Yan Family Ancestral Hall

Yan Family Ancestral Hall

The Yan Family Ancestral Hall is a cultural relic protection unit of Hubei Province.

The Yan Family Ancestral Hall is located in Dashuiping Village, Jianshan Township, about 40 kilometers northwest of Xianfeng County, with a total construction area of 736 square meters. It was built through funds raised by local members of the Yan clan. Construction began in the first year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty (1875) with the felling of timber, and the hall was completed in the third year of Guangxu.

The ancestral hall is a brick-and-wood quadrangle courtyard, with its main structure divided into three parts: the entrance hall, the pavilion courtyard, and the main hall.

The entrance hall is 6 meters high, featuring wooden pillars and beams, with four rows and twenty pillars without bracket sets. It has three connecting rooms, with twelve carved floral doors inside and out, giving off an ancient and elegant charm. Beyond the entrance hall lies a square courtyard with sides 12.8 meters long, at the center of which stands a hexagonal stone lotus pond made of eight stone slabs, with a length of six edges. Its outer wall is inscribed with the sixteen family rules compiled by Wang Shipin, surrounded by exquisitely carved cloud patterns. About 0.7 meters above the pond is an artfully crafted stone carving — the Coiled Dragon Stone, which is 2.6 meters long and 2.06 meters wide. The stone features hollow-carved depictions of three dragons chasing a pearl and carp leaping over the dragon gate.

The main hall measures 17 meters in length, 12.2 meters in width, and 8 meters in height, covering an area of 21.24 square meters. It has four rows, three sections, twenty-four pillars, and twenty-two crossbeams, with the middle two rows having five pillars and six crossbeams, and the side rows having seven pillars and five crossbeams, each pillar having a diameter of 0.55 meters. Inside the main hall, three parallel wooden spirit tablets for ancestor worship are installed. In front of the central tablet stand two hollow-carved wooden pillars, each featuring a dragon that can move up and down, wrapping around the pillar — lifelike in appearance.

Directly outside the main hall and connected to it stands a towering pavilion with upturned eaves. The pavilion is 10.7 meters high and 7 meters long and wide. A long ladder inside leads to the top of the pavilion, offering a panoramic view from above. Beneath the pavilion, the bases of two pillars are carved from fine bluestone, depicting a male and female lion. The left one is a male lion playing with a ball, with a movable stone ball in its mouth — you can reach in and spin the ball freely, but no matter the angle, it cannot be taken out.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Hubei Province