"I particularly like to read history. I think that reading history is not only to know what happened in the past, but also to learn from history the experience of doing works in the future."

——Alexandra Dobrynina (Russia)

This is an one-day cultural trip in Longwan, Wenzhou for Alexandra, the foreign anchor of Wenzhou Overseas Media Center. This time, she walked into Longwan, Wenzhou, to explore the story of Zhang Cong, a cultural celebrity from 500 years ago. She read the legend of Zhang Cong's life at Luofeng Academy (now Longwan Yaoxi Zhenyi Academy) founded by Zhang Cong, and listened to Mr. Zhang Weigeng, the descendant of Zhang Cong, to narrate his family rules passed down from generation to generation in Zhang Cong Ancestral Hall.  

In the interview, Alexandra said: "What Zhang Cong left behind is not only his wonderful story, but also his perseverance in work and grandeur of character. This is something worth us learning. I’ve learned a lot from this trip."  

Let's follow Alexandra to walk into the legendary story of Zhang Cong, having a close contact with Longwang’s history and culture. 

Further reading:

Zhang Cong was born in Dec. 27 1475, and died in Feb. 24, 1539, with a style name “Bingyong”, a literary name “Luofeng”. The birth place of Zhang Cong is Yongjia County, Wenzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province (now Longwan District, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province). During the reign of Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty, he was an important minister. Zhang Cong was eager to learn throughout his life and wrote quite a few books. In the 16th year of the reign of Emperor Jiajing (1537), he compiled the "Local Chronicle of Wenzhou Prefecture" independently.