aeeble

During the Qing Kangxi period, Lin's ancestors arrived in Taiwan's coastal community (now Shenkang District) to settle down. During the Tongzhi period, Lin Zhenfang played a crucial role in helping the Qing army suppress the Dai Chaochun incident. The Qing court awarded him the title of "Imperial Secretary" and a plaque. The Shekou Lin Residence was built during Lin Zhenfang's most prosperous period. Initially, it was a Wu-Zhang old house that was purchased and renovated. The initial scale was completed in 1875 (the first year of the Guangxu period). The dragon houses were added over a decade later as the family population grew. The entrance of the Shekou Lin Residence is a one-story building, three rooms wide, with a simple exterior. Upon entering the building, one can see the first hall after walking through a long corridor. The entrance of the hall uses a simple concave Shou pattern. The main hall also features a concave Shou design with a wide step corridor that provides a semi-outdoor living space. The courtyard floor is paved with bricks, arranged in various patterns, with the main pattern being the herringbone design, symbolizing "a thriving population, and everlasting life." The stone carvings in the Lin Residence are exquisite and rare in Qing dynasty civilian homes. Both the hall and main hall feature carved and decorated ground tigers (cabinet foot). The central door frame of the hall is engraved with "Dafu Di" (a noble's residence). The two sides of the corridor walls feature waterwheel blocks with richly colored and delicate Dutch-tile decorations. The walls separating the courtyard and side yards are primarily built with red bricks and a base of oval stones. The walls have gun slits for installing guns. In the main hall, a scroll-shaped plaque hangs above the door frame. Unfortunately, the text on the plaque has been lost. The walls feature delicate hexagonal wooden windows with four triangular carved bat decorations representing "bestowal of blessings." The offerings table and shrine in the main hall are from the same period and share similar carving styles and themes. The carvings on the offering table's legs are extremely delicate. The main hall's roof structure uses a type of pillar construction called "pier and column," and no瓜筒(Grass carp shape) were used. The paintings and calligraphy on the left and right walls are by refined literati. On the dragon houses on both sides, the carved decorations on the斗抱(beautiful Dou pou) feature crabs, which represent winning the second-class degree in the imperial examination. The Shekou Lin Residence's murals are also very exquisite and are the work of famous Taiwanese muralists Guo You Mei and Guo Ting Ke from Lukang. Their works are mostly found in central Taiwan's civilian homes and temples from the late Qing dynasty and are extremely valuable in Taiwan's art history.