Wang Shigu Ancestral Hall

Wang Shigu Ancestral Hall

Wang Shigu Ancestral Hall is a cultural relic protection unit of Suzhou.

Wang Shigu Ancestral Hall

Located on the north side of Yanzi’s Tomb Path along Beimen Street in the urban area, the original site was on Beimen Street in the urban area, and it is now the Wang Shigu Memorial Hall. It is a Qing Dynasty building, facing east and backed by west, with a brick-and-wood structure. The entire complex consists of a main hall and corridors on both sides, covering a construction area of 112.24 square meters. The main hall is named “Laiqing Pavilion” (now converted into an exhibition room for some of Wang Shigu’s works), featuring a flush-gable roof, a single structure with five bays, a total width of 18.4 meters, and a total depth of 8.6 meters. Wang Yuanqi (1632–1717), styled Shigu, also known as Yuanqi, with the sobriquets Gengyan Sanren and Qinghui Zhuren, among others, was a native of Changshu. He was a renowned painter of the early Qing Dynasty and one of the “Four Wangs” and the “Six Masters of the Early Qing,” as well as the founder of the Yushan School of Painting. He was summoned to the imperial court to lead the painting of the “Southern Inspection Tour of Emperor Kangxi.” It was designated as a cultural relic protection unit of Changshu City in November 1982.