Zhenze Zhide Hall

Zhenze Zhide Hall

Zhide Hall is a cultural heritage conservation unit of Jiangsu Province.

Zhide Hall is located at No. 34 Meichang Street, Tangzhongshi, Zhenze Town, Wujiang District, Suzhou City, diagonally opposite the renowned Jiangnan residence—Shijian Hall—across Ditang. Constructed in the second year of the Xuantong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1910) and completed in the first year of the Republic of China (1912), the hall was owned by Xu ?qing, a wealthy merchant from Zhenze who operated rice shops, silk thread businesses, bamboo shops, and funeral goods stores. In the late Qing Dynasty, he had amassed considerable wealth. To facilitate his business operations and daily life, he built the rice shop, silk thread business, and his residence all in one location. During the Republican era, as Xu ?qing grew older, he passed the family business on to his son, Xu Ziwei. Xu Ziwei (1906–1958) studied classical literature with Jin Songcen and Zhang Taiyan in his youth and also attended Shanghai Literature College. He excelled in poetry and prose and preferred using them for correspondence. He once received an invitation for a meeting from Lu Xun and was a poetic friend of Liu Yazi, joining the Southern Society (Xiangji). As an adult, he was dedicated to local education, health, transportation, and financial development. In the 1930s, he collaborated with gentry from Huzhou and Nanxun in Zhejiang to establish the Suzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou Long-Distance Bus Company and oversaw the construction of the Pingwang–Nanxun Highway. He was successively involved with the Chinese Vocational Education Association, the China Democratic League, and the China Democratic National Construction Association. After the liberation, he joined the board of directors of the Changzhou Dacheng Textile Mill and participated in the establishment of the Hangzhou Sack Factory and the Nanjing Woolen Mill. True to Xu Ziwei’s character, Zhide Hall’s architecture exudes a blend of mercantile practicality and scholarly refinement. The entire residence spans 1,650 square meters, with six courtyards in sequence and a width of four bays. Except for the fifth courtyard, which houses the inner garden-facing hall that sits north-south, the rest face north due to the street layout, and thus are built facing south-north accordingly.

Historical Background:

Construction of Zhide Hall began in 1887.

It was listed as a cultural heritage conservation unit of Wujiang City in 1986.

It was listed as a cultural heritage conservation unit of Jiangsu Province in 2006.

Current Condition:

The second courtyard hall features a “mandarin duck hall” layout, originally the site of the Zhenyuan Silk Thread Business. The columns of the hall are crafted in a “basket-style,” showing distinct local characteristics.

The third courtyard is the main hall, also a multi-story structure with three bays. A small side courtyard to the west connects it to an adjacent wing, forming a self-contained yard. Above the hall hangs a plaque inscribed with “Songyun Xiaozhu” (Pine and Bamboo Cottage), written by Qian Chongwei, a Hanlin academician from the late Qing Dynasty. A screen door divides the hall into two sections. Both the front and back lower levels have hinged roofed verandas, each featuring floor-length windows with carved skirt boards depicting scenes from *The Romance of the Western Chamber*. The beams and brackets throughout the hall are intricately carved with large motifs of plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, lotus, and peony. The entire hall is designed as a basket-style pavilion, with a large flower basket hanging from the eaves on the north side and a smaller pair on the south. To the west of the hall lies the owner’s study, with a small courtyard in front filled with fragrant blossoms. The upper level of the main hall is also spacious, with a second-floor space over two meters high.

The fourth courtyard is a flat hall and an important venue for the Xu family’s major events, such as ancestral worship, group ceremonies, weddings, and birthday celebrations. At its center hangs a plaque inscribed with “Zhide Hall,” written by Lu Runxiang, the top imperial scholar of the Tongzhi reign. This hall and its wings were also used for receiving guests and holding literary gatherings. The furniture, floral arrangements, antiques, and calligraphy were all meticulously curated. The fourth and fifth courtyards are separated by a spacious courtyard. In the southwest corner of the yard is a roughly three-meter square pond surrounded by stone railings and a pavilion. Goldfish once swam in the pond. The fifth courtyard is the only section of the residence facing south. It served as the living quarters for the women of the household, featuring four bays in width—three serving as a flower hall and one as a wing. It has front and rear hinged roofed verandas, with the front ones decorated with simple, symmetrical wooden carvings. The upper floor has a shared balcony, ideal for winter sunbathing, summer cooling, and enjoying views of the garden ahead. This garden lies between the fifth and sixth courtyards, featuring elegant latticework and whitewashed walls in well-planned layouts. On the east and west sides of the garden are tea pavilions about a zhang square, each with upturned eaves. The eastern pavilion has pillars but no windows, with a central stone table and stools and Wu-style armrests between the pillars, used for chess, tea, cooling off, and moon viewing in summer and autumn. The western pavilion has windows all around, with tables and chairs inside and the option to add a brazier in winter for use in spring and winter. Local legend says the two pavilions are a pair—one feminine (for female family use, closable) and one masculine (for male guests, open). The eastern pavilion has been destroyed, but the western one remains. The garden also features abundant plantings of osmanthus, magnolia, peonies, and peonies. The sixth courtyard faces the garden across from the fifth and consists of a row of four Western-style buildings with washed-stone facades. The door lintels and window frames are adorned with Western-style bas-relief patterns. The interiors have plaster ceilings, markedly different from the style of the first five courtyards. This section was used by the lady of the house for prayer and Buddhist practice, hence the cement floor stamped with “?” patterns.

The residence boasts luxurious brick, stone, and wood carvings, vivid clay and water-work sculptures, and some decor in “Western” styles, reflecting the influence of Western trends and economic prosperity in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang border region during that time.

Zhenze Town: This Jiangnan water town, located in the southwestern part of Wujiang District, Jiangsu Province, borders Zhejiang Province and was historically known as the “head of Wu and tail of Yue.” It lies 90 km east of Shanghai and 54 km north of Suzhou. National Highway 318 and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal run through the area, providing convenient land and water transport. Zhenze covers a total area of 57 square kilometers, including a 3.93-square-kilometer town area and nearly 40,000 acres of arable land. The town has a population of over 50,000. Infrastructure is well-developed, with a 220kV and a 110kV substation, a 25,000-ton surface water plant, mobile communication towers, and more... Detailed information on Zhenze Town++

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Cultural Heritage Conservation Units of Jiangsu Province