The Tai Ping Heavenly Kingdom’s Prince Dai’s Mansion was the residence of Prince Dai Huang Chengzhong of the Tai Ping Heavenly Kingdom. Huang Chengzhong (1826 – 1865), a native of Guangxi, was originally a general under Li Shixian and had fought in northern Zhejiang and southern Anhui. In 1862, when Cixi in Jiangxi Province was captured, he killed the leader of the invading army, Ward, and was promoted to Prince Dai. There are many carvings and paintings of great artistic value in the mansion. The beams, purlins, columns and rafters are all painted with colors and gilded in the paintings. In addition to the caisson flowers, there are also landscapes, customs (fishing, carpentry), story paintings, etc., and six opera paintings, totaling 15 paintings. The style and content of its landscape, customs and flower paintings are the same as the decorative paintings of Tai Ping Heavenly Kingdom buildings in Yixing. And the six opera paintings have the characteristics of late Qing Dynasty opera and the ideological characteristics of the Tai Ping Heavenly Kingdom era. The contents are mainly opera plays such as ‘Interlocking Stratagems’, ‘Empty City Stratagem’, ‘Yuchi Visits the Wise’, ‘Tai Bai Drunk’, ‘Losing Seal and Putting Out Fire’, etc. Most of them are Huizhou operas with Kunqu sentiment. The architecture of Prince Dai’s Mansion and its painted beams and purlins, especially the many figures on the pictures, are of great value for exploring the political, military and cultural activities in the later period of the Tai Ping Heavenly Kingdom and studying the art of antique architecture.
Opening hours: From January 1st to December 31st, 08:00 – 18:00.
Site of Tai Ping Heavenly Kingdom’s Prince Dai’s Mansion
The Tai Ping Heavenly Kingdom’s Prince Dai’s Mansion was the residence of Prince Dai Hua[...]
