The Dong Family Shide Hall and Shoujun Hall

The Dong Family Shide Hall and Shoujun Hall

The Dong Family Shide Hall and Shoujun Hall are cultural heritage sites protected at the municipal level in Huzhou City.

The Dong Family Shide Hall and Shoujun Hall are located in Dongjia Lane, Nanxun Town. Dong Fen, a native of Nanxun, passed the imperial examination in the 20th year of the Jiajing reign during the Ming Dynasty (1541), and successively served as Minister of Works, Minister of Rites, and Hanlin Academician. The ancestral residences Shide Hall and Shoujun Hall were built by Dong Fen during the Wanli period. The main hall is Shide Hall, and the left hall is Shoujun Hall. Each hall features three seven-bay floor rooms with side chambers. The gates are each 2.28 meters in height, with widths of 1.41 meters and 1.58 meters respectively. The bricks used are 0.32 meters long, 0.155 meters wide, and 0.065 to 0.073 meters thick—extremely rare. The timber used is relatively large, the floorboards are thicker, and the structure of the houses is quaint. The residence has been continuously inhabited by descendants of the Dong family and retains much of its original appearance, although the plaques have been lost. In March 1989, the Huzhou Municipal People’s Government designated it as a municipal-level cultural relics protection unit.

Source: Lu Mountain District Annals