Page 51 - JCAU-7-2

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Shan-Shaan Guild Hall on Great Tea Route

4. The relationship between the Great The Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall is located outside the
Tea Route and Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall west gate of Jia County, a critical transportation hub of
in Jia County, Pingdingshan City, Henan the Great Tea Route during the Ming (1368 – 1644) and
Qing dynasties (Fang et al., 2021) (Figure 2). However, the
Province, China Jia County Annals from the Kangxi era do not record its
4.1. Location of the Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall in Jia existence. It is not until the Jia County Annals from the
County Xianfeng era (1850 – 1861) that the guild hall appears, with
mention of the Guandi Temple located within it. A staff
Huang & Ping (2020) divided the Great Tea Route into member from the Ministry of Housing and Construction
three sections: the southern, central, and northern in Jia County explained that Shanxi-Shaanxi merchants
sections. The southern section primarily served initially competed with the local market for resources,
productive transport, the northern section focused on causing tensions with local communities. As a result, the
consumer transport, and the central section facilitated guild hall was established as an enclave beyond government
transfer and trade. Within Henan Province, the Great control, a claim corroborated by historical records. For
Tea Route traversed five paths south of the Yellow River, example, in the 42 year (1778) of the Qianlong era (1735
nd
two of which passed through Jia County (Figure 1). – 1796), tribute materials were stolen from the guild hall,
One of these paths, known as the Bai River Line a remained-unsolved incident that led to the dismissal
(白河线), originated in Xiangyang City (襄阳) in Hubei of dozens of officials. Subsequently, the Shanxi-Shaanxi
Province, following the Tangbai River (唐白河) before Guild Hall became an official post station for the Qing
transitioning into the Bai River (白河) upon entering government, a status it has maintained for over a century
Henan Province. The second path, the Tang River Line (Cheng, 2010).
(唐河线), passed through Shedian town (赊店镇), the
most significant land and water transfer terminal along The Ministry of Culture and Tourism Bureau in Jia
the route. This path, regarded as the primary route of the County identified three reasons why the guild hall was
Great Tea Route, also began in Xiangyang City, following constructed outside the city. First, the guild hall primarily
the Tangbai River before turning into the Tang River as served Shanxi-Shaanxi merchants, with food and lodging
it entered Henan Province (Henan Institute of Cultural exclusively for its members. There was no need to attract
Relics and Architectural Conservation, 2016). outside customers. Second, merchants often transported

Figure 1. Two of the paths traversed the Great Tea Route through Jia County, Pingdingshan City, Henan Province, China. Source: Drawing by Yixin Wang
based on the research of Henan Institute of Cultural Relics and Architectural Conservation.

Volume 7 Issue 2 (2025) 4 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.4582