Donglong Ancient Village

　　At the junction of Ningdu and Shicheng counties, where the Hakka people first settled and developed, lies a mountain basin at an altitude of about 500 meters. Surrounded by green mountains and crisscrossed by clear streams, this basin is home to a thousand-year-old ancient village — Donglong Village in Tianbu Township, Ningdu County.

　　During the Tang Dynasty, this place was called Dongtun. Hakka ancestors traveling from the eastern part of Ningdu to Fujian used the Dongtun Pass as a shortcut. In the early years of the Qiande era of the Northern Song Dynasty, Li Yijun, who had settled in Banjing, Shicheng, came to Donglong for hunting and was captivated by this blessed land of green hills. He relocated his entire family here to settle down. Due to “a range of mountains to the southeast, undulating like a coiled dragon,” he renamed the place Donglong.

　　Clever Layout Embracing Hills and Water

　　Historically, Donglong was one of the wealthiest villages, renowned across Jiangxi as the “Thousand-Year Ancient Village with Hundred Ancestral Halls, Hundred Ponds, and Hundred Grand Houses,” earning the title of “Number One Ancestral Hall Village in the South of the Yangtze.” Recently, reporters climbed onto the ancient fortress atop Donglong Ridge, where a panoramic view of the village unfolded. Within the village, ancestral halls, residences, temples, ancient pagodas, stone bridges, and fortresses are scattered like stars, built along the contours of Donglong Ridge and Nanqiao Ridge. To the north and south, clear streams meander through the village, connecting a string of shimmering ponds before flowing westward. The entire Donglong Village is embraced by green hills and clear waters.

　　According to “Mr. Donglong,” Teacher Li Liangjing, when the village was first established during the Northern Song Dynasty, the ancestors of the Li clan chose Donglong Ridge and Nanqiao Ridge — the two most majestic and longest-reaching mountain ranges among many — as the village’s two dragon veins. Following their natural flow, residences were built on one side, while ancestral halls were constructed on the other, with temples corresponding to the ancestral halls, thus forming three distinct yet independent spaces for living, ancestor worship, and reverence for heaven. These spaces were interconnected by pathways, creating a seemingly scattered yet unified whole. Additionally, to enhance drainage and fire prevention, over 100 ponds of various shapes were dug in the residential area. Two clear streams were also channeled down from the high mountains to the south and north, winding around the village and forming a landscape of encircling hills and flowing waters. This integrated the entire village into a setting of green hills and clear waters, fully embodying the human-centered village layout and the architectural philosophy of harmony between man and nature.

　　Hundred Ancestral Halls Through Wind and Rain

　　At its peak, Donglong Village had hundreds of ancestral halls, large and small. After centuries of weathering, 48 remain, along with 2 academies, 2 communal granaries, 1 ancient pagoda, 3 temples, 5 pavilions, 4 stone bridges, 4 fortresses, 4 passes, and over 140 shops and residential buildings, all retaining the traditional architectural style of southern Jiangxi’s Hakka people.

　　The “Dongli Yi Wang” on the southwestern ridge, also known as the “Renfang Ancestral Hall,” covers a total area of more than 4,300 square meters. Built in the 12th year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1734) by Li Renfang, it is divided into five major sections: the front courtyard, back courtyard, east garden, west garden, and Renfang Ancestral Hall. With over 100 rooms including the ancestral hall, meeting hall, grain and treasure warehouses, corridors, side rooms, embroidery tower, private school, servant quarters, courtyards, and watchtower, it is called the “Hundred-Room Mansion.”

　　The Li Clan Lower Ancestral Hall at the foot of the rabbit-shaped mountain in the northwest was built during the Zhengtong era of the Ming Dynasty. It features a brick-and-wood frame structure in the style of a noble residence, with its interior utilizing the “beam-lifting bracket column” technique of palace architecture. Seventy-five round fir logs and crisscrossing beams support the structure, with brackets and joints decorated with patterns of carp, lotus, dragons, phoenixes, and qilin.

　　The Shenzhai Ancestral Hall from the late Ming Dynasty is a single-family shrine with upper and lower halls and left and right side rooms, separated by a screen wall. The entire ancestral hall has a solemn exterior and exquisite interior. The Weshang Ancestral Hall at the village center is an elegant shrine for civil officials, resembling a walled enclosure with halls, side rooms, courtyards, and protective walls. The main gate is a wooden fence, with the upper part fitted with square lattice wooden panels and the lower part tightly fastened with bamboo and wood. Wooden supports are carved into elephant heads, symbolizing “peace under heaven,” giving it a dignified and solemn feel. Nearby, the Junren Ancestral Hall is a shrine for military officials, featuring exquisite carvings of figures that express the owners’ earnest hopes for their descendants to be incorruptible and loving toward the people.

　　The rare Hundred-Room Mansion complex tells the glory created by Hakka ancestors. This blessed land of green hills also nurtured countless talents. Amidst a generations-long culture of valuing literature and education, Donglong has produced many outstanding individuals. Notable figures include Li Tengjiao, one of the “Nine Masters of Yitang” and a famous literary figure of the early Qing Dynasty; Li Daji, a Neo-Confucian scholar of the Qing Dynasty; and Li Xuenan, former deputy director of the Political Department of the South China Sea Fleet.

　　The simple yet majestic ancestral halls and the exquisite Hakka architecture of Donglong Village are truly breathtaking, as are the natural landscapes such as the Rainbow Bridge Locking Waters, Arhat Showing His Belly, and Pagoda Shadow over the Lake. Unknowingly, evening falls, the sunset reddening the sky, and the Wenfeng Pagoda on Xishan Mountain shining brilliantly. After thousands of years, the ancient pagoda still points proudly to the sky, exuding grandeur.

　　Source: China Ganzhou Network - Ganzhou Evening News, Reporters Xie Donglin, Interns Xu Xiaoquan, Cai Mansheng, Text/Photos