Danai Hall

Danai Hall

Danai Hall is a cultural relic protection unit of Zhejiang Province.

Located at No. 5 Sanmin Road, Cicheng Town, Ningbo City, Danai Hall derives its name from the large imperial plaque inscribed with the majestic characters "Danai Hall", handwritten by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Ji.

Danai Hall has a three-bay layout with a total width of 13.87 meters and a depth of 11 bays. It has a five-rafter horizontal tie beam system, with four clusters in the central bay and a one-dou-six arrangement. The structure features carved camel humps, intricately pierced decorative brackets, and lively cloud motifs. The column bases are of two types: drum-shaped and wooden-style. The walls are constructed with an aloe core and an outer layer of mud mixed with rice husks. The front porch features a boat-shaped roof, and the column capitals are adorned with crossed bracket sets. Including the adjacent wing rooms, the total floor area is 368 square meters.

Judging by its construction period, Danai Hall is externally connected at the roof level with the east wing building, which was the former residence of Empress Dowager Huizong of the Song Dynasty. However, in reality, during the Tang and Song dynasties, beams and columns were not connected, and Song dynasty stone bases were higher than those of the Tang dynasty.

In 1986, Professor Chen Congzhou from Tongji University, during his inspection of ancient buildings in Cicheng, observed Danai Hall and other historic structures and concluded that they likely predate the Ming dynasty. This suggests that Danai Hall may very well be a Song dynasty building.

In 1997, the People’s Government of Zhejiang Province, in the "Notice on the Announcement of the Fourth Batch of Provincial-Level Cultural Relics Protection Units and the Adjustment of Some Provincial-Level Cultural Relics Protection Units," designated Danai Hall—one of the eight Ming and Qing ancient architectural complexes in Cicheng—as a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units