Little Painting Boat Studio

Little Painting Boat Studio

Little Painting Boat Studio is a cultural heritage site protected by Guangzhou Municipality.

Little Painting Boat Studio is located at No. 21, Fengyuan Street, Longjin West Road, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province. It is a villa of the wealthy Huang family of overseas Chinese from Singapore, rebuilt by Huang Jingtao in the late Qing Dynasty and completed in the year of Renyin during the Guangxu reign (1902). It is a garden architecture with Lingnan style. Named after the boat-shaped hall inside, it is called Little Painting Boat Studio. In 1956, the descendants of the Huang family, including Huang Zijing and Huang Mingbo, donated this garden building to the government for public sightseeing.

Huang Jingtao, courtesy name Zhaoping, was from Xinning (now Taishan), Guangdong. His father, Huang Fu, was a well-known overseas Chinese businessman. He spent his childhood in Singapore and returned to China in his youth. At the age of 27, he was awarded the title of Bajiao (a scholar rank), later held the honorary title of Candidate Dao Official, but did not take an official position. He mainly devoted himself to industry and commerce, and was an active figure in the Guangzhou business community involved in political activities during the late Qing Dynasty. When the Guangzhou General Chamber of Commerce was established in 1905, he served as its managing director. In 1907, he organized the Yue Merchant Self-Government Association with other progressive-minded merchants and later sponsored the "Seventy-Two Trades Business Newspaper." He played a prominent role in struggles such as reclaiming railway rights, defining the boundary of Macau, and regaining sovereignty over Dongsha Island. In 1911, while encouraging merchants to oppose the nationalization of railways, Huang was threatened and intimidated by the authorities and was forced to flee to Nanyang (Southeast Asia). He only returned to Guangzhou after the establishment of the Republic of China. Huang Jingtao was also a poet and authored "Poems from the Leaning Sword Tower," which serves as valuable material for studying late Qing society in Guangdong.

The villa covers an area of more than 2,000 square meters. The main gate faces south, with a stone plaque inscribed “Little Painting Boat Studio,” written by Zhao Zhiqian in the late Qing Dynasty. The back gate faces north. The original structure was divided into three parts: the owner’s bedroom in the south, the boat hall near the Yong River in the northwest, the ancestral hall in the middle, and the rear building on the right side of the south gate. All buildings were connected by stone paths and corridors. The courtyard features pavilions such as the “Poetic Realm Pavilion,” rockeries, and flower stands. The original layout of the courtyard and buildings was well-planned and adapted to the natural environment. Skylights and air wells enhanced lighting and ventilation. Interior decorations included open-style floor-length screens and partition doors. The garden was planted with precious southern plants. The northwest side faced the water, and the design cleverly utilized the natural wind flow between north and south to create cross-ventilation, ensuring cool and breezy interiors even in hot summers. Currently, only the boat hall, ancestral hall, main gate, and rear building remain.

The boat hall was built along Liwan Stream and served as the owner’s study and a gathering place for literati. Constructed close to the water, its shape resembles a boat, hence the name “boat hall.” It has two stories, a rolled-brim hip-and-gable roof, and a reinforced concrete structure. A side door is located on the outer wall facing Liwan Stream, with a stone plaque inscribed “Little Painting Boat Studio” written by Su Ruohu above the door. Outside the door is a stone staircase leading to boats. Originally, the first-floor entrance hall featured a round, ice-crack-patterned floor screen, and a wooden plaque inscribed with “White Lotus, Red Lychee, West of Pantang” by Governor-General of Liangguang Ruan Yuan hung at the entrance. Reconstructed in 1996, a new doorway was added to the east side of the boat hall, and a terrace was built on the second-floor southern side.

Since the original location of Little Painting Boat Studio, the Sancha Stream in Liwan, was once part of the Changhua Garden from the Southern Han Dynasty, with rows of lychee trees and willows lining the banks and picturesque scenery, the main building of Little Painting Boat Studio was designed in the shape of a painted boat, hence called the “boat hall.”

The “boat hall” is about 200 square meters, with a two-story wooden structure. One side faces the water and includes a dock and pleasure boats; the other side opens to a garden filled with flowers, rocks, and trees such as osmanthus, magnolia, lychee trees, and fragrant plants like aglaia and jasmine. It was a place for the owner to receive guests, host banquets, and display antique calligraphy and paintings. The then Governor-General of Liangguang, Ruan Yuan, inscribed the plaque “White Lotus, Red Lychee, West of Pantang” inside the hall. The garden also featured elegant buildings and pavilions, offering cool summer breezes and fragrant blossoms, creating a unique charm. The surroundings included exquisitely crafted structures such as reception rooms, ancestral shrines, boat halls, flower rooms, study rooms, and painting rooms, often displaying poems and calligraphy by famous individuals, making it a gathering place for literati. Unfortunately, today only a family shrine truly remains from Little Painting Boat Studio. The current “boat hall” was redesigned by Professor Cheng Jianjun from South China University of Technology in 1995 and reconstructed in 1996. The garden has been replaced by disorganized residential quarters. Only a century-old banyan tree in front of the ancestral hall evokes memories of the former garden’s splendor.

The ancestral hall has a brick-and-wood structure, a rolled-brim hip-and-gable roof, and gray tubular tiles. It is 8.5 meters wide and 9.3 meters deep, with a foundation built from blue stones. Load-bearing gable walls are on both sides, and the floor is paved with black-and-white marble tiles. The front originally had partition doors, which have been removed and replaced with wooden doors, latticed gates, and foot doors.

Little Painting Boat Studio is renowned not only for its distinctive features but also for embodying the architectural charm and cultural essence of Xiguan residences. Xiguan residences, known for their most representative Lingnan folk architectural style and Xiguan folk culture, are said by some to be the last architectural legacy left by China’s final feudal dynasty in Guangzhou. This building was designated as a municipal cultural heritage site in 1993 (within the scope of the “Xiguan Residence Architectural Area”).

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Guangzhou Municipal Cultural Heritage Sites