Shuyin Lou

Shuyin Lou (书隐楼, Shūyǐn Lóu), meaning “concealed books”, is a mansion and former private library at 77 Tiandeng Lane in Huangpu District. It was first built in 1763 and is described as the only completely preserved Qing-dynasty residence, and a Suzhou-style private mansion, in downtown Shanghai. It has fallen badly out of repair, and emergency work began in 2021.

Sources differ on who built it. A 2021 account from the Shanghai government information office says a Ming official first built it as part of the Suzhou-style Rishe Garden (日涉园), and that the wealthy Lu family from Pudong bought it and turned it into a private library. Chinese Wikipedia instead says it was built in 1763 by Shen Chu (沈初), a Qing official who held posts including grand councillor and minister of war. The library ranked in the Qing dynasty with Tianyi Ge in Ningbo and Jiaye Tang in Huzhou among three celebrated libraries of Jiangnan.

The Guo family bought the library in 1881. In the 1940s the rest of the complex, about 1,500 square metres, was owned by six Guo brothers. The youngest, Guo Junchun, lived there until 1995, when the condition of the buildings became too dangerous. The mansion was a municipal-level protected site, listed in 1987 according to Chinese Wikipedia, but private ownership meant it went without proper maintenance for decades. After the property passed among the family’s children it had 21 owners.

Chinese Wikipedia reports that a factory was installed in the main hall in the decades after 1949, which cracked the tall brick walls, and that new buildings on the west side later caused the foundations to sink.

In September 2021 the Huangpu district government announced emergency work on structural reinforcement, termite treatment and fire protection, led by Shanghai Urban Renewal Development Co. Officials had spent about eighteen months persuading all 21 owners to transfer the property to the government. Plans included a canopy over the open courtyard, removable waterproof wraps for window and door frames, and monitoring of ground subsidence. Fallen pieces of the buildings were collected and numbered for later reassembly.

The plan is a three-courtyard layout of five successive halls with more than 70 rooms, enclosed by tall fire-break walls. The library hall is in the fourth row. Brick and wood carvings include a long brick relief over the ceremonial gate.