Huai Army Guild Hall

Huai Army Guild Hall

The Huai Army Guild Hall is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

In the southwest corner of Baoding’s old city lies an architectural rarity in northern China: the buildings are tall, their “fire walls” rise in stepped tiers along the ridges, and the foundations and pillars are higher than usual, giving the complex an open, bright, and majestic appearance with a distinctly Jianghuai architectural style. This is the Huai Army Guild Hall, built in the ninth year of the Tongzhi reign during the Qing Dynasty (1870) after Li Hongzhang, by imperial decree, led the Huai Army to Baoding to succeed Zeng Guofan as Governor-General of Zhili.

At the same time, he also constructed the Zhongzhong Shrine and a sacrificial field here for soldiers who died suppressing the Taiping Rebellion in Nanjing. After Li Hongzhang’s death, the Zhongzhong Shrine was converted into the Li Hongzhang Ancestral Hall. The hall complex spans 115 meters from east to west and 120 meters from north to south, covering an area of about 25 acres, with four grand courtyards. The second courtyard features a theater stage converted from the original sacrificial field, with a unique design that largely retains its original appearance. The walls of the main hall of the Zhongzhong Shrine and the corridors on both sides are inlaid with stone tablets inscribed with records of the Huai Army’s “meritorious deeds” and the “deeds of martyrs,” serving as valuable historical materials for the study of the Huai Army.

In May 2013, the Huai Army Guild Hall was announced as part of the seventh group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further reading:

· Third Batch of Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units