Going to!! Gongyi_Kangbaiwan Manor!!!

The Luo River meanders past the west of Gongyi City, and on its banks lies Kangdian Village, where the typical feudal fortress-style building complex Kangbaiwan Manor is located. Because it backs onto Mang Mountain and faces the Luo River, it is known as the 'Golden Turtle Probing the Water.' Speaking of Kangbaiwan, many friends might be curious, who is Kangbaiwan? The so-called 'Kangbaiwan' refers to the manor owner Kang Yingkui, who twice hung the golden signboard 'Thousands of Acres of Good Land,' with land and shops spread across eight counties in Shandong, Shaanxi, and Henan provinces, earning him the title of 'Millionaire.' Later, when Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu returned to Beijing, they passed by Kangdian. The Kang family funded and supervised the construction of Heishiguan, the county town, the official palace, and the 'Dragon Kiln,' spending over 1 million taels of silver and donating another 1 million taels to the Qing court, earning fame from Empress Dowager Cixi. Therefore, 'Kangbaiwan' here does not specifically refer to one person but is a collective term for Kang Dayong, Kang Yingkui, Kang Jiande, and other members of the Kang family since the Ming and Qing dynasties. Speaking of this, some friends might be curious about the concept of the Kang family's assets. During the Republic of China period, there was a saying, 'East Liu (Liu Xiaowu), West Zhang (Zhang Fang), and in between, Old Kang (Kang family),' referring to the three great wealthy families of the Central Plains. To be more specific, there was another saying, 'Head resting on Jingyang, Xi'an, feet stepping on Linyi, Jinan; horses running a thousand miles without eating other people's grass, people traveling a thousand miles all on Kang family land.' Moreover, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, Kangbaiwan, along with Shen Wansan and Ruan Zilan, were known as the three 'Living Gods of Wealth' in Chinese folklore. These aspects highlight their financial power, and even more remarkable is that the Kang family maintained their wealth for twelve generations over more than four hundred years, demonstrating the difficulty of maintaining wealth, the strictness of family discipline, and the firmness of their will. Currently, the main preserved parts of Kangbaiwan Manor include the main residential area, warehouse area, South Courtyard, ancestral hall area, and ten other sections. Its architectural style is fortress-like (buildings along the street, cave dwellings against the mountain, docks by the river, and fortified walls), retaining the forms of Loess Plateau dwellings and northern quadrangles, while incorporating features of official residences, gardens, and military fortresses. Unlike the styles of Shanxi merchants (such as the Qiao Family Compound), Huizhou merchants (such as Huizhou Merchant Mansions), and guilds, it is the most unique ancient architectural group among Central Plains dwellings. 🌟Core highlights within the manor: First-class stone-carved door threshold stones according to national stone carving grading standards, a golden nanmu wood-carved canopy bed that took over 17,000 hours to complete, the Wang family stone-carved archway, the Kang Lin three-stele pavilion of brick carvings, the chastity archway built with imperial permission during the Qing Dynasty, the moon-worship table embodying family traditions, and the 'Leave Some' plaque, one of China's famous plaques; as well as items and places reflecting the Kang family's wealth, such as the riverboat, the large abacus, and the gold and silver vault. Among these, I find the two most meaningful artifacts to be the 'Leave Some' plaque and the moon-worship table, as the family teachings inscribed on these artifacts are the epitome of the Kang family's ability to maintain wealth for fourteen generations. The 'Leave Some' plaque, now hanging in the main residential area of Kangbaiwan Manor, is a family teaching plaque for educating the Kang family's descendants. It is also a concentrated embodiment of the Confucian doctrine of the mean, 'Do not exhaust your wealth, do not exhaust your power.' The 'Leave Some' plaque has a unique shape, resembling an unfolded flag with a concave top and convex bottom. The concave top signifies 'leaving some for the heavens,' being accountable to the court; the convex bottom signifies 'leaving some for the earth,' being accountable to the people and descendants. The plaque contains seventy-four characters, with the main text reading: 'The Taoist of Leaving Some inscribed four maxims: Leave some skill, do not exhaust it, to return to nature; leave some salary, do not exhaust it, to return to the court; leave some wealth, do not exhaust it, to return to the people; leave some blessings, do not exhaust them, to return to the descendants. For nature abhors excess, and things done to the extreme often lead to regret.' The moon-worship table is located within the Kang family courtyard, with a mirror embedded in the ground below the table and an inscription on the bottom of the table (the back side): 'A stubborn stone, who says it has spirit? Who knows that after carving, it can reveal its true nature. Scrape off the dirt and polish it, its edges and corners are like jade. The pillars above and below are like hills, the shape and form reflect the virtue...' This teaches the descendants to understand poetry and propriety. The ingenious design lies in the correspondence between the mirror and the inscription, and the mirror's correspondence with the bright moon. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, when the Kang family worships the moon at the moon-worship table, the moonlight shines on the mirror, and the host instructs the descendants to look at the inscription in the mirror, reminding them to pass on the family tradition through poetry and books, strive for progress, maintain wealth with difficulty, and be humble. In summary, if you come to Henan for Zhengzhou, Luoyang, or Kaifeng, I would recommend you visit Gongyi. Kangbaiwan Manor is well worth it, and the nearby Gongyi Grottoes are also very worthwhile! ☑️Location: 3 kilometers west of Gongyi Railway Station, recommended to take a taxi ☑️Ticket: 50 yuan, open year-round 8:30-18:00 ☑️Cultural relic level: National key cultural relic protection unit (built in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties) ☑️Surrounding cultural relics: Gongyi Grottoes (national protection, one of China's top ten grottoes) Reference: 'Decoding Kangbaiwan Manor,' 'Research on Kangbaiwan Manor'