The Hall of Purity

Abstract

Throughout history, women’s emancipation has affected architectural designs. Collective or communal buildings for women on their own have been documented at least since medieval times. Yet, in China’s Canton region, a unique women-only building typology has remained unfamiliar to the general public. The Aunt’s Houses refer to communal buildings for self-combed women – a group of women who tied their hair up as a vow of never marrying. Originating in the 1880s, this custom was distinctive to China’s Canton Delta. It thrived with the region’s silk economy development (1900-1930) and eventually faded towards the end of the 20th century alongside the modern country’s reformation. As a place to accompany and support each other, the Aunt’s Houses were the retreat for self-combed women after rebelling against the patriarchal society. Bing Yu Tang – “The Hall of Purity” – is the best-preserved case of such houses. Completed in 1951 in Shunde, Canton, the Hall of Purity was initiated by around 400 self-combed women as their collective retirement home. It was converted into a museum in 2012, along with the passing of the last generation of these women. Based on primary sources gathered from the field visit to the Hall of Purity, including contemporary and historical images and survey data, as well as archival images and literature, this history thesis takes The Hall of Purity as a case study and explores the uniqueness of self-combed women and their communal living places from its origin in the 1880s until its diminishment between the 1980-2010s. Through material and symbolic lenses of architecture, this thesis aims to document and comprehend the reasons behind self-combed women’s formation and the significance of architecture in the women’s community.