The ancient village of Gaoqian is one of the main settlements of the Wu family in southeastern Zhejiang, and is, as mentioned already, a typical bloodline settlement whose pattern was set down between the Qinglong and Xianfeng periods of the Qing Dynasty. The Wu family of Xianju originates in the Wu state of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States. After the destruction of Wu state by King Goujian (越王勾践)in the Spring and Autumn Period, the descendants of the Wu family scattered in Wu, Chu, Min and Yue, until Wu Yuan, the 61st generation grandson of Ji Zha, the fourth son of King Shou Meng of Wu, was sent as an officer to Qingtian, Qingzhou, during the reign of King Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty (650-683). His descendants, Wu Quanzhi, holding the office of Grand Master of the Palace with silver seal and blue ribbon in Later Liang Dynasty, moved from Suichang to Xianju in 898 and lived in Xiali. Later, his 11th generation grandsons, Wu Jun and Wu Chun, moved to Gaoqian during the Chunxi period (1174-1189) of Emperor Xiaozong of the Song Dynasty. Wu Jun was the ancestor of the eastern branch (Houren), while Wu Chun moved to Gaoqian from Xiali and was the ancestor of the western residence. Thereafter, the descendants of Wu Jun and Wu Chun thrived, ultimately incorporating more than 80 villages (including Houren, Wuqiao, Qianyang, Dongyang, Jindian, Shangye, etc.). Later, the Wu family moved to Wenzhou, Yongjia, Yongkang, Dongyang, Jinyun and other counties with a total of about 204,888 people.
Due to the growth of its numbers, the Wu family in Xianju was eventually divided into the Eastern and the Western branches, and thereafter the two groups compiled their own genealogies. The Wu family of the western branch lived in Gaoqian village. From the descendants of Wu Yunzhao(吴允昭), the seventh generation grandson, to Wu Shu(吴熟)，the deputy marshal and general of Huaiyuan in the eastern province of Zhejiang and the 17th generation grandson of the western residence/branch all chose to live in the main residence, which was later called “Wu Taiyi(吴太衣)”. The old house and hall are still in place to this day.
Among Wu family members of the western branch, Wu Fu (1104-1183), a minister of the Ministry of Justice and Zhixueshi of the Longtu Ge, Wu Jian (吴坚，1213-1276), a Left Minister and Privy Counsellor and Wu Shilai (吴时来，1213-1276, a Left Censor-in-Chief) were famous in ancient times. The Wu family of western branch had fifteen Jinshi, sixty-three officials, and countless juren(举人) and xiucai(秀才).