Jiuanbei Hanlin Ancestral Hall

Jiuanbei Hanlin Ancestral Hall

Jiuanbei Hanlin Ancestral Hall is a cultural relic protection unit of Hunan Province.

Jiuanbei Hanlin Ancestral Hall

This Hanlin Ancestral Hall is located in Jiuanbei Village, Wanjing Town, Ningyuan County, and was first built during the Song Dynasty. Li Shinan, a native of the village, became a Jinshi in the Yimao Year (1008) of the Dazhong Xiangfu era under Emperor Zhenzong of Song. He was appointed as a judge of the Dali Temple and concurrently served as an official in the Taichang Temple. In the first year of the Baoyuan era (1038), he became the assistant director of the Dali Temple. The hall was built by local people to commemorate Li Shinan, hence the name “Hanlin Ancestral Hall.” In 2006, it was designated as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit by the People’s Government of Hunan Province.

The ancestral hall covers a land area of 1,856.32 square meters, with a building area of 1,500 square meters. The lower section with three halls was built during the Song Dynasty, the memorial archway in front of the hall was constructed in the Ming Dynasty, and renovations were carried out in the third year of the Tongzhi era of the Qing Dynasty (1864) and in the yiyu year of the Guangxu era (1885) when the upper section with two halls was added. This formed the current layout featuring one pond, one memorial archway, one theater stage, five halls, five courtyards, and two wing rooms. The wooden facade in front of the hall is a fully wooden structure with three gates, four pillars, and three stories, decorated below the eaves with seven tiers of ruyi-style bracket sets. The theater stage is an octagonal-pillar wooden structure with a hip-and-gable roof. The front hall features five tiers of dragon-head bracket arms under the eaves, all adorned with wood carvings. Inside the hall, there are six stone steles from the Qing Dynasty and a pair of stone lions. It is one of the ancestral halls in Hunan with distinctive regional architectural features.

This ancestral hall has now been nominated as a National Key Cultural Relic Protection Unit.

Jiuanbei Village: Jiuanbei Village…… More details about Jiuanbei Village++

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of Hunan Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relic Protection Units