Baisha Ancient Village

Baisha Ancient Village

Formerly known as Bi’an Village, Baisha Village nestles against mountains and beside water. From an aerial view, its layout resembles a huge crab. The small hill behind the village is covered in woods, and in the peak of summer, blooming vegetation fills the air with fragrance while migratory birds create melodious sounds, making the scenery truly refreshing. In front of the village lie expansive fields and tidal creeks. In late autumn, green crops fill the fields and pools are teeming with blue crabs, while fishing sheds line the shores and ducks soar overhead. In the distance, the winding waters of Wukeng Port rise and fall with the tides, with seabirds chasing the waves. The natural environment here is exceptionally pristine. Baisha Village (including the two natural villages Longzhu and Dean) now has a population of over 9,300. All residents share the surname Shen and speak the Hokkien dialect.

Since the fourth year of the Chunxi era (1177 AD) during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty, Baisha Village has a history of over 800 years. Based on oral accounts from elders and comprehensive research of place names from farmland, residential land, and burial sites, Baisha Village was once home to many surnames, including Xu, Hong, Qiu, Li, Lin, Zheng, Bai, Sha, Huang, Lin, Chen, and Yang. Over time, these other families gradually moved away, leaving behind what is now the Shen clan of Baisha.

The well-preserved ancestral tombs of the first to third generations (Song Dynasty), fourth to ninth generations (Yuan Dynasty), tenth to fifteenth generations (Ming Dynasty), as well as those from the Qing Dynasty, provide direct evidence of the village’s long history.

With 800 years of accumulated history, Baisha Village still retains a large number of buildings from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. This is a key reason why the village earned its title as an ancient settlement.

In a patriarchal society, ancestral halls were highly revered. Baisha Village is no exception. Over the past 800 years, the gray-tiled, earthen-roofed halls have retained an antique charm. The “Song Ancestral Hall,” “Ming Ancestral Hall,” “Qing Ancestral Hall,” and even the “Republican-Era Ancestral Hall,” all of different eras and architectural styles, are quite distinctive:

The Shen Clan Ancestral Hall, also known as the Old Ancestral Hall, is located in the center of the village and was built in the late Southern Song Dynasty. The Old Ancestral Hall was once the site where the imperial entourage was welcomed. Over 700 years ago, Emperor Duanzong of Song, Zhao Shi, and his brother Zhao Bing (later enthroned as Emperor, with the state title Xiangxing), escorted by Yang Zhen, the Imperial Son-in-Law, arrived at Jiazi Gate (Lufo). Shen Gonglong, the great-great-grandfather of the third generation of the Shen Clan in Baisha Village, welcomed the entourage back to the village and hosted them at the Ancestral Hall. Legend has it that since then, the hall has had few mosquitoes throughout the seasons.

The Yuqing Hall is located on the south side of the village and was first built in the mid-Qing Dynasty. This hall has produced many notable individuals. Additionally, Baisha Village also has several ancestral halls from the Yuan and Ming dynasties, such as Yongsi Hall, Jishu Hall, and Siyuan Hall.

The “Five Horses Pulling a Cart,” also called the “Four-Point Gold,” was built in the mid-Republican era and is located in the southern part of the village. It was constructed by the brothers Zhenbing and Zhenzhi and served both as a family shrine and a residence. Its structure follows the “Eight Shoes Meeting” style, with a total construction area (including surrounding wing rooms) of about 400 square meters. Among residential houses of the time, it stood out uniquely.

Another representative example is the Huixiang residential complex, made up of four separate three-room, two-wing buildings that are both independent and unified, locally referred to as “New Houses.” These were built in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican period. This area nurtured a large number of distinguished individuals: among the former were Shen Jiaqi, who graduated from the Chinese Department of the University of Hong Kong before liberation and was skilled in wild cursive calligraphy; among the latter, Shen Zemin published four poetry collections; and Shen Zhongliang, who resided in Hong Kong, graduated in 1993 from Swansea Institute in the UK with a master’s degree in civil engineering and currently works as an engineer at the Hong Kong airport…

There is also a larger residence known as the “Descending Tiger,” built in 1924, covering an area of approximately 350 square meters. In front of the “Descending Tiger” stands a two-story building of about ten square meters, located on the edge of a large pond and named “Lychee Garden.” A descendant of this house, Shen Zhenshuan, joined the Red Army in 1925. In 1929, when the Nationalist army surrounded Baisha Township and threatened to burn the entire village if the Red Army soldiers were not handed over, Shen Zhenshuan stepped forward to protect his comrades and spare fellow villagers from harm. He was captured and tortured by the Nationalist army, who tried to force him to reveal the names, locations, and contacts of others in exchange for release. Shen Zhenshuan remained silent and unyielding, displaying the fearless spirit of a revolutionary soldier. He was brutally executed in August 1930 on his way to Donghai County and was only 31 years old. After liberation, the provincial government posthumously honored Shen Zhenshuan as a revolutionary martyr.

The most unique feature is the ancient stone lane. Shen Zhaobang (whose story of “diligent study” is recorded in the Lufo County Annals of the Qianlong era, tenth year) passed the imperial examination for the position of Juren in the Jiayin year of the Jiaqing era and was appointed magistrate of Shahe County in Zhili. To celebrate his honor, he erected a flagpole stand in the stone lane, which thereafter became known as Flagpole Stand Lane. Descendants of Shen Zhaobang have produced many scholars, earning the family a reputation as a “scholarly lineage.”

Baisha Village: Located at the westernmost end of Qiaochong Town, Baisha Village is 7 kilometers from the town government, borders Zhujiao Village of Jinping Town to the south, and neighbors Houchong Village to the east. It includes three natural villages and has seven villager groups under its village committee, with a total population of 7,959. The village has limited mountainous land, but the main stream of Wukeng Port runs through the entire territory. The aquaculture industry mainly raises fish, shrimp, and crabs. Through investment attraction, an aquaculture company has been established, increasing the collective and villagers' income. The specialty, Baisha Blackfish, is widely renowned. … More details about Baisha Village++