Xiangshuai Mansion

Xiangshuai Mansion

Xiangshuai Mansion, originally built as a ancestral temple for the clan. It is located in Chetian Group, Chetian Village, Fengtian Town, Anfu County, at 114°40′56.7″E, 27°23′12.4″N, with an elevation of 83 meters. It was discovered during a cultural relics survey in 2005. The mansion was first constructed in the sixth year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty (1880), funded entirely by Zhou Guan (also known as Zhou Laoguan), a merchant who had traveled to Hunan. The temple was built to commemorate Zhou Yu, the founding ancestor of the Zhou family in Chetian Village. The ancestral hall faces south, features a flush gable roof, and is constructed with brick and wood. It is a combined structure of memorial archway and ancestral hall, measuring 18.8 meters in width and 45.5 meters in depth, covering an area of 855.40 square meters, with three rows, two courtyards, and two entrances. The main hall connects with the archway, the central section serves as the main ceremonial hall, and the rear section functions as the ancestral worship hall, used for seasonal ceremonies. Xiangshuai Mansion houses 108 pillars, 9 caisson ceilings, and features intricately carved beams and painted rafters. The “Xiangshuai Mansion” archway is grand and imposing, adorned with exquisite stone carvings and vividly colored paintings. Stone inscriptions on the archway include “Famed Minister of Neo-Confucianism,” “Hanlin Imperial Scholar,” and “Clan Ancestral Temple.” During the Ming Dynasty’s Wanli era, the Zhou family—Zhou Hongfan, Zhou Maoqing, Zhou Zhihan, Zhou Maoxiang, and Zhou Xian—boasted father, sons, uncles, and nephews all as imperial scholars, forming a distinguished lineage known for their scholarly and moral integrity.

In the 1950s, Xiangshuai Mansion was repurposed as a grain storage facility, later converted into a warehouse for the production team. During the Cultural Revolution, its interior decorations were completely destroyed.

In 2005, the Party branch of Chetian Village decided to convert Xiangshuai Mansion into a cultural activity room and began its…

restoration. Debris and garbage inside the ancestral hall were cleared, and the stone inscriptions and carvings such as “Xiangshuai Mansion,” “Clan Ancestral Temple,” “Hanlin Imperial Scholar,” and “Famed Minister of Neo-Confucianism,” which had been covered in lime plaster during the Cultural Revolution, were cleaned to reveal their former glory.

In 2006, with 100,000 yuan in support from the provincial finance department, the first phase of the restoration project was completed on schedule.

In 2007, as Chetian Group in Chetian Village was designated as a comprehensive provincial-level new rural construction demonstration site, with the care and support of leaders at the provincial, municipal, and county levels, significant manpower, material, and financial resources were invested. By early 2008, Xiangshuai Mansion was “completely revitalized” and repurposed as a village history exhibition room and a cultural activity room, open for visitors, learners, and admirers.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Jiangxi Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units