Yunshuiyao Ancient Town - Huaiyuan Tower, A Masterpiece of Traditional Han Dwelling

Shuyang Town, Nanjing County, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province

Huaiyuan Tower is a traditional Chinese residential building

4.9

Introduction

The Huaiyuan Building, built between 1905-1909, is a beautifully crafted dual-ring circular earthen building in good condition. In May 2006, it was listed as a national key cultural relic. The name, Huaiyuan, has three meanings: first, it expresses the nostalgia for distant relatives; second, it indicates that the master of the building comes from a faraway "Huai" place in Henan province; and third, it implies that the descendants of the Jian Family must have lofty aspirations. Huaiyuan Building is currently the most exquisitely crafted and well-preserved dual-circular earthen building, with a unique interior design that results in relatively dim lighting. The most striking feature of Huaiyuan Building is the ancestral hall located in the core position of the inner courtyard, also known as the place where descendants of the clan study, or "this is the room." This is a finely carved and compact "four frames and three rooms" building, covering an area of 190 square meters, decorated with carved beams and painted pillars, natural and simple, with strong scholarly atmosphere. The horizontal plaque hanging in the hall bears the powerful seal script characters of "this is the room." On the pillars on both sides, there is a pair of couplets. The upper couplet reads, "This hall is not for sightseeing but for studying, to cultivate wisdom and broaden the mind through reading." The lower couplet reads, "This room is not too small to hold the virtue, only to teach descendants to pursue virtue." In the upper hall, there is also another couplet, "Books are the key to wisdom and wealth in the world," and "Good deeds, loyalty, filial piety, and farming are the roots of prosperity in the world." Outside the gate tower, there is yet another couplet, "Teaching children to read is to pass on long-term planning, passing on etiquette and family traditions." The horizontal plaque reads, "Poetry and Etiquette Hall."

Address

Shuyang Town, Nanjing County, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province

Opening hours

08:00-18:00 (All day)
Last admission time: 18:00 (Monday-Sunday from January 1st to December 31st)

Transportation

Take bus route Nanjing 6 at Nanjing high-speed railway station (bus station) and get off at Yunshuiyao (bus station). Then walk about 2.3 kilometers to arrive.

Phone 0596-7756578