The Ancestral Hall of the Xu Clan in Ouxia

The Ancestral Hall of the Xu Clan in Ouxia

The Ancestral Hall of the Xu Clan in Ouxia is a protected cultural heritage site under Guangdong Province.

The Ancestral Hall of the Xu Clan in Ouxia is located on Qingzhuan Ci Lane, Nanpan Middle Street, Ouxia Community, Outing Subdistrict, Longhu District, Shantou City. Originally built in the seventh year of the Shunzhi reign during the Qing Dynasty (1650), the hall faces southeast and is situated northwest. It is 15 meters wide and 27.4 meters deep, covering a total area of 411 square meters. The ancestral hall features a three-bay, three-courtyard layout with a single-eave hip-and-gable roof, consisting of a front courtyard, an inner courtyard, an inscribed pavilion, and the main hall. On both sides of the main structure are service alleys, and a broad open area lies in front of the hall. The stone plaque above the entrance gate bears the inscription “Xu Clan Ancestral Hall,” calligraphed by Huang Jin (1572–1654), a Minister of Rites from the Southern Ming Dynasty who was originally from Raoping, Guangdong. A pair of stone drums stand at the main gate, and there is an ancient well in the left service alley. The front courtyard features six panels of engraved calligraphy on lime plaster, hand-written in 1936 by Xu Zhihan, a local notable from Outing, during the hall’s renovation. According to the 2006 restoration inscription, the Xu Clan Ancestral Hall was first built in the seventh year of the Shunzhi reign, rebuilt in the forty-seventh year of the Kangxi reign, and renovated again in 1936. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the hall was used as land for production teams and later as a workshop. It was returned to the Xu Clan in the 1990s. This is one of the ancestral halls in Outing that was inscribed with a plaque by a renowned official, and it still retains the architectural style of Chaozhou-Shantou ancestral halls from the Ming and Qing periods. It holds significant value for the study of traditional architecture in the Chaoshan region.

Ouxia Community: Introduction to Ouxia Community

The Neighborhood Committee of Ouxia Community is situated in the northeastern part of downtown Shantou. It borders Shanzhang Road to the south, the Han River to the west, and Wanji Industrial Zone to the north, and lies within the central area of Outing Subdistrict. The jurisdiction covers an area of approximately 1.4 square kilometers. The community has one general Party branch, five branch committees, and a total of 155 Party members. There are five resident groups and 71 resident representatives. The community has 2,950 households with a total population of 8,654, including 6,288 non-agricultural residents and 2,366 agricultural residents, making it a densely populated area with limited farmland. Cultivated land is scarce, totaling only 80... More detailed information about Ouxia Community++

Further Reading:

· Ninth Batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Heritage Sites