Xianliang Ancestral Hall

Xianliang Ancestral Hall

Xianliang Ancestral Hall is a cultural heritage site protected at the Changshan County level.

Xianliang Ancestral Hall (Wang Family Ancestral Hall) is located in Dijiao Village, Dong’an Township, and was listed as a county-level cultural heritage site in April 2001.

Xianliang Ancestral Hall was built in the seventh year of the Xuanhe era during the Northern Song Dynasty (1125), and underwent two major renovations in the fifth year of the Tongzhi era of the Qing Dynasty (1866) and the 25th year of the Republic of China (1936). The ancestral hall is a pavilion-style building with upturned eaves, covering an area of 1,200 square meters. The entire structure is intricately carved. The front is built on a simple platform, with two pairs of differently styled flagstone pedestals standing on either side, along with a pair of lion-dragon ball sculptures about 1.25 meters tall, which are imposing in appearance. The original facade featured brick carvings with delicate depictions of flowers, birds, and mythical beasts (now destroyed). Six meters west of the front gate stands a screen wall, over 11 meters long and nearly half a meter wide. To the north of the main gate is the adjacent Shimmei Archway. The ancestral hall is divided into three sections: the front section is an octagonal pavilion-style building with angular eaves; the central corridor houses a stage, with wing rooms on the left and right sides; there is a courtyard between the front and middle sections, measuring 15.6 meters in length and 4.4 meters in width. The middle section features a five-rafter raised-beam and interlocking column construction with angled brackets, and the eave columns of the courtyard courtyard are adorned with lion-dragon ball carvings on the brackets. There are six square wooden pillars and the rest are round wooden pillars, all resting on drum-shaped single or double-layered plinths and diamond-shaped plinths. The central hall includes an inserted archway; the middle section serves as the main hall, which connects to the corridor of the rear section, with an octagonal hollow tower on the roof. On both sides of the corridor are small courtyards, each planted with magnolia trees. The rear section is constructed with five-rafter raised-beam and interlocking columns, using round wooden pillars and blue stone drum-shaped plinths. The main hall structure uses wooden pillars wrapped in cloth, coated with grey paint, featuring a flush gable roof, decorative patterned walls, hollow brickwork, lime plastering, drip tiles, and a combination of concave and convex tiles.

The most exquisite features of the hall are its diverse and vivid wood carvings—lions, phoenixes, flowers, and figures. Each piece, when examined closely, is truly breathtaking and leaves a lasting impression.

The Shimmei Archway on the right side of the front gate was also built during the Song Dynasty. It was renovated in the 17th year of the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty (1538). The archway is 6.3 meters tall with a span of 4 meters between the pillars. It bears the clearly inscribed characters “Shi Mei” (meaning “Beautiful Legacy”) in regular script, and served as the honorific archway for the nine Jinshi (imperial examination top scholars) from the Wang family of the Song Dynasty. The Wang family produced nine Jinshi across four generations—an extraordinary achievement. This is a source of pride for the people of Changshan, and even more so for those of Shangyuan.

Dijiao Village: Located in the Shangyuan Town area, Dijiao Village governs 2 natural villages, 12 villager groups, 191 households, with a total population of 573 and 31 Party members. The village has a total of 2,630 mu of agricultural land, including 274 mu of paddy fields and 1,884 mu of forest land. The pillar industry of Dijiao Village is the pomelo cultivation, with 180 households currently engaged in pomelo farming. In addition, the village has developed aquaculture and processing industries. There are currently 2 pig farming households and 2 centralized processing sites, involving over 120 people. The village’s total economic income in 2009 was 5.8 million yuan, with a per capita income of 4,394 yuan. … More detailed information about Dijiao Village ++