Huangge Mai Family Ancestral Hall

Huangge Mai Family Ancestral Hall

Huangge Mai Family Ancestral Hall is a cultural tourism attraction.

In Lianxi Village, Huangge Town, Nansha District, there lies a lesser-known yet massive ancestral hall complex—the Mai Clan Ancestral Hall. Its scale, architectural layout, materials, and craftsmanship were considered top-tier at the time. Among the four most famous ancestral halls in the Guangzhou area, it ranks third, only after the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall and the Liugeng Hall of Shawan. Local government and village authorities have stated that they will soon invest funds to build a square opposite the ancestral hall and restore the hall, aiming to preserve this rare Lingnan cultural heritage. Once completed, it will rival the architectural scale of the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall in the city center.

The Mai Clan Grand Ancestral Hall was first built during the Song Dynasty

The Mai Clan Ancestral Hall is located on Suguoxin Street, Lianxi Village, Huangge Town, Nansha District. It’s less than a mile from the nearby Shinan Road. Passing through two ponds filled with lotus flowers and occasional jumping fish, you’ll arrive at the site. Before Nansha’s development, due to poor road access, few people in Guangzhou knew about it. There are three Mai Clan Ancestral Halls here, all facing south, namely the Mai Clan Grand Ancestral Hall, the Jizong Mai Public Hall, and the Ruihui Mai Public Hall. They are also known as the Daben Hall, Chongde Hall, and Guangyu Hall. Together with the Ziping Mai Public Hall, these structures are aligned in a row along the street, covering a total area of over 2,000 square meters—an exceptionally large scale among ancestral halls in Guangzhou. According to records, the Mai Clan Grand Ancestral Hall was first built during the Song Dynasty, renovated during the Ming Dynasty, and the Ruihui Mai Public Hall was constructed in the first year of the Tongzhi era of the Qing Dynasty (1861). However, the construction date of the Jizong Mai Public Hall remains unknown.

According to cultural relics experts, this ancestral hall complex was built for the descendants of Mai Bidar, the founding ancestor of the Mai clan in Huangge Town, and his successors. Bidar was the 16th-generation descendant of the clan’s progenitor, Tiezhuang. Originally from Nanxiong, Guangdong, he served as the Governor of Guangxi. In the ninth year of the Xianchun era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1273), due to the “Hu Fei Incident” in Zhujixiang, he, along with his brothers Bidrong, Bixiu, Biduan, and Bixiong, relocated with their families to Huangge. Considering future generations’ development, his other brothers moved to Dongguan, Nanhai, Fangcun in Guangzhou, and Taishan in Xinhui. However, Mai Bidar chose to stay in Huangge. Later, his three sons settled in Dajing Village, Dongli Village, and Lianxi Village of Huangge Town respectively, where they thrived and gradually developed what Huangge Town is today. Reportedly, Dajing and Dongli Villages also have Mai Clan ancestral halls, but none are as grand, well-preserved, or clustered together as the one in Lianxi Village.

Among the still-extant ancestral halls in Lianxi Village, the Mai Clan Grand Ancestral Hall is the best preserved. Its architectural style closely resembles that of the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall in the city center. The walls are made of blue bricks, while the beams and crossbeams are wooden, incorporating stone pillars. The roof is covered with glazed tiles, featuring a dragon boat ridge adorned with a mythical ao fish, along with grey-relief carvings of auspicious birds and beasts, flanked by “teapot ear”-shaped structures.

The ancestral hall follows a three-courtyard architectural style. Upon entering the main gate, you reach the central and rear halls, connected by a spacious corridor. Originally, each hall also had steps and stone railings, though these have now been damaged.

Beams made from Burmese timber that remained unfaded for centuries

The beams and pillars of this ancestral hall are particularly tall and sturdy, with diameters ranging between 30 to 60 centimeters. According to local elders, this type of wood is called “kunshan wood.” Back then, the surrounding area of Huangge Town was close to the sea, and the timber was transported from Myanmar. The wood is hard and durable, having never been infested by termites over the centuries and remaining unfaded to this day.

Due to financial constraints in earlier years, the village committee used the ancestral hall as its office space from the 1980s onward, making no major alterations to the original structure. According to Secretary Mai of the village, they have now commissioned the School of Architecture at South China University of Technology to develop a restoration design and environmental protection plan for the Mai Clan Ancestral Hall. The village committee offices will be relocated from the ancestral hall, and a square covering over 1,300 square meters will be built. The lotus ponds on both sides of the ancestral hall will be preserved, and funds will be invested to rebuild the Jizong Mai Public Hall, restoring the original appearance of the Mai Clan Ancestral Hall complex.

Lianxi Village: Located in the central part of Huangge Town, Nansha District, and to the north of Huangge’s central urban area, Lianxi Village currently has an agricultural population of over 3,150 and a migrant population of over 2,500. In recent years, guided by the concept of scientific development, the village has focused on creating a model civilized village as a vehicle for building a new socialist countryside. It has emphasized the simultaneous advancement of cultural development and economic growth, achieving commendable results. In 2004, it was awarded the title of “Guangzhou Advanced Village in Population and Family Planning Work.” In 2006, it was designated as one of Guangzhou’s second batch of model civilized villages under development. … More details about Lianxi Village ++