Main Gate of the Cizhu Family Ancestral Compound

Main Gate of the Cizhu Family Ancestral Compound

The Main Gate of the Cizhu Family Ancestral Compound is a cultural heritage site protected by Chongren County.

The Main Gate of the Cizhu Family Ancestral Compound, originally the main gate of the family residence of Yue Shi, a renowned geographer and cultural scholar of the Northern Song Dynasty, is located at the former entrance of Lejia Village in Sanshan Township, Chongren County. Facing south and built with brick and stone, it has been identified that while serving as an official in Lingzhou, Sichuan, Yue Shi composed a five-character poem titled “Poem of the Compassionate Bamboo,” which was initially engraved in Lingzhou. The poem consists of five sections and forty rhymes, expressing the virtues of parental kindness and filial piety, wishing for the prosperity and growth of the Yue family descendants, and their success in imperial examinations and official careers generation after generation. Since then, Yue Shi and his descendants have used “Compassionate Bamboo” as a metaphor for themselves. Hence, the family’s main gate came to be known as “Cizhu Family Ancestral Compound.” This structure holds significant value for the study of Yue Shi and his family’s cultural legacy.

Sanshan Township: Located in the northwest of Chongren County, Sanshan Township borders Heshang and Bashan towns as well as Baibi Township to the southeast, and the border of Fengcheng City to the northwest. It covers a total area of 82.5 square kilometers, including 15,000 mu of arable land and over 70,000 mu of forested land. The township administers 9 village committees, 75 natural villages, 2,400 households, and a population of 11,000.

The township government is located in Sanshan Street, which is 11 kilometers from the county seat. Also called Sanshan Temple, Sanshan Street was built during the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong reign and has long been a bustling market town within the county.

To the west of the township lies Luoshan Mountain, one of the famous mountains in the Fuzhou region. The mountain features beautiful scenery and majestic presence, with attractions such as Wangxian (Looking for Immortals) and Lingtai (Spirit Platform)... More details about Sanshan Township ++