Cui Ping Li Xu Cuo Introduction
Located in an alley off Cui Ping Road, the Xu Family Residence is the ancestral home of the late general manager of the Daqi Community Agricultural Association, Xu Quanxing. It was built around 1910 during the 43rd year of the Meiji era and features a two-story brick building with three main openings and a dragon façade. The second-floor balcony has green-glazed bottle-shaped railings, and both the first and second floors are adorned with numerous colorful tiles featuring different patterns. The building displays decorative elements commonly found in traditional architecture, such as figures of the Eight Immortals and stories from the Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars crafted in Tzi-keng pottery and painted scroll plaques. Notably, the building contains rare brick carvings that include figures and auspicious patterns. These brick carvings, along with the Tzi-keng pottery and painted scroll plaques, were created by Zhang Jiao, the father of the national treasure-level shadow puppet artist Zhang Decheng. Zhang Jiao, known as "Han Fan," was multi-talented and not only excelled in the field of shadow puppetry but also gained fame for his calligraphy, pottery, wood carving, brick carving, and Tzi-keng pottery works. Many of his works could once be seen on the buildings of prominent families in the former Daqi Township (now Daqi Community after the city-county merger), but unfortunately, most have been demolished and replaced.
