Huangcun Hundred-Pillar Ancestral Hall

Huangcun Hundred-Pillar Ancestral Hall

The Huangcun Hundred-Pillar Ancestral Hall is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Hundred-Pillar Ancestral Hall, also known as the “Jingyi Hall,” is a unique surviving example of Huizhou-style architecture from the transitional period between the Ming and Qing dynasties. Built during the Kangxi era, the hall consists of a courtyard, gate tower, main hall, rear hall, and rear sleeping quarters. Its beams feature beautifully carved patterns such as “a sea turtle spitting clouds” and “dragons and phoenixes bringing prosperity.” The four stone bases are engraved with intricate designs including “a heron playing with lotus,” “a phoenix playing with peonies,” “a crane ascending through clouds,” and “a magpie holding plum blossoms.”

In 1982, at the “Chinese Folklore Exhibition” held at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France, the Hundred-Pillar Ancestral Hall of Huangcun, Wuyuan, Jiangxi, was showcased as a representative of ancestral halls and caught the attention of experts. The structure actually has ninety-nine main pillars. Whether this was an intentional design by the architect to create a hidden “imperial palace” among the people or merely a coincidence in structural art remains unknown. To avoid any implications, the builders simply referred to it as the “Hundred-Pillar Ancestral Hall.”

Constructed during the Kangxi era, the Hundred-Pillar Ancestral Hall is located in Huangcun, Gutan Township, Wuyuan, and is a national-level cultural heritage site currently under application for “National Protected Status.” When scholars from Tsinghua University visited, they…

wrote the following: “After unlocking the door and entering the Hundred-Pillar Hall, we were unexpectedly greeted by a five-bay structure of grand scale…”

“…with a magnificent framework. … Above the central screen wall of the main hall hangs a horizontal plaque inscribed with three bold characters: ‘Jingyi Hall’… We opened…”

the central gate of the main entrance and suddenly noticed that the axis of the hall pointed directly toward a neat, conical small hill called “Jin…”

Zi Mian,” which is the feng shui term for a “literary brush peak.” Having such a peak aligned with the ancestral hall is believed to be auspicious for the clan’s success in imperial examinations.

“…The main gate is exquisitely crafted, featuring a complex structure. To achieve appropriate forms, harmonious proportions, and correct dimensions on both the front and back sides, it is divided into two sections by the gate lintel. The outer half is a magnificent three-bay ‘Five Phoenix Tower,’ while the inner half is a simpler single-eave hip-and-gable roof of three bays. This design approach is strikingly similar to that of the ancient Greek Acropolis in Athens.”

Admission Fee

210 yuan

Location

Huangcun, Gutan Township, Wuyuan County, Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province

Huangcun Village: Huangcun is located in the northwest corner of Wuyuan County and comprises three natural villages and seven villager groups, with a total of 360 households and 1,476 residents. It has 330 acres of arable land, over 17,000 acres of forestland, and 230 acres of tea fields, with a forest coverage rate of 85%. Nestled against mountains and near water, the village boasts beautiful scenery. The Qingling Highway runs through the village, providing convenient transportation and communication.

According to the “Xin’an Huang Clan Genealogy,” Huang Yuchu, also known as the Hermit of Six, moved to Huangjia Nanshan—later named Huangcun—in the year 951 (the Xinhai year of the Guangshun era during the Later Zhou Dynasty of the Tang period) from Shimen Village, Gutan, Wuyuan. Initially, the village was named Huangchuan after the river… More detailed information about Huangcun Village ++