Hundreds of years of precipitation to create Foshan culture
On April 7, the gongs and drums in front of the ancestral temple of Foshan were roaring and the drums and music were noisy, 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.” 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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The Northern Emperor and EmpressThe ancestral temple
During the Yuanfeng period of the Northern Song Dynasty (1078-1085), a craftsman layed the first wooden stake of the “ancestral temple”. KomiksIn 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, 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, 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 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 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 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, “There are gods on the head three feet high.” Foshan people are particularly simple, especially abiding by the rules, and paying 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. 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 the east and west sides are two-story promenades, and Komiks are used for watching 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 qualified, which is equivalent to a smooth and smooth performance.
“After the years of precipitation, Wanfu Platform 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 is facing the bronze statue of the Northern Emperor, with a stage of 2.07 meters high, and the distance between the eyes from the foot in the bronze statue of the Northern Emperor is also 2.07 meters, and 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.
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 200Cinema, a musician from Guangzhou came to Wanfu Station to perform and found that he did not use an electronic speaker.The sound effect is actually better. Then, the professional team of Komiks found that the architectural design of the entire Wanfu Platform is an acoustic field structure, with the sound ranging 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 can clearly listen to the sound, ensuring excellent performance sound effects. Liang Guocheng pointed out that the ancients created an acoustic miracle without the fact that Komiks had modern 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 over 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 and creative products, and the development of cultural and creative products and the streamlining of management systems.
As an important base for the martial arts lion waking in 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 technology with historical culture, and completed the upgrade and renovation projects of the two venues. Today, tourists can learn the routines of Hongquan martial arts in the action sound and light broadcasting room of Huang Fei, play with Lingnan lions in the human-computer interactive game, and learn Wing Chun moves in the Murenchun interactive experience area.
Now the thousand-year-old ancestorKomiks‘s new face–the northern emperor’s birthday is empty alleys,The children gathered together, the Cantonese charm on Wanfu Platform is melodious, the Lingnan lion show is wonderful, the “Foshan Youyou” cultural and creative products make the cultural relics “live”… Ling JianCinema 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, Komiks, 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, 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 under 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 Babaylan 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 intangible cultural heritage of Foshan’s ancestral temple. “This is also one of our important missions.”