Hundreds of years of precipitation have created Foshan culture
On April 7, gongs and drums in front of Foshan’s ancestral temple sounded and the drums and music were noisy, and the annual Beidi birthday 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 half 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 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 and Foshan Archives
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First, there was KomiksThe Northern Emperor and the Northern Song Dynasty had the ancestral temple
During the Yuanfeng period (1078-1085), a craftsman dug the first wooden stake of the “ancestral temple”. 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, and people’s lives were 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 cultural 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 and became one of the most economically developed regions at that time. BabaylanCinema is the current Shanghai.
“Relying on water transportation, Foshan people lived a good life. The folk belief of Beidi made the people taste the sweetness at that time.” Liang Guocheng said that at that time, considering that Beidi was a faith passed down from the ancestors of Foshan people,On the original basis, a large-scale temple was built to serve the Northern Emperor. The Ancestral Temple in the early Ming Dynasty became the largest Taoist temple in southern China at that time. Liang Guocheng recognized 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 are particularly simple, especially abiding by the rules, and paying special attention to commercial credit. The faith of the Northern Emperor is the root of 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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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 have gone to Wanfutai to perform first every time they go out to perform. Please read the Northern Emperor to see if the level is not up to standard. Komiks should be successful in praying for the blessing 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 was facing the bronze statue of the North Emperor. The stage was 2.07 meters high, and the distance between the eyes from the foot in the bronze statue of the North Emperor was also 2.07 meters, and the bronze statue was pedestal of 1.6 meters. Generally speaking, the performers on the stage were just facing the eyes of the Northern Emperor, which indicated that the Northern Emperor was being reviewed. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>KomiksReading his performances, performers will perform more attentively. Liang Guocheng said that some people think this is superstition, but in modern times, not only Guangdong, but also the most popular Cantonese opera masters in the world have been taking advantage of the world’s fortunes.The stage started with the stage. Anyone who is engaged in Cantonese opera wants to perform at Wanfu Station. When it comes to Wanfu Station, no one dares to blaspheme.
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 Wanfu Station to perform and found that the sound effect without an electronic amplifier was better. Subsequently, the professional team found that the architectural design of the entire Wanfu Station was a sound field structure, with the sound from Wanfu Station 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 repair and protection of cultural relics, the improvement of cultural connotations, the development of cultural and creative products, and the streamlining of management systems.
As an important base for the martial arts lion waking of Foshan, 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 Hongquan martial arts routines 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 streets of the Northern Emperor’s birthday are empty, and children gather together with their pen gifts. The Cantonese rhyme on Futai is melodious, and the Lingnan lion show is wonderful. The “Foshan You Gee” cultural and creative products make the cultural relics “live” come alive…The ancient building complex of the Komiks, 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 three years of comprehensive repairs and external environment transformation that cost more than 30 million yuan, the entire ancestral temple ancient building complex was safer and more stable, beautiful, and blooming with the brilliant brilliance of the past. During the renovation process, the ancestral temple insisted on repairing the old as it was, respecting traditional skills, such as replacing the commonly used chemical pigments in modern times with traditional mineral pigments and re-coloring the gray plastic. This is the case with a large number of wood components and ceramic plastic restoration.
In addition, the “Chongzheng Shexue” site display protection project is underway. These repairs and protections are all on the premise of respecting history, which will bring about the old appearance of the ancestral temple buildings and allow Lingnan architectural culture to protect, retain and continue 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. At the same time, to better pass on the non-content and cultural heritage of the Foshan ancestral temple. “This is also one of our important missions.”