Gong's Ancient House Introduction
Proceeding along the Elderly Road in front of the Chen Family Ancestral House and turning right at the first fork, you will soon discover another ancient building, the more complete and elegantly rustic Gong Family Ancestral House. About a hundred years ago, the ancestors of the Gong family, four brothers, migrated from Tuku Village in Ligang Township, Pingtung County, to settle in Elderly Village. The ancestral house is a traditional three-part courtyard structure, covering an area of around 3.3 hectares, with a total of thirty rooms that are interconnected. In the center of the front yard is an altar dedicated to Guanyin, and in the center of the rear yard is the ancestral hall where the Gong family worships their ancestors. The beams and columns of the Gong family's building are made from "Fujian fir," which has remained sturdy for over a hundred years. The walls are about 36 cm thick, constructed entirely from a mixture of stone and lime, with no cement used. The gates and walls are adorned with carvings of auspicious symbols such as landscapes, dragons, phoenixes, qilins, and cranes, which have withstood the test of time and remain vivid after a century of storms. The walls above the windows are sculpted in the shape of books, inscribed with poetry, and each window features different content, with the handwriting still clearly visible today. The floors of the front and back yards are paved with red bricks in a diamond pattern to prevent cracking, demonstrating the scientific aspects of the architecture.
