Ancestral Hall of the Jiang Clan in Xiyuan

Ancestral Hall of the Jiang Clan in Xiyuan

Located in Xiyuan Village, Shifo Township, Longyou County, Zhejiang Province, Xiyuan is where the village committee is situated. “The name Xiyuan comes from the surrounding landscape—vast, flat fields surrounded by peaks and misty ridges that resemble a protective wall, with a cultural pavilion built at the center, and most villagers living to the west, hence the name Xiyuan. Xiyuan lies along a major thoroughfare and was once part of the route taken by General Yue Fei of the Song Dynasty when he marched southward to Lin’an to pacify the borders.” Since most villagers share the surname Jiang, it is also called Xiyuan Jiang. According to the "Genealogy Records" in the *Longyou County Annals*, “Their ancestors were from Yangxian (now Yixing County, Changzhou, Jiangsu). During the Xuanhe era of the Song Dynasty, Jiang Shipai’s son, Zhenpu, followed Emperor Gaozong southward and settled in Xiyuan Village, becoming the founding ancestor of the clan.” The village preserves numerous well-maintained ancient residences, among which the Ancestral Hall of the Jiang Clan, built during the Ming Dynasty, is especially grand in scale with exquisitely carved beams and painted rafters. It was designated as a “Longyou County Cultural Relics Protection Unit” in 2006, and in 2011, it was listed as a sixth-batch Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit by the provincial government.

Shifo Township: Shifo Township is located in the northwest of Longyou County. To the east it connects with Hengshan Town, to the south it neighbors Tashi Town, to the west it borders Xiachuan Town of Qujiang District, and to the north it adjoins Shangma and Xikou Townships of Jiande City. It is a hilly and semi-mountainous region. Covering a total area of 67.9 square kilometers, it has 15,600 mu of cultivated land, administers 14 administrative villages, 86 natural villages, and 152 villager groups. The seat of the Shifo Township government is in Shifo Village, which is 16.4 kilometers southeast of the county town. Roads connect it to the county town. The Hang-Xin-Jing Expressway runs through Xiaohong Village and Dushanwu Village within the township. There are 220 industrial and commercial enterprises in the township, including five large-scale enterprises (Yun... More details about Shifo Township++

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units