Yan Family Ancestral Hall in Yandian

Yan Family Ancestral Hall in Yandian

The Yan Family Ancestral Hall in Yandian is a cultural heritage site protected at the district level of Yanzhou.

The Yan Family Ancestral Hall is located in Yandian Village, Yandian Town, Yanzhou District. It serves as a site for ancestral worship by members of the Yan clan. In March 2003, it was designated as a municipal-level cultural heritage site of Yanzhou. The 1596 edition of the Yanzhou Prefecture Records from the Ming Dynasty’s 24th year of the Wanli reign (1596 AD) states: In August of the 27th year of the Kaiyuan reign during the Tang Dynasty (739 AD), Yan Hui was posthumously honored as the “Duke of Yanguo,” later renamed the “Duke of Revived Sage.” A temple was built 8 li southeast of the city, where seasonal sacrifices were held until it was destroyed in war. The 1888 edition of the Ziyang County Annals from the Qing Dynasty’s 14th year of the Guangxu reign (1888 AD) records: In the early years of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty, Yu Liangren, the deputy prefect of Yanzhou, rebuilt the Yan Temple. In 1385 (the 18th year of the Hongwu reign), County Magistrate Xu Zhongrang established a school on the temple grounds. In 1610 (the 38th year of the Wanli reign), Prefect Wu Ruxian, feeling it inappropriate, converted the front Revived Sage Hall into a main hall for worshipping Confucius, and built a Scripture Pavilion behind it. Below the pavilion, a hall was created to enshrine the Revived Sage Yan Hui (later renamed the Confucian Temple). The temple site measured 155 meters in length and 56 meters in width. It underwent renovations during the Jiajing and Longqing eras, with a layout similar to other county Confucian temples. To the west of the temple gate lies Louxia Alley (some say Yanzhou was the hometown of Yan Hui). The 1888 Ziyang County Annals state: A Yanzi Academy was built in Loudi Village, south of the city. According to the Yanzhou Government Document No. 28 (2009), the protected area is defined with the marker stele as the center: 30 meters east, 30 meters west, south to Yanyan Road, and 50 meters north. The construction control zone extends 30 meters outward from the boundary of the protected area.