Ancestral Hall of Yang Family in Binchuan County, Dali

The Yang Family Ancestral Hall (杨氏宗祠) is located in Pangu Village (盘谷村), Pingchuan Town (平川镇), about 50 kilometers northeast of Binchuan County (宾川县) seat, separated from the Binchuan Basin (宾川坝) by a mountain. Facing south and backed by the steep and towering Baibao Mountain (百宝山), it boasts a picturesque setting: “To the east rise ox-horn peaks, tigers crouch and dragons coil; to the west lies Changling (长岭), stretching across like a screen; to the south is Qintai (琴台), with rolling ridges; embraced by the mantis-shaped Tanglang River (螳螂河), whose waters flow toward the Jinsha River (金沙江).”
It covers an area of 1,380 square meters and is a provincially protected cultural heritage site in Yunnan.

Architectural Structure

The ancestral hall is a timber-and-earth siheyuan (四合院) complex with a total building area of 837 square meters. It consists of one entrance and two courtyards:

• Front Courtyard: features a screen wall, the main gate, kitchen, and storage rooms.
• Rear Courtyard: includes a passage hall, east and west wing rooms, and the ancestral hall.

While the layout follows the general pattern of inland ancestral halls, the architectural style incorporates distinctive Bai (白族) cultural elements of Dali (大理). Each wing has seven two-story rooms, measuring 36.8 meters in total width and 4.1 meters in depth. Instead of wooden planks, the second floors use square timber beams topped with blue bricks—an innovative design in the Dali area—providing moisture resistance, insulation, and fire prevention.

The screen wall measures 22 meters long and 12 meters high, with double-eaved corners and three large round “pin” (品) character-shaped openings in the center—a rare feature. The structure is simple yet refined, with local bluestone paving, well-designed drainage, and the ability to dry quickly after rain. In the courtyard stand century-old sago palm and osmanthus trees, serving as living witnesses to its history.

Historical Value

The hall’s greatest cultural and artistic significance lies in its well-preserved collection of inscriptions by over 50 prominent figures from the Republic of China era, including political leaders Lin Sen (林森), Chiang Kai-shek (蒋中正), Yu Youren (于右任), Tan Yankai (谭延闿), Hu Hanmin (胡汉民), Zheng Xiaoxu (郑孝胥), Zhu Peide (朱培德), Gu Zhenglun (谷正伦), and Ren Kecheng (任可澄); academic luminaries Cai Yuanpei (蔡元培), Zhang Taiyan (章太炎), Zhou Zhongyue (周钟岳), Li Genyuan (李根源), and Yuan Jiagu (袁嘉谷); as well as renowned calligraphers Tan Zekai (谭泽闿), Chen Rongchang (陈荣昌), Wu Shaolin (吴绍璘), and Yi Lixun (伊立勋).

The site preserves more than 80 pieces—plaques, couplets, prefaces, records, colophons, poems, and stone inscriptions—in multiple calligraphic styles such as clerical, regular, and running scripts, and in the languages of the Han, Manchu, Mongol, Hui, and Tibetan peoples. Despite multiple political upheavals, these relics have survived intact.

Recognized as “the most complete and concentrated collection of Republican-era celebrity inscriptions in Yunnan,” the Yang Family Ancestral Hall was designated in December 2003 as a sixth-batch provincial-level protected cultural relic by the Yunnan Provincial Government.