The Mansion of the Hundred Families (Man Tang Hakka Enclosure)

The Mansion of the Hundred Families (Man Tang Hakka Enclosure)

The Man Tang Hakka Enclosure is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction and a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.

Situated 3 kilometers southwest of Aizi Town in Shixing County, Guangdong Province, the Man Tang Enclosure is a Hakka-style walled residential building — one of China’s five major traditional folk architectural forms.

Construction of the Man Tang Enclosure started in the 12th year of the Daoguang reign (1832) during the Qing Dynasty and was completed in the 10th year of the Xianfeng reign (1860), taking 28 years to complete. It was built by a local tycoon named Qianrong and is the largest distinctive Hakka residential structure in Guangdong — a defensive, fortress-style walled compound.

The layout of the enclosure is roughly rectangular, featuring twelve courtyards, nine halls, and six skywells. It includes hundreds of living spaces such as single-story and multi-story houses, watchtowers, as well as various facilities including large and small ancestral halls, meeting halls, residences, and grain storage buildings.

Covering an area of 13,000 square meters, the front gate plaza extends 180 meters in length and 7 meters in width. At its peak, it housed over 800 residents and consists of three relatively independent enclosed sections: the Central Enclosure, Upper New Circle, and Lower New Enclosure, each surrounded by outer corridors.

The Central Enclosure has a square-shaped “回” (return) layout, with four corner towers reaching up to four stories (17 meters high), while the two wing towers reach three stories (12 meters high). The surrounding walls are nearly 3 meters thick and constructed with brick and stone. The main entrance features a marble slab archway, standing 2.24 meters high and 1.27 meters wide, above which sits a water pool designed to help defend against arson attacks.

Corridors run throughout the structure, connecting all areas, with gun ports positioned at every corner of the walls. The flooring is paved with river pebbles arranged in decorative patterns, while the ceiling designs complement the colorful wooden carvings at the roof corners. The entire complex is famed for being “large, sturdy, and exquisitely crafted.”

The Man Tang Enclosure is the largest Hakka walled compound in Guangdong. Its architecture embodies both the robust simplicity of ancient times and the refined elegance of more recent periods, offering a valuable physical representation of the folk culture and architectural evolution of the Hakka people from ancient to modern times.

In 1996, the Man Tang Enclosure was designated by the State Council as part of the fourth group of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level, recognized as a historical architecture from the Qing Dynasty.

Mantang Village: Located in the southwestern part of Aizi Town, Mantang Village has a population of approximately 1,575 people.

Adhering to an eco-development approach, Mantang Village has developed an ecological green industry primarily centered around shiitake mushrooms, Prime Minister Noodles (Zaixiang Fen), and ganoderma lucidum (lingzhi). Currently, the village has over 100 acres of shiitake mushroom cultivation, more than 20 Prime Minister Noodle processing factories, and over 300 acres of ganoderma lucidum plantations. In 2017, the per capita income of farmers exceeded 14,482 yuan.

Infrastructure development has focused on ecological agriculture, implementing comprehensive supporting projects such as roads, bridges, and water facilities. These include the paving of 2.1 kilometers of village roads, construction of one new bridge, over 2,300 meters of ecological river embankments, and other developments… More detailed information about Mantang Village ++

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level