[Xianning City, Hubei Province ~ Liujiabao, the "Best Village in Hubei"]
The establishment of Liujiabao Village began in the late Ming Dynasty. It was founded by descendants of Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, and his paternal half-brother. From Liu Bang onward, the village continued to thrive until the Southern Dynasties period.
Among the Liu ancestors in the village, a total of 36 emperors emerged. Currently, nearly 10,000 descendants of the Liu family reside there. Therefore, the village is rightfully known as the "Imperial Village." This status, unattainable by other villages, is the historical asset that the people of Liujiabao are most proud of.
The entire ancient village consists of four clusters of Ming and Qing Dynasty residential buildings. There are currently over 2,000 rooms of varying sizes, 38 corridors, 54 courtyards, and one covered bridge and one stone arch bridge. The village is also a well-known scholarly family. According to preliminary statistics, from dozens of families in the village, there have been two *juren* (provincial graduates), four *gongsheng* (imperial college students), six *xiangsheng* (county school students), and 23 *xiucai* (qualified candidates for the imperial examination). The entire clan was very prominent in the Jiangnan region and has been known as the "Mo Zhuang Family" since ancient times.
In addition, the nearby Yuyuan Garden was the residence of Wang Mingfan, a magistrate in the late Qing Dynasty. This ancient residential building is grand in scale and is one of the largest existing single ancient residential buildings. It has extremely high cultural relic value and tourism development value, and can be visited together with the ancient residences of Liujiabao.
In short, Liujiabao Village is not just a village, but a "historical theme park." Visiting not only allows you to see ancient architecture, but also to claim an emperor as a relative. Why not give it a try?