The Cai Tinglan Jinshi Residence (a county-designated historic site) stands in Xingren Village, Magong City. It was the home of Cai Tinglan (1801–1859), the only Penghu-born person to attain the jinshi degree — the highest rank in the Qing imperial civil service examination system — in the entire dynasty. Known by the courtesy name Xiangzu, Cai studied diligently in Xingren from a young age and passed the palace examination in Beijing in 1838 (the 18th year of the Daoguang reign). When word reached Penghu, the Qing court awarded the residence a plaque inscribed with the characters Jinshi Di (“Scholar’s Residence”), and local gentry began addressing him as “Scholar Cai,” giving the house the name it bears today. Visitors are mainly history enthusiasts interested in Penghu’s local past, architecture lovers, and travelers tracing the civil examination culture of Qing-era Taiwan and Fujian. The village retains the traditional character of old Xingren — its atmosphere is markedly different from central Magong.
Highlights
The front elevation of the residence follows the classic southern Fujian sanheyuan (three-sided courtyard) layout: a five-bay main hall at center with symmetrical side wings extending left and right, giving the compound measured, dignified proportions. The most notable detail is the horizontal plaque above the main gate — black characters on a white ground, conforming to the format prescribed by Qing official regulations for imperially awarded inscriptions. It is one of very few buildings in Penghu that still retains this type of scholar’s gate marker; even from a distance, the weight it once carried is clear.
The walls are built from 硓𥑮石 (laogushi, coral reef limestone), a rough-textured, coarsely grained material that stands in marked contrast to the modern brick construction common in Magong city center. Coral limestone offers good thermal insulation and holds up well against Penghu’s high-salinity sea winds, making it the most characteristic local building material of Qing-era Penghu homes. Although the roof ridgeline has weathered over the years, the basic outline of the upswept yanwei (swallow-tail) gable ends remains clearly visible — a useful point of comparison with the more elaborately decorated ornamental ceramic tilework on temples in central Magong.
In terms of historical documentation, Cai Tinglan was sailing to Beijing in 1835 when his ship was driven by a typhoon onto the coast of Quảng Ngãi in central Vietnam. After making his way back to Taiwan, he compiled his observations into Hainan Zazhu (Miscellaneous Notes from the Southern Seas), which contains detailed first-hand descriptions of southern Vietnamese society, products, and urban form. The work remains one of the most important primary sources for 19th-century Vietnamese history and Sino-Vietnamese cultural exchange — a rare example of this kind of documentation in Taiwanese historical literature. The significance of this residence therefore extends well beyond a civil examination achievement to encompass this remarkable record of foreign cultures.
Getting There and Nearby
The site is directly served by bus: take a service from Magong Main Station toward Xingren and alight at “Cai Tinglan Jinshi Residence” stop (PEN299684 / PEN300753, both directions), then walk approximately 200 metres to the main gate. Alighting one stop earlier at “Xingren Community Activity Center” (PEN299956) is slightly closer at around 150 metres on foot. Service frequency varies by route; check the day’s timetable before setting out.
The old residence sits within the traditional lane network of Xingren Village, with no large shops nearby; stock up on water and provisions in central Magong before making the trip. The village is quiet and can be explored on foot in under 30 minutes. If time allows, cycling east for about 10 minutes brings you to the area around Huxi Township Office, from where you can continue to Longmen Village or the Kueibi Mountain (Moses Parting the Sea) scenic area. Drivers should park in the roadside bays along Xingren Road and follow signs into the lanes on foot; do not attempt to drive into the narrow alleys of the village interior.