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The ancestral family of Zheng Yongxi (courtesy name Zaizhong, pseudonym Zhiting), was from Wujiang (nowadays Kinmen). In 1810 (the 15th year of Emperor Jiaqing) Zheng Yongxi passed the entry level exam and later in 1818 passed the provincial exam becoming a qualified graduate. Finally, in 1823, he passed the imperial court exam and achieved the rank of first class and that of a Jinshi (“a presented scholar”). Because he was the first Jinshi from Taiwan, he was also known as the “presented scholar of Taiwan.” In 1837 (the 17th year of Emperor Daoguang), Zheng Yongxi went back to his home town to take care of his mother. In 1838, he built Jinshi Di (the residence of the presented scholar) where he spent time reading for pleasure. In addition, he actively participated in fundraisers in support of social welfare and committed himself to safeguarding public order and security. In 1853, when feuds and fights occurred between the natives of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, he wrote an essay entitled “Quan he lun” (“an exhortation of peace and unity”) urging consensus, concord, and harmony among different groups of people. In 1854, he collected donations of rice and shipped them to Tianjin to provide food relief for people. Due to his charitable acts, he was awarded by the imperial court the “scholar-official of the second rank,” and the honor could be passed on to the next generation. The front side of the house is four bays wide, and the compound facing east consists of three-row houses with two courtyards. A portico area was created because the front hall retracts; the building structure features swallowtail roofs and a combination of post –and-lintel construction and column-and-tie constructions or through-jointed type construction (chuandou) affixed to the major timber frame. The unique amount of craftsmanship, parquet wall tiles with floral designs in the side rooms and ornamental perforated windows of the central room make them exquisitely skillful. The woodcarving techniques applied to decorating those hanging columns are superbly adorned with two lifelike lion statues on both sides. The latticed door of the front hall is also engraved with elegant floral patterns containing inscriptions of poems and the auspicious Chinese characters for “wealth and safety”. Unfortunately, the third-row house was destroyed in World War II.