The Zhaixiang Huang Ancestral Hall

The Zhaixiang Huang Ancestral Hall

The Zhaixiang Huang Ancestral Hall is a cultural relic protection unit of Guangdong Province.

The Zhaixiang Huang Ancestral Hall is located on Zhaoyang Road within the jurisdiction of Zumiao Subdistrict. Built in 1920, it is the ancestral hall of Huang Danian, the founder of Foshan’s renowned traditional Chinese medicine “Huang Xianghua Ruyi Oil.” Constructed by his son Huang Yinan and others in accordance with Qing Dynasty architectural styles, it forms a grand complex combining ancestral hall and residential functions. The hall boasts an imposing presence, ingenious design, and luxurious and refined decoration, and is representative of surviving ancestral-style architecture in Foshan. The main structure faces east and is arranged along a central axis comprising the entrance gate, worship pavilion, second hall, third hall, and rear hall, forming a four-courtyard, quadrangle compound layout. On both sides are four rows of wing rooms (residences) separated by Qingyun Lanes, symmetrically arranged and uniformly aligned. The total area covers 3,400 square meters. The entrance gate features a stone plaque inscribed with “Zhaixiang Huang Ancestral Hall,” while the porch beams are adorned with exquisitely carved and gilded wood carvings. The front wall is finished with neat and elegant polished blue bricks, and the worship pavilion is built using the front eaves columns of the second hall. The structures of the second and third halls follow Qing Dynasty conventions with a melon-pillar raised-beam framework, creating spacious and bright interiors decorated with ornate and elegant artistic elements. This ancestral-residential combined layout introduces new environmental elements into Foshan’s ancestral-style buildings, which is relatively rare, making it a valuable physical example for studying the development and evolution of ancestral architecture from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republican period.

Inside the Zhaixiang Huang Ancestral Hall is the Guangdong Cantonese Opera Museum, which was initiated in November 2001. In 2002, the construction of the Cantonese Opera Museum officially commenced. As supporting projects for the Cantonese Opera Museum and Qionghua Guild Hall, the “International Cantonese Opera Treasure Collection Museum” was opened to the public on January 9, 2003, at the Zangzhen Pavilion of Foshan Zumiao. In February of the same year, the Foshan Municipal Government allocated the Zhaixiang Huang Ancestral Hall to the Municipal Culture Bureau for the establishment of the Cantonese Opera Museum. On February 20, a preparatory meeting for the Cantonese Opera Museum was held in Guangzhou. On June 20 of that year, the first large-scale Cantonese Opera Museum in China — the Foshan Cantonese Opera Museum — was opened at the Zhaixiang Huang Ancestral Hall. With a total floor area of 3,800 square meters, the museum's exhibits are divided into three major sections — History, Art, and People — across 13 exhibition areas. It displays over 3,000 precious cultural relics including Cantonese opera scripts, muk’yu books, posters, playbills, costumes, musical instruments, as well as early Cantonese opera films, records, photos, and calligraphy and paintings by famous performers, spanning from the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the contemporary era. The exhibitions cover a wide range of topics such as the origins of Cantonese opera, the development of opera in Guangdong and Guangxi, the revival of overseas Cantonese opera, wartime Cantonese opera, opera reform, theater troupes, the Li Wenmao Uprising, Qionghua Guild Hall, Bahe Guild Hall, Patriotic Troupes, Guangdong-Hong Kong Troupes, traditional instruments, muk’yu, puppets, Cantonese opera plays, traditional repertoire, directing, stage art, film and records, performance art, renowned performers from the late Qing and early Republican period, modern masters of Cantonese opera, and emerging talents. The Guangdong Cantonese Opera Museum adopts a combination of static and dynamic exhibition formats. In addition to displaying objects, photographs, and historical materials, it incorporates multimedia equipment and live performances. Visitors can enjoy excerpts from performances by famous Cantonese opera artists through a computer-based on-demand system. Some exhibition halls are equipped with large screens and high-definition projection devices to showcase highlights of Cantonese opera. Local private opera troupes in Foshan also perform live, allowing audiences to closely experience the art of Cantonese opera. Through various formats, the museum presents the rich content and unique charm of Cantonese opera culture in a comprehensive manner. Outside the museum, there stands a memorial archway inscribed with the characters “Qionghua Guild Hall.”

After the establishment of the Foshan Cantonese Opera Museum, a 3.2-meter-tall gilded statue of Huaguang was collected. The annual “China Foshan Huaguang Festival” folk event is held here, receiving worship from Cantonese opera artists around the world, making it a global cultural gathering for Cantonese opera performers to seek their roots. Emperor Huaguang is regarded as the patron saint of Cantonese opera. Foshan opera troupes traditionally worship Emperor Huaguang on the stage before the opening of a new theater or before performing in a new location. Legend has it that Emperor Huaguang was originally the incarnation of Miao Jixiang, a disciple of the Buddha from Ling Mountain, who was appointed by the Jade Emperor as the Marshal of the Armies but rebelled during the Qionghua Banquet and declared himself Huaguang. He was later reincarnated, achieved enlightenment, and became the Benevolent King Xiantou Official, associated with the Southern Emperor. Cantonese opera, being a major regional opera genre of the south, falls under the jurisdiction of the Southern Emperor. Furthermore, as stages were traditionally made of bamboo and wood, and transportation relied on wooden boats, both performances and travel were prone to fire hazards. As the deity in charge of fire, Huaguang was thus revered by fire-fearing Cantonese opera performers as a protective deity to bless and ward off disasters. Hence, the Qionghua Guild Hall, the center of the Cantonese opera industry, enshrines the statue of Emperor Huaguang, and on the 28th day of the ninth lunar month, the birthday of Huaguang, opera troupes hold grand ceremonies to worship their patron saint.

On April 2, 2004, with the approval of the Provincial Department of Culture, the “Foshan Cantonese Opera Museum” was upgraded and renamed as the “Guangdong Cantonese Opera Museum.”

On July 17, 2002, it was designated as a cultural relic protection unit by the People’s Government of Guangdong Province.

Source: Government Portal of Chancheng District, “Old Sites of Chancheng”

Zumiao Subdistrict: Located in the northeastern part of Chancheng District, Foshan City, Zumiao Subdistrict borders Guilan Road to the east, Jihua Road to the south, Foshan Avenue to the west, and the northern bank of the Fenjiang River to the north. Covering an area of 21.5 square kilometers with a population of about 600,000, it governs 64 administrative villages (residential committees). As the core area of Foshan’s urban center, it hosts the municipal Party committee and government offices. The subdistrict concentrates most of Foshan’s municipal-level cultural, educational, medical, and social welfare institutions, and is now the political, economic, commercial, and cultural center of Foshan.

Profound Historical Culture. As the core area of Foshan, Zumiao Subdistrict boasts a history of a thousand years... More details about Zumiao Subdistrict ++

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units