Jing Si Hall

Jing Si Hall

Jing Si Hall is a cultural heritage site protected by Suzhou Municipality.

Jing Si Hall (No. 48 Fu Guan Street)

Located west of Wen Heng Mansion, facing south toward the river. Built in the early Republic of China period (1912–1915) by Ren Shenfu, it originally had five sections, 38 rooms, and covered an area of 1,161 square meters. Currently, sections 1 to 4 remain. This hall is a large, deep-compound residence featuring a distinctive blend of Chinese and Western architectural styles.

The first section of the house is a three-bay gatehouse. The outer wall of the main gate is built with flat red bricks without plastering, and there is a significant height difference between the indoor and outdoor ground levels. Three stone steps lead up to the gate, which is topped with a semicircular decorative frame. On the firewall, there is a large five-pointed star erected when the building was used as a People’s Commune office. The two southern rooms on either side each have a small courtyard (crab-eye courtyard), while the eastern side retains a service alleyway with a small stone gate at the entrance. The second section is a three-bay tea hall (main hall), which features a front porch. Inside, the hall preserves exquisitely carved beams and painted decorations. The “zhuo wood” (official’s hat wings) are carved with figures and landscapes, the mountain-cloud panels feature peacock carvings, the main beam is adorned with phoenixes playing among peonies, and there are also opera-themed carvings. During the 1950s, when the hall was used as an office by the Tongli Commune, a ceiling was installed, which inadvertently helped preserve these carvings intact during the Cultural Revolution. The third section is a three-story main building with a three-story wing, flanked by two storyed side rooms, centered around a flagstone-paved courtyard, with a brick-carved gate tower to the south of the courtyard. The fourth section is a red Western-style building with six floors above ground and six below, also of brick-and-wood construction. Above the balconies and window sills are Western-style arched openings built with red bricks, and there is a long corridor downstairs. The fifth section consists of six single-story rooms. There are also wing rooms and miscellaneous smaller structures, as well as multiple courtyards of various sizes, with flower stands built in the larger ones. The overall architecture of the first, third, and fourth sections showcases a distinct blend of Chinese and Western styles.

Jing Si Hall has been relatively well preserved. The fifth section was demolished in the 1970s due to structural instability and was rebuilt in the 1980s as a five-story, five-bay brick-concrete structure to serve as cadre dormitories. The other sections have retained their original appearance, especially the first and second sections, which were purchased by the Tongli Scenic Area Management Office of the Taihu Lake Scenic Region and meticulously renovated. On April 18, 2000, during the Tongli Tourism and Culture Festival, Xie Tieli inscribed the name “Tongli Film and Television Production Co., Ltd.” and Yao Zhiqiang wrote “Tongli Federation of Literary and Art Circles,” which were then made into plaques and mounted on the outer walls on either side of the main gate.

In 2008, it was listed as a newly discovered cultural relic during the third national cultural relics survey and was placed under protection.