Dinglian Dafu Ancestral Temple

Dinglian Dafu Ancestral Temple

Dinglian Dafu Ancestral Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Guangdong Province.

Dafu Ancestral Temple, also known as Lin Mingluan Prefect Ancestral Temple or Guangye Ancestral Temple, is located in Humei Village, Dinglian Village Committee, Qiankeng Town, Jiexi County. With a hard mountain-style roof and earthen structure, it covers a construction area of 1,661.73 square meters. The temple was built during the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty (with a wooden carving of a "Kangxi Tongbao" coin on the beam frame of the main hall). Its hall is named "Yuanyuan Hall." This ancestral hall is one of the larger ancestral temples in the Chaoshan region and ranks among the top large ancestral temples in Jiexi, alongside the Wu Family Ancestral Temple in Kuokouyuan, Tatou.

In front of the ancestral temple lies a large open courtyard that can accommodate over a thousand people. The front features a three-gate entrance tower, allowing entry through all three gates. The stone plaques above the gates are inscribed with “Dafu Ancestral Temple,” and the pillars of the gate tower are adorned with stone beams and carvings. The surrounding stone walls are decorated with shallow relief patterns.

The front and rear courtyards each have four podocarpus trees—both old and new. The older trees may have been planted when the temple was first built, standing tall and sturdy, growing more resilient with age. The central hall features a double worship pavilion supported by four outer stone pillars and four inner stone pillars. Each side of the inner four pillars has two five-beam layers, while each pair of the outer four pillars supports the eaves' horizontal beams. Above the five beams are front and rear crossbeams with side beams forming a rectangular frame. Double-layered brackets support the middle three beams, with carved wooden ties between them. Under the four corners of the eaves hang inverted wooden lotus carvings, and the rear crossbeam features a three-tiered cloud-patterned openwork design. The early carvings are simple, refined, and expressive. The pavilion roof is a double-layered, overlapping hip-and-gable structure.

The structure features roofs atop roofs, with upturned eaves and intricate corners. The central hall also has eight pillars—four inner octagonal pillars and four outer square pillars. The inner four pillars hold seven-beam layers, which gradually transition from melon-head designs to five and then three-beam layers. Each side has some wooden ties and carvings. The main hall has twelve pillars, with four round pillars in the center and four square pillars at the front and back. The four central round pillars also feature seven-beam layers, transitioning similarly from melon heads to five and three-beam layers. The four square pillars at the front and back support four beams each. Between the beams and brackets are scattered wooden ties. Both the central and main halls have their respective east and west side halls.

The 12th-generation ancestor of the Qiankeng Lin clan, Hong Yun, rose to prominence and specially built this ancestral temple to enshrine his sixth-generation ancestor, Lin Guangye. It is said that the original construction was grand in scale, with red beams and purple rafters—an architectural style reserved for high-ranking officials. This attracted official inquiries. To avoid trouble, the spirit tablet of Lin Guangye’s grandnephew, Lin Mingluan—who lived in Changsanshui Village and once served as Prefect of Duyun Prefecture in Guizhou—was placed in the shrine. Since then, it became an annual tradition during ancestral worship and tomb sweeping to display lanterns reading “Situ Zhenglang,” the official title of Lu Xun and Lu Shu, who regarded Lin Mingluan as their adoptive father.

Lanterns in front of the temple also bear the inscription “Shunde Prefecture Scrutineer,” the official title of the 8th-generation ancestor of the Lin clan. This explains why the temple is referred to as Dafu Ancestral Temple, as well as Lin Mingluan Prefect Ancestral Temple or Guangye Ancestral Temple.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the ancestral temple was taken over by the public. For a period, Dafu Ancestral Temple was used as the site of Qiankeng Primary School and the campus of Dinglian Middle School. All murals and wooden carvings on the beams and walls were painted white, and some traces remain today. The two stone lions in front of the gate tower were stolen shortly after a cultural relics survey.

Humei Village, where Dafu Ancestral Temple is located, sits in the central area of Qiankeng Town, Jiexi County, west of the market district and east of the Rong River’s southern branch. As the river flows into Qiankeng, it first runs from north to south, then turns eastward, forming a large bend right here—where Humei Village is situated. Related cultural heritage sites in Qiankeng include the tombs of Lin Mingluan and Lin Guangye.

Among the ancestral temples built by the Qiankeng Lin clan—and indeed all ancestral temples in Jiexi County—Dafu Ancestral Temple has the highest specifications and earliest construction date. In fact, especially during the Ming Dynasty, very few individuals in Jiexi reached the rank of prefect. Most were lucky to become county magistrates. Under the rigid hierarchical system of the feudal dynasty, it was precisely because of figures like Lin Mingluan, holding such an official rank, that such a grand ancestral temple could be built and remain unchallenged.

On December 19, 2011, it was designated as a Cultural Relic Protection Unit in the ninth batch of Jiexi County.

Dinglian Village: The Dinglian administrative village currently has a population of 5,778, with 1,080 households, 1,689 mu of arable land, and 1,378 mu of mountainous land. The per capita income of villagers is 4,645 yuan. The village has vigorously developed a 500-mu yam planting base in Dinglian Dongpu. A new leisure activity center for residents has been built, along with sports facilities to enrich villagers’ lives. A number of three-sided cement irrigation and drainage channels have been constructed, and the village’s flood channels have been comprehensively renovated to enhance disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities. ... Detailed information about Dinglian Village++

Further Reading:

· Ninth Batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units