Zhanglin Ancient Port

Zhanglin Ancient Port

Zhanglin Ancient Port is a cultural heritage site protected by Guangdong Province and a patriotic education base.

The ruins of Zhanglin Ancient Port, known as the hometown of red-headed ships, are located in Zhanglin, Dongli, Chenghai City. The ancient port site stretches from Xinxing Street in the east to Dunjiao in the west, from Ye’cuiyuan in the south to Tianhou Palace in the north, covering an area of 4.6 square kilometers.

According to inscriptions at Tianhou Palace in Zhanglin, the Zhanglin Port Expansion Monument, and the Fengbo Temple Stele, among others: Zhanglin Ancient Port was established as a commercial port in the third year of the Tianqi era of the Ming Dynasty (1523), a patrol inspection office was set up in the seventh year of the Yongzheng era of the Qing Dynasty (1729), and the port reached its peak during the Qianlong and Jiaqing eras. By then, the port had developed “eight streets and six communities,” with 112 large merchant ships berthed. Its shipping routes extended north to Fujian, Taiwan, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Shanghai, and Shandong, making it the foremost port in eastern Guangdong at the time. Historically, Zhanglin Port was called the “Maritime Gateway of Eastern Guangdong.”

The ancient port ruins still preserve the largest “Tianhou Palace” (Tianhou Temple) in the Chaoshan region.

It also includes relics such as the “Cangzi Building,” “Yongding Building,” “Cargo Wharf Street (Xinxing Street),” “Sea-Viewing Tower,” “Fengbo Temple,” “Customs Tax Office,” the former site of the Patrol Inspection Office, shops, and warehouses, along with a collection of stone inscriptions. Among them, the Tianhou Palace alone houses 22 stone tablets. In 1990, a new ancient port pavilion was built. Wu Nansheng inscribed the plaque “Zhanglin Ancient Port,” and the renowned writer Qin Mu authored the inscription, which reads: Here stands an old-fashioned pavilion, recording the storms of human life and the vicissitudes of history. Zhanglin is now an inland town, but historically, it was once the foremost port in eastern Guangdong.

Long before Shantou became a treaty port, during the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty, due to the development of foreign trade and the needs of overseas migration, this coastal village in Chenghai gradually evolved into a seaport. At that time, its harbor was crowded with sails and filled with rows of cargo. Red-headed ships—large wooden sailboats with either one or two masts, whose bows were painted red—set off from here carrying passengers and goods. They braved wind and waves, sailing north all the way to Shanghai, Tianjin, and Qingdao, or south to Siam, Champa, Singapore, and other regions. As a prosperous port, Zhanglin thrived for over a century and was once known as the “hub of maritime trade” and “the meeting point of river and sea.”

Temples such as Fengbo Temple and Tianhou Palace, where sailors and travelers prayed for blessings and protection according to their religious beliefs, were built here one after another during that period. The ancient remains of red-headed ships and heavy iron chains were discovered in succession after the liberation and serve as historical evidence of that era. As time passed and circumstances changed, it was not until the 1860s, after the opening of Shantou as a treaty port and the frequent coming and going of steamships, that Zhanglin Ancient Port finally relinquished its status as a maritime hub.

The earliest hometown of overseas Chinese in the Chaoshan region emerged right here. The establishment of this pavilion allows people to revisit their local history; it enables overseas Chinese visitors from Southeast Asian countries to pay homage to the relics and remember their ancestors who braved the oceans and struggled arduously in those days. Although the world changes dramatically, cause and effect remain clearly traceable. This pavilion also serves to inspire understanding, humility in facing objective laws, courage to confront reality, and the drive to forge ahead into the future. June 1986, Guangzhou. Between 1971 and 1972, two double-masted red-headed ships were excavated from the sandbanks of Nanzhou and Zhouhe in the ancient port ruins. One of them was 39 meters long, and ship planks inscribed with “Guangdong Chaozhou Prefecture, Double-Masted No. 145, Cai Wanli Merchant Ship” were found. In recent years, more ancient ship wreckage, masts, inscriptions, large anchors, and whale bone fossils have been unearthed, including a massive copper anchor weighing over one ton. The site holds significant practical and historical value for the study of Chaoshan’s overseas Chinese history, maritime transport history, and the belief in the Heavenly Queen. The protected area of the site has successively seen the construction of a pavilion and an ancient port memorial hall. It was designated as a cultural heritage site of Chenghai City in 1984.

Location

Zhanglin Village, Dongli Town, Chenghai District, Shantou City, Guangdong Province

Xinxing Street Village: Located southeast of the Zhanglin area in Dongli Town, Xinxing Street Village currently has 851 households, a population of 3,222, land area of 1,620 mu, and cultivated land area of 1,220 mu. The village has 89 Party members. The village’s “two committees” consist of 8 members. In 2009, the total village economic income was 14,788,980 yuan, collective income was 909,311 yuan, and per capita farmer income was 4,590 yuan. In recent years, agricultural production in Xinxing Street Village has developed rapidly. Due to its central location within the town area and advantageous positioning, its industrial and commercial sectors have also achieved... More details about Xinxing Street Village ++

Further Reading:

· Ninth Batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units