Yu Residence

Yu Residence

The Yu Residence is a cultural heritage site protected at the district level in Jiangbei District.

Originally built as a new residence by Feng Shují, a successful candidate in the imperial examinations during the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty and later the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Huguang, it was thus called the New Provincial Administration House. Descendants fell on hard times and sold it to the Yu family, after which it became known as the Yu Residence and was rebuilt in the early Qing Dynasty.

The residence faces south and has five courtyards in total. Along the central axis, the main buildings consist of an 11-bay front courtyard, comprising the main hall, two side passages (east and west), and two large halls. All the halls are three bays wide with post-and-lintel beams, and the ridge purlins are fitted with central bracket sets. On the east and west sides of the main halls are service passages, and adjacent to these passages are three-bay-wide side halls built with through-tenon construction. In front of the main halls, there are carved brick and stone screen walls on the east and west sides. The rear courtyard consists of a two-story building with five bays and two side passages, constructed with through-tenon framing, along with five-bay, two-passage wing buildings on the east and west sides, forming a courtyard complex.

Scattered around the main buildings are various smaller rooms and courtyards, arranged in a well-proportioned layout. In terms of scale, it is considered the foremost among the ancient buildings in Cicheng. Its layout and individual architectural units preserve the characteristics and style of residential architecture in the Jiangnan region during the early Qing Dynasty.