Tangyan Hall

Tangyan Hall is located in the center of Zesui Natural Village, Zesui Village (Tangyan). Covering an area of 450 square meters, it was originally built in the Ming Dynasty. Facing south, it features a three-hall, three-bay layout and served as the ancestral hall of the Xu family in the village. The hall has an eight-character gatehouse with a single-eave hip-and-gable roof. Four corbels adorn the gateposts and child posts, decorated with figures and floral patterns. The corbels on the gateposts feature upward-curving cloud patterns, while those on the child posts are decorated with lotus pedestals. Dougong brackets, with one dou and six sheng, support the eaves above the corbels. The front part of the front hall served as a stage, while the rear section housed rooms in the side bays. The central bay of the front hall is a hall structure with ten purlins supported by six columns. The two side bays of the front hall have a two-story structure. The upper floor has ten purlins and seven columns in a chuandou style, while the lower floor also uses seven columns. The front hall bears the inscription "Gongzhong Zhen." The ends of the eave purlin in the front hall are decorated with shrimp whisker patterns, while the center depicts figures from a theatrical story. The front courtyard is paved with granite slabs. Of the six original eave columns surrounding the courtyard, only two corbels remain, decorated with swirling lotus patterns. Two-story structures flank the courtyard, with the upper levels serving as viewing platforms for theatrical performances. The middle hall is also a hall structure. The central bay has nine purlins and four columns in a double-beam style, while the side bays have nine purlins and five columns in a single-beam style. A juanpeng ceiling is installed between the front eave columns and the inner columns. The columns are thick and large. Winter melon beams span the entire column spacing, while square beams, decorated with swirling cloud patterns, are used between the eave columns and the inner columns. Queti brackets, carved with floral patterns, connect the beams and columns. Dou brackets are placed at the top of each column, and the winter melon beams in the side bays are supported by dou brackets and cat beams. The rear courtyard is paved with granite slabs, with a cement floor in the center. The corbels on the eave columns at the four corners of the courtyard are missing. Currently under renovation, the courtyard features a "double lion, double deer" motif. The rear hall was built later, during the Republican era. It is also a hall structure, with ten purlins and five columns in the central bay, and ten purlins and six columns in the side bays. The beams are square and decorated with swirling cloud patterns, with a lion motif carved in the center. The front and middle halls use shaped column bases, with inverted bowls placed beneath the bases in the central bays. The rear hall uses drum-shaped bases without inverted bowls. The floors are all cement, the walls are brick, and the roof is a hard-mountain style with horse-head wall decorations. The building was designated as a county-level cultural relic protection unit in 2006 and is currently undergoing comprehensive renovation by the Linhai Ancient Architecture Company of Zhejiang Province. Originally built long ago, the building is large in scale and uses large timbers, making it worthy of preservation. It is a key cultural relic protection unit in Zhejiang Province.