A Cluster of Qing Dynasty Residential Houses in Longhua Town

A Cluster of Qing Dynasty Residential Houses in Longhua Town

In the northern part of Longhua Town, Boluo County, Huizhou City, there is an ancient residential complex dating back over 200 years that remains well-preserved to this day. The former head of the Boluo County Culture Bureau believes this cluster serves as tangible material for studying the architectural history and villagers' living customs during the Ming and Qing dynasties, possessing both preservation value and development potential.

This ancient residential group is about a 10-minute drive from the Longhua Town government. It is currently known as Wucun (Five Villages), but its old name was Longhualang, which is now almost unheard of. It is understood that Wucun covers an area of approximately 100,000 square meters and has a history of over 300 years. All villagers in the entire village share the surname Chen. Wucun consists of seven smaller villages: Weiyuan, Dongyuan, Nanbian, Beibian, Daxiang, Meihua, and Dayuan, housing around 600-plus ancient homes. These are all brick-and-tile structures, mostly built one to two hundred years ago, featuring carved beams and painted rafters. During their visit, reporters found that the houses in Weiyuan and Daxiang Village were the best preserved and most distinctive, almost uniformly constructed as “tile-roofed houses with bluestone half-walls and blue bricks up to the roof ridge.”

Weiyuan is the crowning jewel of the Wucun ancient residential complex. It was built by Chen Ruilong (also known as Chen Baiwan), the wealthiest man in the village during the Qing Dynasty. Born in the fourth year of Emperor Yongzheng’s reign in the Qing Dynasty, Chen Baiwan made his fortune by running sugar mills, oil presses, and distilleries, accumulating a million-dollar estate. He built a large complex of houses covering over 7,000 square meters with approximately 90-plus rooms, later enclosing them within walls and naming it “Weiyuan.” It is said that at its peak, Weiyuan housed over 20 households with more than 100 residents, though most have since moved out, leaving only a dozen or so people still living there.

Upon entering through the main gate of Weiyuan, there is a three-courtyard layout, with 11 rooms on each side of the inner courtyards, reportedly belonging to Chen Baiwan’s two sons. The high walls still retain their imposing presence from the past. The roofs are covered with blue brick tiles, four to five layers thick, though it is said that during the difficult years of the 1960s, several layers were stripped off and sold for food. The architecture of Weiyuan is very neat and orderly, with bluestone courtyards, round blue-brick gates, and red stone gate pillars, most of which are well preserved. The carved patterns on the tiled eaves remain clear, with some even retaining inscriptions like “May you have a myriad descendants.” According to Chen Genqi (a direct descendant of Chen Baiwan and the 24th-generation Chen family member), Weiyuan also included three rooms specifically designated for receiving foreigners, called the “Foreigners’ Lane.”

The houses in Daxiang Village are almost identical in structure to those in Weiyuan and are also very well preserved. According to Chen Genqi, these were built by Chen Baiwan’s descendants in imitation of Weiyuan.

Wucun still preserves five ancestral halls and more than ten ancient wells in good condition. Among them, the carved beams and painted rafters inside the ancestral hall of Chen Baiwan’s eldest son remain intact, including two golden horizontal beams. Although covered in dust, they still exude an air of nobility.