HeKui Manor

　　In the south of Baijiatuan Village, Haidian District in the western suburbs of Beijing, there stand three steep peaks — the central peak is the tallest while the eastern and western side peaks are lower — resembling three incense sticks piercing straight into the clouds. For many years, people have called them the “Three Incense Sticks.” At the foot of the Three Incense Sticks mountain lies a spring known as Baijia Spring, which flows down to a pool in the mountain hollow. HeKui Manor is built on a platform at the foot of the Three Incense Sticks Mountain on the Baijia Spring Ridge, and is one of the four major manors of the Qing Dynasty in western Beijing.

　　　　HeKui Manor has a history of about a hundred years. According to local elders in Baijiatuan Village, the surnames He and Huo were once considered indistinguishable and originally belonged to the same family. Elder Master Huo was castrated in childhood and entered the imperial palace as a young eunuch, eventually rising to become the chief eunuch of the Qianqing Palace. He was much favored by the emperor, possessing both power and wealth. One day, Eunuch Huo came to the Baijia Water Ridge of the southern mountain in Baijiatuan, where he invited a feng shui master. The master deemed this location auspicious, with towering peaks all around, the high Three Incense Sticks peaks to the south acting as a protective screen, mountains embracing it from the east and west, and the Weng Pit below Fire Spider Mountain to the north — making it an excellent geomantic treasure land. He then acquired the mountain land and constructed a residence and temple, residing there until his passing. Before his death, he bequeathed the property to his nephew HeKui, who also purchased several hundred acres of mountain land around the ridge, planted fruit trees, and cultivated the flat slopes into fertile fields, thus establishing a landlord manor.

　　　　HeKui Manor is built on the northern platform of the Baijia Spring Ridge. On the east and west sides beneath the ridge, years of erosion from mountain floods have formed two deep gullies. To the south of the ridge lies a natural barrier, and access to the manor can be gained via paths on the eastern and western slopes from the ridge peak. Northwest of the manor, beneath the ridge, lies a large flat terrace where several single-story houses were built, originally serving as the manor’s yard. To the south of the ridge, the Dragon King Hall with three bays faces west, with one side chamber each to the north and south. The main hall enshrines the Western Sea Zhao Fu Dragon King and the Dragon Mother. In the manor’s heyday, the pond was surrounded by white marble railings, and a carved stone dragon head was embedded in the eastern stone wall of the pond, from which clear spring water spouted into the basin. To the west of the pond is the entrance to the Dragon King Hall, featuring a flush-gable roof gatehouse. Exiting the gate and descending the slope leads to a winding path that climbs up the western hillside. On the hillside terrace sits a small temple with blue tubular tiles on the roof and crimson walls.

　　　　Both sides of the temple walls have round windows, giving it a quaint and delicate appearance. No statues are enshrined inside, hence it is called the “Empty Hall.” From the western side of the hill down to the base, a thick and tall tiger-skin-pattern stone wall has been constructed. At the turning point of the uphill slope, there is an artificially excavated cave approximately 20 meters deep, 3 meters wide, and over 4 meters high, used for storing grain and goods for the manor. Further up leads to the main courtyard. The manor house faces south and is a traditional multi-courtyard siheyuan (quadrangle). The main gate has a flush gable and tightly fitted brickwork sealed with glutinous rice-lime mortar. It features an arched doorway with two iron doors. Upon entering, there is a straight screen wall, with a four-panel screen door to the west and an angle door to the east, the latter usually kept closed. To the east of the courtyard runs a long, narrow corridor. Outside the corridor begins a thick and tall tiger-skin-pattern outer stone wall, with watchtowers at both the northern and southern ends. Gun ports are found on the towers, guarded day and night to prevent unforeseen incidents. The outer courtyard has four south-facing wing rooms. Their doors and windows are all arched; the windows are iron-framed with upper sections crafted into circular floral patterns, exquisitely designed. There are two wing rooms each on the east and west sides. To the north is a decorative gate. Passing through it, one finds covered walkways on the east and west leading to the wing rooms. To the north lies the main hall with five bays, featuring front corridors, with slightly protruding side rooms forming small courtyards on the east and west. Behind the hall are five bays of enclosed rooms, along with three-bay wing rooms on the east and west. The central courtyard is spacious, with precious flowers planted in front of the surrounding rooms and a lawn in the center — the practice ground for HeKui and his wife. During the manor’s prime, dozens of pagoda trees were planted on the slopes below, their twisted branches casting shade over acres of land. To this day, several ancient pagoda trees remain on the slopes.

　　　　HeKui was the son-in-law of Yin Fu, the second-generation disciple of Baguazhang (Eight Trigrams Palm). Yin Fu, a student of Dong Haichuan — the founder of Baguazhang — was renowned nationwide for his mastery of Baguazhang theory. After HeKui married Yin Fu’s daughter, they had three sons: the eldest, He Zhongqi; He Zhonglin; and the youngest, He Zhongxiang. All three brothers learned Baguazhang from their parents from a young age. Among them, the eldest and the youngest were exceptionally intelligent, skilled, and well-known among Baguazhang practitioners. After the liberation, they both served as martial arts coaches for the state. He Zhonglin, slightly less skilled, worked as a farmer at home. According to accounts, HeKui Manor once served as an underground communication station before the liberation, using its unique position to provide intelligence for the West Mountain guerrilla forces.

　　　　After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, HeKui Manor was looted by troops under Zhao Tong, who wore red and blue armbands. Most of the manor buildings were burned down. Today, the Dragon King Hall and the small courtyard in front of it remain relatively intact, as do parts of the manor house and some other structures. After the liberation, HeKui Manor was nationalized and taken over by the fruit tree team of the Beijing Western Suburbs Farm.

　　　　As a landlord manor, HeKui Manor rented out land and employed farmers from Baijiatuan Village to work, making its exploitative nature evident. During the Four Cleanups Movement in the 1960s, local farmers exposed the exploitative practices of the He family. HeKui Manor was also cited as a representative of landlord manors. As times progress and society advances, what was once a landlord manor of significant influence has now become a part of the local cultural heritage, a history that must not be forgotten by future generations.