Yongfu Ancestral Hall

Yongfu Ancestral Hall

Yongfu Ancestral Hall is a cultural heritage site protected by Meizhou City.

Yongfu Ancestral Hall is located in Linquanba, Xinquan Village, Changtan Town, Jiaoling County, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province. It was built in the fourth year of the Hongwu reign during the Ming Dynasty (1371). It underwent two renovations in 1984 and 1988. The hall faces north and sits south, consisting of a pond, open courtyard, main hall, flower terrace, encircling dragon structure, and wing rooms, arranged in a layout of two halls, six wings, and three encircling dragons, with a single-entry and five-bay configuration. The total width is 81 meters, the total depth is 92.9 meters, comprising 111 rooms in total, covering a land area of 7,524.9 square meters, with a building area of 4,957.2 square meters. It features a flush gable roof, a dragon boat-style ridge, gray tile roofing, and walls built from a mix of lime and stone. The main facade has a concave shape, with the main gate framed by thick bluestone lintels, and the words “Yongfu Ancestral Hall” inscribed above the door. On both sides are couplets reading “Distinguished Lineage of Dongshan” and “Family Tradition of Western Jin”. The lower hall is an open space, supported by multiple round bluestone pillars and lime-and-stone bases using British “red mortar” pillars, with a post-and-lintel wooden beam structure. Along the central axis, the corridors on the left and right are symmetrical, topped with gatehouse-style roofs, and decorated on both sides with pairs of sculpted carp leaping out of water. The upper hall is one step higher than the lower hall, featuring carved and painted wooden dragon-headed beams. Round bluestone pillars and lime-and-stone wall screens form the shrine, which enshrines the ancestral tablets of the local Xie clan, with the inscription “Baoshu Hall” above the shrine. The side walls are painted with murals depicting the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea and floral-bird motifs. The flower terrace is broad and flat. Three rows of encircling dragon houses surround the main hall and wing rooms in a crescent shape. The wing rooms all have bluestone slab thresholds, and behind the third wing room on the left is an ancient well. Xie Zhongtang, the 18th-generation descendant of the Xie clan, once served as the Chief Prosecutor of Taiwan Province. This ancestral hall is a well-preserved example of a Hakka encircling dragon house newly discovered during the third national cultural relics survey, possessing certain cultural heritage value. It is also one of the individual candidate projects for Meizhou City’s Hakka encircling dragon houses in the UNESCO World Heritage nomination process. In January 2014, it was designated as a municipal-level cultural heritage site by the Meizhou Municipal People's Government.

Source: Jiaoling County Museum

Xinquan Village: Located in Jiaoling County, Meizhou City, Xinquan Village lies west of the Shikou River. The village administers 10 villager groups, with 522 registered households and a population of 1,849. The total area of the village is 3.86 square kilometers, including 1,030 mu of arable land. The annual average temperature is 21°C, and the annual rainfall is about 1,700 mm, characterized by a subtropical monsoon climate. Major cash crops include rice and sugarcane. The village’s special economic income amounts to 1.15 million yuan, and the total rural economic income for the previous year was 13,000 yuan. 1. Strengthen classified guidance. Based on the principles of “one village, one specialty” and “one household, one product,” accurately identify... Detailed Information of Xinquan Village++

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Meizhou Municipal Cultural Heritage Protection Units