Spiral Hall

Spiral Hall

The Spiral Hall is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Spiral Hall is an ancient building constructed during the Ming Dynasty, shaped like a spiral shell. Also known as the Wenchang Palace, it is situated on a massive rock beneath Shiniu Mountain, 2.5 kilometers south of Lizhuang Town, Sichuan Province. Built in the 24th year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty (1596), it underwent renovations during the Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, and Daoguang reigns of the Qing Dynasty.

It has a triple-eaved, octagonal pyramidal roof, stands 25 meters tall, and the roof is covered with both tubular and small blue tiles. The hall has an octagonal floor plan, with each side measuring 8 meters in width and depth. Its interior structure differs from that of typical temples—four central columns run straight through to the second floor, connected by raised beams, penetrating brackets, and corner beams to form the main framework of the roof truss. The first-floor raised beams support the wooden floorboards of the hall. Under the beams on the east and west sides are auxiliary beams, and eight stepping beams support eight middle-tier eave columns, which in turn bear the purlins above and bracket arms below. The eave purlins support the middle-tier dougong (bracket sets). The second-floor raised beams hold up eight top-tier eave columns, with bracket arms placed atop the flat purlins of these columns. Outside the bracket arms are outer eave dougong, while inside they form a mesh-like caisson ceiling. The dougong throughout the hall are largely uniform, stacking upward to support both the internal truss and outward-projecting eave purlins. The top caisson features dougong on all eight sides. On the left, there are ruyi-style dougong, while on the right, the angled brackets and rear ends of the dougong overlap upward in a mesh pattern and rotate to the right, resembling a spiral shell—hence the name of the hall. Inside the hall’s threshold walls, there are five Qing Dynasty stone inscriptions, mostly documenting the historical renovations of the Spiral Hall.

On the raised beam between the two central columns on the first floor, there is an inscription reading “The hall was completed in the 8th month of the 24th year of the Wanli reign (1596), during the Ming Dynasty.” In the 1940s, renowned ancient architecture experts Liang Sicheng and Mo Zongjiang conducted surveys of the hall and wrote in Volume 7, Issue 1 of the "Chinese Architecture Society Journal" that the building's “excellence in beam and column structure is proud to rival any contemporary work.” In 1956, the Sichuan Provincial People's Government designated it as a cultural relics protection unit. On May 25, 2006, as a Ming Dynasty structure, the Spiral Hall was approved by the State Council to be included in the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Protected area: Extends 35 meters beyond the site boundary.

Construction control zone: Extends 110 meters east to the mountain path behind Gaopo Mountain, 65 meters south to the ridgeline of Shiniu Mountain, 40 meters west to the Old Liyi Highway, and 90 meters north across the valley to the mountain path in the cypress grove.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units

Lizhuang Ancient Town

Lufeng Mountain Villa

Lizhuang Ancestral Temple (early activity site of the Communist Party of China's Nanxi County Committee and former site of Tongji University Medical School)

Lizhuang Dongyue Temple (former command post for the Nanxi Peasant Uprising's attack on Lizhuang)

Lizhuang Zhang Family Ancestral Hall

Lizhuang Yuwang Palace (Hui Guang Temple)

Lizhuang Kuixing Pavilion

Mai Tianguan Mansion

Lizhuang Wangye Temple

Lizhuang Guanyin Hall

Lizhuang Huanhou Palace

Lizhuang Nanhua Palace

Lizhuang Jade Buddha Temple