Xiahe Temple Wang Family Ancestral Hall

Xiahe Temple Wang Family Ancestral Hall

The Xiahe Temple Wang Family Ancestral Hall is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Hubei Province.

Wang Family Ancestral Hall

Located in Xiahe Temple Village, Ma'an Town, Yunxi County, the hall was constructed in the seventh year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1881). It faces south, has an approximately square layout, and is designed as a single-entry courtyard with side rooms and a central patio. The building is 14.5 meters wide and 18 meters long, with a total floor area of 261 square meters. It features a single-eave flush gable roof, is built with a brick-and-timber structure, and has a post-and-lintel frame with a gable-and-hip roof covered in small blue tiles. The ridges are decorated with dry-laid blue tiles, and the patio is paved with bluestone slabs. Both the front hall and rear chamber have three bays in width, while the side rooms on either side of the patio are each one bay wide. A small arched door is set in the center of the wall separating the front hall and rear chamber. The gable walls are in the form of flush gable firewalls, constructed with thin bricks that bear the inscription “Wang Family Ancestral Hall” in clear-water masonry. This ancestral hall is highly distinctive in its local style and is a rare surviving example of traditional clan hall architecture in the province. It serves as valuable physical evidence for the study of ancient public building forms.

Source: Hubei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Hubei Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units