The Li Zhuang Spiral Snail Hall in Yibin, Sichuan

The Spiral Snail Hall, also known as the Wenchang Palace, is an ancient building from the Ming Dynasty shaped like a spiral snail. It is located on a huge rock at the foot of Shiniu Mountain, 2.5 kilometers south of Li Zhuang Town, Yibin City, Sichuan Province. Constructed in the 24th year of the Wanli era (1596), it was repaired during the Qing Dynasty's Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, and Daoguang reigns. The hall features a triple-eaved, octagonal, conical roof, standing 25 meters tall, with its roof covered in both tube and small green tiles. The hall's floor plan is octagonal, with both the width and depth measuring 8 meters. The interior structure is different from that of typical temples, with four central columns extending through two floors. Between these columns, the structure is reinforced with lifting beams, transverse beams, and corner beams, forming the backbone of the beam frame. The first floor's lifting beams support the inner wooden floorboards, with transverse beams attached below the east and west beams. Eight step beams are placed on top of these, supporting eight middle eave columns, which in turn support the transverse beams and are attached to the eaves. Above the eave beams is the middle eave bracket set. The second floor's lifting beams support eight top eave columns, with arches placed on the flat transverse beams above the eave columns. The outer side of the bracket set forms the outer eave brackets, while the inner side forms a net-like caisson. The brackets of the hall are roughly the same throughout, layer upon layer, supporting the inner beam frame and projecting the eave beams outward. On May 25, 2006, the Spiral Snail Hall, as an ancient building from the Ming Dynasty, was approved by the State Council to be included in the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.