A rusted 1930s basketball hoop still hangs near the entrance of the Dajing Zhang Clan Ancestral Hall. It marks the moment this 1756 Qing Dynasty structure shifted from a quiet lineage shrine into a center of wartime resistance. Built during the Qianlong reign, the 578-square-meter complex follows a classic three-entry, three-exit layout. Square granite eaves columns support the heavy roof, while massive round Kun-dien wood pillars anchor the central hall.

In 1937, a local villager named Zhang Zhihong opened the Rongshan Primary School within these walls, offering free education to neighborhood children. The hall quickly became Huangge’s first anti-Japanese propaganda base. Progressive intellectuals gathered in the shadows of the carved wooden doors. The writer Chen Canyun taught classes here and composed his poetry collection, Singer Under the Iron Heel, to inspire local resistance. The school operated until 1938, when Japanese bombs forced its closure.

The building survived the explosions. Today, visitors can trace the survival of Lingnan architectural traditions across its surfaces. Brick carvings of traditional opera characters decorate the corbels, and faded murals of similar theatrical scenes line the corridor walls. High above the central hall, a wooden plaque bears the carved characters for Yiwen Hall.

Walking across the original bluestone pavement, visitors experience the physical weight of history. The cold granite, the dark Kun-dien wood, and the lingering presence of a wartime schoolyard together hold the memory of a community that repeatedly rebuilt itself from the ashes.