Fengshun Yingyang Hall

Fengshun Yingyang Hall

Fengshun Yingyang Hall is located at Zhengwu Corner, Xixiang, Fengliang Town, Fengshun. It is the hometown of Zheng Dajin. Built during the Ming Dynasty, the hall covers an area of about 700 square meters. The main structure follows a three-courtyard, two-wing layout, all with flush gable roofs. Facing south and situated to the north, it boasts distinctive architectural features. After multiple renovations, it has largely regained its original appearance. On either side of the main gate hang two lanterns inscribed with “Zheng Mansion” and “Yinglu Doctor.” The gate is adorned with a couplet that reads: “Noble virtue of nine ministers,” “Family tradition of ten chancellors.” The central hall features another couplet: “Generations uphold filial piety and friendship; literary brilliance adorns the nation’s writings” and “Family heritage of poetry and rites keeps virtue in heart; the hall thrives with tung and crabapple trees, and the steps bloom with railings.” In the middle hall stands a shrine inscribed with “The ancestral spirit tablet of Master Zheng Yongzhai of Rongzhai, with his virtuous wife Lady Zhou, the Honorable Dame.” At the center of the middle hall hang two large plaques: one is a wooden plaque (1.75m x 0.66m) inscribed “Jinshi (Presented Scholar), 34th in the 1736 Imperial Examination under Emperor Qianlong, awarded to Zheng Dajin,” and the other is a plaque from 1772 inscribed “Select of the Glorious Reign,” authored by Zheng Dajin himself. Descendants of the 19th generation of the Zheng family also preserve three exquisitely carved ancestral stone sculptures of the Bodhisattva Guanyin and the figures of the Golden Boy and Jade Girl. The carvings are intricate and the expressions vividly lifelike. Zheng Dajin (1709–1782) moved with his father to Xianmei Village, Yujiao Town, Jieyang at the age of 13, and eventually rose to the position of Viceroy of Zhili. Renowned for his ability to assess situations, advocate self-strengthening, and reform the bureaucracy—with commendable governance achievements—he was honored with the title of Minor Tutor to the Crown Prince. He is widely regarded as one of the Eight Sages of Chaozhou.