"Zhonglan Yuyu" Chess and Music Fairy House

The Cuhe Hall of the Ye family in Dongshan Luxiang was built during the Qing Dynasty. The Cuhe Hall has collapsed, and the only existing open one is the side hall of the Cuhe Hall, also known as the Chess and Music Fairy House. It is a place for the master to burn incense and play the qin in his spare time. Due to the peculiar architectural structure of the building, it can produce the effect of the sound of the qin around the beam. The brick-carved gate of the side hall is the most complete and exquisitely carved gate preserved in Luxiang. Its content is carved with a full set of Three Kingdoms stories, and the carvings are all amazing. 1⃣️The gate is divided into three layers of carvings. The lower part was somewhat damaged during the Cultural Revolution. The upper part is carved with some classic scenes from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms: the Empty City Plan, the Three Heroes Fight Lv Bu, and the Thousand Miles of Single Riding. The carving uses the technique of through-carving, and the shapes of people and horses are full and three-dimensional. 2⃣️The gate plaque reads "Zhonglan Yuyu", expressing the gentlemanly taste of the Ye family's love for orchids and collection of beautiful jade. The word "jade" has an extra point, expressing the Ye family's hope that their collection of jade will be a little more and better than others. The plaque is signed "Langting Shen Zhaolin", Shen Zhaolin (1801-1862), styled Langting, from Hangzhou, Zhejiang. He was a scholar in the 16th year of Daoguang (1836), and served as the Left Du Yushi. He was the Minister of the Military Machinery for ten years. In the first year of Tongzhi (1862), he was appointed as the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu. Shen Zhaolin's calligraphy was very famous in the Qing Dynasty, and his inscription could fall into the Ye family, which shows that the status of the Ye family at that time was extraordinary. 3⃣️The culture of the brick-carved gate of the Cuhe Hall, the wise craftsman only carved the lifelike characters in the Empty City Plan of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms on the small brick gate, which really admires the profound cultural heritage of Dongshan. Address: Enter in the middle of the small alley behind Wang Ao's old house, see picture 2 for the entrance.