The Zhu Family Ancestral Hall

The Zhu Family Ancestral Hall

The Zhu Family Ancestral Hall is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Jiangsu Province.

The Zhu Family Ancestral Hall is located at No. 8, Xiaoshitou Street, Anyi Town, Baoying County. It was built during the Qing Dynasty’s Daoguang era as the family shrine of Zhu Shida, an official from Baoying who served as the Hubei Provincial Administration Commissioner. Originally named the Zhu Fangbo Ancestral Hall, it served as the family shrine of the branch of Zhu Shida—one of the “three Jinshi scholars from one family in Baoying.” As Zhu Shida held the position of administration commissioner in Hubei and other regions, he was referred to as “Fangbo,” and the ancestral hall, according to the Ming and Qing naming conventions for such officials, was thus called the Zhu Fangbo Ancestral Hall. Zhu Shida (?-1854) was a native of Baoying County, Yangzhou Prefecture, Jiangsu Province (now Baoying County, Jiangsu Province), and a political figure of the Qing Dynasty who achieved the status of Jinshi through the imperial examinations. In the 22nd year of the Jiaqing reign (1817), he passed the imperial examination and subsequently served as acting magistrate of Yixian County, Nanling County, and Huoshan County, and was later officially appointed magistrate of Huaining County. He was later promoted to prefect of Shouzhou and concurrently served as the Pacification Commissioner for catching bandits in Fengyang and Yingzhou. In the 9th year of the Daoguang reign, he became prefect of Fengyang Prefecture. He was later appointed acting intendant of the Lu-Feng Circuit. In the 13th year of the Daoguang reign, he was appointed acting intendant of the Huining-Chizhou-Chizhong-Taiguang Circuit and later officially took office as intendant of the Left River Circuit of Guangxi. In the 16th year of the Daoguang reign, he was appointed intendant of the Yidong Circuit of Yunnan. In the 20th year of the Daoguang reign, he served as Judicial Commissioner of Sichuan and Judicial Commissioner of Shaanxi. In the 22nd year of the Daoguang reign, he was appointed Provincial Administration Commissioner of Hubei. He retired not long after the battle of Chongyang during the Taiping Rebellion and passed away at home at the age of 79.

The structure faces south and consists of three courtyards, covering a total area of approximately 682 square meters, with a built-up area of 465 square meters. It comprises a front hall, connecting corridor, main hall, and side rooms, totaling three courtyards with 18 rooms, all featuring flush-gable roofs, grey brick walls, and small clay-tiled roofs. The first courtyard is the front hall, five bays wide and five rafters deep, with a central passageway and suites on both sides. The door is adorned with upturned corners and layered flush gables, and the roof ridge is relatively high, with uniquely patterned small clay tiles. The door frame is made of white marble, with carved patterns at the corners and under the lower eaves that are quite exquisite, and there is a pair of stone drums on either side. The second courtyard is four bays wide and five rafters deep, with a connecting corridor in the middle. The eaves feature wooden bracket sets, paneled doors, and both the eastern and western side walls are inlaid with polished diamond-shaped thin bricks. The third courtyard is the main hall, five bays wide and seven rafters deep, with corridors and pillars on all four sides. The outer eaves of the central three bays are painted with elaborate, brightly colored designs, and the interior beams on both sides also feature vibrant, clear-patterned paintings. The first and second courtyards, and the second and third courtyards, are separated by east and west side rooms, forming two separate courtyard spaces.

This building features the architectural style of the Zhejiang School, with exquisitely crafted brick and wood carvings on the gate tower that are unique and distinctive. The painted patterns on the beams and eaves of the rear main hall are vividly colored, rich in content, and well-preserved. It is one of the larger-scale surviving Qing Dynasty family ancestral halls in northern Jiangsu.

On December 19, 2011, the People's Government of Jiangsu Province designated it as a Provincial Cultural Heritage Site in the seventh batch of such listings.

Xuedun Community: Located in the western part of Baoying County’s urban area, Xuedun Community is bordered by Ye Ting Road to the north, South Chenggen Road and Baoying Bridge to the south, Zhongda Street to the east, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal to the west. The community covers an area of about 0.4 square kilometers, with 5,150 registered households and a population of 11,307. … Xuedun Community detailed information++

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Heritage Sites