Lanrui Hall

Lanrui Hall

Lanrui Hall is a Shanghai Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Lanrui Hall is located on the west side of Qichang Corridor within the garden. It is a Ming Dynasty structure known for its simple style. Originally situated at the east end of Baojia Bridge on Zhongshan West Road, it faced south with its back to the north. The hall once displayed a plaque inscribed with the name “Lanrui Hall,” written by the Qing Dynasty calligrapher Zhang Xianghe, but the plaque has been lost. The exact date of the hall’s construction is unknown, though it is traditionally believed to date back to the Ming Dynasty. In the early Qing period, it was acquired by Zhu Chun, a native of Lou County (now Songjiang), who returned to his hometown after serving as the governor of Jiangxi Province. In 1984, it was relocated to Fangta Garden. The hall is five bays wide and seven rafters deep, built in the style of a flat-beam hall. One of its notable features is the use of the extremely rare and high-quality wood “golden-thread nanmu” in what is called the “one beam and four pillars” structure — hence the common local name “Nanmu Hall.” The hall's interior is simple, smooth, and classic in style, with unadorned beams and crossbeams. The columns in the front porch are made of octagonal-section wood, which is relatively rare and gives a sense of grandeur. The furnishings are typical of the Ming Dynasty style in the Songjiang region. In 1984, Lanrui Hall was relocated to Fangta Garden.

In 1990, a “Ming Zhu Shunshui Memorial Hall” was established inside Lanrui Hall. A plaque inscribed with the words “Preserving Antiquity, Reflecting the Present,” calligraphed by Professor Chen Congzhou from Tongji University in Shanghai, hangs prominently above the gate opposite the hall, carrying deep symbolic meaning. In July 1985, Lanrui Hall was designated as a cultural relics protection unit of Songjiang County. It was moved into Fangta Garden in 1984 and later listed as a municipal cultural relics protection unit in the eighth batch of such designations.