Huang Xing
2022-05-24
The Former Residence of Huang Xing, a national key cultural relic protection unit, is located in Huangxing Town, Changsha County, about 15 kilometers east of Changsha City.
It is a mud-tile bungalow built in the first year of the Tongzhi emperor’s reign (1862) and repaired in 1981 with an area of 4,300 square meters, a masonry-timber structure and 12 rooms. At the front door hangs a plaque of “The Former Residence of Huang Xing” written by Liao Chengzhi, the upper end of which was painted with auspicious patterns like “the Four Treasures of Study” and plum blossoms, orchids, chrysanthemum and bamboo. And there is a pair of couplets on both sides of the door.
It is a mud-tile bungalow built in the first year of the Tongzhi emperor’s reign (1862) and repaired in 1981 with an area of 4,300 square meters, a masonry-timber structure and 12 rooms. At the front door hangs a plaque of “The Former Residence of Huang Xing” written by Liao Chengzhi, the upper end of which was painted with auspicious patterns like “the Four Treasures of Study” and plum blossoms, orchids, chrysanthemum and bamboo. And there is a pair of couplets on both sides of the door.
With an area of 28 mu (about 1.9 hectares), the residence has Liuyang River on the right and Luzhiling in front, surrounded by crisscross fields. There are many citrus trees and three ponds in the yard. The latter were known as Liang Ponds (“Liang” means “cool” in Chinese) for they were once shaded by patches of weeping willows that brought coolness all the time.
Now the residence houses 53 rooms, featuring a rural style of farmhouse in the south of the Yangtze River. After rigorous verification by experts, the residence has been fully restored and displayed, which truly reflects the general picture of Huang Xing’s family and the environment in which he grew up, as well as the folk customs of the late Qing Dynasty.
At its east part is an exhibition hall built to introduce Huang Xing’s life story and major achievements. The back garden covers an area of 20 mu (about 1.3 hectares), full of local saplings and flowers, like rhododendron and peach blossom in spring, pomegranate and lotus in summer, osmanthus and grapefruit in autumn and wintersweet in winter. Tourists can climb up for a panoramic view or just sit on wooden pavilions to take a short break. The simplicity and gentility here always makes they linger over.
