Chip Lok Ian, Auditorium and county monument in Changhua County, Taiwan
Chip Lok Ian (彰化集樂軒) is a former Beiguan music hall in Changhua City, built in 1934 on land bought with funds raised by Lin Chou and others. Its street front is a Western-style facade of washed-granite finish with Doric columns and moulded decoration, inscribed with the hall's name. Behind it lie a worship pavilion, main hall with a Xiqin Wangye altar, a courtyard and side passages.
Yang Yingqiu, who came to Taiwan during the Qing dynasty, founded Jile Xuan as one of the four major quguan of Changhua, alongside Li Chun Yuan, Yuehua Ge and Yiru Zhai. The hall originally stood at the Sanchuan Hall of Qing'an Temple and later moved in front of the temple. In 1934 Lin Chou initiated a rebuilding project, raising funds with Lin Dajiang, Wu Man, Wu Ping and Huang Liangyuan to buy land and erect the present building. Activities stopped after 1994; the county designated it a monument on 26 November 2012, restoration ran from 2019 to May 2020, and it reopened as a quguan on 6 July 2020.
Founded by Yang Yingqiu, who crossed from China during the Qing era, Jile Xuan became the second most important Beiguan music hall in Changhua after Li Chun Yuan. It belonged to the Xuan faction, whose rivalry with the Yuan faction was called "Xuan-Yuan bite". The third-generation master was Jiang Qingjiang. The hall stopped performing in 1994 and reopened as a practice and meeting venue in July 2020.
The building reopened on 6 July 2020 after restoration and is open to the public. It stands in Changhua City, and its front plaza, the quguan cheng, was historically used for gatherings and opera practice. Visitors can view the exterior and, when open, the interior artifacts.
The building's roof frame uses many wooden shims and short posts to create a front-high, rear-low structure, a traditional taboo-avoidance technique. Inside, paintings by Chen Yingpai and his son Chen Wenjun remain, along with a seven-tone gong, instruments, and handwritten scores.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,391 contributors worldwide.