Shu Family Ancestral Hall in Pingshan

Shu Family Ancestral Hall in Pingshan

Shu Family Ancestral Hall in Pingshan is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Guangyu Hall — the main ancestral hall of the Shu family. In traditional architecture, the gate of a house is akin to a person’s face. As the ancients said, “A residence’s gateway is its crown and sash.” The gate structure represents the family’s public image in architectural design and is also the most exquisitely decorated part of the entire building. Unlike the Hu family ancestral halls seen in Xidi, Shu Guangyu Hall takes the form of a wall-attached memorial archway, a rare “archway gate” in Huizhou-style architecture.

“Having seen the Bodhisattva Hall in Jiudu, one fears not even entering an official yamen,” which speaks to the grandeur of Guangyu Hall. In ancient times, the construction of ancestral halls fully demonstrated the hierarchical concepts of feudal ethics and social order. The first level features the phrase “Imperial Favor” and soaring dragons, symbolizing imperial grace; the second level showcases brick carvings of “Returning Home in Silken Robes,” representing scholarly honors; the third level is inscribed with “Generations of Scholarly Success,” denoting academic achievements; the fourth level displays jubilant lions, signifying descendants; and the lowest level features a painting of pine and crane for longevity, representing filial piety and fraternal duty. It is this family-centered philosophy, emphasizing clan law and blood ties, that has allowed such a large family to thrive continuously.

To trace the history of Pingshan Village, no summary is more apt than a couplet found in Shu Guangyu Hall: “Roots trace back to Lujiang, seeking old lineages in Shu State and Shucheng; virtue gathered in Huiling, all from Changling and Changyan share the same origin.” The ancestors of the Shu family here all came from Lujiang, Anhui, and fled here due to war during the late Tang Dynasty. There were three brothers, as clearly explained by a couplet hanging in the main hall of the Shu Family Ancestral Hall in Pingshan — Guangyu Hall: “Roots trace back to Lujiang, seeking old lineages in Shu State and Shucheng; virtue gathered in Huiling, all from Changling and Changyan share the same origin.” Following their elders’ instruction to “settle wherever ‘chang’ is,” they successively made their homes in She land: De settled at Changyan Bridge in She County, Dexing at Changyan Ridge in Yi County, and Deyu at Changning Li in Yi County — with Changning Li being today’s Pingshan.

On October 7, 2019, Shu Family Ancestral Hall in Pingshan was included in the eighth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units