Former Residence of Zhou Rujun

Former Residence of Zhou Rujun

The former residence of Zhou Rujun is a cultural tourism attraction.

The former residence of Zhou Rujun is located at No. 2, Dongzhou 8 Lane, Nangang East Road, Nangang Village, Jianggao Town, Baiyun District, Guangzhou City. It faces east and is a traditional three-bay, two-corridor style building. It measures 11.30 meters in length, 10.10 meters in width, and 7.50 meters in height. The walls are made of blue bricks, with a red sandstone foundation (the red sandstone base is 1.80 meters high), a hard mountain-style roof, and gable and hip roof with pot-shaped ridge decorations, along with lime-sand hard ridges, barrel tiles, and trimmed ceramic tile edges.

The former residence of Zhou Rujun was the ancestral home of Zhou Rujun’s great-grandfather, Zhou Rixin, who was a successful imperial examination candidate. Built during the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, it is estimated to be nearly 500 years old. The two corridors of the residence have entrances leading to the streets. Entering through the street gate at No. 2, Dongzhou 8 Lane, visitors are greeted by murals on the front gate, one of which is inscribed “Portrait of a High-Ranking Official,” painted in the 26th year of the Guangxu reign (1900). First is the left corridor, covering an area of 3.05m x 3.8m (11.59㎡), with square brick flooring; next is the courtyard, 4m x 2.4m (9.6㎡), paved with red sandstone slabs; then comes the right corridor, 3.05m x 3.8m (11.59㎡), also with square brick flooring and an entrance to the street. Directly opposite the courtyard is the main hall, which has a grand entrance built from red sandstone, with a 20 cm-high threshold and a stone doorframe featuring bolt holes—evidence of security measures from that time. The hall is 6.55m deep and 4.1m wide (a traditional rural layout of 17 rafters), with square brick flooring. Inside the hall, a wooden shrine is built, and there is a side room behind the main space. On both sides are side rooms, each 2.16m wide (a layout of 9 rafters). The roof features large, neatly arranged fir beams spaced about 20cm apart, sturdy and square rafter ends, and double-layered, neatly laid tiles.

Standing in the center of the courtyard and looking up at the eaves, you’ll see neatly arranged blue bricks and fine gray mortar, with the roof tiles aligned in order. Each central tile is embossed with the raised characters “金玉寿” (Gold, Jade, Longevity).

The former residence of Zhou Rujun is also the ancestral home of Zhou Rujun’s great-grandfather, Zhou Rixin, a successful imperial examination candidate. Zhou Rixin passed the imperial exams during the Renwu Year of the Dao Guang reign in the Qing Dynasty. Zhou Rujun himself became a Jinshi (advanced scholar) in the 18th year of the Guangxu reign (1892), ranking second class. A single house producing two Jinshi scholars earned it the reputation of being home to a “grandfather-and-grandson pair of Jinshi.”

Zhou Rujun (1858–1906), whose given name was Changjian, courtesy name YuCun, alias Jiesheng, and literary name Shengzhai, was from Nangang Township, Mudidi Subdistrict, Panyu County (now Nangang Village, Jianggao Town, Baiyun District, Guangzhou City). He was exceptionally intelligent from childhood and had a photographic memory. He studied at a private school for three years, passed the provincial imperial examination (Juren) in the 8th year of the Guangxu reign (1882), and became a Jinshi in the 18th year of the Guangxu reign (1892). He later served as an official in the Ministry of Punishments.

In 1895, Zhou Rujun participated in establishing the Qiangxue Book Bureau, also known as the Qiangxue Society, an important political group of the Reformists in Beijing. Its members included Kang Youwei, Zhang Xiaolian, Yuan Shikai, Xu Shih... More details about Zhou Rujun ++

Nangang Village: Nangang Village

Nangang Village is located to the south of Jianggao Town, bordering the Liuxi River to the south, with the Guangqing Expressway running north-south through the area. The village covers an area of 5 square kilometers, including 167 hectares of arable land. It includes two natural villages—Sanyuan Gang and Nangang—and 13 economic cooperatives. At the end of 2005, the registered local population was 3,463, of which 2,978 were agricultural residents, and there were 2,000 non-local residents. In 2005, the total industrial and agricultural output value was 64.68 million yuan, a 1.6% increase over the previous year, including 22.2 million yuan from industry and 28.04 million yuan from agriculture. The per capita income of the village was 7... More details about Nangang Village ++