Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Archway

Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Archway

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Archway is a cultural heritage site protected by the Linhai Municipal Government.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Archway faces south and was built during the Ming Dynasty. The houses within the archway are simple and elegant in design. Currently, some parts are privately owned residences, some are public housing, and some house the “Yunguzhai” exhibition space of the Linhai Museum. Originally owned by Wang Jiemei, the property was sold in the sixth year (1826) and thirteenth year (1833) of the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty to the Lin and Chen families.

In October of the eleventh year of the Xianfeng reign (1861), Shi Wang Li Shixian of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom set out from Jinhua and divided his forces into two routes toward the prefecture. On November 1st of the same year, Li Shixian led his troops into Linhai and established his headquarters at the Chen family residence here. The Republican-era Linhai County Annals Draft by Chen Maosen refers to it as: “The official residence on Rongtang Lane of the Chen family.” In the first year of the Tongzhi reign (1862), Li Shixian was ordered to return to reinforce Tianjing (Nanjing). By April, the Taiping army had fully withdrawn from the prefecture, having occupied Taizhou for seven months. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Archway was constructed by the Taiping troops and features a traditional eight-character gate design, characterized by its simple and dignified architectural style.

The Ming Dynasty residential buildings within the archway cover an area of approximately 450 square meters. The courtyard is 9 meters wide from east to west and 6.7 meters deep from north to south, forming a traditional three-sided courtyard structure. The main building has seven rooms, while the east and west wings each have three rooms, all of which are two-story structures. The roof of the main building is of the flush-gable type with exposed beams, featuring a slightly longer front slope than rear slope. The total width is 32.7 meters and the depth is 11.24 meters. The central bay is 4.75 meters wide, the secondary bays are 3 meters wide, the side bays are 3.35 meters wide, and the end bays are 2.25 meters wide, with the front porch measuring 2.74 meters in depth. The central and secondary bays serve as the main hall, utilizing a post-and-lintel wooden frame construction. Each bay frame consists of seven posts, with brackets placed atop the columns and crossbeams, and the top of the column capitals adorned with carved cloud-pattern spandrels. The front eave column capitals feature repeated upward-facing “eight” character diagonal brackets, with relatively large bracket bases.

Location: No. 96 Huipu Road, Linhai City

Opening Hours: Open all day

Ancient City Subdistrict: Linhai City, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province

The Ancient City Subdistrict Office of Linhai City was established on February 9, 2001. It covers an area of 81 square kilometers, governs 12 community neighborhood committees, 23 administrative villages, and one vegetable company (restructured from a vegetable village). It has a permanent population of 132,000 (including 105,000 residents) and a floating population of 45,000. It is a municipal-level dispatched agency established after part of the suburban areas were separated from the former Chengguan Town People’s Government of Linhai City.

The Ancient City Subdistrict boasts a civilized history of over two thousand years of township and district establishment. ... More detailed information about the Ancient City Subdistrict ++