Yingjia Cantonese Guild Hall

　　Located behind Qijia Street in Yingjia, the Yingjia Cantonese Guild Hall was originally built in the 42nd year of the Qianlong reign (1777) and is the site of the Yingjia Uprising. The guild hall features a traditional siheyuan (courtyard) structure with seven bays on both the upper and lower levels. The entire building is primarily constructed from bluestone and glazed tiles. The front eaves pillars, beams, and bracket sets are adorned with an abundance of relief carvings and murals. On either side of the entrance are shallow-relief carvings of a pair of dragons playing with a pearl, above which is a fully openwork carving of the auspicious qilin (Chinese unicorn). Below the beams are stone carvings of the Eight Immortals in pairs. The layered beams and brackets feature vivid and whimsical wooden reliefs depicting characters from traditional opera stories. Under the eaves and between the brackets, coiled wooden dragons are carved, their heads turned back as if gazing downward. On both sides of the main gate are a pair of exquisitely inscribed stone couplets in clerical script. The stone plaque above the gate is engraved in bold regular script with the words “Cantonese Guild Hall,” and the calligraphy has a particularly weighty presence. Above the plaque is a large, richly detailed color painting depicting landscapes and figures, with the expressions and scenes of the characters rendered so lifelike that they bring the architectural aesthetics of Qing dynasty Lingnan society and culture to life. During the Republican era, the Yingjia Cantonese Guild Hall served as a grain storage facility. In June 1947, the Yingjia Uprising, led by the Guangxi Regional Committee, opened the granary to provide for the poor. Thousands of dan (a traditional unit of measure) of grain became food for the local people overnight. As a result, the Yingjia Cantonese Guild Hall became an important site of the Yingjia Uprising and was designated as a key cultural relic protection unit by the People’s Government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 2000. This guild hall also served as the filming location for the Zhang residence in the TV drama “The Wine of Home.”