On Sunday, June 30th we left with 5 other Lifeline families to visit the Chen Family Ancestral Temple. Our guide Helen shared that this temple was built in 1888, and Chen family members would come here to worship their deceased ancestors. Made me sad to hear that the practice was to worship their former family members rather than the True Author of Life. It was still interesting to see this historical building because it is the only original building in a town full of modern high-rises.
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| Entrance gate that shows the old versus all the new in the background |
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| Ava's first stroller ride! She liked it! |
The entire top of the building is covered in plaster reliefs that tell stories. They were amazing.
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| Chen Temple main entrance |
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| More plaster reliefs on the inside of the temple |
The entrance to the Temple is flanked by two large Tigers. One is male and one is female. Each tiger has a large ball in its mouth. Helen, our guide, told us that if you can touch the ball in the mouth you will have a lot of good fortune. You can rub the other ball beneath tiger's paw for good luck also. The Tigers are there to scare away evil spirits.
If the Tigers don't scare the evil spirits, there is a ledge that you must step over. They believe that these spirits can't go over a ledge. There were also huge wooden doors with painted Chinese warriors on the front.
The detail and woodworking was beautiful. This picture is looking up at the ceiling by the main entrance.
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These teak carved wall separated the main entrance from the inner courtyard.
This wall had several purposes....it told stories through the carvings,
and also diverted the evil spirits. |
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| Inner courtyard and back rooms in the temple |
Near the main entrance they had a shop with several artisans. Helen had told us about the the artist who paints Chinese landscapes using only ink and his hand. We got to see him "paint" and it was amazing! We bought a picture and bookmark. The art work is beautiful! We also had a chop made with Ava's name and Chinese name in characters. A chop is a stone carved stamp that Chinese people use to sign their names.
The backside of the temple had many rooms that housed traditional Chinese furniture, and exhibits featuring carvings, ceramics and embroidery.
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| Carved Jade Family Ball |
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| Beautiful ceramics and carvings |
They had a large display of ivory carvings. Ivory is no longer used in carvings so instead they use camel bones!
You may remember that Ava's province is known for it's embroidery. Hunan province has a slightly different embroidery technique compared to the Guangdong style. I was able to take some pictures here. These pictures below are not painted or photographs. They are done in embroidery.
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| close up of the wheat so you can see the embroidery |
We passed by another museum store, and a worker was playing a traditional Chinese wind instrument. It was very pretty and mellow sounding.
The architecture of the temple was beautiful throughout.
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Beautiful hallway leading to a backside garden area
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| Beautiful doorways |
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Traditional Chinese lanterns hung in a walkway connecting
backrooms to the front rooms. |
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| Sculpture in back garden |
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Another view of the main entrance,
and juxtaposition of the old and new |
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