The Splendor of Lingnan | Dongguan Nanshe Ming and Qing Ancient Village: The ancient village exudes the charm of many springs and autumns

Dongguan Nanshe Ming and Qing Ancient Village: The ancient village exudes the charm of many springs and autumns. Nanshe Village covers an area of about 6.9 square kilometers, with a registered population of over three thousand people, making it one of the larger villages in the Chashan area and even in Dongguan. This ancient village still preserves 22 ancestral halls and over 200 ancient residences, which are rare architectural and cultural relics from the Ming and Qing Dynasties in the Pearl River Delta region. In Nanshe ancient village, during the Ming and Qing periods, talents emerged in great numbers, with 9 Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) appearing successively. The former residences of these Jinshi still preserve a large number of undamaged buildings and carvings of artistic value. Among them, the ancient walls built with rammed earth and red stone as the foundation, and the green brick-built watchtowers, as well as the traditional three-bay, three-entry courtyard layout of the Xie clan ancestral hall, are all highly representative buildings worth seeing. Baisui Fang was built to commemorate four centenarians, and this archway is simple and magnificent with its flying eaves and bucket arches. During the restoration of this archway, brick, wood, and carved mortise and tenon joints were used to maintain its original appearance as much as possible. The adjacent Baisui Weng Ancestral Hall was converted from an ancient house where a centenarian lived, as per his last wishes. Zizheng Residence was the mansion of Xie Yuanjun, a Jinshi during the Guangxu period who rose to the position of an official in the Ministry of Rites. This mansion is located on the waist of a small hill, with stone steps and railings that retain the grandeur of the past. The flower lintels of the two corridors are exquisitely beautiful, and the pendant flower door in the hall is carved with flowers and birds. The peacock tails and phoenix heads above protrude from the wood, lifelike.