Hundreds of years of precipitation have created Foshan culture
On April 7, the gongs and drums and music in front of the Foshan Ancestral Temple were roaring, 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.”BabaylanIn 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 spiritual belief of Foshan people and the soul of Foshan.
Produced by Foshan Press Station Planning Xie Hong and Li Cheng
Text/Jinyang.com Reporter Ouyang Zhiqiang
Photo/Ancestral Temple Museum, Foshan City ArchivesCinema Museum
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The Northern Emperor first came before the ancestral temple
During the Yuanfeng period of the Northern Song Dynasty (1078-1085), a craftsman laid the first wooden stake of the “ancestral temple”. Over the past thousand years, this building has undergone many renovations and expansions, and finally becomes the “Cinema 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 fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, a large number of Central Plains gentry moved to Foshan, Lingnan, and brought 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 a major city for light industry, becoming one of the most economically developed regions at that time, equivalent to Shanghai today.
“Babaylan lost by water transportation, allowing Foshan people to live a good life. The folk belief of Beidi made the people taste the sweetness of the people at that time.” Liang Guocheng said that at that time, considering that Beidi 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 number one in southern China at that time.”https://funnybookish.com/”>Komiks Dadao Temple.
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 the head.” Foshan people are particularly simple, especially abide by the rules, and pay special attention to commercial credit under the faith of the Northern Emperor. The faith of the Northern Emperor is the root left by the ancestors of Foshan people from generation to generation. This mental state has produced Foshan culture and has been passed down from generation to generation.
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WanCinemaFutai 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 whenever they perform outside. Please read the Northern Emperor to see if the level is qualified, which is equivalent to a smooth and smooth performance.
“After the years of precipitation, 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 performers on the stage are just facing the Northern Emperor’s eyes, which shows that the Northern Emperor is reviewing his performance, so the performers will 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 all over the world started by stepping onto the stage of Wanfutai. As long as they are engaged in Cantonese opera, everyone wants to perform at Wanfutai. When it comes to Wanfutai, no one dares to blaspheme. Komiks
Wanfutai, which has more than 300 years of history 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 Wanfu Station to perform and found that the sound of Cinema was not using an electronic loudspeaker.The effect was even better. Later, the professional team found that the architectural design of the entire Wanfu Platform was a sound field structure. The sound from Wanfu Platform to the two corridors on both sides, and then to the Lingying Archway, forming a natural overall three-dimensional surround sound echo wall. Even the people in the last row could clearly listen to the sound, ensuring excellent performance sound effects. Liang Guocheng pointed out that without modern technological means, Wanfutai created an acoustic miracle. Unfortunately, people nowadays 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 renovation 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 Foshan martial arts lion awakening, the Wong Feihong Memorial Hall and the Ip Man Hall were built in 2001. In 2018, the Cinema Museum of the Ancestral Temple successfully combined modern technology with historical culture, completing the upgrade of two venues. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>BabaylanRenovationBabaylanProject. BabaylanNow, visitors can learn the routines of Hongquan martial arts in the Huang Feihong Kung Fu action sound and photoelectric playroom, play with Lingnan Lions in the human-computer interactive game, and learn Wing Chun moves in the Mu Renchun interactive experience area.
Now the thousand-year-old ancestral temple has a new look–The Northern Emperor’s birthday is empty alley, and the writing is startedChildren gathered together, and the Cantonese rhyme on the Futai is melodious, and the Lingnan lion show is wonderful. “Foshan is polite” Babaylan cultural and creative products make the 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 the rich historical and cultural heritage of the Buddha.
For such a representative building complex, the Ancestral Temple Museum spares no effort to protect ancient buildings. In 2010, after completing three years of comprehensive repairs and external environment renovations that cost more than 30 million yuan, the entire ancestral temple ancient building complex was safer and more stable, beautiful, and blooming in the former glory. 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 Jian 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 culture of the ancestral temple, and at the same time, to better pass on the intangible cultural heritage of the Foshan ancestral temple. “This is also one of our important missions.”