Investigation of Hakka Dwellings in Meizhou —— Cai's Former Residence

Cai's former residence is located in Jinxing Village, Song Yuan Town, Meixian District. It was founded by Zu Shifu in Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty, expanded by the Fourth Zugong, and has been renovated many times in the past dynasties. According to the survey, the former residence is a traditional Hakka Longwei with two halls, two horizontal walls and one circumference, with grey tile surface and civil stone structure, covering an area of 1500 square meters and a construction area of 800 square meters. The main house is a courtyard with simple layout, with only upper and lower halls and left and right wing rooms. There is a concierge on each side of the gate, surrounded by the left and right horizontal rooms and the half-moon dragon paddock behind. In the early days, it was a typical Longwei house in Hakka area. From south to north, there are Banyuetan, Heping, Gatehouse, Inner Courtyard, Lower Hall, Patio, Upper Hall, Rongtai and Banyuelongwei in turn. The gable in the lower hall is engraved with "loyalty, filial piety, honesty and thrift". There is a local saying that "before the Song and Yuan Dynasties, there was Cai Wu". Cai's former residence is the oldest existing Hakka residence in Meizhou and one of the oldest residential buildings in Hakka areas in eastern Guangdong. Now it is listed as the second batch of cultural relics protection units in Meizhou.

Cai (1245- 1276), a famous patriotic poet in the Southern Song Dynasty, was born in a scholarly family. His grandfather Cai and his father Cai Dingfu are both scholars. Cai 12-year-old boy scout, Chen Bing Jinshi for four years (1256). He is called a "child prodigy scholar", and Cai's "one son and three generations" rarely appears.

According to the Records of Jiaying County in Qing Dynasty, Cai 12 was admitted as a scholar, and was awarded the posts of politician Di Gong Lang, Shaozhou secretariat and judicial officer, Meizhou signing governor and militia commander. In Old Tongzhi in Guangdong, Cai is as famous as Cheng Lian in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Han Yu in the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Jiuling, Liu Yuancheng in the Northern Song Dynasty, Di Qing, Wen Tianxiang in the Southern Song Dynasty and a famous anti-Qing scholar in the late Ming Dynasty, and is known as one of the eight saints in ancient Guangdong.

In the first year of Jingyan (1276), the Yuan army attacked Meizhou. In order to strengthen the military equipment, Cai donated his salary and family property to enrich his salary, led the rebel army to fight bloody battles, tried his best to defend the country, and was finally captured because of aid. Cai denounced: "I only know that loyal monarch serves the country and I don't want to live in slavery." I vowed to die bravely, only 32 years old. In March of the following year, Wen Tianxiang recovered Meizhou. In order to commemorate this anti-Yuan hero, later generations built the Seven Immortals Hall, Seven Immortals Pavilion and Cai Monument in Meicheng and Songkou.

Yang to Yin, Yin to Yang, copulation between men and women and Yang Gong's mysterious geomantic omen have been fully used in the architectural design of the former residence. "The proud language of the green bag" says: "Women and men meet in the mysterious sky. Men and women, Kong Xuan divination push inside. " Cai's former residence sits close to the direction of the turtle peak, and the divination is shocking. Xuantian is greedy for wolves, and it is a prosperous time of one yuan, three yuan and six yuan. Ding Chang's article was published and all the houses were built. The main reason should be people who belong to rats, cows, snakes and chickens. Cai, born in 1245, is a snake. He was 12 years old (1256) and it was during the Sixth National Games (1234- 1257) that he became a scholar. By analogy with the rise and fall of the Yuan Dynasty, it can be seen that "one scholar and three generations" is just the magical effect of the former residence when the Yuan Dynasty was lucky.