guangzhou traditional building- Chen Clan Academy

Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family is also called Chen Clan Academy which is a place both for offering sacrifices to ancestors and for study. Now the Chen Clan Ancestral Temple in Guangzhou City, the Ancestors’ Temple in Foshan City, the former Residence of Sun Yat-sen in Zhongshan City and the Opium War Memorial Hall in Dongguan City are regarded as the four major cultural tourist sites in Guangdong Province.

In late Qing Dynasty(1644-1911), a man named Chen got the third place in the highest imperial examination and had conferred upon him a distinguished office title which made the Family Chen well-known. Later someone suggested that all the Chen’s family members raise money to build a temple to sacrifice to the ancestors and encourage their offspring to study hard. Therefore, the temple was finished in 1894 with the money donated by Chen’s families in 72 counties of Guangdong Province as well as some overseas family members.

The temple is a compound complex consisting of nine halls, sixe courtyards and nineteen buildings connected by corridors, all separated by walls from the outside world. A pair of stone drums in front of the entrance door, measuring 2.55meters(about 8.36feet) in height and two colored drawing pictures of door-god of four meters (about 13 feet ) height are said to be the best in Guangdong.

The compound was constructed in the traditional Chinese symmetrical style and the main hall, the Juxian Hall, is in the center of the temple. Juxian Hall was once a place for clansmen to assemle before the establishment of the temple and now it is usedd as an ancestral hall. In front of the hall is a stone gazebo surrounded by stone balustrades. In the hall there is an exquisitely carved folding screen which is an excellent example of wood carving.