Home embodies feudal sex and class hierarchies
By Yang Jian |
June 18, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Mo Mansion built in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in Pinghu is considered one of the best-preserved historic houses in the Yangtze Delta region.
Mo Fangmei, one of the richest businessmen of the city, built the 2,600-square-meter, 70-room mansion in 1897. It is so meticulously preserved that it looks like the family just moved out.
The mansion has a history to tell about luxury lives of the wealthy and the hierarchy between male and female, master and servant in the old feudal society.
The wooden structure has white walls topped by a roof of black tiles. It stands along one of the busiest streets in town but is isolated behind walls that are more than 7 meters tall.
"It shows that the owner wanted to maintain a low profile and hide the extent of his wealth from others," said Yang Yunheng, deputy manager of the company that operates the mansion as a tourist attraction.
Mo was a timber merchant who later bought himself an official government position. After obtaining both money and rank, he returned to his hometown Pinghu and spent 100,000 ounces of silver to build the mansion.
Three generations of his family lived there. In the 1950s, the last of the Mo descendents moved out and the mansion reverted to government ownership. It was later opened to the public.
Inside, a visitor can easily be mesmerized by the delicate sculptures of historic figures and animals on pillars, eaves and windows. Some original rosewood furniture remains in the houses.
Women were not allowed
Visitors first enter the Women's Hall, which is a rarity among historic buildings of the same period in the Yangtze Delta. The hall was the only place that female family members could congregate to chat or do needlework apart from their private rooms.
Women were not allowed to enter the main hall to meet guests or to enter rooms reserved for male members of the family, Yang said.
Thresholds at the gates are about 50 centimeter tall and difficult to step over, especially for women with bound feet. The thresholds were there to remind women that they should not show their faces in public, Yang said.
Beyond the hall is the room for the head of the servants. Visitors must duck to enter the room because the entrance is only 1.5 meters tall.
"Mo especially designed the low beam to remind the head of servants to always bow in front of his masters," said Yang. The head of servants had great power over the more than 30 servants in the house, and the master was afraid he might forget his station in life, he added.
Servants' quarters were small and relatively unadorned, with two or three beds in each room.
A soundproof wall three meters thick separates the servants' quarters from the rest of the house.
"That was mainly to prevent eavesdropping by servants," Yang explained.
Mo's own room is beyond the main entrance of the mansion. It features a lattice skylight where he could watch all those who entered or left the mansion. He also had a special wooden chair beside his bed that served as a toilet if the seat was removed.
The room for his grandson, who later became the head of a local town, is a contrast in style. The grandson, Mo Zizou, graduated from Zhejiang University, where he picked up a liking for European-style bronze sculptures. Some still remain in his room.
Most visitors are surprised to find a telephone room in the late Qing Dynasty mansion. Yang said a telephone hung there mainly as a decoration for a long time because the city had neither telephone service nor electricity when the house was built.
Mo Fangmei, one of the richest businessmen of the city, built the 2,600-square-meter, 70-room mansion in 1897. It is so meticulously preserved that it looks like the family just moved out.
The mansion has a history to tell about luxury lives of the wealthy and the hierarchy between male and female, master and servant in the old feudal society.
The wooden structure has white walls topped by a roof of black tiles. It stands along one of the busiest streets in town but is isolated behind walls that are more than 7 meters tall.
"It shows that the owner wanted to maintain a low profile and hide the extent of his wealth from others," said Yang Yunheng, deputy manager of the company that operates the mansion as a tourist attraction.
Mo was a timber merchant who later bought himself an official government position. After obtaining both money and rank, he returned to his hometown Pinghu and spent 100,000 ounces of silver to build the mansion.
Three generations of his family lived there. In the 1950s, the last of the Mo descendents moved out and the mansion reverted to government ownership. It was later opened to the public.
Inside, a visitor can easily be mesmerized by the delicate sculptures of historic figures and animals on pillars, eaves and windows. Some original rosewood furniture remains in the houses.
Women were not allowed
Visitors first enter the Women's Hall, which is a rarity among historic buildings of the same period in the Yangtze Delta. The hall was the only place that female family members could congregate to chat or do needlework apart from their private rooms.
Women were not allowed to enter the main hall to meet guests or to enter rooms reserved for male members of the family, Yang said.
Thresholds at the gates are about 50 centimeter tall and difficult to step over, especially for women with bound feet. The thresholds were there to remind women that they should not show their faces in public, Yang said.
Beyond the hall is the room for the head of the servants. Visitors must duck to enter the room because the entrance is only 1.5 meters tall.
"Mo especially designed the low beam to remind the head of servants to always bow in front of his masters," said Yang. The head of servants had great power over the more than 30 servants in the house, and the master was afraid he might forget his station in life, he added.
Servants' quarters were small and relatively unadorned, with two or three beds in each room.
A soundproof wall three meters thick separates the servants' quarters from the rest of the house.
"That was mainly to prevent eavesdropping by servants," Yang explained.
Mo's own room is beyond the main entrance of the mansion. It features a lattice skylight where he could watch all those who entered or left the mansion. He also had a special wooden chair beside his bed that served as a toilet if the seat was removed.
The room for his grandson, who later became the head of a local town, is a contrast in style. The grandson, Mo Zizou, graduated from Zhejiang University, where he picked up a liking for European-style bronze sculptures. Some still remain in his room.
Most visitors are surprised to find a telephone room in the late Qing Dynasty mansion. Yang said a telephone hung there mainly as a decoration for a long time because the city had neither telephone service nor electricity when the house was built.
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