The Examination Hall, also known as the examination yard and popularly called the examination shed, is a place for grassroots talent selection under the feudal imperial examination system. Since ancient times, Cicheng Town has had secluded mountains and waters, beautiful humanities, and scholars carrying writing brushes and ink slabs. In the 15th year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty (1835), local virtuous men Zheng Tingrong and his son generously donated 24,000 silver dollars to build the Cicheng Examination Hall.
The entire building faces south. It is composed of 117 rooms including the gate, the ceremonial gate, halls, corridors, and side rooms. Judging from the layout design, it is divided into a front yard and a back yard. It is a relatively typical three-entry and two-courtyard building of the Qing Dynasty. The front entrance consists of the gate and the ceremonial gate. In front of the gate, there is a screen wall and two side gates on the east and west. On the right side of the gate, there are four small houses. On the left side, there is a Earth God Temple, which is a place to worship the Earth God. On the right side of the ceremonial gate, there are six gatehouses. The second entrance is divided into left and right corridors as examination rooms. In the middle of the bungalows is the entrance for candidates to enter the examination shed, commonly known as the ‘Dragon Gate’. The doors and windows of the examination rooms are all identical in structure. There are sixty-nine rooms in total. For every three rooms, there is a partition wall, leaving a small patio outside. Only the south side is for access, lighting, ventilation. The entire examination shed can ensure sufficient light source and avoid the hardships of wind and rain. Each examination room has four examination desks and four stools. During the examination, this space of about ten square meters is divided into four compartments. Each compartment seats one person. It looks like rows of cage-like buildings and is called a ‘numbered compartment’. One can imagine the grand occasion of numerous scholars gathering here and sitting at the desks in these narrow examination compartments, picking up their pens and taking exams to seek official positions. The main hall has five rooms. There are four side rooms on each side. The third entrance has a patio and five main rooms. There are also five rooms facing south for the top candidates to hand in their papers and for examiners to seal the papers. To the west, there are three rooms of the Han Yu (Changli) Memorial Temple. To the east, there are three rooms of the Huang Zhen (Wenjie) Memorial Temple. In the northeast corner, there are five kitchens. The construction project was completed and put into use after one year. All the items needed for the examination site (examination desks, screens, etc.) are all available in the examination shed. It is reputed to be an unprecedented grand event of imperial examinations in Cixi.Opening hours: 08:30 – 16:50 from January 1st to December 31st.
