Hello everyone, today we come to the largest mansion of a wealthy Chinese businessman in the late Qing Dynasty. The owner of this mansion is Hu Xueyan. His life is full of legends and he can be called the Great Chinese Gatsby. In the video, you can see the garden "Zhiyuan" with its rugged rocks and ingenious workmanship. The rockery is the largest existing artificial cave in China. Entering the mansion, the winding corridors and dark alleys, pavilions, courtyards, cliffs and rockeries, small bridges and flowing water, red doors and purple doors, and exquisitely carved gates make people feel like they have entered a big maze. Wood carvings, brick carvings, stone carvings, sculptures, and paintings are all of high quality. The two exquisitely crafted mahogany official sedan chairs in the sedan hall are worth admiring.

The following information will help you learn more about this luxury home:

Hu Xueyan's former residence is located in Hangzhou City. It was built in 1872 and completed in 1875, which took three years. It costs about three million taels of silver and covers an area of 10.8 acres, about 7,230 square meters. The construction area is 5815 square meters. The entire building is ingeniously designed and the materials used are extremely sophisticated. A large number of high-end wood decorations such as rosewood, rosewood, rosewood, ginkgo, and golden nanmu are used for decoration. There are exquisite brick carvings, wood carvings, stone carvings, gray sculptures, etc., and some Western architectural elements.

Hu Xueyan, a native of Hangzhou, was a famous red-top businessman in my country during the late Qing Dynasty. Born in 1823 and died in 1885 at the age of 62. When he was young, he worked as an apprentice at Kaitai Bank in Hangzhou. Later, he founded Fukang Bank on his own with the support of Wang Youling, the governor of Zhejiang Province. For his contribution to helping Zuo Zongtang, he was commended by the court and given the title of Chief Envoy. Wear a yellow jacket. In his heyday, Hu Xueyan, in addition to running banks, also dealt in grain, pawns, real estate, import and export of arms, raw silk, etc. In 1874, he founded the Hu Qing Yu Tang National Medicine Company and became a prosperous businessman. From a historical perspective, Hu Xueyan's decline is also a tragedy of an era. Being called a "red-top businessman" clearly shows that his way to get rich is the collusion of power and money between officials and businessmen. Even if Hu Xueyan can quickly accumulate a mountain of wealth, he will inevitably be involved in dirty business and political maelstrom. In addition, in the mid-to-late 19th century, Western colonists had opened the door to China. Hu Xueyan was squeezed by powerful foreign businessmen, and his failure was inevitable. His decline added to the tragedy of the times.

0:00 Preview
1:54 The low-key mansion gate, "Sedan Hall"
4:07 "Zhiyuan", the top Jiangnan garden, Hu Xueyan's residence
21:52 "Back Garden", "Hundred Lions Building", kitchen, residence of Hu Xueyan's mother and wife
32:21 East District, the residence of concubines and children
41:54 Exit and the surrounding environment of the mansion

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