Xijiang Ancestral Hall

Xijiang Ancestral Hall

Xijiang Ancestral Hall is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Era: Ming Dynasty

Location: Xijiang Village, Shuiting She Ethnic Township, Lanxi City, Jinhua, Zhejiang Province

Facing east and west, the layout consists of four sections front to back with wing rooms, and the central hall of the second section stands independently. The total area is about 2,000 square meters. The first gate has been destroyed; the ceremonial gate spans eleven bays in width, is six bays deep with a rear eave corridor structure, uses central pillars, has a flush gable roof, and originally featured a brick-carved gate tower at the front eaves, with a movable stage in the central bay, though several central bays have been destroyed. The central hall has five bays, with a beam frame consisting of five beams, double steps front and back with corridors front and back, winter melon-shaped beams, and a two-tiered bluestone base — the first tier is 0.52 meters high, the second tier 0.38 meters high. The central bay’s golden pillars are spindle-shaped, and the roof is a hip-and-gable roof. The rear sleeping quarters span five bays, are six bays deep with a front eave corridor structure, use central pillars, and sit atop a 0.86-meter-high base, with a flush gable roof. On either side of the rear hall are small courtyards, each with three bays and two wing rooms. The rear section consists of the rear hall and the two small courtyards, forming a “five open, eleven hidden” layout. Seven bays of wing rooms are located on both sides of the central hall and between the front and rear sections.

Xijiang Ancestral Hall features simple yet classic carvings and uses relatively large construction materials. It is a high-specification and large-scale folk ancestral hall in our province.

Xijiang Village: Xijiang Village has 246 households with a total population of 863, accounting for 3.9% of the township’s total population. The majority are rural households, numbering over 260, with only 475 people of working age. The village has 24 Party members and a 5-member village leadership team, with a male-to-female ratio of 270:205. The village’s main industries are farming and aquaculture. It has 1,298 mu of arable land and 1,459 mu of sown area, mainly cultivating rice, cotton, rapeseed, and small amounts of soybeans and sesame. However, most of the field cultivation is done by older residents, while younger people typically choose to work outside the village, with many going to other provinces… More details about Xijiang Village ++

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units