welcome!

introduction to kang bai-wan's mansions
kang bai-wan's(kang the millionaire) is a general designation to the family of kang ying-kui since ming dynasty and qing dynasty,and is well-known in china after the queen cixi entitled it.

the family of kang ying-kui was affluent for 12 generations lasting over 400 years from the 6th ancestor kang shao-jing to the18th ancestor kang ting-lan. among a dozen of kang bai-wans in history-such as kang da-yong, kang dao-ping, kang hong-you --kang ying-kui was the most representative one.basing on the achievement of his forebears, kang ying-kui made fortune by showing his loyalty to the court in repressing the bailianism(white-lotus religion).the family of kang ying-kui was in fashion for a period:its wealth was the omst outstanding in the regions far and near ; its cargo was shuttled in all the river coursee; its glebe reached to the sum of 180,000 mu.the family was so rich that people said:starting from jing-yang or xi-an and stopping at lin-yi or ji-nan, even if traveling 1,000 li,you are still in kang's land.kang bai-wan got rich through river transportation and field harvest, and achieved his glory through "contribution" to the court: he gained largessetime and again from the court, and was nor once conferred the rank of zhifu by the emperor himself and the utmost rank to the third degree. during the times of ming and qing, people acknowledged that the three"living mammons"were kang bai-wan, shen wan-san, and ruan zi-lan. during the time of min-guo, the saying "eastern liu, western zhang, betwwen them is lord kang" showed that kang bai-wan was recognized as one of the three wealthiest persons in the central plains. in 1960s-70s,kang bai-wan's mansions (hennan province), liu wen-cai's(sichuan),and mou er-hei's (shandong)were known as the three largest mansions in china. the news that kang bai-wan's mansions,as the first one of the three ,is to open to the public spreads in henan and all over china.

kang bai-wan's mansions represents the 1600-1700is architecture art of north china loess altiplano fendal fortrdess. its site is harmonious and natural with the environment, cave-houses by the hills. buildings beside roads. docks on rivers, fortress walls on steeps. it is such a large-scale landlord mansions that each part of it is a system, all functions are prepared, positions are

precise, grades are strict,it reflects various various styles of peasant, official,and merchant.its stone-carvings, wood-carvings and brick-carvings are praised as wonderful flowers of zhongyuan arts.the mansions consists of 19 part, occupying land more than 240 mu.the main 10 remaining part are residence section, lodging section, workshop section, south grand yard, ancestral temple section,and so on, including 33 yards,53 storied buildings,97 bungalows,73 cave-houses, altogether 571 rooms, construction area is 64,300 square meters.in june,1963 the henan people's government publicized it as a key cultural relic to be prltected,and in june,2001 the state department publcized it as one of the nation's key cultural relics.
now the residence section in the fortress being exhibited is just part of the whole exhibition,mainly about kang bai-wan's up-and-down history and some objects. welcome to here and to grant instructions!