Silk Guild Hall

　　In the spring of the fourth year of the Tongzhi reign (1865) during the Qing Dynasty, the Nanxun Silk Industry Association was established with the approval of provincial governor Jiang (Yiliu) by local silk merchants such as Zhuang Zushou. Its mission was to collect and remit taxes and safeguard the interests of silk merchants, making it the first guild founded by silk merchants in Huzhou City.

　　In the 28th year of the Guangxu reign (1902), land was purchased near Guanghui Bridge (Zhangwangmiao Bridge) and a three-bay building was constructed for office use. The building was completed in the first year of the Republic of China (1912) at a cost of over 80,000 taels of silver, funded by contributions from each bale of exported silk.

　　In the 5th year of the Republic of China (1916), the Silk Industry Guild was renamed the Silk Industry Association, also known as the Silk Guild Hall. To this day, the guild hall’s main gate still bears an English plaque that reads “SILK

　　GUILD.”

　　The main hall, called Duanyi Hall, features a post-and-lintel wooden structure. Its roof is a hip-and-gable roof standing 15 meters high. The front four pillars are made of single, rectangular stone slabs. The hall is spacious and airy, capable of hosting banquets for 54 tables. Every April, the Silkworm King Festival is held here, gathering hundreds of local silk industry workers to worship the Silkworm Deity together and pray for a prosperous silk harvest.

　　Two Western-style buildings were constructed on the north and south sides of the hall to serve as offices for the Silk Industry Primary School. The front section of the Silk Guild Hall was destroyed by fire in the early years of the People's Republic of China, but the rest of the structures have been well preserved. It currently serves as the site of the Nanxun Town Central School.