water had not diminished.

Today, Taiziwan has expanded dozens of times, becoming a large village where households and bays are interconnected. Originally, two roads intersected here, and now a highway has been built beside the ancient residences, connecting Linshui in the north and Zhongxian in the south. The area is now bustling with traffic.