Taiping Mountain House

Taiping Mountain House

Taiping Mountain House is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Era: Ming to Qing Dynasty

Address: Suocun Village, Lingyang Township, Qingyang County, Chizhou City, Anhui Province.

Taiping Mountain House, also known as "Jude Hall," is a Huizhou-style ancestral hall structure, initially built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, with a history of over 600 years.

The building is rectangular in shape, facing south. It has a total width of five bays spanning 16.5 meters, and a depth of three sections totaling 71.6 meters, covering an area of 1,173 square meters. Each section is interconnected by corridors, wing rooms, and courtyards, arranged in a rigorous and orderly fashion. The facade features a tall gate tower in a four-pillar, three-story style. The central plaque is inscribed with four large, seal-script characters "Ji Shan Liu Fang" (Virtue Spreads Far and Wide) in intaglio. The brick carvings between the beams depict scenes from ancient dramas, and the base is a marble-carved single-layer Sumeru pedestal. The roof is supported by grey-brick brackets, with upturned eaves that soar gracefully. On both sides are horse-head walls, and the tall walls together with the layered rooftops create an ancient and charming appearance.

The interior features a post-and-lintel structure, supported by 116 sturdy round columns. Large moon beams span across, interspersed with colorful painted brackets. The column bases come in various styles: drum-mirror, plain inverted basin, and green-footed. The stone walls are adorned with intricately carved patterns of flowers, exotic plants, and birds. Between the beams are elegantly crafted canopy ceilings. The rear section is a two-story pavilion, with a stone-paved courtyard in front. The front edge of the pavilion’s base is fitted with white marble railings and steps, while wooden staircases on the east and west sides lead to the upper floor. Based on its architectural features and three inscribed stone tablets from the Qianlong and Xianfeng eras embedded in the rear wings, the rear section of Taiping Mountain House is a Ming Dynasty structure, while the first two sections were built in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. Originally serving as the Chen family’s ancestral hall, in the 36th year of the Qianlong reign (1771), it was converted into a schoolhouse to accommodate students from neighboring regions traveling to Nanjing for provincial examinations, also functioning as a free school. At that time, the magistrate of Qiupu County, Zhong Xue, inscribed the name “Jude Hall.” In 1986, it was designated as a Provincial Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Protected Area: Outside the foundation walls on all sides — 3 meters to the east, 30 meters to the south, 2 meters to the west, and 4 meters to the north.

Construction Control Zone: 10 meters beyond the protected area on the east, west, and north, and 50 meters to the south.

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units