Liukeng Old Village 流坑古村

About Liukeng Old Village

The village prospered in the Song through examination success, when the Dong clan is remembered for producing five jinshi in a single year (1034), an event commemorated by a 'Five Cassia' memorial arch that the Ming traveller Xu Xiake noted on his visit; it flourished again in the Ming and Qing through schooling, genealogy compilation and the timber trade. Its present plan dates from the mid-Ming, when the clan laid out seven east-west lanes and one north-south lane, each branch of the family living in its own lane behind a gate-tower, with walls linking the towers, cobbled surfaces and drainage.

Some 260 Ming and Qing buildings and sites survive within the 3.61-square-kilometre village, among them 19 from the Ming, 48 ancestral halls, 14 study buildings, five memorial arches and eight temples, together with wells, pavilions, a wharf and bridges. Houses are brick-and-timber, a storey and a half high and typically two bays deep around a courtyard, plain in form but richly worked in wood, brick and stone carving, and the village preserves 682 inscribed plaques and couplets. The brick-carved murals of the Ming Huaide Hall and the 'qilin gazing at the sun' relief on the Yongxiang Hall screen wall are singled out as masterpieces, while the ruined great ancestral hall retains five granite columns eight metres tall. Liukeng was named among China's first historic and cultural villages in 2003.

What to look for

• The mid-Ming street grid of seven east-west and one north-south lanes with their gate-towers
• The brick-carved murals of the Ming Huaide Hall, a rebus of sparrow, deer, bee and monkey for rank and title
• The five eight-metre granite columns of the ruined great ancestral hall
• The screen wall of Yongxiang Hall with its 'qilin gazing at the sun' relief
• Named survivals such as the Zhuangyuan Tower, Hanlin Tower, Wudang Pavilion, Wenguan and the Three Officials Hall

Location & getting there

Getting to Liukeng Old Village

Identify the main visitor approach and any separately managed houses, museums or performances. Ask before entering residential spaces or photographing residents.

• Search for 流坑古村 with 抚州市 and 乐安县.