Tianyuan De Medicine Warehouse

Tianyuan De Medicine Warehouse

Tianyuan De Medicine Warehouse is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangxi Province.

In the past, there were six pharmacies in Shangqing, most of which had the character “Tian” (Heaven) in their names, among which Tianyuan De Medicine Warehouse was the largest. The owner was a member of the Cao family from Zhangshu. The pharmacy was first built in the late Qing Dynasty, with a construction area of 2,788 square meters. It features a brick-and-wood structure and is divided into several sections, including the main house, stable, storage room, and miscellaneous room. The pharmacy has three entrances: the first entrance was for retailing medicinal herbs, the second entrance handled wholesale, and the third entrance, which was the largest, was mainly used for processing and preparing medicinal materials. Although Tianyuan De Medicine Warehouse is a modern building, its lighting technique is quite unique. To ensure ample light inside, the owner employed a dougong (bracket arm) lighting method — the roof was fitted with four-cornered and eight-cornered carved skylights covered with clear glazing, while two windows were also installed on either side of the main gate. On the western gable wall, two upward-slanting, long rectangular “strip windows” were built, which were narrow on the outside but wide on the inside. As a result, the interior of the pharmacy was well lit. Additionally, the outer walls of the building are very distinctive. The exterior is made of blue bricks, the interior of wooden planks, and between them are layered tiles. It is said that this design was intended to deter burglars — if someone attempted to break through the wall, the tiles would make noise, serving as an alarm. This unique architectural style is truly rare in the history of modern architecture in China.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Jiangxi Province