A case study on the worship space of the ancient ancestral hall of You Wenjian in Huishan area of Wuxi, China

Abstract

ABSTRACT Ancestral Hall is the social, economic, and cultural hub of lineage unity. Its symbolic meaning is the basis of all its functions and space. The ancestral halls in Huishan have existed for nearly five hundred years. This article selects the ancestral hall of You Wenjian (尤文简) in Huishan area as the subject to present the evolutionary process of the worship space by studying the existing area and relevant literature. The findings are as follows: First, the ancestral hall of You Wenjian has both sacrificial and leisure functions. Its parallel axes unify the serious worship space with landscape. Second, the current layout of the ancestral hall is formed by repeated reconstruction and expansion, which inevitably reflected the ups and downs of a family in the past century and the changing social background in China. And last, different from royal rituals, the rituals in folk were rigorous and standardized, confined in a relatively enclosed space with fixed positions and circulation for lineage members. Focusing on the spatial characteristics of the ancestral hall and worship activities, the article provides valuable information regarding the cognition and cultural conservation of local traditional halls.