Former Residence of Li Hengsheng

In the historic core of Shiping, across the street from Yuping Academy, stands the former residence of Li Hengsheng. Built during the Republican period, this grand compound occupies a footprint of 2,517 square meters. The estate is designed as a traditional three-entry courtyard with winding verandas connecting fourteen main rooms.

Li Hengsheng accumulated immense wealth from the tin mines of Gejiu, earning a reputation as a prominent industrialist. He directed his fortune toward public works, paving Shiping's streets with cool green flagstones and financing local schools. In 1937, he donated one million yuan to purchase a fighter plane for the war effort. His life ended in tragedy in 1941. Facing intense official pressure during a local dispute, he chose to end his life on the third floor of the Longpeng school he had funded, sacrificing himself to prevent ethnic violence between the Yi and Han communities.

His residence remains a physical record of this complex legacy. Visitors walk through a network of seventeen courtyards and lightwells, where sunlight filters down to illuminate the soft gleam of gilded pavilions. The wooden beams and window lattices bear the precise chisel marks of craftsmen who carved traditional flora, fauna, and folklore into the timber.

Today, the building houses the Ancient City Branch of the Shiping County Library. The scent of pine ink from stone rubbing workshops and the quiet rustle of thread-bound books fill the spaces where a tin giant once walked. Visitors can touch the carved lattices, trace the paths of the verandas, and contemplate the heavy price of peace paid by the home's original owner.