AccScience Publishing / JCAU / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/jcau.4582
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The Shan-Shaan Guild Hall: A historical nexus on the Great Tea Route

Yixin Wang1 Jie Han1*
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1 Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
Journal of Chinese Architecture and Urbanism, 4582 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.4582
Submitted: 19 August 2024 | Accepted: 1 November 2024 | Published: 13 December 2024
© 2024 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract

Jia County, located in Pingdingshan City, Henan Province, is one of China’s historical cities, known for its prosperous economy and thriving community of merchants and traders. Recognizing Jia County’s geographical advantages, merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi Provinces, renowned for their business acumen, funded the construction of the Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall in 1693. This guild hall served as a multifunctional hub for business negotiation, sacrificial rituals to honor the gods, hospitality for guests, and fostering connections among Shanxi and Shaanxi businessmen, strengthening the exchange of economic and trade information. As an important architectural heritage site along the cultural route of the Great Tea Route, the Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall holds immense historical and cultural value. The local government has initiated plans to preserve it as a public space for future generations. This article examines the Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall in the context of the Great Tea Route as a cultural route. Drawing on archival research, field investigations, and semi-structured interviews, it delves into Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall’s tangible and intangible cultural characteristics and its historical relationship with the Great Tea Route. By uncovering the deeper value connotation of the Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall, this study aims to provide new insights into the conservation of cultural heritage.

Keywords
Cultural route
The Great Tea Route
Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall
Value connotation
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests.
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