Zhangzhou Lin Clan Ancestral Hall

Zhangzhou Lin Clan Ancestral Hall

Zhangzhou Lin Clan Ancestral Hall is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Zhangzhou Lin Clan Ancestral Hall, also known as Bi Gan Temple, is located in Zhencheng Lane, Xiangcheng District, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province.

The Lin Clan Ancestral Hall, also known as Bi Gan Temple, was jointly built by the Lin families of seven counties in Zhangzhou as a common ancestral temple. It enshrines Lin’s founding ancestor, Bi Gan, and is a place where the Lin clan of Zhangzhou worships their forebears. The Lin clan of Zhangzhou also used this building to accommodate fellow clan members traveling to and from imperial examinations. The front and rear sections of the ancestral hall have been lost, but the central section remains — a square main hall covering an area of 430 square meters. It faces south and features three bays in width and five bays in depth. The roof is double-eaved and of the xieshan style, topped with red tubular tiles. The lower eaves are open without enclosure, leaving traces of corridors, suggesting that the original structure was much larger. The exact date of construction is unknown, but experts, based on the materials and structural analysis of the main hall, have determined that it was originally built during the Song Dynasty. Due to renovations during the late Qing Dynasty, it also bears architectural features from that period.

Zhangzhou Bi Gan Temple not only long served as a shrine to Bi Gan but also functioned as a hostel for Lin clan members traveling to take imperial exams. Before the Cultural Revolution, the temple still displayed many plaques awarded to top imperial examination candidates from the Ming and Qing dynasties, including those of zhuangyuan (top scholar) and tanhua (second-place scholar), such as Lin Zhen, Lin Qian, and Lin Shizhang. The side rooms on both sides of the main hall had over ten study rooms, where Lin clan students from different districts could stay, read, and write. Historical records show that during the Ming and Qing periods, many members of the Zhangzhou Lin clan passed the palace examination and were listed on the imperial merit roll, most of them inheriting the moral character and temperament of their ancestor, Bi Gan. Lin Shizhang, a tanhua scholar in the Ming Dynasty’s Jiajing era, was known for his erudition, sound judgment, broad-mindedness, and willingness to help others. He served as Minister of Rites in Nanjing and Vice President of the National History Bureau, earning the emperor’s trust. For his service, he was granted a three-bay, five-story, twelve-pillar stone memorial archway, which still stands on present-day Zhangzhou Hong Kong Road. The stone plaque on the archway features large regular script characters reading “Minister” and “Tanhua” on its two sides. Lin Qian, a Grand Secretary of the Dongge Cabinet during the Ming Wanli era, was famous for his “extraordinary purity and noble character.” Lin Xiachun, a Jinshi (successful imperial examination candidate) and author of the Ming Dynasty’s "Yunshan Jushi Collection," was “upright in court, unyielding to power, and revered for his literary integrity.” In modern times, the great literary figure Lin Yutang was born in Zhangzhou in 1895. In 1919, he went to Harvard University in the United States to study liberal arts, earning a master's degree in literature. In 1921, he went to the University of Leipzig in Germany to specialize in linguistics, where he obtained a doctoral degree. In 1926, he served as a liberal arts professor at Xiamen University and participated in the “Yu Si Society” hosted by Lu Xun. Lin Yutang was highly knowledgeable, with a deep understanding of both Eastern and Western cultures, and authored numerous works in his lifetime. His major books, such as “A Nun of Taishan and Other Stories” and “Moment in Peking,” were nominated as candidates for the International Nobel Prize in Literature — making him the only Chinese author to receive such a nomination to date. Today, Zhangzhou houses the Lin Yutang Former Residence Memorial Museum. Since ancient times, the Zhangzhou Lin clan has produced many scholars and men of letters, and Zhangzhou Bi Gan Temple stands as a window into the region’s cultural reverence in ancient times.

Zhangzhou Bi Gan Temple not only boasts rich historical and cultural significance, but the building itself is also a rare ancient architectural relic of high archaeological research value. In 2006, Zhangzhou Lin Clan Ancestral Hall, as a Ming Dynasty structure, was included in the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units