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.春祭大典、北帝巡游、酬神Komiks唱戏……这座Cinema传承近千年的古建筑祖庙挤满了前来祈福的市民。
“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, as a national key cultural relics protection unit, the ancestral temple is known as the “Palace of Oriental Folk Art”. Not only does it display many precious works of art, but it is also the spiritual belief of Foshan people. The Soul of Foshan.
出品佛山记者站策划谢红李程
文/金羊网 记者欧阳志强
图/祖庙博物馆、佛山市档案馆
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先有北帝后才有祖庙
北宋元丰年间（1078-1085年），一位工匠打下“祖堂”第一根木桩。 Over the past thousand years, this building has undergone many renovations and expansions, and finally becomes the “Palace of Oriental Folk Art”. “说起祖庙，不得不提起北帝，先有北帝后才有祖庙Babaylan。”佛山市非遗保护中心专家委员梁国澄表示，祖庙里的北帝，在道教里叫水神。 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.
南宋灭亡后，大量中原乡绅迁居岭南佛山，带来了中原的文化和冶炼等先进技术，当时的佛山镇依靠着东平河等河道运输，变成了轻工业的重镇，成为当时数一数二的经济发达地区，相当于当下的上海。
“Relying on water transportation, Foshan people have a good life, the Northern EmperorThe folk beliefs made the people at that time taste the sweetness. “Liang Guocheng said that at that time, considering that the Northern Emperor was a faith passed down from the ancestors of Foshan folk, a large-scale temple was built on the original basis. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>KomiksThe Ancestral Temple became the largest Taoist temple in southern China at that time. Liang Guocheng believed that the faith of the Northern Emperor represented the spiritual state of Foshan people. As the saying goes, “There are gods three feet above the head.” The people of Foshan people were particularly simple, especially abiding by the rules, and pay special attention to commercial credit. The faith of the Northern Emperor was the root left by Foshan people from generation to generation. This mental state produced Foshan culture and was passed down from generation to generation.
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Wanfutai created acoustic miracle
Wanfutai in the Ancestral Temple was the oldest and best preserved ancient stage in South China. There is a wide stone paving site in front of the stage, and there are two-story corridors on both sides of the east and west sides. Komiks is used for watching dramas. Liang Guocheng said that Wanfutai was the predecessor of Huafengtai, and was founded in the fifteenth year of Shunzhi in the early Qing Dynasty. On the 60th birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi in the Qing Dynasty, Komiks was named Wanfutai (the following is “Wanfutai”). In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the first guild of Cantonese opera was established in the Qionghua Hall on the bank of the Fenjiang River in Foshan. It has been in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. Since Babaylan, every time all Cantonese opera troupes go to Wanfutai to perform first, please check whether 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 Wanfu Platform was facing the bronze statue of Beidi, which was 2.07 meters high, and the distance between the eyes and feet in the bronze statue of Beidi was also 2.07 meters. With the pedestal of the bronze statue of Beidi, Babaylan, generally speaking, the performer on the stage was just facing the eyes of thea href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>Cinema‘s eyes, which shows that the slightest performance of the North 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.
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. After Cinema, the professional team found that the architectural design of the entire Wanfu Station was a sound field structure, with the sound ranging 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 the ancients created an acoustic miracle without modern scientific and technological means. 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 carrying the Buddhist 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 about HongKomiks boxing and martial arts routines, playing with Lingnan lions in human-computer interactive games, and learning Wingchun moves in the Murenchun interactive experience area.
Now the thousand-year-old ancestral temple has a new look—the northern emperor’s birthday has thousands of people gathered, the opening ceremony of children gathered, the Guangdong rhyme on Wanfu Platform is melodious, the Lingnan lion show is wonderful, the “Foshan Youli” 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 Foshan’s profound historical and cultural heritage.
For such a representative building complex with Komiks, the ancestral templeBabaylanModern commonly used chemical pigments have re-colored gray plastics, and the restoration of a large number of wooden components and ceramic plastics are all the same.
In addition, the “Chongzheng Society” site display protection project is undergoing approval procedures. 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 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, the long history of the Foshan ancestral temple is KomiksIntangible cultural heritage can be better passed on, “this is also one of our important missions.”