The Heavenly Capital General Treasury and the Former Site of the British King’s Mansion

The Heavenly Capital General Treasury and the Former Site of the British King’s Mansion

The Heavenly Capital General Treasury and the Former Site of the British King’s Mansion is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangsu Province.

The Heavenly Capital General Treasury and the Former Site of the British King’s Mansion were discovered in 1975, located around No. 338–360 Shengzhou Road, within the former Sanshan Gate (now Shuixi Gate) in Nanjing. The Heavenly Capital General Treasury was the national treasury of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, originally situated in Qingxi Lane in Nanjing, before being relocated to its current site. Originally, the area covered a vast expanse, extending south to Shengzhou Road, north to Anpin Street, east to Denglong Lane, and west to Cang Lane. In the early Ming Dynasty, it served as the private garden of Xu Da, the Prince of Zhongshan, also known as the West Garden, and later became the garden of Wu Zhongcheng from Tongcheng. During the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong era, it was the residence and garden of Yao Youmei, a wealthy merchant from Tongcheng. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom implemented an “equal distribution” system called the “Heavenly Treasury,” where all spoils of war, food supplies, and wealth collected by various units had to be handed over to the state treasury. All clothing and food supplies needed by soldiers and civilians were uniformly distributed by the treasury. This site served as the Heavenly Capital General Treasury, storing gold, silver, silk, and other valuables. In the later period of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it became the royal mansion of the British King Chen Yucheng. After the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Li Hongzhang converted it into the Anhui Guild Hall. After 1949, the western and northern parts were rebuilt by the Nanjing Towel Factory, while the southern part was occupied by the Nanjing Medicinal Materials Company.

The existing structures at the General Treasury site were built around the ninth year of the Xianfeng reign in the Qing Dynasty (1859), all facing south, and can be divided into four groups along three routes: The eastern route retains only the front hall and rear hall; the central route consists of one group of three courtyards—the first courtyard is five bays wide (21.3 meters), 11 rafters deep (3.8 meters), and 4 meters high; the second courtyard is five bays wide (21.3 meters) and 11.4 meters deep; the third courtyard is five bays wide (21.3 meters) and 9.3 meters deep. The total length of the outer walls is 58.7 meters; the western route consists of one group of four courtyards, all single-story buildings with three bays. To the right side of the west, there are still two floors of buildings and one single-story house remaining. There are also some auxiliary buildings surrounding the architectural complex. More than 20 stone column bases have been excavated at the site; based on their width, they can be categorized into three types: 0.40 meters, 0.45 meters, and 0.50 meters. The column diameters come in two sizes: 0.30 meters and 0.36 meters, and they can be divided into six groups based on shape, totaling 180 different carvings, mostly featuring themes such as the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. The reliefs on all the stone column bases reflect the stone carving characteristics of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period and are of great significance for the study of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom art. These components are now all preserved in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History Museum.

Listed as a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangsu Province in 1982.

Third Batch of Provincial-Level Cultural Relic Protection Units in Jiangsu Province, March 1982 — The Heavenly Capital General Treasury and the Former Site of the British King’s Mansion, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Nanjing, inside Shuixi Gate

Anpin Street Community: Located in the southeastern part of Chaotian Palace, covering an area of 0.16 square kilometers, with 2,469 households and a population of 6,131. The area includes major streets such as Shengzhou Road and Mochou Road... More detailed information about Anpin Street Community++

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units in Jiangsu Province