Former Residence Ancestral Hall of Zhang Jiuling

Ancestral Hall of Zhang Jiuling’s Former Residence

The Ancestral Hall of Zhang Jiuling’s Former Residence is a cultural relic protection unit of Shixing County.

The former residence of Zhang Jiuling is located in Shitang Village, Aizi Town, Shixing County. Originally built in the second year of the Shangyuan era of the Tang Dynasty (675 AD) by Zhang Hongyu, the father of the renowned Tang statesman and progenitor of Lingnan poetry Zhang Jiuling, when he relocated to Shitang Village in Shixing, it has a history of 1,332 years. The residence houses an ancestral hall containing memorial tablets for Zhang Hongyu and his son Zhang Jiuling.

Aizi Town is truly a small mountain valley. Yet, it was this unassuming little valley that gave birth to notable figures in Chinese history who cannot be overlooked: Zhang Jiuling, a prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, and Zhang Fakui, who once served as a division commander in the National Revolutionary Army.

It is said that Zhang Jiuling’s great-grandfather served as an official in Qujiang, Shaoguan, while his father moved to Shixing to establish farmland and take up farming. A folk story still circulates to this day: it is said that Zhang Jiuling’s mother, Lady Lu, had been pregnant for ten full months in Shixing but had yet to give birth. Her husband noticed that she appeared bloated, sallow, and weak, suspecting that she had contracted yellow swelling disease. One day, he met an elderly doctor who also practiced fortune-telling. After diagnosis, the old man told Zhang Jiuling’s father, “The child in your wife’s womb is no ordinary person; this place is too small to contain him, and it is feared he may need to be born in a larger place.” Upon hearing this, the Zhang family had no choice but to move to Shaozhou. It is said that Zhang Jiuling was born there. However, after his birth, he did return to their hometown in Shixing. The folk tale of “Catching a Mouse to Present to the Imperial Court,” widely circulated in Shixing County, originates from Zhang Jiuling’s childhood experience studying in Shitang.

Aizi Town: Located in the mountainous region of northern Guangdong, Aizi Town sits to the south of Shixing County and is 65 kilometers from the county seat. It borders Siqian Town to the east, is adjacent to Wengyuan County to the south, connects with Qujiang County to the west, and meets Shendishui Township to the north. It is the most remote mountainous township in Shixing. The town covers a total area of 32,326 hectares, including 26,600 hectares of forested land, 745 hectares of arable land, making it a typical mountainous town characterized by “nine parts mountains, half part water, and half part fields.” The jurisdiction includes 13 village committees, one neighborhood committee, 15 township-affiliated government units, and 20 primary and secondary schools. The town has 4,494 households and a total population of 20,124... Detailed information about Aizi Town++