Architectural style of Zhouzhuang town

Among the nearly 1,000 houses in Zhouzhuang, more than 60% of the buildings in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the Republic of China are still preserved, including nearly 100 ancient houses and more than 60 brick-carved gatehouses, as well as some arcades and water-wall doors, which are typical of water towns in the south of the Yangtze River. Among these buildings, Shen Guild Hall is the most representative. Shenting is located on the south side of the east bank of Fuan Bridge in Shinan Street, facing south, with seven doors and five doors. There are more than 100 large and small houses, which are distributed on both sides of the 100-meter-long central axis and cover an area of more than 2,000 square meters. It is a key cultural relic protection unit in Jiangsu Province.

Shenting Hall, formerly known as Ye Jingtang, was changed to Songmao Hall in the late Qing Dynasty. It was built by Shen Benren, a descendant of Shen Wansan, in the seventh year of Qianlong in Qing Dynasty (AD 1742). According to "Zhouzhuang Town Records", "Shen Benren liked traveling in his early years, and all his friends were bandits. After the death of his father, people have already' lost everything in less than three years'. After listening to this, Benren bought wine, told the bandits to drink, gave each his own money, and told them,' I have to hold up the door now, so I can't travel with you!' So, we closed the door and thanked guests for running agriculture, and expanded our special hall next to the Dayetang where we lived. There are more than 100 rafters in Guangsha and thousands of acres of fertile land, which has become a huge town. "It seems that Shen Benren belongs to the prodigal son. He didn't squander the property inherited by his predecessor. After his father died, he worked hard, expanded his family business and built a large-scale Shen guild hall.

Shenting * * * consists of three parts. In front of it are the water wall gate and the river port, which are special buildings for family members to dock ships and wash clothes. In the middle is the gatehouse, tea hall and main hall, which are places to pick up and drop off guests, handle weddings and funerals, and discuss and discuss; Behind is the lobby building, the small hall building and the back hall, which is the place to live. The whole hall is a typical "front hall and back hall" architectural pattern. The front and rear buildings are connected by the street building and the aisle pavilion, forming a round walking tower, which is rare for similar buildings.

Seven into the hall, in the middle is the Songmao Hall, which covers an area of 170 square meters. The main hall is eleven meters wide, with a porch in front, seven purlins and eleven meters deep, and a porch behind the hall. The front of the main hall is square, and there are secondary rooms on both sides of the main hall, and buildings are connected with the front and rear wings. The roof is a hard hilltop with two slopes. Except for six purlins to seven purlins, they all have single ceilings. The beams and columns in the hall are thick and carved with flowers such as python, unicorn, flying crane and dancing wind. In the middle of the hall, there is a plaque hanging on one side, and the three striking clay characters of "Songmaotang" were written by Zhang Jian, the champion of the late Qing Dynasty. The brick-carved gatehouse facing the main hall is the most magnificent of the five gatehouses, with a height of six meters and three floors and five floors. Brick-covered cornices, high-angle brick arches, hualien hanging on both sides, and five layers of brick carvings below, the layout is compact. There is a plaque in the middle, engraved with the words "accumulated thick streamer", and the forehead frame around it is engraved with fine red plum spring relief. Brick doors are also engraved with figures, animals, pavilions and other patterns, including classical operas such as The West Chamber and The Champion on a White Horse. The lines are exquisite and smooth, and the characters have different expressions and are lifelike. Carving the front, middle and far view on a brick slab less than 100 feet long is exquisite in carving and ingenious in conception, which can be compared with the brick carving gatehouse in Suzhou Netscape Garden.

The wooden beam frame of the lobby building is vigorous in shape, all of which are Ming-style circular patterns. The floor is mostly a single pine board about 60 cm wide, which is strong and solid. You can imagine the difficulty when the project is completed. The railings and lattice windows in the lobby building are beautifully made, which is different from the architectural style of the front hall and belongs to the Huizhou style.

Shenting was severely damaged in the ten-year catastrophe. Since 1983, the restoration project of Shenting has started. Songmao Hall, Tea Hall and Lobby Building were successively restored, and Zouma Building was opened. The back hall building is also connected with the sparkling silver-lettered city. After renovation, Shenting restored the architectural style of Qing Dynasty and became a popular tourist attraction.