Zhaosi Hall is a cultural site protected at the national level in Shuofang Town, Wuxi, People's Republic of China.
| Zhaosi Hall | |
|---|---|
昭嗣堂 | |
 | |
| Former names | Xiangnan ting (香楠廳) |
| Alternative names | Fragrant Cedar Pavilion |
| General information | |
| Status | Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level |
| Type | Pavilion |
| Architectural style | Ming dynasty, Jiangnan courtyard style |
| Address | Yu'an Road, Shuofang Residential District |
| Town or city | Wuxi, Jiangsu Province |
| Country | China |
| Coordinates | 31°27′07″N 120°27′08″E / 31.452075°N 120.452084°E |
| Zhaosi Hall | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 昭嗣堂 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 昭嗣堂 | ||||||||||
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| Xiangnan ting | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 香楠廳 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 香楠厅 | ||||||||||
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History
editZhaosi Hall was built by the father of Consort Duan, a Ming dynasty concubine of the Jiajing Emperor. The building was completed in 1528 and today lies in front of the home of the Cao family of Shuofang district. In 1748, descendants of the Cao family designated the building as an ancestral shrine.[1]
Zhaosi Hall was designated a Cultural Site Protected at the Provincial Level (Chinese: 省级文物保护单位) in 1995.[2]
Architecture
editZhaosi Hall is typical of a Ming dynasty Jiangsu style courtyard house.[1] The central hall is five rooms across, with a hill-shaped roof. The entire building is made from a very expensive and rare type of local cedar wood.[1]
Consort Duan's burial
editIn 2013, archaeologists observed that a stone archway near to Zhaosi Hall was built in the style of an imperial memorial, but lacked an inscription. Local people reported that there had been a grave tumulus near the arch that had been levelled, suggesting that the individual buried there was the recipient of an imperial, uninscribed memorial. Additionally, the word cedar (Chinese: 楠; pinyin: nán) in the original name Xiangnan ting sounds similar to the word for daughter in the local dialect (Chinese: 囡; pinyin: nān). Consequently, the archway is popularly believed to have been erected by Cao Ji in memory of his daughter.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c "昭嗣堂介绍" [Introduction to Zhaosi Hall]. Wuxi Airport Economic Development Zone (in Chinese). 1 June 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
- ^ Xu Dawei 胥大伟 (29 June 2017). "困难重重 香楠厅曲折的修复过程" [Difficulties one after the other: the complicated process of restoring Xiangnan ting]. Fenghuang Wang. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
- ^ Gu 谷, Yuefei 岳飞 (13 July 2013). "无锡曹端妃无字牌坊穿越470年 系真实版"甄嬛传"" [Consort Duan's blank memorial in Wuxi extends back over 470 years. This is the true "Empresses in the Palace"]. China News (in Chinese). Retrieved 27 June 2017.