Quanjin guild hall

Quanjin guild hall

Quanjin guild hall, founded in 1765, covers an area of about 6000 square meters and is located at No. 14, zhongzhangjiaxiang, Gusu District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province.

Quanjin guild hall covers an area of about 6000 square meters. Taking the middle road as the axis, it is divided into the Middle Road, the East Road and the west road. The middle road building is the main body of the guild hall, with hall, Drum Tower, stage and main hall. The West Road building is solemn and simple, with two halls and one nunnery. Quanjin guild hall was built by Shanxi Merchants in the Soviet Union in the late Qing Dynasty. It is of far-reaching significance to protect the traditional history and culture, protect the style of the ancient city, study the germination of China's capitalist commodity economy, study the courtyard buildings and classical theatres in the south of the Yangtze River, make the past serve the present, and explore the modern road of Chinese national architecture.

On May 25, 2006, Quanjin guild hall was announced as the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the people's Republic of China.

Historical evolution

In 1765, Shanxi Merchants in the Soviet Union set up the Quanjin guild hall by bantangqiao, Shantang street, changmenwai.

In 1860, the guild hall of Jin Dynasty was destroyed by war.

From 1879 to 1912, the new Jin guild hall was built at the present site.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the guild hall of Quanjin was in disrepair. Termites were eating away and the beams were leaning and the walls were broken.

In 1958, Quanjin guild hall was successively used as a chemical plastics factory, an optical equipment factory, a camera factory and a staff University of the Bureau of mechanical industry. The East Road and northwest corner were scattered as folk houses.

In January 1976, the main hall of Quanjin guild hall was burned down and the stage was on the verge of collapse.

In 1982, the Suzhou municipal government allocated funds for the comprehensive renovation of Quanjin guild hall, which cost 1.2 million yuan.

In October 1983, construction and renovation of Quanjin guild hall began.

In June 1984, all the users of Quanjin guild hall moved out, the buildings on Middle Road and West Road were overhauled, the main hall was moved and the garden was rebuilt, and the original appearance of the guild hall was basically restored. Only the East Road and the northwest corner houses need to be repaired.

In October 1986, Quanjin guild hall, as the Suzhou Opera Museum, was officially opened to the public. There were special exhibitions of Kun Opera, Pingtan opera, Su opera, and national musical instruments, as well as two restored display and performance places, the classical stage and the Qing style tea garden bookstore.

In November 2003, China Kunqu Opera Museum was officially established in Quanjin guild hall.

Architectural features

structure

overview

Quanjin guild hall covers an area of about 6000 square meters. Taking the middle road as the axis, it is divided into the Middle Road, the East Road and the west road. The middle road building is the main body of the guild hall. It is majestic and magnificent, with hall, Drum Tower, stage and main hall. It is a place for Shanxi merchants to hold celebrations and entertainment activities. The West Road building is solemn and simple, with two halls and one nunnery. Nanmu hall and Yuanyang hall are places for Shanxi merchants to exchange business information, borrow money from each other, and transfer funds; Wanshou temple is a place where the coffins of the late Su Jin merchants are parked, and the coffins are moved back to their hometown by special boats every year. There are dozens of houses on the East Road for Shanxi merchants who come to Suzhou for short-term contact, stock and loan.

 

Theater

With the grand stage as the center, the theater of Quanjin guild hall consists of theater building, backstage, East and West veranda, main hall and atrium surrounded by them. They are combined with the hall of the guild hall and the East-West Drum Tower on a main axis. The entrance hall of the theater of Quanjin guild hall has four boundaries, two steps forward and backward, and three rooms wide. Under the ridge truss of the Ming Dynasty is the black general gate, with a pair of jukun stones. The left and right door leaves are on the ground. The ground is paved with clear ash, water milled square bricks and granite steps. Roof for single eaves Xieshan, dragon kiss flower ridge, cornice angle, tender berm hair berm. Eaves decoration gorgeous, painted red, stone green, gold. Dougong where the stigma shop for, fill between shop for (truss between the card section) for the T-shaped douliusheng, fengtouang. In the south of the spine of the entrance hall, under the front two steps, there is a pavilion of crabapple rafters; under the back two steps, there is a pavilion of boat awning. The top is a thin brick throwing square, a simple tile bowl top, a roller flower ridge, and a mouth feeding chicken snout. The East and West butterfly walls are respectively connected with the bell tower and the drum tower. The bell tower and the drum tower are symmetrical to each other, each with a square two-story roll shed roof. The height of the berm angle and cornice is almost the same as that of the hall, and there are no windows on the outside side. The pattern of flowers and orchids hanging from the front eaves and columns, and the hollowed out sparrow from the back eaves and columns.

 

characteristic

The hall of Quanjin guild hall is magnificent and spacious. It is a typical architectural complex with carved brick and wood structure in Qing Dynasty. In the front half of the hall, the porch truss rafters are petal shaped; in the back half, the porch truss rafters are arched. There are eight groups of colorful brackets at the top of the truss rafters of the two porches, which are carved with "Phoenix wears peony". Dougong is unique to the wooden structure of the guild hall in Jin Dynasty. It not only has the function of bearing load, but also has the function of decoration. In ancient times, the importance of buildings was shown by the number of levels of brackets. As one of the standards of building classification. In Ming Dynasty, it was stipulated that "the houses of common people should not contain more than three rooms and five frames, and they should not be decorated with brackets and colors." "From the first grade to the fifth grade, the beams and arches of the official residence should be painted with green and blue." The Qing Dynasty also made it clear. From the hall and Dougong of Quanjin guild hall, we can see the strength and status of Shanxi Merchants in the Soviet Union.

 

Cultural relics

The Liang Fang of "haitangxuan" in Quanjin guild hall is decorated with double rows of golden wood bats, and the arch plate with vermilion money pattern is decorated under the Fang, which connects three pieces of palace style Wanzi pattern hanging and falling, and three urn of "evergreen" is inlaid in the center, which is a group sculpture with the meaning of "Fu", "Lu" and "Shou". There are three black painted gates leading to the hall. Two round drum stones decorated with lion reliefs are placed on both sides of the middle gate. Two gates are painted with door gods.

 

A cushion arch plate with flowers or money patterns is embedded between each bucket arch of the stage of Quanjin guild hall. The left and right Maple arches are connected to form a whole block. The connected Maple arch plate is carved and gilded, and the upper and lower layers are overlapped between the trusses. Above the square forehead of the gate is a six liter truss, and the hollow cushion arch plate is also embedded between the flowers. Xuanliang is covered with flowers and birds and carved with "double phoenix wearing peony". Some of them are stories about the romance of the Three Kingdoms. The buttresses at the south end of the left and right Gables are decorated with exquisite brick carvings, which are spread out on both sides to form the East-West symmetrical "Butterfly Wall". The lower part of the wall is xumizuo carved with bluestone, and the upper part is a bluish gray right angle fine water milled brick wall. In the center of the wall is a circular openwork brick carving of "Yunlong playing with the Golden Toad".

 

Research value

Quanjin guild hall was built by Shanxi Merchants in the late Qing Dynasty. Among the more than 100 guild hall buildings in Suzhou history, it is a well preserved one. The study of Quanjin guild hall is of far-reaching significance for protecting traditional history and culture, protecting the style and features of the ancient city, studying the germination of China's capitalist commodity economy, studying Jiangnan courtyard architecture and classical theater, making the past serve the present, and exploring the modernization road of Chinese national architecture.

 

The traditional methods of the theater architecture of the guild hall in Shanxi provide valuable historical materials for the modern theater design and the exploration of inheriting, developing and creating the shared space with Chinese characteristics. The exploration of "Quanjin guild hall" theater space is conducive to enrich the creative concept and design ideas on the basis of traditional culture.

 

protective measures

In 1963, Quanjin guild hall was listed as a cultural relic protection unit in Suzhou.

 

In 1982, Quanjin guild hall was announced as a cultural relic protection unit in Jiangsu Province.

 

On May 25, 2006, Quanjin guild hall was announced as the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the people's Republic of China.

 

In 2015, the Suzhou municipal government approved the announcement of the protection scope and construction control zone of the seventh batch of cultural relics protection units and the protection scope and style coordination protection zone of the fourth batch of controlled protection buildings in Suzhou. The construction control zone of the guild hall in Shanxi is 15 meters outside the protection area in the West and south, and 12 meters outside the protection area in the north.

 

History and culture

Suzhou was an important commercial port and commodity distribution center in the south of China in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Shanxi Merchants always paid attention to Suzhou, especially Shanxi merchants who operated banks, accounting bureaus and later ticket houses. Quanjin guild hall was proposed by 81 money merchants as early as the 60th year of Kangxi reign of Qing Dynasty (1721). It was finally built at Bantang bridge, Shantang street, Suzhou in the 35th year of Qianlong reign of Qing Dynasty (1765). After years of repair, it was built in the Bantang bridge.

 

Tourism information

Address: Quanjin guild hall is located at No.14, zhongzhangjiaxiang, Gusu District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province.

Transportation: Take Suzhou bus No.202 and 204 to get there.

Address: No.14, zhongzhangjiaxiang, Pingjiang District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province

Longitude: 120.63573455811

Latitude: 31.312898635864

Chinese PinYin : Quan Jin Hui Guan