Xuan De Building

Xuan De Building

Xuan De Building is a cultural heritage site protected at the county level in Jiaoling County.

Xuan De Building is located in Ailing Village, Xinpu Town, Jiaoling County, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province. It was rebuilt and expanded by Zhong Menghong in the fourth year of the Tongzhi reign during the Qing Dynasty (1865). The building faces southeast and is situated to the northwest. It features a three-row, two-story horse-gang style layout, with a total width of 27.3 meters, a total depth of 31.6 meters, comprising 41 rooms, covering a land area of approximately 862.86 square meters and a construction area of about 1105.97 square meters. The roof is of the hanging gable type with gray tiles, and the walls are built from a mixture of sand-lime and stone. The main entrance is inscribed with “Xuan De Building” on the lintel, signed by He Shouci, a Jinshi (advanced scholar) of the sixth year of the Xianfeng reign during the Qing Dynasty; the eastern gate is inscribed with “Lai Jing Chao” on the lintel, signed by Ding Richang, Governor of Taiwan during the Qing Dynasty. The exterior features overhanging eaves-style doors and windows, with door frames made of bluestone slabs and window panes decorated with bluestone money and swastika patterns. The entire structure has an arched corridor-style residential layout, divided into upper, middle, and lower corridors. The lower corridor serves as the entrance porch; the middle corridor functions as a passageway, featuring stained glass windows and concrete partition panels; the upper corridor is an open-air hall, with stairs made of concrete at the bottom and bluestone slabs at the top leading to the second floor. The side rooms are symmetrical open halls. The second floor mirrors the first in structure but differs in content, with wooden beams using a combination of through-tenon and raised-beam styles, wooden flooring, and railings constructed from a mix of wooden planks and concrete walls. The east wing house “Lai Jing Chao” includes a floral hall with through-tenon and raised-beam wooden beams, serving as a reception room for distinguished guests. Zhong Menghong, a Jinshi of the sixth year of the Xianfeng reign (1856) during the Qing Dynasty, served as the Chief Clerk of the Fujian Department of the Ministry of Punishments and as an imperial censor, and was known as one of the “Three Eloquent Pens of the Capital” and the “Iron Pen Censor.” Zhong Dai, a military commander in the War of Resistance against Japan, graduated from the Yantang Branch of the Whampoa Military Academy. He once served as a Colonel and regimental commander, as well as a staff officer of the Fujian-Guangdong-Jiangxi Border Region Headquarters. During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, he cooperated with the East River Column to rescue and escort cultural figures such as Mao Dun and Xia Yan to safety in the rear areas, and contributed to the liberation of Guangzhou. Five generations of Zhong Menghong’s descendants achieved scholarly and military honors, including two civil and military Jinshi and five civil and military Juren, earning the reputation of “Five Generations of Civil and Military Scholars” and “One Family, Four Top Imperial Honors,” widely praised by the local people at the time. This building holds certain value for the integration, excavation, and utilization of the historical and cultural resources of Jiaoling County. In 2014, it was approved by the People’s Government of Jiaoling County as part of the sixth batch of county-level cultural heritage sites.

Source: Jiaoling County Museum

Ailing Village: Ailing Village in Jiaoling County, Meizhou City, is located in Xinpu Town, Jiaoling County. The village administers 22 villager groups, with 740 registered households and a population of 2,755. The total area of the village is 5.72 square kilometers, and the cultivated land area is 1,162 mu. The average annual temperature is 21.3°C, and the annual rainfall is about 1,600 mm, characterized by a subtropical climate. Major cash crops include corn, sugarcane, and peanuts. The village’s special economic income is 10,200 yuan, and the total rural economic income for the previous year was 16,000 yuan. … More details about Ailing Village ++