Hongyu Kuang Ancestral Hall – Site of the Former Garrison of the Third Battalion of the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Forces

Hongyu Kuang Ancestral Hall – Site of the Former Garrison of the Third Battalion of the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Forces

Hongyu Kuang Ancestral Hall – Site of the Former Garrison of the Third Battalion of the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Forces is a protected cultural heritage site of Dongguan City.

Hongyu Kuang Ancestral Hall – Site of the Former Garrison of the Third Battalion of the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Forces is located at Dalingshan, Taigongling Village, Dalingding, with GPS coordinates: 22°55'11.6"N, 113°48'48.5"E, and an elevation of 36 meters.

The site was originally built in the 21st year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty (1895) by the 16th-generation ancestor of the Taigongling branch of the Kuang family, Kuang Hongyu. It measures 11.60 meters in width and 29.07 meters in depth. The structure is built with a combination of brick, wood, and stone, featuring a three-bay, two-courtyard layout with a flush-gable roof. It combines post-and-lintel and through-tenon beam frameworks. The front courtyard includes two teaching platforms, while the corridors and enclosing walls feature "pot-ear" gables. A stone stele inscribed with the "Inscription for the Construction of Hongyu Ancestral Hall" is embedded in the left gable wall of the ancestral hall.

In January 1938, Zhang Ying was dispatched by the Dongguan Central Party Branch of the Chinese Communist Party to carry out work in Dalingshan. With the support of local residents, Zhang Ying centered his efforts in Taigongling Village and conducted anti-Japanese and national salvation propaganda in surrounding rural areas. He trained able-bodied men, organized self-defense teams in various villages, established CCP branches, recruited party members, and set up a transportation and reception station in Taigongling Village, laying a solid foundation among the populace. In early 1938, the underground CCP organization trained young anti-Japanese activists here. In December of the same year, Wang Zuoyao, a member of the Dongguan County Committee of the CCP Central Underground Party and captain of the Anti-Japanese Model Militia, led over 60 members from Pingshan and Shuikou to Dalingshan. They stayed at Hongyu Kuang Ancestral Hall on their first night. In October 1940, over 70 members of the Third Battalion of the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Forces advanced into Dalingshan. They spent their first night at Hongyu Kuang Ancestral Hall, where they underwent four days of training before proceeding to Dahuan.

On October 7, 1941, the second courtyard of Hongyu Kuang Ancestral Hall was burned down by stubborn Nationalist troops. In the early 1950s, when villagers reconstructed the site, the original layout of the second courtyard was altered. Later, due to the impact of production activities and years of neglect, the site suffered severe damage and became a dangerous building.

In January 2004, Hongyu Kuang Ancestral Hall, the site of the former garrison of the Third Battalion of the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Forces, was designated as a protected cultural heritage site of Dongguan City by the Dongguan Municipal People’s Government.

Taigongling Village: Located in the northwest of Dalingshan Town, Taigongling Village is 3.5 kilometers from the town center, covering a total area of 2.24 square kilometers. The Taigongling Village Committee oversees five villager groups, primarily residing in five residential communities: Dadi Residential Area, Yuantangzi Residential Area, Shuangling Residential Area, Jinlan Residential Area, and Yuanshanzi Residential Area. The village has 478 registered households with a local population of 1,675, over 7,100 new migrants, and a total of 37 foreign-invested and private enterprises. In 2010, the combined economic income of the village and group levels reached 12.6 million yuan.

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