Hua Xiaozhi Ancestral Hall

Hua Xiaozhi Ancestral Hall

Hua Xiaozhi Ancestral Hall is a Wuxi Municipal Cultural Heritage Protection Unit.

Hua Xiaozhi Ancestral Hall is located inside the ancient Huishan Temple in Xihui Park, Wuxi. It commemorates Hua Bao, a filial son from Wuxi during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In the third year of the Jianyuan era (481) during the Southern Qi Dynasty, Emperor Gao of Qi bestowed the title "Filial Son" upon Hua Bao’s former residence, as recorded in the Book of Southern Qi.

A dedicated ancestral hall was built during the Tang Dynasty, housing a statue of Hua Bao with a child’s hairstyle and long beard. The hall has been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times. The current structures date back to the Ming Dynasty and were completed in the Qing Dynasty, with most of their foundations preserved. The hall faces east, and in front of its entrance stands a four-sided memorial archway, commonly known as the Roofless Pavilion. This single-bay, square structure is made of wood and stone, featuring exquisite ornamentation. It was built in the 13th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1748) as a commemorative structure erected by the Hua clan to honor loyalty, filial piety, chastity, righteousness, and scholarly achievements. The hall’s entrance takes the form of a memorial archway, with a hip-and-gable roof and an inlaid stone base adorned with bamboo leaf designs and agate. Passing through the Chengze Pond, which is spanned by the Source-Tracing Bridge, one finds to the west an octagonal stone pool known as the Turtle Pond. The northern and southern walls of the pond are each decorated with carved stone turtle heads that spout water from the Two Springs, hence the pond is also called the Twin Dragon Pool. To the west of the pool lies the main hall, the Hall of Worship, originally built in the 21st year of the Chenghua reign of the Ming Dynasty (1485) and renovated in the 27th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1762). It retains the architectural style of the Ming Dynasty: a three-bay, eight-rafter structure with a flush gable roof, built mainly from nanmu wood, although its square pillars and bases are stone, decorated in a simple and elegant style. Its interior walls are inlaid with 35 stone tablets from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, most of which are replicas made in 1984.

On November 21, 1983, it was designated as a Municipal Cultural Heritage Protection Unit by the Wuxi Municipal People's Government.

Huishan Subdistrict: Huishan Subdistrict administers 9 community residents' committees and 1 family committee: Mianhuaxiang Community, Xinglongqiao Community, Wulixincun Community, Sheng’an Yicun Community, Sheng’an Ercun Community, Huichangli Community, Xinhuilu Community, Ronghu Community, Huiquanshan Community, and Huaying Family Committee. … Huishan Subdistrict detailed information++