Ancestral Temple of the Wang Clan in Liugang

Ancestral Temple of the Wang Clan in Liugang

The Ancestral Temple of the Wang Clan in Liugang is a cultural relic protection unit of Guangdong Province.

The Ancestral Temple of the Wang Clan in Liugang is located in Liugang Village, Jinzao Town, Chaoyang District, Shantou City.

The Ancestral Temple of the Wang Clan was built upon imperial decree by the eminent Southern Song Dynasty official and one of the “Eight Eminent Scholars of Chaozhou,” Imperial Censor Wang Dabao, in honor of his mother, Lady Wang. It was established in the third year of the Jianyan era of the Song Dynasty, renovated in the thirteenth year of the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, and refurbished again in the thirteenth year of the Yongzheng era of the Qing Dynasty, boasting a history of nearly a thousand years.

The Ancestral Temple of the Wang Clan covers a total area of approximately 1,904 square meters and features a timber frame structure with shell-lime plaster. The main gate of the temple is a double-tiered stone pavilion tower with a sun-shaped stone emblem at the top. At the center of the terrace stands a stone plaque inscribed with the word “Imperial Edict,” measuring 0.61 meters in height and 0.22 meters in width—hence the name “Imperial Edict Pavilion.” The horizontal beam above the pavilion door is inscribed with “Ancestral Temple of the Wang Clan,” erected in the leap February of the thirteenth year of the Jiajing era (1534) and renovated in the second month of the Yimao year (1735) of the Yongzheng era. The back of the beam is engraved with the characters “Time Remembrance.” The pavilion plaque is 0.31 meters high and 1.43 meters long, with the front inscribed with “Scholarly Achievements,” “Tang Dynasty Military Governor Wang Shenqi,” and “Song Dynasty Jianyan Second-Ranked Scholar Wang Dabao and Jianyan Jinshi Wang Dading,” while the back bears the names “Song Dynasty Imperial Jinshi and Literary Official Wang Ren,” “Ming Dynasty Chenghua Year Wuxu Township Jinshi [illegible],” and “Qing Dynasty Kangxi Year Dingyou Jinshi Wang Shi.” The main gate of the pavilion is 2.23 meters high and 1.51 meters wide, with side doors each 2.1 meters high and 1 meter wide. A traditional Spring Festival couplet has long been affixed to the doorframe: “Celebrating the Spring under King Wang’s Reign, Wishing the Emperor Ten Thousand Years.” Legend says this couplet was composed by Wang Dabao, echoing the “Praising the Sage Stele” erected in Shantou’s Lingshan Temple with his approval. The rectangular double-tiered pavilion tower measures 3.51 meters in length, 2.55 meters in width, and 5.73 meters in overall height, with the terrace being 1.91 meters tall. Standing before the main gate of the Ancestral Temple of the Wang Clan, lush mountain peaks can be seen, with one peak directly facing the entrance. Behind the temple once connected to a small hill, earning it the poetic name “Silken Thread Hanging Golden Bell.” As the temple was built by imperial decree and houses the “Imperial Edict Plaque,” passing Song officials—civilian or military—were required to dismount or alight from horseback and pay their respects.

The architectural layout of the Ancestral Temple of the Wang Clan follows a three-courtyard, four-wing design. Entering through the main gate leads to the open front courtyard (yangchang), then to the central hall, patio, worship pavilion, and rear hall flanked by two symmetrical wing rooms each. The worship pavilion features vibrant ceramic sculptures, including exquisitely beautiful depictions of a pair of phoenixes facing peonies and lifelike figures. The beams of the worship pavilion and rear hall showcase numerous wood carvings, forming vivid and dynamic images of figures, lions, deer among pines, horses, and flower baskets. These carvings are rustic yet natural, lively and fluid, demonstrating exquisite craftsmanship. In the past, the rear hall and worship pavilion displayed over ten wooden plaques inscribed with titles such as “Scholarly Champion,” “Military Champion,” “Zhuangyuan (Number One Scholar),” and “Jinshi (Advanced Scholar),” but these were distributed as firewood to poor farmers during the anti-feudal-superstition campaigns in the early years of liberation. Today, one wooden plaque remains in the temple, measuring 0.7 meters in height and 1.9 meters in width. Its inscription reads: “Scholarly Champion,” “Chief Examiner, First-Class Rank, Minister of War, and Censorate Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, Governor-General of Liangguang, Supervisor of Military Affairs and Grain Supply, Li Hanzhang; Supervising Examiner, First-Class Rank, Minister of War and Censorate Right Vice Censor, Governor of Guangdong, Supervisor of Military Affairs and Grain Affairs, Gang Yi,” and “Nineteenth Place, Rural Examination, Jiazi Year (1893) of the Guangxu Nineteenth Year, Jinshi Candidate Wang Tingxian.” Two stone stelae remain in the wing rooms: one inscribed “Ming Dynasty Genealogy of the Wang Clan” and the other “Petition to County Magistrate for Prohibitory Stele.” Unfortunately, weathering has blurred the inscriptions over time.

Legend has it that Lady Wang, mother of Wang Dabao, was a native of Liugang Village, Jinzao Town, Chaoyang District. Wang Dabao spent much of his childhood living and studying at his maternal grandmother’s home. After achieving scholarly honors and entering officialdom, he never forgot his mother’s kindness and successfully petitioned the imperial court for permission to build this temple in her memory. Through generations of maintenance and renovation, the architecture of the temple retains the legacy of the Southern Song style, along with features of Ming and Qing dynasty beams and wood carvings. In 2001, the Ancestral Temple of the Wang Clan was designated a cultural relic protection unit by the former Chaoyang City.

Liugang Village: Introduction to Liugang Village

Liugang Village is situated in the northern part of Jinzao Town, Chaoyang District, on the southern bank of the Rong River. Established in 1126 during the Northern Song Dynasty, it currently comprises six natural villages and 56 villager groups, with a total of 1,709 households and a population of 8,095. The village Party branch includes six Party groups, with 147 Party members (143 full members and 4 probationary members), and a village committee consisting of seven members. The village has 2,800 mu of arable land and 43.5 mu of forested area. Local attractions include the Chen Family Ancestral Hall, the Ancestral Temple of the Wang Clan (a cultural relic protection unit), and the Shrine of the Two Loyal Lords... More details about Liugang Village++

Further Reading:

· Ninth Batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units