A well-preserved large-scale ancient Hakka private residence of Qing Dynasty, Luo Jia Da Wu (big house of family Luo), was found in Maolan village, Longgang She nationality township in Yongfeng county in south China's Jiangxi province recently. According to the pedigree of local clan, the residence, originally named "Yuan Shan Tang", was built in A.D. 1784 by a wealthy merchant Luo Shiyuan. The resident, which took him six years to complete, has gone through more than 200 years.

It is said that the residence features typical Hakka construction style. The bigger house has a length of 110 metres and width of 50 metres, covering an area of 5,000-plus square metres. Except foyers and verandas, there are also 6 halls, 99 rooms as well as 10 small yards. The thresholds, doorframes and door piers, made of stone, are of superlative craftsmanship. The inner wall, built with gray-green bricks, was neat and smooth. The upturned eaves of the building was of dougong structure (sets of brackets on top of the columns supporting the beams within and roofs eaves without, each set consisting of tiers of outstretching arms called gong, cushioned with trapezoidal blocks called dou).

Painting of various styles could be seen on the eaves: gateway arches, window lattices as well as the wall of verandas decorated with dragons and phoenix, underground drains inside and open drains outside connecting with each other to ensure the clear drainage, the three-dimensional patterns on the buildings' sunk panels being of uncanny workmanship. According to the experts, this ancient residence is of typical Hakka style, and of great importance in researching Hakka buildings and folk customs and culture.

By People's Daily Online