Hong Xiuquan Former Residence 洪秀全故居

About Hong Xiuquan Former Residence

Hong Xiuquan Former Residence (洪秀全故居) is the rebuilt family home of Hong Xiuquan (洪秀全), leader of the Taiping movement (太平天国运动), in Guanlubu (官禄㘵), Dabu village (大㘵村), Huadu District (花都区), Guangzhou (广州). The Huadu government lists it as the district's only site under national-level protection.

The Guangzhou government says the family moved here soon after Hong was born in Fuyuanshui village (福源水村), also in Hua County (花县); he later studied, taught and farmed here and began his early anti-Qing activity. The house dates from the Jiaqing era of the Qing dynasty. In 1854, after the Taiping had set up their capital at Tianjing (天京), Qing troops burned the house, the village school and the Hong clan hall. The clan raised money to rebuild the hall in 1911. The house was rebuilt on its original wall footings after excavation, following local Hakka house forms; the village school was restored with it and opened to visitors in 1961. The site was placed on the national protection list in 1988 and rated an AAA scenic area in 2005.

The house is a single row of six joined rooms, a hall and five others, built of mud brick, timber and tile and facing south; Hakka people call the layout "five dragons crossing the ridge" (五龙过脊). It measures 16.5 m by 5.5 m, and its rooms have no windows. The westernmost room is thought to be where Hong and his wife Lai Lianying (赖莲英) lived in their early years, and the birthplace of the "Young Heavenly King" (幼天王), Hong Tianguifu (洪天贵福); the next room, said to be his parents', hangs portraits of Hong's great-great-grandparents with a eulogy written by Hong. Guo Moruo (郭沫若) wrote the name plaques of the house and the school.

East of the house stands the Study Pavilion (书房阁), the village school, a three-bay building facing west, with 18 sets of desks and chairs gathered from nearby villages and a pair of granite lions dug up at the site in 1951. The Hong Clan Hall (洪氏宗祠) lies to the west. Across a lane, a 3 m by 5 m wall base marks the home of Hong Rengan (洪仁玕), Hong Xiuquan's clansman. A memorial hall in Lingnan style, opened in 2014 behind the statue of Hong on the square, holds a ten-part exhibition on Hong and the Taiping.

What to look for

• The rebuilt six-room Hakka house, including the room thought to be the birthplace of Hong Tianguifu
• Portraits of Hong's great-great-grandparents with a eulogy by Hong
• The Study Pavilion (书房阁), the village school where Hong studied and taught
• The Hong Clan Hall (洪氏宗祠), rebuilt by the clan in 1911
• Longan trees said to have been planted by Hong Xiuquan
• The wall base of Hong Rengan's (洪仁玕) former home
• The 2014 memorial hall with its exhibition on Hong and the Taiping

Location & getting there

Getting to Hong Xiuquan Former Residence

• Search for 洪秀全故居 with 广州市 and 花都区.