Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall 山陕会馆

About Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall

Work began in 1743, during the Qianlong reign. The gate and main hall took four years, and the compound was then enlarged year by year until it reached its present extent in the Jiaqing reign. It measures 77 metres from east to west and 43 metres from north to south, covering 3,311 square metres. What survives amounts to more than 160 bays of building: the gate, a theatre building and its flanking structures, bell and drum towers, viewing galleries and stele pavilions to north and south, the Guandi hall, halls to the god of wealth and the god of fire, the Chunqiu pavilion, a watch tower, corridors and side courtyards.

The interest of the place lies largely in its carving and inscriptions. Nineteen steles inside record successive rounds of repair, and there are twelve stone carvings of lions, elephants and qilin as well as twelve carved stone pictures on the screen wall. Almost all of the hundred-odd column bases are worked with plants, birds and animals, and couplets and texts in both regular and running script are cut into the wooden and stone columns and the hanging plaques.

What to look for

• The theatre building facing the Guandi hall across the courtyard, with the bell and drum towers beside it
• The nineteen steles recording repairs to the hall over the years
• The twelve stone carvings of lions, elephants and qilin
• The twelve carved stone pictures set into the screen wall
• The carved column bases and the couplets cut in regular and running script on columns and plaques

Location & getting there

Getting to Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall

Check which interiors and courtyards are accessible. Active places of worship and protected monuments may have different visitor rules.

• Search for 山陕会馆 with 聊城市 and 东昌府区.