Hundreds of years of precipitation to create Foshan culture
On April 7, the drums in front of the Foshan Ancestral Temple were roaring and the drums were noisy, and the annual Beidi Festival kicked off. Spring Festival ceremony, Northern Emperor tour, reciprocating gods and performing operas… This ancient building ancestral temple, which has been passed down for nearly a thousand years, is filled with citizens who come to pray for blessings.
“Understanding the history of the ancestral temple is equivalent to understanding most of the history of Foshan.” In the view of Ling Jian, director of the Ancestral Temple Museum, as a national key cultural relic protection unit, the ancestral temple is known as the “Palace of Oriental Folk Art”. It not only displays many precious works of art, but also the place of spiritual belief among Foshan people and the soul of Foshan.
Produced by Foshan Press Station Planning Xie Hong and Li Cheng
Text/Jinyang Network Reporter Ouyang Zhiqiang Photo/Ancestral Temple Museum, Foshan Archives 1
First with the Northern Emperor and then the Ancestral Temple
During the Yuanfeng period of the Northern Song Dynasty (1078-1085), a craftsman laid the first wooden stake of the “Zutang Hall”. In the past thousand years, this building has undergone many renovations and expansions and finally becomes the “Palace of Oriental Folk Art”. “When it comes to the ancestral temple, we have to mention the Northern Emperor. There is the Northern Emperor first and then the ancestral temple.” Liang Guocheng, an expert committee member of the Foshan Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, said that the Northern Emperor in the ancestral temple is called the Water God in Taoism. Because Foshan is located in the water network area, it was often affected by typhoons and floods in the past, and farming was greatly affected, making people’s lives miserable. So, the people in Foshan specially invited the protector Beidi to pray that the water god would give water (meaning to regulate the water volume) and make good weather for the year.
After the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty, a large number of Central Plains gentry moved to Foshan, Lingnan, bringing advanced technologies such as culture and smelting in the Central Plains. At that time, Foshan Town relied on the transportation of rivers such as Dongping River and became an important town for light industry, becoming one of the most economically developed regions at that time, equivalent to Shanghai today.
“Relying on water transportationBabaylan, the folk belief of the Northern Emperor made the people taste the sweetness of the people at that time.” Liang Guocheng said that at that time, considering that the Northern Emperor was a faith passed down from Foshan folk, a large-scale temple was built on the original basis. The Ancestral Temple in the early Ming Dynasty became the largest Taoist temple in southern China at that time.
Liang Guocheng believes that the faith of the Northern Emperor represents the spiritual state of Foshan people. As the saying goes, “There are gods three feet above your head”, Foshan people areKomiksUnder the Northern Emperor’s faith, he is particularly simple, especially abides by the rules, and pays special attention to commercial credit. The faith of the Northern Emperor is the root of the ancestors of Foshan people. This mental state has produced Foshan culture and passed down from generation to generation.
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Wanfutai creates an acoustic miracle
Wanfutai in the ancestral temple is the oldest and best preserved ancient stage in South China. There is a wide stone paving site in front of the platform, and there are two-story long corridors on both sides of the east and west for viewing dramas. Liang Guocheng said that the predecessor of Wanfutai was named Huafengtai. It was built in the 15th year of Shunzhi in the early Qing Dynasty. It was renamed Wanfutai on the 60th birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi in the Qing Dynasty (all below use “Wanfutai”).
In the mid-Ming Dynasty, the first Cantonese opera guild was established at the Qionghua Hall on the bank of the Fenjiang River in Foshan. Since the mid-Qing Dynasty, all Cantonese opera troupes will go to Wanfutai to perform first. Please read the level of the Northern Emperor’s Dictionary. It is equivalent to a smooth and smooth performance for the blessing performance.
“After the years of precipitationBabaylan, Wanfutai has become an authoritative and sacred stage for Cantonese opera. Only after withstanding the censorship of the Northern Emperor can the troupe make a living, otherwise there will be no qualification.” Liang Guocheng found that the stage of Wanfutai faces the bronze statue of the Northern Emperor, with a stage of 2.07 meters high, and the distance between the eyes and feet in the bronze statue of the Northern Emperor is also 2.07 meters, plus the bronze statue pedestal is 1.6 meters. Generally speaking, the href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>BabaylanThe performer’s eyes were just facing the Beidi’s eyes, which showed that Beidi was reviewing his performance, so the performer would perform more attentively. Liang Guocheng said that some people would think this is superstition, but in modern times, not only Guangdong, but also the most popular Cantonese opera masters in the world have stepped on it.Wanfutai’s stage started. Anyone who is engaged in Cantonese opera wants to perform at Wanfutai. When it comes to Wanfutai, no one dares to blaspheme it.
Wanfutai, which has a history of more than 300 years and is decorated with brilliant wood carvings, stands majestic. In Liang Guocheng’s view, its architectural art is also very sophisticated. Liang Guocheng said that in 2002, a musician from Guangzhou came to Wanfutai to perform and found that the sound effect of Cinema without electronic amplifiers was better. Later, the professional team found that the architectural design of the entire Wanfutai was a sound field structure, with the sound from Wanfutai to the two corridors on both sides of the Cinema. It was a 2018-year-old archway. It was a 2018-year-old archway. It was a 2018-year-old archway. It was a 2018-year-old archway. It was a 2018-year-old archway. It was a 2018-year-old archway. It was a 2018-year-old archway. It was a 2018-year-old archway. It was a 2018-year-old archway. It was a 2018-year-old archway. It was a 2018-year-old archway. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>KomiksThe natural overall stereo surround sound echo wall allows even the last row to listen clearly, ensuring excellent performance sound effects. Liang Guocheng pointed out that without modern technological means, Wanfutai created an acoustic miracle. Unfortunately, Cinema Nowadays, people like to use loudspeakers to bury the advanced nature of Wanfutai.
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Repair and protection of cultural relics is still the focus
“Understanding the history of the ancestral temple is equivalent to understanding most of the history of Foshan.” Ling Jian, director of the Ancestral Temple Museum, said that the precious culture accumulated by hundreds of years of history must be protected and promoted. Over the years, his work has focused on the repair and protection of cultural relics, the improvement of cultural connotations, and the development of cultural and creative products and the streamlining of management systems.
As an important base for carrying the Foshan martial arts lion awakening, the Huang Feihong Memorial Hall and the Ip Man Hall were both built in 2001. In 2018, the Ancestral Temple Museum successfully combined modern science and history and culture, and completed the upgrade and renovation projects of the two venues. Nowadays, tourists can learn the routines of Hongquan martial arts in Huang Feihong Kung Fu Action Sound and Optoelectronic Playback Room, and wake up the lion with Lingnan in human-computer interactive gamesPlay and learn Wing Chun moves in the Murenchun interactive experience area.
Now the thousand-year-old ancestral temple has a new look – the northern emperor’s birthday is empty alleys, children gather together with their pen gifts, the Cantonese charm on Wanfu Platform is melodious, the Lingnan lion dance show is wonderful, and the “Foshan Youyou” cultural and creative products make cultural relics “live”… Ling Jian said that the ancient building complex of the Ancestral Temple Museum, known as the “Palace of Oriental Folk Art”, has the typical characteristics of the Pearl River Delta and is a landmark building that shows Foshan’s profound historical and cultural heritage.
For such a representative building complex, the Ancestral Temple Museum spares no effort to protect ancient buildings. In 2010, after completing a comprehensive renovation of more than 30 million yuan for more than 30 million yuan in Komiks and the renovation of the external environment, the entire ancestral temple ancient building complex was safer and more stable, beautiful and beautiful, blooming in the glory of the past. During the renovation process, the ancestral temple insists on repairing the old as it is, respecting traditional techniques, such as replacing the commonly used chemical pigments in modern times with traditional mineral pigments, re-coloring the gray plastic, and restoring a large number of wooden components and ceramic plastics.
In addition, the “Chongzheng Shexue” site display protection project is underway. These repairs and protections are all about replacing the old appearance of the ancestral temple buildings on the premise of respecting history, and also allowing Lingnan architectural culture to be protected, preserved and continued to develop. Ling Babaylan said that the museum’s primary task is not only to repair and protect the ancient building complex of the ancestral temple, but also to deeply explore, organize, research and publicize the profound historical and cultural heritage of the ancestral temple. Cinema at the same time, it can better pass on the long-standing intangible cultural heritage of Foshan’s ancestral temple. “This is also one of our important missions.”