Tongben Hall in Tongli

Tongben Hall in Tongli

Tongben Hall (No. 79 Dongxi Street). Located along the new embankment and facing south toward the river, it was built during the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1875–1908) as the former residence of the Song family. The property consists of five sections with a total of 37 rooms covering an area of 905 square meters. The first three sections of the house are situated along Songjia Lane; the first two sections are four-bay single-story houses. The second bay from the east in the first section is a large entrance room, featuring a six-panel bamboo-woven gate facing outward, with four stone steps at the entrance. The entrance room itself is 4.07 meters wide and 10.7 meters deep, with a floor area of 44 square meters on its own. The roof of the second section has a steep slope, resembling the roof of a temple, and features cylindrical ridge tiles, which are quite rare. The third section is a three-bay building with two floors; the ground floor was used as a grain storage facility by the grain department in the 1950s. Although it was renovated when converted back to residential use, its original appearance has been largely lost, though the upper floor still retains its skirt wind boards and oyster shell windows. The last two sections are located further east, with a relatively large courtyard area between them and Songjia Lane. The fourth section is a four-bay single-story house, and the fifth section is a seven-bay single-story house. Tongben Hall lacks an ornamental gate tower, has very few carvings or decorations, and has largely retained its original appearance. It was listed as a newly discovered cultural relic during China’s Third National Cultural Relics Survey in 2008 and is now under protection.