Julong Village, Guangzhou, Guangdong: Lingnan style hidden in the busy city

[Enter the beautiful countryside]

Guangming Daily reporter Tang Yige, Wu Chunyan, Guangming Daily correspondent Tian Zhihong

First arrived in Guangzhou, Guangdong. People are always attracted by its bustling traffic and bustling markets, but little do they know that hidden in the bustling city is an ancient village with a history of more than a hundred years.

On the south bank of the Pearl River in Baietan, cross the Yuling Bridge, an ancient bridge from the Qing Dynasty, and then go up several hundred meters along Dachongkou to reach Julong Ancient Village. Passing through the archway and small square at the entrance of the village, rows of Guangfu houses with blue bricks and gray tiles come into view. These unique Lingnan-style village courtyards are one of the most complete existing Qing Dynasty ancient buildings in Guangzhou.

The quiet streets and alleys in Julong Ancient Village. Photographed by Tang Yige/Guangming Pictures

The river is surrounded by ribbons, ancient trees are decorated like jade, and among the blue bricks and gray tiles, past stories seem to echo quietly. There were once 21 residential buildings in Julong Village, and 19 are now well preserved. Their layout is facing south, divided into three rows in the front, middle and back, and arranged in the shape of a \”well\”. In this way, the overall building complex takes on an almost square shape, and the streets and alleys are neat and orderly, showing a unique sense of order. The buildings in the whole village are of brick and wood structure, with hard tops, gray tube tiles, and blue brick stone foundations. They not only have Lingnan characteristics, but also draw on Western design concepts at that time; in terms of architectural elements, they not only incorporate the traditional lattice of Guangfu residential buildings. Doors, brick carvings, plaster sculptures, as well as tiles, iron window bars, stained glass, etc. imported from abroad, can be said to be a fusion of Chinese and Western styles with a unique style.

Quietly embedded in YouyouJulong Village on the edge of the clear water is not just a name for nothing, but is indeed the place where \”dragons gather and tigers crouch\” and many famous people have come out. In today\’s No. 4 Julong Village, there once lived Kuang Qizhao, a modern Guangdong newspaper giant and the first Chinese to compile an English-Chinese dictionary. He lived here with his family for 20 years and wrote books here in his later years. The English series of books he compiled, such as \”The Comprehensive Chinese-English Dictionary\”, are must-read books for Westernizationists. They are well received by all walks of life and sell well in Southeast Asia and North America. There are also the famous \”golden tycoon\” Kuang Hengshi, well-known businessmen Kuang Mingjue and Kuang Wuchen, etc. Their old residences are still preserved in the village.

It must be mentioned that Julong Village was once called \”Kuang Family Village\” and was jointly built by the Kuang family, whose ancestral home is Cangxia Village, Chongyun Township, Taishan County, Guangdong.

In the early years of Guangxu\’s reign in the Qing Dynasty, the Kuang clan in Taishan discussed going to Guangzhou to do business and build a new village to develop their business. The clan leader appointed Kuang Wuchen, who had been doing business in Guangzhou for many years, to find a suitable place in the suburbs of Guangzhou. After more than a year of searching, Kuang Wuchen selected this treasure land with abundant water, fertile land and convenient transportation. Kuang purchased 200 acres of land and built a village, of which 100 acres were used for residence and 100 acres were used as cultivated land. In the fifth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1879), construction of the village began, and it took ten years to complete. During the construction of the foundation, spring water gushed out of the red sandstone layer. The Feng Shui master said it was \”dragon bleeding\”, so it was named \”Julong\”.

What’s interesting is that at that time, these houses were built contiguously and uniformly. After the houses were built, the Kuang clan members priced and subscribed them. It was quite similar to today’s real estate development and can be regarded as the prototype of modern real estate. .

Around the 1930s, the descendants of the Kwong family immigrated to Hong Kong, China, the United States, Britain, Malaysia, Brazil and other countries to escape the war, leaving only a small number of relatives or servants to take care of the ancestral home and watch the building. The buildings collapsed, walls were demolished, and most of the remaining buildings fell into disrepair and dilapidated due to lack of care.

In recent years, Guangzhou government departments at all levels have continuously strengthened the protection and restoration of Julong Village, restoring and rebuilding the Julong Village Square and the Kuang Family School. Chongkou Street in Liwan District, guided by the implementation of the \”High-quality Development Project of Hundreds of Counties, Thousands of Towns and Tens of Thousands of Villages\”, used \”embroidery\” efforts to repair the watchtower of Julong Village, transforming and improving the water quality and waterfront environment of Dachongkou Chung. With the continuous beautification of the surrounding environment, cultural and tourism resources such as B&Bs, cultural creativity, and intangible cultural heritage crafts have begun to gather in Julong Village. The existing 19 traditional buildings have already housed restaurants, film and television creations, cultural and creative design, paper flower decorations, and cheongsam customization. Waiting for 10 companies. Injecting new content into ancient buildings has given the once dilapidated ancient villages new vitality and popularity. The collision of Lingnan style and literary atmosphere has also attracted more and more tourists.

Today, the small square of Julong Village, with its leisurely ancient charm and shaded by green leaves, is the favorite leisure place for residents around Dachongkouyong. \”Julong Village is beautiful after restoration! I come here to play almost every day.\” Granny Chen, who is in her 70s, told reporters with a smile that Chongkou Street organized a \”New Year Happy Walking\” activity some time ago, starting from the small square of Julong Village. And she is the oldest contestant.

Walking along the white granite paths of Julong Village, the blue bricks, gray tiles and brick murals reveal a long and rich history; and not far away along the Pearl River, there is a world-class central business district—— The planning and construction of Baietan Central Business District is in full swing, and buildings are rising from the ground. The charm of Lingnan and the prosperity of the city are just around the corner. The old city has new vitality; the old residential buildings have a new look. What a beautiful picture of the intertwining of tradition and modernity!

\”Guangming Daily\” (Page 03, February 11, 2024)

Source: Guangming.com – \”Guangming Daily\”