Prime Minister’s Mansion

Prime Minister’s Mansion

The Prime Minister’s Mansion is a cultural heritage site protected by Yuyao City.

The Prime Minister’s Mansion is located on Baoqing Road, Nanhetou, Yuyao Town. It was the former residence of Lü Ben (also known as Grand Secretary Lü), a grand secretary during the Ming Dynasty. Lü Ben (1503–1587), courtesy name Ruli, also known by his art names Nánqú and Qīzhāi, studied under Xie Pi and Ni Zongzheng in his early years. In 1532, he passed the imperial examination, and in 1558, he was appointed as the Chief Sacrificial Official at the Nanjing Imperial College (equivalent to university president). The following year, during a court recommendation for cabinet positions, Emperor Shizong of Ming specially selected Lü Ben to join the Grand Secretariat in the capacity of Vice Director of the Palace of Literary Purity. In 1559, he was promoted to Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel while concurrently serving as East Cabinet Grand Secretary. In 1560, he was elevated to Minister of Rites. In 1563, he became Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent and concurrently served as Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion. In 1565, he was additionally appointed as Junior Guardian and concurrently served as Grand Secretary of the Wuying Hall, overseeing the Ministry of Personnel. The next year, he was honored as Grand Master for Glorious Happiness and concurrently served as Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent.

The Prime Minister’s Mansion faces south and is arranged along a central axis that includes, in sequence, the entrance hall, sedan hall, main hall, and Baolun Tower (Imperial Book Tower). Each hall is fronted by a wall, and there is a gate tower in front of the main hall, dividing the courtyard into two sections, thus creating two separate courtyards. The inner courtyard has a central pathway, with side towers flanking the main hall, while the outer courtyard has seven wing rooms on each of its eastern and western sides.

The sedan hall is 26 meters wide and divided into seven bays. On the ridge beam purlin of the central bay are two bracket sets of the one-dou-three-rise type, supporting the ridge beam. The main hall is 20 meters wide and divided into five bays, tall and spacious. The ridge beam purlin of the central bay features four bracket sets of the regular type, while the side bays each have three, all of the one-dou-three-rise type. The ridge beam purlins are carved with simple single-line scroll patterns, and the edges of the regular bracket sets are outlined with colored lines to define their contours. Behind the main hall, a stone gateway leads to the Baolun Tower, which was used for storing imperial books and for scholarly reading, and originally housed a statue of the Imperial Sister Goddess. To the west of the main hall lies the “Dismounting Garden,” directly north of which is the “Magnolia Hall,” the birthplace of Lü Ben. To the east is the adjacent “Heavenly Officials’ Mansion,” the birthplace of Lü Tiancheng, Lü Ben’s great-grandson and a Ming Dynasty drama theorist.

Only the sedan hall and the main hall of the Prime Minister’s Mansion remain today, and the former glory of the mansion is hard to discern.

On October 16, 1987, the Prime Minister’s Mansion was designated as a municipal-level cultural heritage site by the Yuyao Municipal People's Government.