Jingye Hall (Shen Hall)

Jingye Hall (Shen Hall)

Jingye Hall (Shen Hall) is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Commonly known as "Shen Hall," Jingye Hall was first built in the seventh year of the Qianlong reign during the Qing Dynasty (1742) by Shen Benren, a descendant of the wealthy Shen Wansan. It features seven courtyards and five gate towers, covering an area of 2,000 square meters with over a hundred rooms of various sizes, following a typical "front hall and rear chamber" layout. The front section includes a water gate wall used for docking boats and washing; the middle section comprises a gate tower wall, tea hall, and main hall, serving as spaces for receiving guests, handling weddings and funerals, and conducting discussions; the rear section includes the grand hall building, smaller hall building, and rear hall, used as living quarters. The front and rear buildings are connected by overhead walkways and corridor pavilions, forming a large "courtyard corridor."

The entire complex is grand in scale, rigorously laid out, and exquisitely decorated with carvings, embodying refined elegance and ancient simplicity. Repairs were carried out in 1986, 1990, and 1996, and it was designated as a Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 1995.

Shen Hall is located on Nanshi Street, south of the eastern end of Fuan Bridge in Zhouzhuang, facing south with its back to the north. It has seven courtyards and five gate towers, with over a hundred rooms of various sizes distributed along a 100-meter-long central axis, covering an area of more than 2,000 square meters. It is a Jiangsu Provincial Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit. Originally named Jingye Hall, it was renamed Songmao Hall in the late Qing Dynasty. It was built by Shen Benren, a descendant of Shen Wansan, in the seventh year of the Qianlong reign (1742).

Among the nearly thousand residential buildings in Zhouzhuang, over 60% from the Ming, Qing, and Republic of China periods still remain, including nearly a hundred ancient mansions and more than 60 brick-carved gate towers, as well as some overhead walkways and water gate walls—features representative of the Jiangnan water towns. Among these, Shen Hall is the most iconic.

According to the *Zhouzhuang Town Annals*: "In his early years, Shen Benren indulged in frivolous pursuits and associated with disreputable characters. When his father passed away, people said, 'He will surely squander the family fortune within three years.' Hearing this, Shen Benren held a banquet, inviting those disreputable friends, gave them money, and told them: 'I must now focus on managing the household and can no longer socialize with you!' From then on, he shut his doors to guests, devoted himself to farming, and expanded the estate beside the original Daye Hall by constructing Jingye Hall, building over a hundred spacious rooms and cultivating a thousand acres of fertile land, thus becoming a prominent family in the town." It seems Shen Benren was a classic case of a prodigal son who turned his life around—rather than squandering the inherited family wealth, he worked hard after his father’s death, expanded the family business, and built the sizable Shen Hall.

Shen Hall consists of three main sections. The front section includes the water gate wall and river wharf, specifically for docking boats and washing clothes, a unique architectural feature of the Jiangnan water towns. The middle section features the gate tower wall, tea hall, and main hall, used for receiving guests, handling major ceremonies like weddings and funerals, and conducting discussions. The rear section includes the grand hall building, smaller hall building, and rear hall, serving as living quarters. The entire complex follows a typical "front hall and rear chamber" layout. The front and rear buildings are connected by overhead walkways and corridor pavilions, forming a continuous "courtyard corridor," a rarity among similar structures.

Within the seven courtyards, the 170-square-meter Songmao Hall is centrally located. The main hall is 11 meters wide, featuring a front veranda, with a depth of 7 rafters (11 meters), and a rear corridor. The main hall is square-shaped, flanked by side rooms connected to the front and rear wing rooms via upper floors. The roof is a double-sloped hip-and-gable design. Except for the 6th to 7th rafters, which have single roof layers, the rest feature double layers.

The hall interior has thick beams and pillars, intricately carved with motifs such as pythons, qilins, flying cranes, and dancing phoenixes. At the center of the hall hangs a plaque inscribed with the three raised gold-leaf characters "Songmao Hall," written by Zhang Jian, the top imperial scholar of the late Qing Dynasty. The most magnificent of the five gate towers is the one facing the main hall, standing six meters tall with three bays and five stories, topped with projecting brick eaves and upturned corners, supported by brick bracket sets, and adorned with hanging floral ornaments on the sides. Below are five tiers of intricate brick carvings arranged compactly. The central plaque bears the inscription "Jihu Liu Guang" (Accumulated Virtue Shines Forth), surrounded by finely carved red plum blossoms heralding spring. The brick carvings also depict figures, animals, pavilions, and scenes from classical operas like *The Romance of the Western Chamber* and *The Top Scholar Rides a White Horse*, with delicate lines, vivid expressions, and lifelike figures. On a brick slab no larger than a foot, three perspectives—foreground, middle ground, and background—are carved, showcasing craftsmanship and ingenuity comparable to the brick gate towers in Suzhou’s Wangshi Garden. The wooden beams in the grand hall building feature robust Ming-style round patterns. Most of the flooring consists of sturdy single-plank pine boards about 60 centimeters wide, reflecting the immense construction effort at the time. The railings and lattice windows in the grand hall building are exquisitely crafted, differing from the front hall’s style and reflecting the Huizhou architectural influence.

Since 1983, restoration work on Shen Hall has been underway, successively repairing the Songmao Hall, tea hall, and grand hall building, opening up the courtyard corridor, and connecting the rear hall to the shimmering Yinzi Creek. The restored Shen Hall showcases the architectural style of the Qing Dynasty and has become a popular tourist attraction. In the fifth courtyard, a seated statue of the wealthy tycoon Shen Wansan is displayed, with a gleaming golden treasure basin before him. Visitors often toss coins at Shen Wansan’s gold ingot, believing that hitting it will bring prosperity. People from all over come to observe this 600-year-old tycoon of Wu region—some seeking inspiration or lessons, others hoping for blessings. Regardless of background, everyone who enters Shen Hall develops a keen interest in the legendary figure of Shen Wansan.

Shen Wansan, whose original name was Fu and courtesy name Zhongrong, was commonly known as Wansan. He was from Nanxun Town, Wucheng County, Huzhou Prefecture (now Nanxun, Huzhou, Zhejiang), but his ancestors moved to Dongcai Village, Changzhou County (now Suzhou, Jiangsu) in Pingjiang Prefecture (later Suzhou Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty). Folklore attributes Shen Wansan’s wealth to a "treasure basin," claiming he obtained a magical basin that could turn anything placed inside into treasure.

Shen Wansan (1330–1379), named Fu and courtesy name Zhongrong, was commonly called Wansan. "Wansan" means "the third outstanding man among ten thousand households," hence also referred to as "Sanshou," a nickname for the extremely wealthy. He lived during the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties… More details on Shen Wansan++

Zhouzhuang Town: Located in the northeastern part of Kunshan, bordering Taicang and Changshu, Zhouzhuang was formed by merging the former Zhouzhuang, Xinzhen, and Luyang towns. It is designated as the northern urban center in the planning of Kunshan’s municipal government. The town covers an area of 81.56 square kilometers, with a local resident population of 43,000 and a migrant population of 60,000. It administers two subdistrict offices (Xinzhen and Luyang), 12 community committees, and 15 administrative villages, comprising 112 neighborhood groups and 382 villager groups. It has been awarded titles such as "Nationally Recognized Beautiful Environment Town," "Jiangsu Provincial Civilized Town," and "Suzhou Municipal Pioneer in Investment Promotion." More details on Zhouzhuang Town++

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units