The Former Residence of He Long
The former residence of He Long is an ordinary wooden house which faces south. It was built by He Long’s grandfather He Liang Shi in the Dao Guang period of the Qing Dynasty. Then He Long’s father He Shi Tao inherited it. He Long’s sister, brother and he were born in this place, and spent their childhood and adolescence here. Because of their large family, He Long’s father separated this house into six rooms with three boards. “The former residence of He Long” these words on the plaque were written by Deng Xiaoping. The room that is in the front of the central room was a hall which is the worship of God in the past, but now it places a bronze statue of He Long. The room that is behind the central room is the bedroom of He Long’s sister. On the left, there is the fire house. In the winter, the whole family would sit here to get warm by the fire, and they would also entertain the guests in this house. In the spring of 1916, He Long contacted 20 men to discuss the thing that attacked the Tax Bureau of Ba Mao Xi in the house. The room which is in the back of that house is the bedroom of He Long’ parents. The room on the right is the kitchen, and the room that is behind is He Long and his brother Wen Zhang’s bedroom. The bedroom displays beds, bedding, bed nets, wooden box, desk, chair, lamp holder and shoe basket, laundry bar and other commonly used objects. The building on the right of the former residence is the mule stables.
He long was once a horseman to make a living at the age of ten. Here He Long would keep the horse and mules. In 1919, built by He Long’s grandfather, the ordinary house was burned down by the reactionary. Shortly after, it was rebuilt by He Long’s father. Unfortunately, it was damaged by Chen Cexun again in 1925, and it was left only the groove of the door and a residual wall. In the period of the culture revolution, He Long was framed up; the rest wall was also destroyed. So the former residence of He Long that we see now was repaired by government funding in 1977, according to the former residence of the original appearance. In 1983, Hunan provincial government regarded the former residence of He Long as the key protection units of cultural relics.