Chen Clan Ancestral Hall

The Chen Clan Academy was built between 1888 and 1894, funded by Chen families across Guangdong as a hall where clan members could stay while sitting the imperial examinations and where ancestors could be honoured. It survives as the most complete demonstration of Lingnan decorative craft anywhere: ceramic roof friezes crowded with figures from opera and legend, brick carving of extraordinary depth on the outer walls, stone carving on the plinths and columns, wood carving on screens and beams, plaster moulding on the ridges, and iron casting. Nineteen buildings around six courtyards make up the complex, now the Guangdong Folk Art Museum, with craft collections inside.

History

Chen Ruinan and Chen Zhaonan, Cantonese who had returned from America, proposed raising money from the Chen lineages for a temple to their ancestors and an academy to prepare clansmen for the imperial examinations; with donations from Chens abroad and in 72 of Guangdong's counties, the hall was finished in 1894. When the imperial examinations were abolished in 1905 it became a practical school for clan members, later the Chen Clan's industrial college and then middle schools. The Guangzhou government made it a special preserve in 1957 and opened a folk arts and crafts gallery here in 1959; it is now the Guangdong Folk Art Museum (Wikipedia, Chen Clan Ancestral Hall).

What's there

• The ceramic roof friezes - crowded figure scenes along the ridges.
• The brick carving - deep relief panels on the outer walls.
• The wood screens - carved partitions through the halls.
• The folk art collections - Guangdong craft displayed in the buildings.

When to go

October to April for the mildest weather; Guangzhou summers are hot and humid. The hall is busiest at weekends. Mornings are quieter and the light better for the roof detail.

Good to know

The site is compact and a visit takes under two hours. Roof detail is high up and binoculars or a zoom lens help. Entry is charged, and the complex is busy with school groups on weekdays.

Nearby

Shamian Island lies south; Guangzhou's old town is east.