Dongmen Dye House

Dongmen Dye House

Dongmen Dye House is a cultural relics protection unit of Nanjing City.

Dongmen Dye House [No. 85–91 (odd), Zuosuo Street, Dongmen, Taishan Subdistrict, Pukou District, Nanjing City — Qing Dynasty — Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit] Dongmen Dye House is a representative structure within the Ming and Qing ancient architectural complex of Dongmen. Numbers 87–91 were the property of Lü, a military commander from Wujiang who was stationed in Pukou during the late Qing Dynasty. The complex consists of four rows of buildings, each with two courtyards, featuring tall surrounding walls and a front courtyard. The door frames and thresholds are inlaid with bluestone. The middle section includes a covered corridor (running horse building) and a central courtyard, with finely carved railings around the upper floor. It is said that Numbers 87–91 of Dongmen Dye House were inherited by the three daughters of the Lü family. Originally, the upper floors were interconnected by corridors, while the lower floor was divided into three separate courtyards. The complex has served various functions over time, including as a fabric shop, rice mill, tea house, soy sauce workshop, and dye house. It functioned for a long period as a dye house, leaving a deep impression on local residents and continuing the long tradition of hand-dyeing fabrics in Dongmen. Later, the buildings were used as dormitories for students at No. 17 Middle School (now staff housing), the supply and marketing cooperative of the former Sanhe Commune (currently vacant and dilapidated property under Taishan Subdistrict), public housing managed by the housing authority, and private residences. In the courtyard of the No. 85 building (part of the No. 17 Middle School dormitory area), there were once fabric drying poles and large round stones used for fabric pounding (yuanbaoshi), with the latter now preserved at the Lin Sanzhi Memorial Hall. Behind the dye house, there used to be a dyeing workshop shed and a fabric drying area, which no longer exist. It was designated as a district-level cultural relics protection unit in 1983 and as a municipal cultural relics protection unit in 2006.