this Hakka residence is the stone building in Lecun, and the locals call it the quadrangle building or the stone corner building. Being in the four-corner building, you will be deeply impressed by the unique architectural features and profound cultural heritage of the mansion.
the quadrangle building is unique in architectural design, reasonable in layout and complete in structure. It has similarities with ordinary Hakka dwellings and is quite different from ordinary Hakka dwellings. It can be described as a masterpiece of Hakka dwellings. Viewed from the outside, the whole building is divided into four buildings (main seats) and four bars (horizontal houses), showing a left-right and up-and-down symmetrical architectural style. There is a semicircular pond in front of the stone building, which forms a big oval with the whole house. The five turrets are condescending and domineering like five fierce warriors. The walls around the stone building are all made of strip granite, 8 cm thick and rock-solid. Seeing this, we can imagine that even in the event of war, when the door of the stone building is firmly closed, the stone building is still peaceful and peaceful.
According to people, the whole mansion covers an area of more than 7, square meters, with a building area of more than 4, square meters and a pond in front of it of more than 1, square meters. There are 18 large and small rooms, 36 patios, 2 large and small halls and three gatehouses in the house. Outside the door, the plaque "Dafudi" is hung horizontally, while at the second door, the plaque "Vice List" and "Wu Kui" are hung horizontally, and at the third door, the plaque "Dunyu Hall" is hung horizontally. Its architectural style is very different from that of ordinary Hakka dwellings. There are ear halls in the upper, middle, lower and left sides, and there are halls behind the halls, commonly known as north-south suites. The upper, middle and lower halls and foyer, stone pillars and seats, screen doorposts, stacked gold frames, wooden beams and eaves screens are all made of fine wood and stone, and they are still intact. Beams, columns, trusses and eaves are carved with dragons and painted with phoenixes, painted in red, yellow and blue, and carved with vivid patterns. The hall is separated from the horizontal house, and it is dark and damp when you are in it, which shows that its ventilation and lighting are very particular. There are also halls and rooms in the horizontal house, with upper, lower and middle corridors connected together. The halls in the house are connected, and the buildings are connected. Large round sleeve and small round sleeve overlap each other. If a stranger walks into the house, it is like entering a maze, knowing the entrance, but unable to find the door. There is a circle in the square of the whole building, and the circle is square, and the yin and yang match, which reflects the Hakka people's understanding of Yin and Yang Feng Shui in architecture. From the building materials, fine stone carvings, exquisite painters and hanging plaques, it shows that the owner was a rich family at that time.
there is also a sink on the left side of the gate building, and there are two deep wells next to it. It is said that this is a facility for fire prevention. There is a study on the left side of the gatehouse, which shows that the owner of the house was a man who knew books and respected education. According to Zhang's Genealogy, the owner's grandson, Zhang Chao, ranked sixth in the pilot test of Enke in Jiachen (24 years of Daoguang), and his great grandson, Zhang Debin, tried martial arts in Tongzhi for six years.
In the center of the top of the back flower terrace of the house, there is a century-old Cycas. It is said that when this house was completed, its grandson went to Beijing to take an examination and brought it back from the capital to plant it. Cycas has survived for a hundred years. Now, Cycas is about .2 meters in diameter and 2 meters in height. It is full of life with pinnate compound leaves. According to Zhang Fuchu, an 88-year-old man who lives in the house, Cycas once bloomed for the first time in January 1999, bearing large and small spores and leaves, which was really beautiful.
Up to now, there are touching and mythical legends about the building of this house.
legend 1. The ancestor of this homeowner is a native of Banling Village, Luogang, Xingning. He came to Lankou to run a small business in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. This man is a man who likes to visit Feng Shui. One day, when he visited Lecun, he felt that his eyes were wide open. He saw that this place was surrounded by mountains, and the mountains were winding. The stream in the village was crystal clear, with nine twists and turns flowing, with "carp on the beach" and "golden turtle guarding the water mouth" below. There was a majestic Jialong Mountain (chicken cage peak sunrise) in the northeast of the village, and half a ridge in the middle of the village. Faced with such a beautiful scenery, the public was greatly excited by poetry. With the word "Lecun" as the title, he chanted "Lecun has many beautiful scenery and few people in the village", praising Lecun for its beautiful scenery and outstanding people. Lecun got its name from this.
legend 2. Sun Jiehong (born in 1753, the 18th year of Qianlong in Qing Dynasty) moved to Lecun in accordance with the will of his ancestors, and began the arduous pioneering course. One day, Jie Honggong came back from ploughing, and the moon star was scarce. He was sitting in front of the house and enjoying the cool air. Suddenly, he saw three white horses running towards the southeast, and in a short time, they disappeared. Jie Honggong wondered for a moment, "Is it a silver ghost?" The next day, Jie Honggong kept quiet, went to the place where the white horse disappeared and finally dug up three cans of gold and silver treasures. As a result, Jie Honggong widely bought fields, opened three pawn shops and became a rich man. After this public outbreak, he kept a straight face and dressed in cloth. His uncle is a rich man in Kanghe Xiankeng, and he has a large-scale octagonal mansion. One day, Jie Honggong went to his uncle's house to visit the octagonal building and wanted to build a mansion. When someone saw him dressed like this, they immediately laughed at him and said, "You are so poor that you can afford to build such a big house"? Jie Honggong was silent and just laughed. After returning home, Jie Honggong immediately invited famous teachers and craftsmen to build a large house. It is said that the mansion was started in the late Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. After Jiaqing and Daoguang for more than ten years, the project took three generations of efforts to be fully completed.
Jie Honggong's grandparents and grandchildren inherited the virtues of their ancestors. They were hardworking, frugal, and respected education, and scattered in China and Taiwan Province. Most of the local residents have built new houses and moved out of the mansion. According to Zhang Fuchu, an 88-year-old man who still lives in the stone building, many descendants of Jiehonggong visit their ancestral houses every year.
The Four Corners Building embodies the characteristics of Hakka architecture and is a microcosm of Hakka culture.