Gu Family Residence

The Gu Family Residence is located on Gu Family Old Lane in Baipu Town. It was designated a Nantong Municipal-level Cultural Relic Protection Unit by the People’s Government of Nantong City in 2004.

First built in the early Ming Dynasty, the residence underwent renovations over successive dynasties. Facing south with its back to the north, the complex consists of an eastern courtyard and a western courtyard. The outer courtyard contains two rows of buildings. The gate hall, integrated with a three-story library with four rooms, sits at the southeast of the entire compound. Behind it stands a three-room study supported by seven beams, with a blue-brick paved courtyard skylight in the middle. The Gu clan had long been a scholarly literary family since the Ming Dynasty, and the outer courtyard originally served as their private academy. In the 20th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1755), the Gu Putao Private School was founded here and operated for more than 200 years. The inner courtyard features a three-room main hall built in the through-rafter gable roof style.

The whole residence boasts an unsophisticated architectural style and an unconstrained layout with unique charm. A variety of study and daily utensils dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties are still preserved on site. The building covers a construction area of 190 square meters, and it is still inhabited by descendants of the Gu family today.