Ma Xiao Chen Family Ancestral Hall

Ma Xiao Chen Family Ancestral Hall

Ma Xiao Chen Family Ancestral Hall is a Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Chen Family Ancestral Hall (Provincial-level Cultural Relics Protection Unit)

Era: Qing Dynasty

Announcement Date: March 16, 2005

The existing structures were built during the Yongzheng and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing Dynasty. The hall faces south and has a rectangular floor plan. Along the central axis are arranged, in sequence, the entrance hall (stage), main hall, and rear building, with side rooms and wing rooms on both sides. The total area covers over 600 square meters. The entrance hall is five bays wide, with a total width of 15.10 meters and a depth of 8.30 meters. It uses relatively large and finely crafted materials, with simple and classic moon-beam designs, and exquisitely carved bracket arms and spandrels. It features a flush gable roof covered with small blue tiles laid in a yin-yang pattern, and is flanked by decorative gable walls. The main hall is also five bays wide, with a total width of 15.10 meters and a depth of 7 meters. The central bay has a five-rafter structure with a front double-step. The rear building is a two-story structure built on a raised platform, five bays wide, with a total width of 15.10 meters and a depth of 7.90 meters. It has nine purlins and five columns with a front-back divided-heart layout, using a mixed post-and-lintel and beam-frame construction. The rear part of the building houses an ancestral shrine for spirit tablets. The entire structure is enclosed by tall fireproof gable walls.

The Chen Family Ancestral Hall has an intact layout, orderly arrangement, exquisite craftsmanship, and the use of relatively large materials. Its wood carvings, stone carvings, and brick carvings are quite refined, and the framework exhibits distinctive local characteristics.

Source: Zhejiang Cultural Relics Website

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units