Dafudi Mansion in Zhouhu, Lichuan

Dafudi Mansion in Zhouhu is nestled in a mountain hollow of Zhouhu Village, Huashan Land Reclamation Farm, more than 40 kilometres away from downtown Lichuan County. Also known as the Boat House or Boat-shaped Ancient Residence, it was built in the 24th year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty (1844) on a grand scale. It is listed as a Provincial Key Cultural Relic under Protection in Jiangxi Province.

The main gate stands exactly on the central axis of the main building, looking spacious and stately. The door frame is laid with large bluestones. Four outward-protruding stone pillars with regular hexagonal cross-sections are embedded on the lintel. Each pillar is about one foot long and half a foot in diameter at the top, carved with chrysanthemum patterns. Local people name this structure the Eight-sided Ornate Gate. Above the gate once hung a horizontal plaque inscribed with three bold and sturdy Chinese characters: Dafudi. Unfortunately, the characters on the plaque were chiselled away and are no longer preserved.

Inside the gate lies a spacious courtyard. The main gate is on the left, and a screen wall stands on the right. Passing through the gate, visitors enter the front hall, the middle hall and the rear hall one after another, separated by sunken courtyards. Upstairs on both sides of the front hall are music chambers for wind and percussion players. Each chamber has two small openings facing inward and backward, making four openings in total. This clever design keeps servants out of sight while creating an acoustic resonance effect just like a loudspeaker.

The outer walls are horizontally built with blue bricks in the "two vertical courses and one horizontal course" pattern. Between the bow, hull and stern sections of the boat-shaped building stand horse-head fire gables, rising one foot above the roof ridges. These brick gables are topped with grey tiles to guard against wind and fire. The interior walls are made of specially made bricks mixed with field mud and pebbles, which insulate heat effectively and keep the rooms warm in winter and cool in summer, just like a natural air conditioner. The brickwork was bonded with glutinous rice paste and lime, then polished repeatedly, resulting in an extremely smooth wall surface.