Grand Courtyard of the Wang Family
( chinadaily.com.cn )
Updated: 2012-10-29
Located 12 km (7.46 miles) east of Lingshi County, Shanxi Province, the Grand Courtyard of the Wang Family is the largest folk residence among all the well-known grand courtyards.
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It was built by the Wang Family, one of the four grand families of Lingshi County during the Kangxi Emperor's Reign (1661-1722) to the Jiaqing Emperor's Reign (1796-1820) in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The site features the architectural style of the Qing Dynasty.
It consists of five alleys, five fortresses and five ancestral halls. It has 231 small courtyards and 2,078 rooms, covering an area of 80,000 square meters (8 hectares). The layout of the yards shows the strict hierarchical system of ancient China. Rooms and yards with different scales were offered to people in accordance with their social status.