The Ancient Theater of Douchun Village

The Ancient Theater of Douchun Village

The Ancient Theater of Douchun Village is a cultural relic protection unit of Nanjing City.

Douchun Village belongs to Qilin Subdistrict in Jiangning District, Nanjing, located at the foot of Qinglong Mountain in Qilin Subdistrict, Jiangning District. It is an ancient village. Although the village is named Douchun, none of its over two thousand villagers have the surname Dou. In the Nanjing dialect, the character “Dou” means “to gather.”

A stone tablet stands at the entrance of the village, inscribed with “The Ancient Theater of Douchun Village.” This tablet was erected in November 1984 when the ancient theater was designated as a key cultural relic protection unit of Jiangning County. The theater was built during the Ming Dynasty. It is quite tall, with pillars adorned with carved dragons and phoenixes. The stone carvings on the theater walls, such as a flying phoenix, an evergreen cypress, a monkey pounding a beehive, and the immortal Zhang Guolao riding a donkey backward, remain vivid and clearly visible.

The Ancient Theater of Douchun Village is a cultural relic protection unit of Nanjing City.

Qilin Subdistrict: Qilin Town was known as “Qilin Market” during the Song Dynasty, named after the stone qilin (mythical unicorn) from the tomb of Liu Yu of the Southern Dynasties’ Liu Song Dynasty and the nearby trading market. During the Ming Dynasty, it was one of the outer city gates of Nanjing, called Qilin Gate, and was one of the 18 outer city gates of Ming Dynasty Nanjing. Gradually, it developed into a town, named after the gate. The area is mostly hilly and mountainous, with hills covering over 90% of the land. The southeastern part is the Qinglong Mountain area, while the northwestern part features mountains such as Lingshan, Hushan, and Guishan. The central area has low hills like Tangshan and Zhimashan, and the western part includes Tongjiashan and Xishan. Valleys and ridges crisscross among these hills. The eastern part along the Jiuxiang River and the southwestern part along the Yunliang River have relatively flat terrain, and the area is rich in mineral resources... More detailed information about Qilin Subdistrict ++