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The Zhuang Gongsheng Ancient House

2025-09-02
886-2-24932631
新北市雙溪區梅竹蹊67號
Scholar Zhuang Ting-can’s ancestral home was in Guiyang Township, Nanjing, Zhangzhou, Fujian. His great-grandfather Zhuang Chao-xin moved to Taiwan in 1756; his father, Zhuang Yuan-zhu, settled in Shuangxi in 1851 (first year of the Xianfeng reign), founding a household that combined farming with study. Zhuang Ting-can passed the xiucai examination in 1877 (third year of the Guangxu reign) and was made a stipend student in 1888 (fourteenth year of Guangxu). To avoid the Japanese army he returned to Zhangzhou in 1895 (the Yimou year), sat for the provincial gongshi examination there in 1901 (twenty-seventh year of Guangxu), and afterward came back to spend his later years in Shuangxi. After becoming a xiucai he opened a private school called “Plum and Bamboo Garden” near his home, teaching Confucian classics and training talented youths. During the Japanese period locals referred to him as a “remnant elder of the Qing.” His elder brother Jin-bo also entered the gongshi rank; the two brothers’ academic success earned them great respect, so the “Zhuang-gongsheng” family is closely linked to local historical development, traditional Confucian education, and cultural growth. This century-old residence is a classic Minnan-style building, still inhabited in Shuangxi District. Its overall structure has scarcely changed; even the interior walls have received no modern decorative treatment, fully revealing the original stone masonry. Though weathered by time, the exterior carvings remain distinct, especially the camellia relief on the left wing that symbolizes blooming wealth—well preserved and well worth seeing. The Zhuang-gongsheng residence sits opposite the Camellia Zhuang Educational Farm.
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