Teapot Ear House

Teapot Ear House

The Teapot Ear House is a cultural heritage site protected by Guangdong Province.

The Teapot Ear House is located in Chaxincun Village, Youxi Town. It earned its name from the “cauldron ear” shape—locally called “teapot ear”—of the decorative exterior wall on the front section of the building. Constructed in the seventh year of the Daoguang reign during the Qing Dynasty (1827), it was built by Xitong Gong, the 17th-generation ancestor of the Huang family who settled in the area. The house faces northeast and is built along a southwest axis. It features a four-courtyard, two-wing, one-enclosure style layout. The total width is 84.5 meters, the depth is 65 meters, and the built-up area exceeds 5,492.5 square meters. The roof is of the hanging gable style. The structure is made of brick and wood. The central main gate is of the recessed-belly type, with a stone arch, and is flanked by two round stone columns that support the beams of the front porch. The porch has a rolled shed roof with decorative carvings. The central hallway consists of three sections. Two octagonal stone columns support the front porch beams and feature wooden carved lion-shaped pedestals and mythical makara brackets. The hallways all have brick walls supporting the rafters. The lower hall and middle hall have screen doors. The eaves beams are adorned with carved patterns. The courtyard is paved with pebbles arranged into intricate designs such as dragons and bagua (the eight trigrams). The Teapot Ear House includes a total of 166 living rooms, 19 large and small public gates, two horse-access alleys, and five pathway alleys. In front of the house there is an open courtyard and a crescent-shaped pond.

In 2005, the Heyuan City Cultural Bureau listed it as a protected historic building. In 2010, the Lianping County People's Government designated it as a cultural heritage site. In 2011, the Heyuan City People's Government also listed it as a cultural heritage site.

Chaxincun Village: Chaxincun Village…… More details about Chaxincun Village++

Further reading:

· Ninth Batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Heritage Sites