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Chinese
Architecture- Guangzhou (Canton) Chen Family Academy |
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architect |
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location |
Guangzhou, China |
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date |
1894 |
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style |
Qing Dynasty |
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construction |
Base and outside walls are made of brick, the balustrades made of stone, and the eaves and banisters encircling the structure are made of wood. |
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type |
Temple combination ancestral shrine and Confucian school |
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The Chen Family Shrine is a combination ancestral shrine and Confucian
school that was built in the latter half of the 19th century (between
1890 and 1894) by the inhabitants of 72 villages in Guangdong province
where the Chen lineage is the predominant family. The family used the
school to educate clan members in the Confucian classics in hopes that
they would pass the civil service exams and then be able to reward the
villages who had sponsored their education. The complex consists of two
main courtyards. The front one was used for study of the Confucian
classics while the back one housed a temple to the ancestors of the Chen
clan. The whole complex is decorated with ornate scrollwork on the roof
tiles, walls, stairs, and on the woodwork of the window frames and
doors. The scenes depict stories from Chinese literature and folklore
and include real and mythical animals. The whole complex now houses a
museum of Chinese handicrafts, and is remarkably well-preserved. The
cultural revolution did little damage to it. It is interesting to compare this site to similar ones in Korea also archived on this website. Bibliography All images copyright 2001 Professor Kerk L. Phillips of Brigham Young University, Utah, USA. Visit his webpage at www.pomosa.com |
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links |
With special thanks to www.orientalarchitecture.com |
| www.essential-architecture.com | |