Liugeng Hall

Liugeng hall is located in Shawan Town, Panyu District, Guangzhou city. It is the ancestral hall of he surname of the Shawan clan in Panyu. It is a typical representative of the architectural design of rural ancestral halls in Guangdong Province, founded more than 600 years ago.

Liugeng Hall

Liugeng hall is located in Shawan Town, Panyu District, Guangzhou city. It is the ancestral hall of he surname of the Shawan clan in Panyu. It is a typical representative of the architectural design of local folk ancestral hall in Guangdong Province, and a place where he family worships ancestors or sages. Founded more than 600 years ago. It covers an area of 3000 square meters. From south to north, it is in the shape of a strip. From south to north, it is the big pond, the big sky street, the main gate, the archway, the Diaoyutai, the middle block, the patio, the back seat, the East and West corridors and the village ancestral hall. It forms a building with rigorous structure, gorgeous decoration and grand scale. The exquisite design and ingenious workmanship of the ancestral hall fully reflect the industrious wisdom and artistic creativity of the ancient Chinese working people.

Introduction to scenic spots

Liugeng hall is the ancestral hall of he family in Shawan Town, Panyu District, Guangzhou city. From 1275 ad, it took 40 years to build this magnificent ancestral hall, named Liugeng hall. It is an ancient Lingnan building with a long history, rigorous layout, large scale, exquisite workmanship, magnificent and elegant style in Guangzhou. In 1989, it was listed as a cultural relic protection unit at the provincial level by the people's Government of Guangdong Province. The building area of Liugeng hall is 3334.25 square meters. The plan is in the form of five openings and five entrances with central axis symmetry. It is divided into four parts: the head gate, the instrument gate, the Xiangxian hall and the back hall. The whole Liugeng hall is famous for its many columns, with 112 wooden and stone columns. There are architectural arts of yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties in the temple, such as wood carving, stone carving and grey sculpture, with different styles. It has important historical value and reference value for the study of ancient buildings. It is precious to keep it up to now. It embodies the wisdom and hard work of the working people in the Pearl River Delta, and is a symbol of the region's social, economic, cultural and ancient town civilization.

Architectural history

It was first built in the first year of Deyou (1275) of the Southern Song Dynasty, and then several buildings were destroyed. Now it was expanded in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, more than 170 years earlier than the Chenjiaci (built in 1890) in Guangzhou. Shawan Liugeng hall, also known as he clan ancestral hall, is the ancestral hall of he clan in Shawan. The name of the temple comes from the couplet of the temple: "Yinde is far from the ancestor, and the heart is left with the offspring." It means to build ancestral temples for the benefit of future generations.

He family

He Renjian, the first he family to settle in Shawan, bought a large area of land in Shawan in 1233, and became one of the five famous families (he, Wang, Li, Zhao) in Panyu. In 1275, the he clan built the Liugeng hall to commemorate and worship he Renjian. Liugeng hall has been overhauled three times during the yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. In 1986, it was renovated and opened to the public at a cost of one million yuan. It was named "Shawan Museum".

Structural features

The main features of Shawan Liugeng hall are many columns, fine carving, rich couplets and magnificent momentum. There are 112 stone and wooden pillars in Liugeng hall. The raw materials of these pillars were purchased from Southeast Asian countries at that time. In terms of sculpture, Liugeng hall retains exquisite stone carving, wood carving, brick carving and grey sculpture, reflecting the exquisite architectural art of Lingnan Garden.

architectural composition

Liugengtang covers an area of 3300 square meters, the terrain is high in the north and low in the south. They are Dachi, Datian street, Shanmen, Yimen (archway), Danlong (patio), platform (Diaoyutai), Xiangxian Hall (Xiangxian Hall), bedchamber (Liugeng Hall), East and West veranda and lining ancestral hall.

First step

In front of the gate of liugengtang mountain is a broad Datian Street (square) paved with big Bluestone. Datian street is opposite to a pond. On both sides of the pond are Zhuma stone and eight stone seats for installing flagpoles. This flagpole was used to erect flags in ancient times after gaining fame. There are red brick walls on the East and west sides of Datian street. There are colored gray sculptures on the walls. The contents include "double dragons playing with pearls", "dragon and Phoenix presenting auspiciousness", "Qilin presenting auspiciousness", etc. To the north of Datian street is the main entrance of Liugeng hall. On both sides of the door is a couplet, which reads: "the predecessors have repaired and the posterity continue to enjoy the continuous, large amount of the same small clan in the world." The couplet shows that the construction of Liugeng hall has gone through several decades and hundreds of years, in order to make the life of later generations better, and hope that the whole people will work together in the same boat and live in harmony forever. The two gates of the main entrance are made of hard wood. One of the generals painted with gold helmets and armor is used as the door god. They use the traditional technique of Chinese heavy color murals, which is extremely dazzling. On both sides of the gate are two stone drums, which are the symbol of fame. The drum base is engraved with auspicious patterns, and the front is carved with lion shaped auspicious animals. On the side, there are auspicious patterns such as "Laolong Jiaozi" and "Sanyang Qitai". On the East and west sides of the gate are three stone columns, wooden columns and gold joists. The front is the ceremony platform, which is used to receive the ceremony; the back is the "eight tone platform", which is used to greet the guests. In addition, there are "chuxiao" and "Jindi" two drum towers, which together form the facade of Liugeng hall, which has initially shown the magnificent atmosphere of this ancient building.

In the main entrance, the beams on the top of the door are most worthy of careful appreciation. The wood carvings on the beams are extremely beautiful. In particular, the 33 triple Ruyi Dou arches, which are called "humps" in ancient architecture, are full of patterns. They are full of wonderful flowers, birds and animals, or historical figures. The whole front door, beams, fangs and Dougong together constitute a group of exquisite Lingnan architectural art treasures.

Entering the main gate, a tall stone tablet square stands in front of people. This tablet square is called Yimen in ancient architecture and belongs to the second entrance of Liugeng hall. Mene is a stone inscription of "Shi Shu Shi Ze" written by Chen Baisha, a famous calligrapher in the Qing Dynasty, which shows that he family in Shawan is a scholarly family and many people in the past dynasties have won the imperial examination. The stele square is divided into three entrances by eight stone pillars. On the top of the stele, red and white stones are carved with patterns of flowers, birds, auspicious animals, including red roses, gorgeous peonies, white chrysanthemums, and vigorous falcons. The upper eaves are supported by wooden Ruyi brackets, which float out layer upon layer, surrounded by eaves and high-rise buildings. The main ridge of the stele square is a colorful Huilong carved with the technique of gray sculpture. The colorful dragon is about to fly high with its tail wagging. It is full of vitality and auspiciousness on the top of the monument.

When you go to Danlong (big patio), you can see the four vigorous characters "three Phoenix flowing fragrance" on the forehead of the monument. This is to honor the three brothers of he's ancestors in Shawan who were admitted as Jinshi in the late Northern Song Dynasty. They were honored as "three phoenix of he family" at that time.

Second step

In addition to the gate, there are Danlong (patio) in the back, platform and veranda on both sides of the East. The patio is made of red brick. The platform (also known as Diaoyutai) is built to the north of the patio, one meter higher than the patio. It used to be a stage for people to watch operas on festive days. Its cornerstone is composed of a row of 15 pieces of marble, engraved with "Laolong Jiaozi", "Shuangfeng peony", "Shuangshi Xizhu", "rhinoceros Wangyue", "Cangsong Wenli" and patterns of pine, plum, bamboo, chrysanthemum, peony, etc. it is an ancient stone carving in Yuan Dynasty and next year, which is very precious. There are also five red stone carvings of birds and animals of different sizes in the East and west wall bases of the platform, which are also extraordinary. There are four stone pillars and eight wooden pillars in the East and West verandah respectively, with a total of 24 pillars. Originally, it was a place for guests to rest during sacrifice, but now it is an exhibition room for precious cultural relics. Standing on the platform and looking around, there are more than 60 columns in the North Xiangxian hall and the East and West veranda. They are well arranged and alternate with the virtual and the real, just like the keys of a piano. It's like listening to a piece of classical music. It's melodious, graceful, ups and downs. It's like being in an ocean of art.

Hall of enjoyment

(Xiangxian Hall)

The entrance depth is more than 17 meters, which is rare in ancient temples. In the middle of the temple, there are two red painted wooden plaques, one in front of the other and the other in back. "Da Da Bo" refers to he Qilong, the second generation of Shawan lamp factory, who served as Minister of rites during the Hongwu Period of the Ming Dynasty. The Minister of rites was called "Da Da Bo" at that time. Xiangxian hall is set up in memory of he Deming, the ancestor of he family in Shawan. Xiangxian hall is supported by four stone pillars and 24 large wooden pillars with two people embracing each other. The beams, fangs and hump arches are decorated with intricate wood carvings such as birds and beasts with three lines, flowers, fruits, insects and fish, which are amazing. Standing in such a spacious and high Xiangxian hall, the huge pillar forest feels solemn and solemn, and the respect for the predecessors arises spontaneously.

Behind the middle block is the East and West veranda of the back bedroom. In the veranda, there are eight red sandstone column foundations carved with upside down lotus petals. They are beautiful and unique. They are relics of the Ming Dynasty. The latter bedroom is the last entrance of Liugeng hall, which is divided into three rooms: Central, Eastern and western. The largest shrine in the middle is rectangular, with many auspicious patterns carved and gilded on the outside. Under the central eaves is a horizontal plaque with black characters "Liugeng hall" on a white background. On both sides is a pair of woodcut couplets: "Yinde originates from the ancestors, and the heart is left with the descendants." Point out the original intention of Liugeng hall. Now, on the East and west sides of the dormitory is the exhibition of historical figures in Panyu. In the west, there are bronze statues of he Liutang, he Shaoxia and he yunian, the "three heroes of he family" of Guangdong music elegance school. In the East, there are statues of Qu Dajun, a poet of the Qing Dynasty in Panyu, Gao Jianfu, Gao Qifeng and Chen Shuren, three heroes of Lingnan Painting School. Between the East and the west of the bedroom hall, there is a well-known folk art in Panyu, the sculpture of Shawan floating color. Shawan piaoche has a history of hundreds of years. It is famous for its gorgeous color, vivid shape, slender color stem and ingenious installation

Chinese PinYin : Liu Geng Tang