Qinen Hall

Qinen Hall

Qinen Hall is a cultural relic protection unit of Zhejiang Province.

Qinen Hall is located on Yongchang Street in Lanxi City and dates back to the Ming Dynasty.

In Jiuzhai Natural Village, Taipingzhu Village, Yongchang Street, Lanxi City, there stands a well-preserved ancestral hall — Qinen Hall. Having withstood nearly 600 years of weathering, its walls and roof framework remain intact and upright. This ancestral hall was funded and built by Zhu Jie, an official of the Ming Dynasty. Later, his descendant Zhu Mi, in memory of their ancestors, built the Taijian Memorial Archway in front of Qinen Hall, making it a carrier for the inheritance of loyalty and filial piety culture and adding unique character to this Ming Dynasty ancestral hall. Moreover, Qinen Hall is notable for its premium materials and exquisite craftsmanship, boasting outstanding cultural and aesthetic value — truly a “triple excellence” ancestral hall that safeguards the loyalty and filial piety culture of the Zhu family.

Qinen Hall was completed in the seventh year of the Xuande era during the Ming Dynasty (1432), over 580 years ago, making it one of the older existing ancient structures in Lanxi City. It is situated in the central area of Jiuzhai Village, facing northwest and southeast, and is a three-bay, three-courtyard brick-and-wood structure.

Today, the area in front of Qinen Hall is a flat open space with a wide field of vision. According to villagers’ recollections, there were originally two memorial pavilions dedicated to Zhu Jie, with inscriptions written by two Ming Dynasty officials. These pavilions have since been destroyed, leaving only the “Taijian” Stone Archway standing firmly in front of Qinen Hall.

The “Taijian” Stone Archway was built by the descendants of Zhu Jie, nearly a hundred years after Qinen Hall. The stone archway is 3.9 meters wide and about 9 meters tall, even taller than the three-tiered horse-head walls of Qinen Hall. It is carved from large blocks of bluestone slabs, constructed tightly without visible seams, and remains well-preserved.

On January 13, 2017, the People’s Government of Zhejiang Province announced it as part of the seventh batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Yongchang Street: Located to the west of Lanxi City, Yongchang Street covers an area of 84 square kilometers and has a population of 48,000. National Highway 330 and the first-class highway connecting to the Youbu Interchange of the Hang-Jin-Qu Expressway run through the area. The Jin-Qian Railway has a station, Yongchang Station, within the street. The Dongfeng Reservoir, with a water storage capacity of 25 million cubic meters, is also situated in Yongchang. Xiaoli Village under the jurisdiction of the street is the hometown of Li Yu, the world-renowned master of traditional Chinese opera. Yongchang enjoys a favorable external investment environment, as well as unique geographical and labor advantages. There are thousands of acres of loess hills available for development, and tens of thousands of rural laborers are distributed across villages around Yongchang. … Yongchang Street detailed information++

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units