Why is Hongcun called a ghost town?

Hongcun Town was called Hongcun in ancient times. In the first year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty, Wang Yanji, the ancestor of Hongcun, suffered a fire.

hongcun town

My family went upstream from Shu Qi Village in Yixian County and built thirteen houses in Leigangshan area, which is the beginning of Hongcun Village. Wang Yanji built Suiyang Pavilion at the entrance of the village as a landmark building.

With the development of feudal economy and the prosperity of culture, Huizhou, as the birthplace of Neo-Confucianism, reached its peak. Wang's ancestors were overseas officials and businessmen, who accumulated a lot of money and wealth. For the glory of their ancestors, they bought fields and houses in their hometown and built bridges and paved the way.

From the first year of Hongxi in Emperor Renzong of Ming Dynasty to the 24th year of Wanli in Ming Shenzong, Hongcun built ancestral halls and temples such as Xuletang, Taizi Temple and Zhengyitang with the layout of "Dongtu Road System (Longpai Temple), Southern Soil Water System (Populus davidiana and Ginkgo biloba), Northern Soil System (Fulei hazel forest) and Western Soil Buddhism System (Guanyin Pavilion), and gradually formed a Hongcun.