First batch · LSJZ1-33
Sichengtang Church
Sichengtang Church (思澄堂) is a religious building in Hangzhou, China, built between 1911 and 1949. The city declared it a protected historic building on 24 May 2004, as number LSJZ1-33 in the first batch of 75.
On this page
What the listing says
The city's description, as summarised on English Wikipedia: Constructed between 1911 and 1949, it is one of the earliest and largest Christian churches in Hangzhou. It features the blending of the Chinese and the Western styles. To honor the first Chinese clerk Zhang Chengzhai, the church is named after Sichengtang.
Listed as a Hangzhou municipal protected cultural relics site in 2013.
Sichengtang stands at 132 Jiefang Road beside Fengle Bridge in Shangcheng District. Its congregation goes back to November 1864, when an American Presbyterian missionary and the Chinese evangelist Zhang Chengzhai came from Ningbo and opened a chapel in Pishi Lane; Zhang became its first pastor in 1868. His son, the doctor Zhang Baoqing, gave 10,000 silver dollars towards a new church and 50,000 more were raised. Building began in 1924 and finished in 1927, and the church, named to remember Zhang Chengzhai, came into use in 1930.
It is a three-storey brick-and-timber building on a cross-shaped plan, with blue-brick walls and upturned Chinese eaves; a bell tower on the south side was removed when Jiefang Road was widened in the 1950s. The church closed in 1966 and was used by Hangzhou Library, returned to worship in 1981 and seats about 1,800.
Key facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| List number | LSJZ1-33 |
| Chinese name | 思澄堂 |
| Batch | First batch, announced 24 May 2004 |
| Built | Between 1911 and 1949 |
| Listed address | 解放路132号 |
| Type | Temples and churches |
Where it fits
Hangzhou has been a centre of Buddhism for more than a thousand years, and the list includes former temple sites, nunneries and halls as well as a Protestant church of the 1920s. Many of these buildings lost their religious use in the twentieth century and served as schools, factories or homes; the listing protects what survives of their halls and courtyards. All the temples and churches on the list.
It belongs to the first batch, announced on 24 May 2004: 75 buildings, from Republican-era villas around West Lake to lane houses, temples and churches in the old city.
What the listing protects
A listed building may not be altered, moved or demolished without approval. Under the regulations in force since 1 October 2013, each listed building has a protection plan and a sign put up by the city, and falls into one of three protection categories, from keeping its main exterior features to keeping its exterior, plan, structure and details.
Its owner, or for a state-owned building its user, is responsible for upkeep and repairs, and a repair plan must be approved first. The listing does not open a building to the public: most listed buildings are still homes, offices, schools or shops.
On the same street
- Building at 209, Jiefang Road: LSJZ3-22, 1934
Sources and licence
- Description: adapted from the English Wikipedia article List of first batch of declared historic buildings in Hangzhou, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Chinese name, period, address and remarks: Chinese Wikipedia, 杭州市历史建筑 and the building's own article, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Listing: Hangzhou municipal government notice 杭政办函〔2004〕154号 of 24 May 2004.
- Photo: 猫猫的日记本, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons. Photos credited to "hangzhoumemory" or "Laohangzhou" were uploaded by the former heritage portal; Hangzhou Memory is not connected with it.
- The text of this page is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Sichengtang Church?
The city's list gives its address as 解放路132号, Hangzhou. Chinese map apps and taxi drivers will recognise the address in Chinese.
When was Sichengtang Church declared a historic building?
On 24 May 2004, as number LSJZ1-33 in the first batch of 75 historic buildings announced by the Hangzhou municipal government (杭政办函〔2004〕154号).
What does LSJZ1-33 mean?
It is the building's number on the city's list. LSJZ abbreviates lishi jianzhu, "historic building"; 1 is the batch and 33 its place in that batch.
Keep reading
- The First Batch of Hangzhou Historic Buildings (2004)The first batch of Hangzhou historic buildings: 75 buildings declared on 24 May 2004, each with its number, period, address and a page of its own.
- Hangzhou Historic Temples and Churches on the City's ListHangzhou historic temples and churches on the city's list: 13 temples, temple sites, nunneries and Sichengtang Church, with what survives and what is open.
- Hangzhou Historic Building Regulations: What a Listing MeansHangzhou historic building regulations in plain English: what can be listed, the three protection categories, owners' duties, fines and the 2023 city-wide law.
Hangzhou Memory is an independent reference site. It is not affiliated with the Hangzhou municipal government, its heritage or real estate bureaus, or any previous operator of this domain.