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 singing operas… This ancient building that has been passed down for nearly a thousand years is full of citizens coming 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 is the place where Foshan people admire 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 Archives
YiBabaylan
First, there was the Northern Emperor 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”. 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 Komiks, 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 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 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, Komiks, Cinema “There is a god with three feet high up.” Foshan people are in the north. Under the belief of the Emperor, it is very simple, especially abides by the rules, and pays special attention to commercial credit. The Northern Emperor’s faith is the root left by 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 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 stage, and two-story long corridors on both sides of the east and west for viewing dramas. Liang Guocheng said that the former name of Wanfutai was Huafengtai, which was built in the early Qing Dynasty. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>BabaylanFifteen years of the reign of the 15th year of Empress Dowager Cixi in the Qing Dynasty was renamed Wanfutai (the following is “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 out 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, which is equivalent to praying for the 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 would 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, and the bronze statue was pedestal of 1.6 meters. Generally speaking, the performers on the stage were just facing Beidi’s eyes, which shows that Beidi was reviewing his performance, so the performers 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. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>BabaylanEverything started with the stage of the Komiks stage. As long as you are engaged in Cantonese opera, Komiks stage, .com/”>Babaylan Everyone wants to perform at Wanfu Station. When it comes to Wanfu Station, no one dares to blaspheme.
Wanfu Station, 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 it was not href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>KomiksThe sound effect of using electronic amplifiers is actually better. Later, the professional team found that the architectural design of the entire Wanfutai is an acoustic field structure. The sound from Wanfutai 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 can clearly listen to the sound, ensuring excellent performance sound effects. Liang Guocheng pointed out that the ancients created an acoustic miracle without modern technological means. Unfortunately, people now 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. “Komiks, director of the Ancestral Temple Museum, said that the valuable culture accumulated over 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 Foshan martial arts lion awakening, the Huang Feihong Memorial Hall and Both Ip Man Hall were built in 2001. In 2018, the Ancestral Temple Museum successfully combined modern technology with history and culture, and completed the upgrading and renovation of the two venues. Now, tourists can learn the routines of Hongquan martial arts in the Huang Feihong Kung Fu action sound and photoelectric playroom, play with Lingnan lions in human-computer interactive games, and learn in the Murenchun interactive experience area. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>KomiksWing Chun moves.
Now the thousand-year-old ancestral temple has a new look—the northern emperor’s birthday has been gone, and children gather together for a blessing.CinemaThe Cantonese rhyme on the stage is melodious, the Lingnan lion show has been wonderful, and the “Foshan is polite” 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, the Ancestral Temple Museum spared 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 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 Society” site display protection project is undergoing approval procedures. These renovations and protections are all under the introduction of respecting history, which will bring about the old appearance of the ancestral temple architecture to a new look, and also 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 better pass on the intangible cultural heritage of the Foshan ancestral temple. “This is also one of our important missions.”