Shizhai Ancient Village

Shizhai Ancient Village

Shizhai Village, also known as Shicheng, is located in Da’an Town, Lufeng City, and is a “double-status” national-level ancient village. Renowned among China’s ancient villages, it was first built in the fifth year of the Wude era of the Tang Dynasty (622 AD), boasting a history of over 1,300 years. It underwent large-scale construction by the end of the Ming Dynasty. It is said that the earliest settlers in Shizhai Village were from the Shi family, hence the name Shizhai. The village was originally inhabited by three clans: Shi, Chen, and Xie, but today all residents are surnamed Huang. The village’s historical and traditional architecture includes three parts: Shicheng, He’anli, and the Huang Zhongzhen Ancestral Hall, covering a total area of about 100,000 square meters. Shizhai has long valued farming, scholarship, and “ethical education.” During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it produced three jinshi (advanced scholars) and seven juren (presented scholars), earning it a reputation as Guangdong’s famous “land of literary refinement.”

The Shizhai ancient village complex consists of three parts: Shizhai, Xinzhai, and the Zhongzhen Ancestral Hall.

Shizhai Village is a settlement primarily of the Huang clan. Oriented east to west and built against a mountain, it features distinct characteristics of ancient agricultural civilization and Lingnan regional culture. From its overall layout to its security defenses, Shizhai Village can be considered nothing short of a miracle.

The village wall is approximately 700 meters in circumference, 10 meters high, with the base constructed from stone slabs, standing 3 meters tall, and the upper part made of rammed earth. The wall is 4 meters wide, and above the 3-meter mark, it is divided into inner and outer walls, with a 2-meter-wide “pathway” between them. The outer wall is equipped with battlements and gun ports. There are four gates—east, west, south, and north—and 40 meters from each gate, wall turrets are positioned on both sides. Naturally growing vines (pronounced *píng pāo*) hang poetically over the walls, not only adding green vitality to the weathered surface but also serving a protective function. This is the secret to the wall’s centuries-long endurance.

Above the western gate, a stone plaque is embedded, inscribed with two gold-lacquered characters—“Shicheng” (Stone City)—written in the hand of the Huang ancestors. Inside the walls, the residences are built in two styles: one follows the circular contour of the wall, and the other aligns with the mountain’s elevation, creating an orderly layered effect. Between these two sections runs a main village road that winds along the mountain terrain, connecting to secondary lanes at both ends to form an extensive network. Most residential structures follow a simple and practical “three-bay with two side wings” layout.

The Huang clan had a custom of erecting stone flagpole stands for those who achieved the status of jinshi, juren, or even xiucai (licentiates), as a way to honor talent and inspire future generations. In the old days, the plaza outside Shizhai Village’s city gate displayed 28 various flagpole stands. During festivals, colorful banners denoting different academic honors were raised, creating a spectacular sight and becoming a renowned local cultural landmark. Unfortunately, these flagpole stands were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Both the Ming and Qing dynasties saw a trend of building fortified towns and villages.

In addition to constructing Shicheng, Huang Yi’s nephew also built a grand-scale fortress village at the foot of Shilongkong Mountain, two kilometers away from Shicheng—known as Xinzhai (New Fortress). It is said that this fortress took 18 years to build, astonishing people with its massive scale, ingenious design, and enormous cost. Moreover, they owned vast tracts of land granted by the imperial court, with rental fields extending near towns such as Dongcheng, Hedong, and Hexi in Lufeng, and as far as Meilong in present-day Haifeng County. They also built Lingquan Temple not far from Xinzhai, completing the essential “school, ancestral hall, and temple” complex typical of traditional villages.

Xinzhai was first built in the 30th year of the Kangxi reign and named “He’anli” after the builder Huang Jixian’s father, whose name was “He’an.” The Huang clan of Xinzhai originated from Shizhai, hence it is also referred to as Xinzhai.

The towering walls, ancient and mottled with patches of black and gray, are covered with gun ports used for defense and firing outward. The inner base, about 16 meters high and 13 layers thick, has a trapezoidal cross-section that widens toward the bottom. From bottom to top, it forms tiered pathways along the walls. The lowest part of the wall is paved with hard stones, making it solid and sturdy. A 1-meter-wide patrol path encircles the wall, separating it from the nearby residences.

The gates are positioned according to the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) directions: west, south, and north. The main gate is the western one, adorned with a decorative archway bearing the raised characters “He’anli,” symbolizing “harmonious living” and “prosperous peace.” Interestingly, the main gate and the ancestral hall gate are aligned in a straight line, facing the peaks of Qishan and Jianshan (Wumian Mountain) in Hexi Town. The gate couplet reads: “Left reflects the banner peak welcoming auspicious air; right borders the sword ridge radiating blessed light.” The southern gate is inscribed with the characters “Jieqi” (Purified and Orderly), with the couplet: “Auspicious mist opens the prosperity of the southern palace; radiant light greets the eastern well heralding flourishing times.” The northern gate is labeled “Yangde” (Solar Virtue), with the couplet: “Heroic spirit shines uniquely in Western Shu; righteous air forever resides at the northern gate.”

The three fortress gates are very sturdy, consisting of a front and rear pair—two stone gates, one small and one large. On both sides of the passage are small rooms used for storing weapons and housing guards. Each wooden door is 10 centimeters thick. When closed, there are two crossbars and two through-bars securing the gate, with the through-bars further reinforced using mortise joints. Above the doors are two square stone grooves used for firefighting—if enemies attempt to burn the gates, water can be poured from above to extinguish the flames.

Originally, there were eight watchtowers outside the walls, six of which were located on either side of the three gates, extending 2 meters beyond the walls. The circular pathway around the walls connects to all eight towers. The surrounding terrain is flat, allowing a clear view in all directions. All window openings share consistent sightlines that interconnect without blind spots. If all three fortress gates are closed, the stronghold becomes virtually impregnable.

During the Ming and Qing periods, the coastal region suffered severely from pirate raids and banditry. Yet, Xinzhai, despite its immense wealth, was never dared to be attacked or besieged by pirates, a testament to its formidable reputation. The architecture within the fortress centers around the Huang clan ancestral hall, designed in the “five horses pulling a cart” style. In front lies a spacious plaza, while behind stand two rows of “nine-room buildings,” each two stories high with nine rooms per floor. To the left and right of the ancestral hall are “eight-room houses” that shield the residential units, leaving two open spaces known as “dragon eyes” between them and the nine-room buildings. The surrounding walls enclose a massive architectural complex.

The main structure of the ancestral hall centers on a three-courtyard great hall along the central axis, with two sets of “nine-room study halls” flanking it longitudinally, separated by “fire alleys” from the main hall. Further out, additional “fire alleys” and row houses form an enclosed, independent unit.

The courtyards are neatly arranged and uniformly organized, with three streets and six lanes running through them, providing balanced spacing and a harmonious mix of activity and tranquility. The front and rear courtyards connect seamlessly with the left and right streets, blending solid and void elements. The residential buildings mainly use rammed earth, with walls often employing the so-called “gold-wrapped-silver” technique—outer walls one-third thick, built with bricks or stones, and inner walls two-thirds thick, made of adobe or rammed earth. Locals say that when Huang Jixian’s nephew, Huang Dexing, held the official rank of fourth-grade prefect of Wuzhou in Guangxi, the construction followed the standards for “officials of the fourth rank,” with all parts of the rooms more than 1.2 meters above the ground painted white, and everything below painted jet black. According to feudal law, if a fourth-rank official came to confiscate property, families needed only to move their belongings out themselves.

Looking at all the structures within the fortress, they respond to and complement one another—some clustered, some separate; some large, some small; some primary, some secondary; some internal, some external—forming an organic whole. The ensemble exudes grandeur, unity without chaos, division without dispersion, order amid variation, and variation within order, presenting a collective harmony and balance.

Circles have long symbolized “happiness,” “fulfillment,” and “good fortune.” The Huang clan of Xinzhai, driven by the need for communal defense and shared family life, successfully unified their architectural complex using principles of spatial point-line relationships. At the same time, they divided individual households into relatively independent living spaces, resulting in a cohesive yet serene environment. This reflects strong familial unity and warmth, meeting the ethical and communal needs of a large extended family.

Shizi Ridge, over 400 meters above sea level, lies 8 kilometers southeast of Hekou Market in Luhe, extending toward Da’an and Bawan towns. Since ancient times, it has been regarded by locals as a “sacred mountain.” Stretching from northwest to southeast and reaching the Jiaolong Ridge in Jieshi Town at its southeastern tip—home to the Xuanwu Sacred Temple—it continues to Donghai’s Longshan, site of the ancient Longshan Academy. In the central area of Da’an, it splits into three ridges at Shilongkong, with two branches turning north and one heading south. The northern branches include the ancient Anlu Fort dating back to the fifth year of the Wude era (622 AD) and Xinzhai from the Kangxi period. Fengshui master Zhang Lianfeng believed Xinzhai was influenced by the “Shizi Ridge dragon vein,” but with a “strong dragon in a small domain,” fearing it might eventually become a “stagnant dragon” site. Thus, he advised the Huang family to build a temple on Shilongkong to harness the temple bells’ power to “revitalize the dragon spirit.”

Shilongkong, located northeast of Shizi Ridge and about 2 kilometers from Xinzhai, features pristine waters, rugged rocks, and ceaseless springs with sweet, refreshing water believed to promote longevity. It is said the streams on either side could predict weather changes, hence the name “Lingquan” (Spirit Spring). It is one of the Eight Scenic Spots of Old Da’an, celebrated in verse: “The sacred spring of Shizi Ridge feeds one river.”

In the third year of the Yongzheng reign (1725), a monk from Huadu, Guangzhou, came and declared, “Born in a land of splendor, I will die in Lingquan Temple.” Following his master’s orders, he came to build the temple. Recalling the fengshui master’s words, the people of Xinzhai strongly supported the project, contributing funds and labor to complete the “school, ancestral hall, and temple” complex. They even commissioned a large bronze bell from Mount Wutai. Said to be extremely heavy and thick, its sound carried 10 li with a clear, resonant tone. The bell was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. The county annals record: “In the third year of Yongzheng (1725), Lingquan Temple was built at Shilongkong under Shizi Ridge by monk Jiashè, funded through donations.”

The temple once housed a large citrus tree, planted by Jiashè himself upon the temple’s completion. It was said to bear fruit every year, regardless of drought or frost, yielding hundreds of pounds. In the 1980s, the Da’an Commune opened a citrus farm on barren land, and technicians often brought visiting officials to admire the tree. Later, after chemical fertilizers were applied, the tree gradually withered and died. Monk Jiashè was buried in a “monk’s tomb” near the temple, marked with a stele. Lingquan Temple was renovated in the 1990s at the initiative of the Huang clan and remains a popular site for worshippers and visitors alike.

Shizhai Village: Located southeast of Da’an Town government, 1.5 kilometers away, Shizhai Village comprises three natural villages, covering a total area of about 12 square kilometers, mostly mountainous and situated in low hilly terrain. The village has poor geographical advantages and limited arable land. With a total population of 3,800, about 50% of the labor force farms rice, sweet potatoes, peanuts, and other crops locally, while 5% work or do business outside. … More details on Shizhai Village++