Text |Shen Linjie
The four parallel halls are the four halls and courtyards connected together by the Nansha Zhutang of Zhaochang Bridge, which were the most prominent symbols of the Sheng clan of Zhaochang Bridge.
Aerial photography of Zhaochang market town, photo by Jin Bingren).
On the bank of Nansha Zhutang, four halls and big houses are lined up, and in the east is a lively small market town, where the boats are rocking in the river and walking on the road, all those who pass by are all shocked: in the countryside, it is rare to have such a magnificent house. So much so that it was called the first in Tangdong. This reputation is no longer within a radius of ten miles, so that it has attracted bandits from Taihu Lake.
The owner of the four halls is Sheng Bingzhou, and when the Sheng family arrives in this generation, it is no longer a pure accumulation of wealth, but closer to the word "expensive". Therefore, Sheng Bingzhou was elected as a provincial senator of the Kuomintang, which is already an unattainable official in the eyes of the villagers, and he still thinks so today.
According to the remnants of the building and Sheng Guanyi's recollection, the structure of the four halls is the same, in front is a wall between the doors, between the wall doors there are carved doorways, facing outward is a black lacquer open door, the door is made of extremely heavy materials. The door is fitted with a pair of thick copper knockers. A pair of inward-facing doors between the walls face the patio, and the upper half of them are intricately carved. Behind the wall door is a stone patio, the patio has a depth of about 5 meters, and the stone slabs are horizontally staggered, extremely flat.
Behind the patio is the main hall, the hall is connected with three bays, and the carved doors and windows are called the hall windows. The outside of the hall window is about 1 in widthEach building of the 5-meter corridor house is separated by an alley, because the building is very longitudinal, the alley is also very long, no less than 50 meters. The house has a side door towards the alley, and it is usually the side door to enter and exit, and the main door is opened only when there is a major event.
In the days of Sheng Bingzhou's main house, the county magistrate of Chongde County visited the Sheng family many times, and at this time, the door of the Sheng family was wide open.
On the east and west sides of the four parallel halls, there are also Sheng halls, but the east hall is separated by a very wide waterway, and the west hall is retracted into a house. This large mansion, which was not in harmony with the four parallel halls, later became the purchasing station of the supply and marketing cooperative.
After 1949, the supply and marketing cooperatives at the front of the four parallel halls occupied most of them, except for the easternmost hall. The easternmost five-bay hall, the east two are joint clinics, the middle is the aisle, the west side of the aisle was first rented by Shen Baisong and his wife, after the death of his wife, it became the office space of the senior society. The westernmost one is also used by the supply and marketing cooperatives.
The original owners of the four houses were crammed into two rooms, and all the other houses were used as offices or various factories. Zhaochang Township ** Office, Zhaochang Management District Office, Brigade Office, etc. have been used successively.
Later, after the office of the brigade was moved to Zhaochang Primary School, the four halls were used in turn, such as the straw shoe factory, the silkworm seed farm (after 1958), the straw bale factory, the rice milling factory, the silk cotton factory, the new farm tool factory, the private primary school (1961), and the night school.
When the silkworm seed farm was used, the wing room between the two halls in the middle was demolished, so the entire slate patio was connected, and it became a huge venue, so it also became an open-air movie screening place. Occasionally, there are also Yue opera troupes that come to perform. It has become a public cultural activity space.
After the end of the private primary school, it was time to build the auditorium of the brigade, and these four halls were demolished to build the auditorium. Completed the final mission from private to public. After the reform and opening up, the public houses in these villages were sold to the villagers and became private property again.
From Tasakari].