Xie Family Residence

Xie Family Residence

The Xie Family Residence is a municipal cultural relics protection unit in Fuzhou.

Xie Family Residence

(No. 4, Yipail Lane · Qing Dynasty · Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit) was built in the late Qing Dynasty. Originally a residence for government officials, it later came into the ownership of the overseas Chinese Xie family. It is a single-courtyard, single-story structure enclosed by walls, featuring a through-tenon wooden frame, a double-sloped roof, and a double gate facing east. Horse-head walls line both sides along the street. The six-panel main gate serves as the gatehouse, with an artificial hill and fish pond located to the south of the gatehouse. Passing through the stone-framed main gate leads into the courtyard. The main building faces south and is situated to the north, with a front courtyard planted with camellias, jasmine, and other plants, and a rear patio. The hall is five bays wide and seven pillars deep, with a wooden frame (using 30 large wooden pillars), a double-sloped roof, and saddleback gables. The dougong (bracket sets), carved beams, and latticed screens are all exquisitely crafted with fine detail and refined workmanship. The floors of the front and rear corridors are paved with large stone slabs, and the blue stone plinths are surrounded by bas-reliefs of eight steeds and the twelve zodiac animals. The doors (including the screen doors and stone-framed main gates), windows, latticed screens, and lamp posts are all made of nanmu wood. At the center of the plastered wall in the rear hall, there is a suspended three-dimensional character “福” (fortune), one meter in diameter, with three bats positioned at the four corners of the decorative circle, creating a delightful visual effect. Under the eaves of the wall are colored clay reliefs of decorative patterns such as “The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea” and “Two Lions Playing with a Ball.” A door on the west side leads to the flower hall, a small yet exquisite space that also served as the family’s study room, where children were taught and studied. The house retains the layout and architectural style of Qing Dynasty residences and remains well-preserved to this day, although the surrounding environment has been compromised by the construction of high-rise buildings.