Shimen Gao Family Ancestral Hall

Shimen Gao Family Ancestral Hall

The Shimen Gao Family Ancestral Hall is a cultural relic protection unit of Anhui Province.

The Shimen Gao Family Ancestral Hall is located in Shimen Village, Tangxi Town, Guichi District, Chizhou City.

Originally built as a schoolhouse by Gao Ji during the Tang Dynasty, the hall was expanded during the Ming Dynasty. It faces south with a north orientation, featuring a brick-and-timber post-and-lintel structure with a rectangular layout. Originally comprising six sections, only five remain today. These include, in sequence, the entrance hall, middle lower hall, middle upper hall, incense hall, and ancestral worship hall. Each section is connected by a light well. From the front to the rear sections, the elevation gradually increases following the terrain of the mountain, with the ancestral worship hall being 0.80 meters higher than the Filial Piety Hall. The ancestral hall has a depth of 63 meters and a width of 15.28 meters. The ridge height is 6.5 meters, covering a total area of 945 square meters. The column bases are made of bluestone and come in various shapes such as round, basin-shaped, square, hexagonal, and octagonal. The hall is supported by 136 wooden pillars that uphold the beams and lintels. The columns hold up the beams, which rise progressively from the bottom to the top, culminating at the roof ridge, forming an orderly arrangement of wooden framework. The wooden structures such as camel hump beams, crescent beams, bracket arms, coffered ceilings, and spandrels feature relatively simple carvings that retain the stylistic essence of the Ming Dynasty. The roof is of the flush-gable style, with single slopes on both sides of the light wells, covered with grayish-blue clay tiles. On both sides of the entrance hall are brick auxiliary rooms, which together form an "eight"-shaped facade. In front of the main gate lies a square, at the end of which is a semicircular pond. The Gao Family Ancestral Hall is one of the more intact ancient buildings within the Guichi area, featuring a relatively large main floor space. Having undergone continuous renovations across multiple dynasties, it preserves architectural styles and artistic characteristics from different eras. Its preservation provides valuable reference for the study of ancient architectural history, local architectural art, and folk culture in southern Anhui.

Protected Area: 8 meters south of the ancestral hall’s gate tower, and 5 meters beyond the foundation walls to the east, west, and north.

Construction Control Zone: 5 meters beyond the protected area to the east, west, and north; the southern boundary is the same as the protected area.

Tangxi Town: Located in the southern mountainous region of Guichi District, Chizhou City, Tangxi Town borders Qi Jing and Gong Xi townships of Shitai County to the south, and Yangling, Nanling of Qingyang, as well as the Second Heavenly Gate of Jiuhua Mountain, to the east. It is 43 kilometers from the city center. The town currently has nine village committees, a population of over 12,000, and covers a land area of 251 square kilometers, making it the largest town in Guichi District by area. The area includes 370,000 mu of mountainous land and over 10,000 mu of arable land. It is a mountainous town characterized by “nine mountains, two rivers, half a mu of fields, and half divided between roads and estates.”

The Longshu River, originating from LouTai Mountain of Jiuhua Mountain, flows from east to west through the entire town, passing through Shimen, Bai... More details about Tangxi Town++