The Grand Merchants of Shanxi at the End of Prosperity | Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall & Luzhe Guild Hall

As the ancient capital of thirteen dynasties, apart from the Longmen Grottoes, Guanlin, and the White Horse Temple on the outskirts, there are pitifully few ancient buildings in Luoyang city. On the way to the Ancient Tomb Museum, I visited two Qing Dynasty building complexes—the Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall and the Luzhe Guild Hall. The decent wood carvings, adorable stone lions🦁️, and exquisite stone column bases are among the few highlights. Tips1: During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the 'Shanxi merchants' from Shanxi and the 'Huizhou merchants' from Anhui shone together, holding a pivotal position in the national commerce and financial life. Luoyang was a necessary pass for Shanxi merchants moving south, Huizhou merchants moving north, and Shaanxi merchants moving east. There are two remaining ancient building complexes in the old city of Luoyang. One is the Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall, which was built during the Kangxi and Yongzheng periods of the Qing Dynasty by the wealthy merchants of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces. The other is the Luzhe Guild Hall, which was built in the ninth year of Qianlong (1744 AD) by fellow merchants from the prefectures of Luan and Zezhou in Shanxi. The Luzhe Guild Hall and the Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall are less than one kilometer apart, east and west, showing the prosperity of Shanxi merchants' business. Tips2: The Wood and Stone Carving Art of Luzhe Guild Hall The wood and stone carvings of the Luzhe Guild Hall are particularly outstanding. On the components of each level of the building, especially under the eaves, the wooden beams, lintels, brackets, and hanging columns are almost all decorated with carvings. There are figures, animals, flowers, and more, with wood carvings using techniques such as relief and openwork. In addition to wood carvings, the stone carving art of the Luzhe Guild Hall is also very distinctive, especially the carvings on the column bases of the main hall, which are lively and exquisite. The six stone column bases in front of the outer eaves are particularly characteristic, with the upper layer featuring two dragons playing drums, the middle layer consisting of six animals penetrating a table in openwork, and the lower layer composed of three layers of stone carvings with twelve overlapping lotus petal patterns.