Qingjie Hall

　　   Qingjie Hall is situated west of Huaqing Pool on Renmin Road. In the ninth year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty (1756), it was constructed with substantial contributions from Ye Bomei and Li Hongzhang, intended as a residence for young widows and their children, hence the name. In the fourth year of the Guangxu reign (1878), local gentry such as Ye Bomei petitioned Governor Yu Lu, who approved the conversion of the former site of the Anqing Tongzhi Bureau building and the Sanqing Hall of Mawang Temple to establish the hall.

　　   Before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, local officials and gentry, in an effort to uphold feudal ethics, encouraged women to remain chaste and faithful to their deceased husbands for life, leading them to enter Qingjie Hall. The widows residing in the hall had to strictly adhere to its rules. Before the Anti-Japanese War, within over 200 numbered rooms (including 20 rooms with better living facilities, designated for widows from official and gentry families, known as “special rooms”), they were only permitted to leave the hall on Qingming Festival to pay respects at their husbands’ graves; at all other times, they could not exit the premises and remained confined to their assigned rooms year-round. The hall was demolished in 1987 and rebuilt as the “Qingjie Hall Shopping Mall.”

　　   Address: West of Huaqing Pool on Renmin Road, Anqing City