China's Four Forts Block Printing Exhibition Hall

China's Four Forts Block Printing Exhibition Hall

The China's Four Forts Block Printing Exhibition Hall is located behind the government compound of Sibao Township, Liancheng County, facing west. Originally the ancestral hall of the Zou clan in Wuge Village, known as the Dingfu Ancestral Hall, it covers an area of about 800 square meters. Built in the 21st year of the Qianlong reign during the Qing Dynasty (1757), it has a history of over 240 years. The overall building is composed of a gate tower, the upper hall, the lower hall, four wing rooms on the left and right, and a central courtyard.

The upper hall of the exhibition hall serves as the printing tools display area. Here, you can see a huge stone ink vat capable of holding over 200 pounds of ink, ink-grinding mortars, book-cutting knives, book-cutting racks, block-carving racks, palm fiber brushes, and a printing demonstration platform. On the main wall of the hall hang three computer-made "blocks," featuring text from the "History of Song" about Zou Yinglong’s biography. The side walls display portraits and written introductions of representative booksellers from Sibao, as well as those of Zou Taofen, along with information about the Four Great Inventions of ancient China. On the printing demonstration platform, there are printing blocks for the cover of *The Butterfly Lovers (Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai)*, the *Guanyin Painting*, and a *Guan Yu Painting* measuring about 1 meter in length and 0.5 meters in width, which visitors can use to try their hand at traditional printing.

The north wing room of the upper hall is the woodblock exhibition room. Against the walls inside are glass display cases showcasing over 300 pitch-black wooden printing blocks, all remnants from the Qing Dynasty. Among them, several blocks featuring covers of *The Hundred Family Surnames*, *Three Character Classic*, and *Essentials for Daily Life* have particularly large and eye-catching characters. It is said that these blocks were made from hardwoods such as pearwood, jujubewood, and paper mulberry wood. Having endured two to three hundred years, some are heavily damaged by worms, while others remain remarkably intact.