The Zhou Family Quan'en Hall

The Zhou Family Quan'en Hall

The famous Peking opera actor Zhou Xinfang, whose stage name was Qilin Tong, came from a scholarly family that had lived in Cicheng for generations. However, the family fortunes declined. His father, Zhou Weitang, developed a passion for Peking opera at a young age and later joined the Chunxian Opera Troupe as a supporting female role performer. In those days, acting was considered a lowly profession, and the Zhou clan expelled them from the ancestral hall. Later, after Zhou Xinfang achieved fame in Shanghai, his father Zhou Weitang instructed him to build a new family hall. As a result, in 1925, he funded the construction of the “Quan'en Hall” with 5,000 yuan. It features an entrance gate, a central hall, rear buildings, and left and right wing rooms.

Currently, only the entrance gate and the Quan'en Hall remain. The rear courtyard, main building, and left and right wing rooms have all been demolished. Inside the hall, there is a stele inscription titled “Record of the Reconstruction of Quan'en Hall,” erected in the 14th year of the Republic of China (1925), written by Zhou Yufu. It stands 194 cm tall and 81 cm wide, containing a total of 642 characters.

The Prohibition Stele was also erected in the 14th year of the Republic of China. It is 41 cm tall and 81 cm wide, with a total of 132 characters. This ancestral hall is located on Dingxin Road in Cicheng and is now under the management of the Cultural Relics Management Committee. However, the entrance gate has not yet been restored.

According to the facts, referring to the “Quan'en Hall” as the “Former Residence of Zhou Xinfang” is a misnomer. It should be called the Zhou Family Ancestral Hall “Quan'en Hall.” Zhou Xinfang’s actual former residence was a plot of land on Dingxin Road, which was rented out to Jiang Asan for farming and is now the site of a brewery and commercial shops.