Lujia new house

Located in the suburb of Hengyang City, Lujia new house was built by Lu Chengzu (1838-1891) and completed in 1887. He is from Hengyang City, Hunan Province. Born in 1838, he buried his father at the age of 4. He was raised by his brother Lu Chengfu. Later, he joined Zeng Guofan's Xiang army in Hubei Province. He made many military contributions and was recommended as a named commander. He once led the army to zhengzuoying, jianjieying and jianjiezuoying of Xianghe division. He led the army to Chengsheng, Zuoying and Youying, and was awarded the rank of Zhenwei general. In 1891, Lu Chengzu died at the age of 54. As the ancient building is well preserved, it is now a tourist spot.

Lujia new house

Lujiaxinwu, located in the southwest of Hengyang City, was funded by Lu Chengzu (1838-1891) and completed in 1881. He is from Hengyang City, Hunan Province. Born in 1838, he buried his father at the age of 4. He was raised by his brother Lu Chengfu. Later, he joined Zeng Guofan's Xiang army in Hubei Province. He made many military contributions and was recommended as a named commander. He once led the army to zhengzuoying, jianjieying and jianjiezuoying of Xianghe division. He led the army to Chengsheng, Zuoying and Youying, and was awarded the rank of Zhenwei general. In 1891, Lu Chengzu died at the age of 54. As the ancient building is well preserved, it is now a comprehensive tourist attraction integrating patriotism education and national defense education. In 2006, Changsha Huxiang cultural relic protection and Development Engineering Co., Ltd. published an internal book about the renovation of Lujia new house, which is called the renovation and protection of Lujia new house in Hengyang Qing Dynasty. This book is full of pictures and text, and has comprehensive content. It is a valuable document with great reference value.

Related historical events

It is worth mentioning that during the Anti Japanese Hengyang war in the summer of 1944, this building was the headquarters of the Japanese kurase Regiment (133 regiment). According to relevant historical records, in the war against Hengyang, the Japanese regiment was responsible for attacking the garrison positions of Zhangjiashan and fengshushan, and the fighting was extremely cruel. In order to occupy these two positions, the Japanese army continued to use "sea of people tactics". Each time they charged, they used a small team, which was completely destroyed by the garrison in a short time. In the end, the Japanese army's corpse just filled the trench tens of meters deep, and they used the corpse as a ladder to continue to attack. After the end of the war, only more than 20 people remained intact in this 10000 strong coalition. Among the lost soldiers was a squadron of Taiwan's Gaoshan "volunteer army".

Hengyang Defense War Memorial

Lujiaxinwu, Hengyang defense war memorial hall, is a comprehensive Memorial Hall. It can not only watch and study the ancient residential buildings of late Qing Dynasty in southern Hunan, but also watch Hengyang defense war exhibition and receive patriotism education and national defense education. The scenic area covers a total area of 120 mu, which is composed of Lujia new house and national defense education square.

The west entrance of the scenic spot is along the Qingyou stone path, and we will soon see the main building - Lujia new house. The owner of the house is Lu Chengzu, a registered governor and Zhenwei general from Hengyang in Qing Dynasty. The new house was built in 1875 and completed in 1881, with a history of 137 years.

Standing in front of the new house, four horse head walls line up, cornice angle, smooth lines. The "horse head wall" with pink walls and black tiles has a style from the appearance, so it is not only one of the common forms of Huizhou architecture in southern China, but also an important modeling feature of Huizhou architecture. There was a saying of "horse head wall with small tiles and blue bricks, hanging lattice windows on the back" to summarize the architectural style of Huizhou in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Generally speaking, the beautiful horse head wall is mostly seen in the countryside, but in the prosperous city, the horse head wall is extremely rare and precious. Horse head wall not only has high aesthetic value, but also has important practical function. It has large volume and wide coverage. It can block the scorching sun in summer and the north wind in winter. At the same time, the residential building density is large, and it is made of wood structure, which is not conducive to fire prevention, and each wall stack of horse head wall is separated, which can block the spread of fire along the house, and play the role of isolating the fire source, so horse head wall is also known as "fire sealing wall". Therefore, the horse head wall has the function of fire prevention, sun protection and wind protection. You will also be curious, how can there be Huizhou architecture in southern Hunan? In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Huizhou merchants dominated the business for two or three hundred years. They were known as "no business without Huizhou". They were all over the country. They were good friends with Confucianism, officials and literati. They were a business group integrating officials, Jia and Confucianism. With the rise of gentry and commercial groups in Huizhou, Huizhou style gardens and residential buildings also took root in major cities and towns. All over the country spread its regional culture widely and became the unique Huizhou architecture in the north and south of the river.

The Matou wall of lujiaxinwu not only has the characteristics of Huizhou architecture, but also has the local characteristics of southern Hunan. It combines the topography and geomantic omen of southern Hunan and forms the folk houses in southern Hunan in the late Qing Dynasty. Close to the horse head wall, we can see that there are dozens of holes of different sizes on the horse head wall, and the largest one is about one meter in diameter. When did they stay? What kind of stories have happened here?

The original lujiaxinwu witnessed a painful history of Hengyang. During the Hengyang defense war in the summer of 1944, a cavalry unit of heilai Regiment (133 regiment) of the 68th division of the 11th army of the Japanese army entered Xinqiao group in the southwest suburb of Hengyang from the direction of Yumushan. After the fall of Changsha, the local villagers fled everywhere to avoid the killing of Japanese invaders. When the Japanese soldiers passed the ancient building, they broke into the west wing and occupied lujiaxinwu. It will live as a temporary command post for half a month. While living in Hengyang, the reconnaissance platoon of the 62nd army of the National Revolutionary Army, which was ordered to rescue Hengyang, found the enemy's trace here during the reconnaissance, and the two sides launched a fierce battle. After the Japanese troops inside the house were frightened, they didn't know how many national troops were coming outside. They were very worried. They burned the floor, the fine board and the carved windows in the three rooms, and raised smoke in the hope of sending out a distress signal to attract the Japanese troops to come to lujiaxinwu for reinforcement. After receiving the distress signal, the Japanese troops sent a plane to check the situation, circled around lujiaxinwu and swept the wall of the house As a result, bullet holes in the interior and exterior walls of the house are everywhere, and some of them are still clearly visible. Since then, with the reinforcement of the Japanese air force, the national army had to retreat, but the disturbed Japanese army also withdrew from lujiaxinwu. This ancient building has been destroyed by the war. In 2000, it became an empty house with no one to look after, which was overgrown with weeds and seriously damaged. In 2005, in order to further develop and utilize the patriotic education value of Lujia new house, the Lujia new house was restored. According to the principle of restoring the old with the old and repairing the old as the old, the historical original appearance of Lujia new house was restored. In 2007, Hengyang defense war memorial hall was built in the West Chamber of lujiaxinwu ancient building. The scenic spot is officially named as the memorial hall of Hengyang defense war - lujiaxinwu.

The Hengyang defense war memorial hall displays the historical facts and objects of the Anti Japanese war in the summer of 1944. Through the most authoritative and comprehensive pictures, charts and historical facts, it reproduces the heroic deeds of the army and the people of Hengyang in fighting against the Japanese aggressors. The theme of the exhibition is "loyal and strong national soul - the war of resistance against Japan and the battle of Hengyang.".

Architectural features

Lujiaxinwu, located 800 meters south of Huaxin bus station in Hengyang, was built in 1881 by Lu Chengzu (1838-1891), a registered governor and Zhenwei General of Hengyang in Qing Dynasty. Lujiaxinwu is located near the mountain and water, facing south. It is of brick and wood structure, with two entrances and four compartments, and the right side compartment. The landlord has a stable on the front. It is 80 meters long and 33 meters wide, covering an area of 2640 square meters. The central axis is divided into two parts from south to north. The first entrance is the trough gate, with horizontal wall, one layer of water chestnut brick protruding from the eaves, and the wall head is covered with small green tiles, and the two ends are warped; the trough gate is maroon sandstone. The second entrance is the main room, one deep, five wide, with a colonnade in front and a hall in the Ming Dynasty; the top of the hill is covered with small green tiles. Two into the courtyard. The wing rooms and stables are hard hilltops, covered with small green tiles and sealed with fire walls. There is a patio in the wing room, a temporary door in the south, and a embroidery building in the north of the right wing room. The stone and wood components of the new house, as well as the gables, eaves and windows, are respectively carved, painted and piled with auspicious patterns such as "red phoenix rising in the morning", "jade rabbit watching the moon", "happiness of fortune and longevity", "eight treasures of Bo Gu", rare birds and animals, figures and flowers, and Ruyi cloud pattern. The front porch of the main house is interspersed with the relief on both sides of the Fang. The craft is particularly exquisite, the design is gorgeous, and the preservation is also very good. It is a typical residential style of ancient buildings in southern Hunan.

historical value

Lu Xinzu house, 137 years ago, is one of the few existing ancient residential buildings in southern Hunan in Hengyang City. The ancestral houses are arranged according to the terrain, and the first treatment on the central axis is also adapted to local conditions, which is unique. The whole architectural decoration is very particular, with rich contents of wood carving, color painting and plastic stacking, and exquisite workmanship. Some of them can be regarded as fine arts, which are important material materials for studying the residential buildings and related issues in the late Qing Dynasty. The bullet marks and bullet holes on the south facing wall of the new house are not only a rare historical witness of the Anti Japanese Hengyang defense war in the summer of 1944, but also a criminal evidence of the Japanese invasion war against China. It is of great value and significance to warn people not to forget national humiliation and to think of danger in times of peace.

Quality improvement and transformation

The upgrading project of Lujia new house is about to come to an end, and it will be basically completed at the end of September 2016

Chinese PinYin : Lu Jia Xin Wu