Shangshudi, Cultural heritage site in Taining County, China.
Shangshudi is a residential complex in Taining County, Fujian, made up of two groups: Shangshudi and Shidetang. Shangshudi, built from the late Wanli to Tianqi years of the Ming Dynasty, faces east and measures over 80 meters north-south by over 50 meters east-west; it has five three-courtyard compounds known as Wufutang. Shidetang consists of six parallel Chen family houses from the early and middle Ming, covering 6,000 square meters.
Shangshudi was built between the late Wanli years and the Tianqi reign of the Ming dynasty as the residence of Li Chunye, Minister of War under Emperor Tianqi. It was listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in 1988. In 2001 Shidetang, a group of early and middle Ming Chen family houses, was merged with it under the name Taining Shangshudi Architectural Complex.
The complex takes its name from Li Chunye, Minister of War under Emperor Tianqi, whose residence is the Shangshudi; the five courtyards are popularly called Wufutang, the Hall of Five Blessings. Beside it stand the Chen family's Shidetang and Qing-era halls of the Li, Liang and Jiang families, so several clans' houses line one street.
The complex stands on Shangshu Street in Taining County, Sanming, Fujian, with the Shangshudi and Shidetang groups facing west toward the street. The Shangshudi compound measures about 80 m north to south and 50 m east to west, so allow time to walk its five courtyards in sequence.
The complex is not a single residence: it merges the Shangshudi, the Ming residence of war minister Li Chunye, with the Shidetang, six parallel Chen family houses covering 6,000 square metres. The two were joined under one national protection listing in 2001, when Shidetang was added to the 1988 designation of Shangshudi.
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