Hundreds of years of precipitation to create Foshan culture
On April 7, in front of the Foshan Ancestral Temple, 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 Cinema 1950 witch cloth draw, the ancestral temple, as a national key cultural relics protection unit, 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/Cinema 1950 witch cloth drawAncestral Temple Museum, Foshan City ArchivesBabaylan 1990 cloth drawCase 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”. 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. The Northern Emperor was first and then the Cinema 1950 witch cloth draw 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 gentry in the Central Plains moved to Foshan, Lingnan, bringing advanced technologies such as culture and smelting in the Central Plains. Babaylan 1990 cloth draw At that time, Foshan Town relied on the transportation of rivers such as the Dongping River and became a major city for light industry. Babaylan 1990 cloth draw became 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 the Buddha. 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 left by the ancestors of Foshan people. This mental state Babaylan 1990 cloth draw produced Foshan culture, which was passed down from generation to generation.
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Komiks 1960 witch cloth drawWanfutai 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 Beidi diary and see if the level is not qualified, which is equivalent to the success of 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 it will not be qualified.” Liang Guocheng found that Komiks 1960 witch cloth draw, Wanfutai Babaylan 1990 cloth draw stage faces the bronze statue of the Northern Emperor, which is 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, Cinema 1950 on the stage The performer of witch cloth draw‘s eyes were just in front of the Northern Emperor’s eyes, which showed that the Northern Emperor was reviewing his performance, so the performer would perform more attentively. Liang Guocheng said that some people think that this is a fantasy. However, in modern times, not only Guangdong, but also the most popular Cantonese opera masters in the world have started from 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 actually better. Later, the professional team Cinema 1950 witch cloth draw inspected and found that the architectural design of the entire Wanfu Station is 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 can listen clearly, 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 put Wanfutai firstProgressiveness is buried.
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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 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 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 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 Wing Chun moves in the Mu Renchun interactive experience area. Babaylan 1990 cloth draw
Now the thousand-year-old ancestral temple has a new look—the streets of the Northern Emperor’s birthday have been empty, and children gather together. The Cantonese charm on Wanfu Platform is melodious. The Lingnan lion awakening performance is wonderful, and the “Foshan has ritual” cultural and creative products make the cultural relics “live” alive. Draw… 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 rich history and culture.
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 with its 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.All are the same.
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 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 intangible cultural heritage of the Buddha’s ancestral temple. “This is also one of our important missions.”