Ancient Chinese Hall

Caiyi Hall is a 500-year-old core building of a Ming Dynasty gentry mansion, located at No. 2 Wengjia Xiangmen, Changshu, Suzhou. It was built between 1488 and 1521, now the Weng Tonghe Memorial and a National Key Cultural Relic (4th batch, 1996). Caiyi Hall spans 14.98 meters wide and 14.03 meters deep, with a "front veranda-rear corridor" layout, a gable roof and flat beam frames that show the grandeur of Ming architecture. Its most distinctive feature is 116 well-preserved Bafujin (cloth-wrapping pattern, a decorative style mimicking wrapped cloth) paintings of the Suzhou school, covering 150 square meters. The paintings use cyan, blue and green as main tones, with gold foil added via the powder application technique, depicting auspicious motifs like cranes in clouds, lions playing with embroidered balls and mandarin ducks in lotus ponds. Some integrate carving, sculpture and painting, creating dynamic light effects under sunlight. As the only surviving Ming Dynasty example of Bafujin paintings, its "one beam one scene" decorative system (combining Song brocade patterns like tortoise-shell and lock motifs) is hard to replicate today. Caiyi Hall reflects the peak of Jiangnan decorative art, carrying the architectural wisdom and aesthetic pursuit of the Ming Dynasty. 常熟䌽衣堂是一座有 500 年历史的明代官绅宅邸核心建筑，位于苏州常熟翁家巷门 2 号。它始建于 1488 至 1521 年间，现为翁同龢纪念馆，是全国重点文物保护单位（1996 年第四批）。常熟䌽衣堂面阔 14.98 米，进深 14.03 米，采用 “前轩后廊” 形制，硬山屋顶与扁作梁架尽显明代建筑的轩敞大气。其最独特之处是 116 幅保存完整的苏式包袱锦彩画（仿包裹布料的装饰样式），总面积达 150 平方米。彩画以青、蓝、绿为主色调，通过沥粉贴金工艺点缀金箔，题材涵盖瑞鹤祥云、双狮滚绣球、莲池鸳鸯等吉祥图案。部分画面融合雕、塑、绘技法，在阳光下呈现动态光影效果。作为国内现存唯一的明代包袱锦彩画实物，它 “一梁一景” 的装饰体系（融入龟背纹、锁纹等宋锦几何纹）如今难以复刻。常熟䌽衣堂体现了江南装饰艺术的巅峰水平，承载着明代的建筑智慧与审美追求。