The Meng Family Ancient Towers

The Meng Family Ancient Towers

The Meng Family Ancient Towers are a Shandong Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Meng Family Ancient Towers are located in Jiuxi Village, Diaozhen, Zhangqiu District, and were built by the Meng family, a prominent merchant clan in the late Qing Dynasty, of which Meng Luochuan was a well-known figure. The cultural relics consist of two two-story buildings, one in the south and one in the north. The protected area extends: 1 meter north of the back wall foundation of the North Tower, 1 meter south of the south wall foundation of the South Tower, 1 meter east of the East side of the South Tower, and 1 meter west along the line connecting the west walls of the South and North Towers. The construction control zone is the same as the protected area.

What remains today of the Meng Family Ancient Towers are two two-story cultural relic buildings and one single-story building, referred to as the South Tower and the North Tower. The South Tower is a two-story building with a flush gable roof and a pointed ridge style. It is five bays wide and four rafters deep, with an overall width of 13.75 meters and depth of 4.96 meters. The building has an eave height of 6.72 meters and a total floor area of 136.40 square meters. The roof features concave and convex tiles, with a floral tile ridge at the center, ending in blue brickwork at both ends, slightly raised, with water-shedding gable ends. Both front and rear eaves have flying rafters, with ridge-end tiles fixed at the eave edges, followed by the laying of cover tiles. The wooden frame uses a five-rafter post-and-lintel system, supported internally by brick pillars within the walls. The interior clear span is 3.97 meters, with golden melon pillars supporting the three-rafter beams. Between the first and second floors, there are six sets of wooden load-bearing beams, topped with purlins, and wooden floorboards laid on top, though these are now missing. The first floor interior has a blue brick tile floor, while the second floor retains wooden floorboards.

The gate and gatehouse of the North Tower are flush gable roof structures with pointed ridges. They are two bays wide, with the gate and gatehouse each occupying one bay, five rafters deep. The gate has a front porch, with an overall width of 7.93 meters and depth of 7.10 meters. The front eave height is 3.36 meters, and the rear eave height is 3.92 meters, covering a total floor area of 54.43 square meters. At the central golden column position of the gate’s front eave, a solid brick wall is built with a door opening fitted with double-leaf panel doors. To the east of the gate is the gatehouse, which has window openings on both front and rear eaves, fitted with vertical lattice windows (style unspecified), though these are currently sealed. The roof has been altered, the timber frame is missing, and the interior of both the gate and gatehouse has a blue brick tile floor.

The Meng Family Ancient Towers were built in the late Qing Dynasty, though the exact date is unknown. They were the former residence of Meng Yangxuan of the XiuJinTang (family hall name)—a relative of the renowned Confucian merchant Meng Luochuan. On June 23, 2015, the towers were designated as part of the fifth batch of Shandong Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units by the People's Government of Shandong Province.

Diaozhen Subdistrict: Diaozhen is located east of Jinan and north of Zhangqiu, covering an area of 77.6 square kilometers. It administers 51 administrative villages with a population of 65,000 and has 72,000 mu of arable land. In recent years, guided by the concept of scientific development, Diaozhen has actively transformed its development model and refined its economic structure on the journey toward building a prosperous, harmonious, and happy Zhangqiu. It is focused on constructing a comprehensive urban sub-center complex for Zhangqiu County. The area has been awarded several honors, including Shandong Province’s “Advanced Grassroots Party Committee,” “Provincial Civilized Town,” “Provincial Characteristic Industry Town,” “National Model Town for Urban Construction,” “National Top 1,000 Towns by Comprehensive Strength,” and more... More detailed information about Diaozhen Subdistrict ++

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Shandong Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units