Heilou Xinzhuang and Xuantong Taoist Temple

　　About two li north of Wenquan Village is Xinzhuang Village. Though small, the village is exquisitely elegant. The four main roads—east, west, south, and north—are square and orderly. Rows of houses are neatly arranged. The village is lush with trees, both inside and out, creating a dense greenery. A winding stream flows in front of the village. At the very center of Xinzhuang Village once stood an ancient fortress-like structure—the Xuantong Taoist Temple—built as a family shrine by Gao Shiming, the eunuch in charge of the imperial seals during the Chongzhen era of the Ming Dynasty. The fortress was constructed from dark bluish-black stones and bricks, which locals called "Heilou" (Black Tower). Hence, the village was formerly known as Heilou Xinzhuang. The main gate of the Xuantong Taoist Temple was a grand double-sloped roof gate with yin-yang glazed tiles. Above the gate was a horizontal plaque of white marble inlaid with four large characters: "Xuantong Taoist Temple." The estate covered about ten acres and was divided into three architectural complexes. The main structure, the Black Tower, was located slightly northwest within the garden. It was a five-bay, three-story building with walls made of granite. In the center of the main hall, there was a square brick-lined stone well covered by a wooden flip lid. When intruders stepped on the flip lid, it would flip over, causing them to fall into the well. On the east and west sides of the main hall were two stone arch entrances, housing statues of the guardian deities Heng and Ha. Adjacent to the corners of the east and west brick walls, stone steps led to the second floor. The second-floor roof and walls were constructed with a stone arch structure. At its peak, the temple housed dozens of copper and sandalwood-carved deities. The third floor was a three-bay, curved-eave hip-and-gable roof structure made of brick and wood, serving as living quarters. The exterior of the stone tower was simple and elegant. Because the stone was dark purplish-blue, it was named the "Black Tower."

　　　　Surrounding the base of the tower were stacked rockeries, and to the south was a whitewashed wall with a moon gate that separated it from the rest of the garden. To the south of the tower was a small pond accessible via a flat arched bridge made of white marble. On a small island in the pond stood a single-eave, four-cornered square pavilion. Further south around the mountain bend, at the foot of the northern hillside, was a complex of buildings featuring a five-bay main hall with a hip-and-gable roof. East and west of the hall were five-bay short corridors. The western corridor led to a small courtyard where three rooms stood to the north, surrounded by scattered rocks and thousands of bamboo plants. Adjacent to the southern wall of the garden was a three-courtyard reverse-facing house complex: a five-bay southern room, three-bay eastern and western rooms, collectively called the "Hui Shi Fang" (Reporting Affairs Room). East of the pond in the garden was another courtyard with a five-bay southern room in the front, featuring a central passageway door, three-bay eastern and western side rooms, and a five-bay main hall to the north. Dozens of pine and cypress trees planted in front and behind the courtyard provided greenery to the natural spaces within the garden. In the mountainous area north of the courtyard stood a four-cornered square pavilion with a double-eave hip-and-gable roof, surrounded by stacked rockeries. The hills were undulating, naturally arranged with varying heights, sizes, and groupings. Although the overall layout of the garden was not built in a single period, it appeared harmonious as a whole. With minimal architecture, the garden primarily utilized natural spaces, mounds, stacked hills, and planted vegetation to form a landscape-style garden. This is the "Xuantong Taoist Temple," a family shrine built by the Ming Dynasty eunuch Gao Shiming.

　　　　During the Chongzhen era of the Ming Dynasty, due to Wei Zhongxian’s abuse of power, anyone not affiliated with his faction was subject to exclusion and persecution. To protect their lives, eunuchs like Gao Shiming claimed illness and left the palace in 1621. Before leaving, Gao Shiming had already built his retirement residence—named "Xuantong Taoist Temple," also called "Shi Lou Villa"—about two li north of Wenshi Village in Wenquan. From the layout and name of Xinzhuang Village, it is evident that the Black Tower existed first, and the village gradually formed around it.

　　　　In the early years of the Republic of China, Gu Ziliang acquired the "Xuantong Taoist Temple" estate and added a few minor structures to the garden. Soon after, he sold it to General Sun Yue. Later, Sun Yue transferred ownership to his younger brother, Sun Liu. After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, when Japanese forces invaded and occupied Beiping (Beijing), they built artillery bunkers in Wenquan. Most of the bricks and timber used came from the demolition of Xuantong Temple. At the time, the Japanese forcibly conscripted laborers from forty-eight nearby villages to transport the bricks and stones up to the Wenquan mountains, where they constructed a triangular fortress as a military outpost. The site was thus reduced to a flat, barren land. In the 1960s, production brigade office buildings were erected on the ruins of the garden. In recent years, while constructing houses, villagers unearthed several slabs of white marble, including one inscribed with the name of the Black Tower’s gate—“Xuantong Taoist Temple.” Other artifacts included marble horse-mounting stones and stone door piers, which are still preserved in the village. This Ming Dynasty residence provides invaluable historical insight into the art of garden design during that period. Interestingly, about ten li southwest of Xinzhuang Village, in Dagong Village, there is a pagoda on the mountain. The seven-tiered, dense-eave pagoda bears the inscription: “Xuantong Treasure Pagoda.”

　　　　For many years, people believed this was the tomb of the Ming Dynasty eunuch Liu Jin. Locals of Xinzhuang Village passed down a legend that a secret underground tunnel ran from under the Black Tower of Xinzhuang all the way to Liu Jin’s tomb in Dagong Village. The reason the village is called "Dagong" (Great Project) is that the construction took so long—it was truly a massive project. In 1963, while building a reservoir at the foot of the Xuantong Treasure Pagoda in Dagong Village, a cave was discovered. The cave entrance had two stone doors, and though not large, it contained a stone well over ten feet deep. Later, experts found historical evidence in the Ming Dynasty text *Zhuo Zhong Zhi*: “Eunuch Ding Shaochang, from Changping, was well-versed in geomancy… He consulted Chief Eunuch Gao Shiming and selected a burial site for him west of Baijiatun, in Nanhé near the Dahua Temple mountain forest, known as Jiulong Mountain. There, he pinpointed the location, constructed a stone coffin cave entrance, and sealed it with iron ingots.” This revealed the truth: before retiring from the palace, Gao Shiming had chosen to build his retirement family shrine in Xinzhuang Village and his own tomb in Dagong Village. The rumored underground tunnel between Xinzhuang and Dagong has never been discovered.