Pinghu Mo's Manor

Pinghu Mo's Manor

Pinghu Mo's Manor is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Located at No. 37 Renmin Road, Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province, it was the residence of three generations of the wealthy Mo Fangmei family during the Qing Dynasty. Covering an area of seven mu, the manor comprises over 70 rooms, enclosed by six-meter-high firewalls that isolate it from the outside world. It is a typical closed wooden-structure residential complex. As a residence hall, Mo's Manor is “exquisitely small, compactly laid out, and features the typical characteristics of Jiangnan residential architecture.”

Built in the 23rd year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1897), Mo's Manor is a large enclosed ancient residential complex where three generations of the late Qing landlord Mo Fangmei lived. The entire project took three years to complete, costing 100,000 taels of silver, and was finished in 1899. It is a large enclosed ancient residential complex where three generations of the Mo Fangmei family lived for over half a century. “The faces of the people are gone, but the peach blossoms still smile in the spring breeze.” Today, as a publicity window for Pinghu City, a red education corridor and youth education base for Jiaxing City, and a designated tourism site for Jiaxing, Mo's Manor carries the responsibility of promoting national culture and revitalizing the national spirit. It allows visitors to understand history, gain knowledge, receive cultural influence, and be inspired through sightseeing, making it an ideal destination for educational and cultural tourism. In December 1989, with approval from the People's Government of Zhejiang Province, Mo's Manor was listed as a Provincial Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit. The Mo's Manor Exhibition Hall, featuring Mo's Manor as its main exhibit, was planned in July 1963 and officially established in January 1964. To date, it has welcomed millions of domestic and international visitors.

Mo's Manor is a typical enclosed brick-and-wood structure complex in the Jiangnan style, with a compact and exquisitely small layout. The manor covers an area of 4,800 square meters and includes over 70 rooms. Its overall structure consists of three groups of four courtyards, symmetrically arranged left and right with staggered front and back sections, following the traditional layout of facing south, situated along the street and river, with the front hall and rear sleeping quarters. Along the east, middle, and west axes from south to north are: the entrance hall, ancestral hall, accounting room, flower hall, Buddhist hall, kitchen; the sedan hall, main hall, retiring hall, main floor hall (including bedrooms and the women’s hall); the study, bedrooms, and more.

Three gardens are interspersed throughout Mo's Manor, with miniature rocks and pools creating a “shrinking of heaven and earth.” Flowers, water features, winding paths, and lake stones all form small scenic views—poetic and picturesque, delighting the eye. Each individual building employs either a post-and-lintel or raised-beam structural system, paired with intricately carved beams, eaves, and ornate, varied hanging lattices. These are adorned with exquisitely crafted wood carvings and brick carvings, all thoughtfully designed and complementing one another to showcase the beauty of ancient Chinese architecture.

In terms of interior furnishings, the manor combines furniture, calligraphy and paintings, utensils, and antiques, encapsulating the essence of Jiangnan culture. The manor has a clear orientation and flow. Facing south and situated along the street and river, its spatial layout conforms to the site selection requirements of ancient Chinese residential architecture. The main gate is located at the southeast corner of the manor, corresponding to the Xun position in the Bagua, the direction of the Azure Dragon and Vermilion Bird. This is a physical example of the Jiangnan feng shui residential tradition of using a “Kan house with Xun gate” for determining the entrance. The gate is adorned with bracket sets, spanning three bays and seven rafters, with a total width of 12.20 meters; the central bay is 4.70 meters wide, serving as the entry and exit for the owner and distinguished guests. The middle section features six black-painted doors, each with 16 vertical and 140 horizontal rows of studs, totaling over 13,000 studs, exuding grandeur. The central bay also contains a pair of hidden doors inscribed with the couplet: “A family that accumulates goodness will have abundant blessings; those who widely bestow charity will surely prosper future generations.” The ceremonial plaques on both sides were erected after Mo Fangmei was “officially appointed as a candidate for Prefect of Jiangsu Direct-Controlled Prefecture in 1901 (the 27th year of Guangxu)” following his “entry into the ranks of virtuous officials according to regulation.” The side bays are 3.75 meters wide, used for general access, serving also as the Mo family’s guardhouse and the study area for the Mo children.

The roofs of ancient Chinese architecture are rich in content and diverse in form, often referred to as the “fifth elevation.” The group of buildings at Mo's Manor is no exception in inheriting these traditional roof designs. The upturned eaves and soaring ridges, along with the dragon heads, carp leaping through the dragon gate, two lions playing with a ball, dragon and phoenix bringing prosperity, and Liu Hai teasing the golden toad on the ridges of the ceremonial gate, sedan hall, main hall, and main floor, are all dynamic and varied. Against the vast blue sky, they resemble masterful ink paintings. The poetic imagery of “like birds spreading their wings, like pheasants spreading their feathers” from the *Book of Songs - Minor Odes - The Granary* is vividly brought to life in the pursuit of dynamic beauty in ancient architectural design.

Address: No. 19 West Renmin Road, Pinghu City, Jiaxing

Type: Garden/Historic Site Museum

Recommended Visit Duration: 1–2 hours

Phone: 0573-85022020; 0573-85022058

Official Website: http://www.phmszy.com/

Opening Hours:

8:30-16:45

Ticket Information:

Door Price: 28.0 RMB

Further Reading:

· China National Third-Class Museum

· Sixth Batch National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit