Datian Stage

　　The Datian Stage is located in Datian Village, Gong’an Town, to the west of Zhongshan County, about ten kilometers from the county seat. This stage was built in the fourth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (i.e., 1878). It is a brick, stone, and wood structure in a convex shape, standing over 10 meters tall, and consists of a front stage and a back stage. The front stage is 6.37 meters wide and 5.5 meters deep; the back stage is 10.12 meters wide and 3.6 meters deep; the base is 1.8 meters high. The entire stage is constructed with blue bricks and stones, featuring exquisitely and smoothly carved details. It has an eight-pillar beam frame, an octagonal caisson ceiling, drum-shaped stone pillar bases, blue-brick walls, and a blue-stone foundation. The base is adorned with carvings of the Eight Immortals celebrating longevity, while two dragons playing with a pearl are carved nearby. The stage features two tigers carved at the corners for support and two lions embedded for good fortune. The rear screen is decorated with wood carvings of landscapes, pavilions, phoenixes, and cranes, all showcasing exquisite craftsmanship and harmonious composition. In addition to being simple, elegant, majestic, and spectacular, the stage also conforms to the principles of mechanics and acoustics. The entire stage is an auxiliary structure of the Shuikou Temple, nestled among ancient trees and graceful bamboo, with a clear stream flowing around it. The whole environment is elegant, unique, quiet, and serene, making it one of the rare ancient stages among Guangxi’s classical architectures. It was listed as a Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 1981.

　　The village where the stage is located, Datian Village, is also a very distinctive place, with old houses, ancient banyan trees, and old camphor trees that take on a special charm against the backdrop of the pond.