Former Site of the Headquarters of the Kang King’s Forces of the Taiping Rebellion (Ronglu Residence)

Former Site of the Headquarters of the Kang King’s Forces of the Taiping Rebellion (Ronglu Residence)

The former site of the headquarters of the Kang King’s forces of the Taiping Rebellion (Ronglu Residence) is a cultural heritage site protected at the county level in Jiaoling County.

The former site of the headquarters of the Kang King’s forces of the Taiping Rebellion (also known as Ronglu Residence) is located in Chengjiao Village, Jiaocheng Town, Jiaoling County, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province. According to the Jiaoling County Annals (First Edition, October 1992), in the fourth year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1865), remnants of the Taiping Rebellion led by the Kang King, Wang Haiyang, entered Zhenping (now Jiaoling County) with over 90,000 troops from areas such as Yanqian and Xiaba Market in Wuping, Fujian. After entering the city, the Kang King stayed at “Ronglu Residence” in the western part of the city for more than three months and set up his command post there to direct battles between the Taiping forces and Qing troops. “Ronglu Residence” was built during the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty and was renovated in 2001. It served as the ancestral hall of the local Xu family, facing southwest and situated northeast, consisting of enclosing walls, a threshing ground, main hall, wing rooms, and end rooms. The layout follows a traditional two-courtyard, two-wing style enclosed structure, with a single-entry, five-bay plan. The total width is 29.8 meters, and the depth is 31.7 meters, comprising 40 rooms in total, covering an area of approximately 945 square meters, with the building footprint about 809 square meters. It features a flush gable roof, gray tiles, and walls made of compacted stone mixed with sand and lime. The lower hall is an open space supported by multiple round bluestone pillars forming a screen wall, with a post-and-lintel wooden beam structure. Symmetrical corridors on both sides between the lower and upper halls feature similar post-and-lintel wooden beams, with a small central courtyard. The upper hall is also an open space, one step higher than the lower hall, with a stone base, wooden pillars, and a wooden screen forming an ancestral shrine that enshrines plaques of the Xu ancestors. Above the screen hangs a plaque inscribed with “Yanyi Hall,” signed: “Presented respectfully by Mr. Biting Fourth Brother, Qingfen Gu Fu.” The end rooms have a two-story structure. The main gate has a flush gable roof, a herringbone gable wall, and a bluestone-framed gate, with the inscription “Ronglu Residence” above. This site served as the command post and residence of the Kang King’s Taiping forces when they were stationed in Jiaoling County and holds significant reference value for studying the anti-Qing history of Wang Haiyang’s forces in the region. In 2014, it was designated as a sixth batch county-level cultural heritage site with approval from the Jiaoling County People’s Government.

Chengjiao Village: Chengjiao Village in Jiaoling, Meizhou City, is located in Chengjiao Village, Jiaocheng Town, Jiaoling County, Meizhou City. The village administers 19 villager groups, with 716 registered households and a population of 2,303. The total area of the village is 3.048 square kilometers, including 18.55 acres of arable land. The annual average temperature is 21.3°C, and the annual rainfall is about 1,901 mm, characterized by a subtropical maritime monsoon climate. Major cash crops include rice, fruit trees, and vegetables. The village’s featured economic income amounts to 4.9 million yuan, and the total rural economic income for the previous year was 14.7 million yuan. …… More detailed information about Chengjiao Village++