Minghe New Wufang

Minghe New Wufang

New Wufang is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Zhejiang Province.

New Wufang is located at No. 1, Xinwufang Lane, Mingxing Village, Minghe Ancient Town, Cixi, to the east of Yemiao River and north of Jiehe River. The building faces south and has a rectangular layout, consisting of a main courtyard with a screen wall, entrance hall, main building, and east and west wing rooms, as well as an east-side side courtyard. It covers a total area of approximately 1,670 square meters.

The screen wall is designed in an inward-facing “eight” shape; the entrance hall features a double-sloped roof and spans five bays; the main building is a two-story structure with nine bays and two lanes, topped with a double-eave hip-and-gable roof; the east and west wing rooms are both two-story buildings with four bays and one lane, also featuring double-eave hip-and-gable roofs; to the east of the main building lies a side courtyard, which includes front and rear wing rooms, two small single-story rooms on the south side, and an ancient well. The front wing room is a three-bay, one-lane, double-eave hip-and-gable two-story building with two additional small rooms on the north side, while the rear wing room is a six-bay small single-story house. An ancient well is situated in the courtyard between the front and rear sections.

New Wufang is a late Qing Dynasty building, constructed by descendants of the fifth branch of the Ye family from Minghe. The east side room of the main building’s second bay was once the residence of Hu Jixuan, a renowned linguist and philologist. After the land reform, it housed more than ten families. The construction materials used in New Wufang are relatively refined, and the craftsmanship is exquisite. Columns and beams are mostly treated with hemp-wrapped plastering, and the carved brick and stone lattice windows are exquisitely detailed. The layout is neat and the preservation is good, making it a representative example of late Qing Dynasty architecture in eastern Zhejiang. In January 2011, it was designated as a provincial-level cultural heritage site by the People’s Government of Zhejiang Province.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Heritage Sites