Haiyun Ancestral Temple

　　   Haiyun Ancestral Temple, also known as Wushi Hall, is situated in Wujian Village, Zhangpu County. It faces the Dan Mountain and Yinshi Peak, with Meiling nearby resembling a brush rack. The towering Haiyun Mountain stands to the northwest; to the left is the Ziwei Mountain (Dragon Mountain), and to the right are the Tianma Mountain, Fuhu Mountain, and Tower Mountain. Behind it lies the Imperial Screen Purple Hat Stone. Through the gap of the Back Pavilion, one can gaze afar at the Fanshan Mountain in Pinghe County. The Wujian River flows from the northwest, winds around Guilin Mountain and Ziwei Mountain to the due east, then rushes straight southeast toward Futou Bay, where it empties into the East China Sea. Haiyun Ancestral Temple is one of the main ancestral halls of the Lin clan in Zhangpu. The Lin family in Zhangpu mainly has two origins: one is called the Luxia Lin, descendants of Lin Chang from the Southern Song Dynasty. The other is the Wushi Lin, whose founding ancestor, Lin An, migrated from Changle to Zhangpu during the Southern Song period. Their descendants settled at the foot of Haiyun Mountain and along the Wujian River, forming a community known as Wushi, centered around over forty villages including Jiuzhen, ShenTu, Chitu, and Xiamei. Between the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty and the Jiaqing era of the Qing Dynasty, the Wushi Lin clan flourished immensely, producing 11 imperial examination jinshi (advanced scholars), 25 juren (presented scholars), over 40 gongsheng (tribute students), and more than 80 individuals who achieved scholarly or official success. There are notable tales such as the "Three Phoenixes Singing Together" and the "Five Laurels in Fragrant Harmony." Among the illustrious figures are Lin Shizhang, the Jiajing-era third-place imperial scholar and Minister of Rites of the Nanli Bureau; Lin Gongmao, the Guangxi Censorate Administrator; and Lin Shihong, the Prefect of Chengtian Prefecture. The Wushi Lin clan branched into four lineages, each with its own ancestral hall also named “Haiyun Ancestral Temple.” The largest among them is the Wushi lineage’s temple, which also bears the hall name "Shide Hall."

　　   Haiyun Ancestral Temple was first established in the 13th year of the Zhengtong era (1447) of the Ming Dynasty by Lin Puxuan and others. It was renovated in the 15th year of the Zhengde era (1520) by Lin Zhen. On October 24 of the 8th year of the Wanli era, it was rebuilt on the original site under the direction of Lin Chu, Prefect of Leizhou, and Lin Shizhang, Minister of Rites, among others. During the reconstruction, the orientation of the ancestral hall was altered, but the location remained unchanged, resulting in its current scale. During the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty, Lin Chen, an Inner Cabinet Secretariat scribe, carried out another renovation. Additionally, multiple repairs were conducted during the Tongzhi era of the Qing Dynasty, the Republican era, and the 1970s.

　　   Haiyun Ancestral Temple faces 5 degrees southeast. It covers an area of 5,000 square meters, with a built-up area of 1,080 square meters. Along its central axis are, in sequence: a water pond, a stage, a front courtyard, a gate hall, a front hall, a skywell with corridors, a main hall, another skywell with corridors, and a rear hall. The entire structure is five bays wide, with a main gate and side gates on either side. The wall brackets feature high-relief qilin (mythical lion-dragon) carvings. The walls of the central and side bays use wooden lattice windows. The square stone pillars support a caisson ceiling with inverted hanging lotus designs, and the stone door drums are adorned with high-relief carvings. The front hall has eleven rafters with a front corridor and a three-tiered roof, significantly raising the height of the gate hall and enhancing the architectural grandeur. The main beam of the gate hall is placed between two pillars, achieving structural balance front and back. As it was built by two separate groups of craftsmen, the number of bracket sets and decorative motifs on each side differ. The main hall features fifteen rafters with front and rear corridors, a front porch with a rolled awning, and is three bays deep. It has high-relief stone column bases, wooden columns for load-bearing (now replaced with round stone columns), and a post-and-lintel wooden structure. The side bays use a through-tenon style. The central bay of the main hall is partitioned by a wooden screen, housing the ancestral tablets for worship. The hall displays plaques inscribed with titles such as “Third-Rank Imperial Scholar,” “Jinshi,” and “Praised for Chastity and Righteousness.” The left side bay houses a seated statue of Lin Shizhang, who served as Minister of Rites of the Nanli Bureau during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty. The rear hall is three bays deep with fourteen rafters and front and rear corridors. Its bracket sets include melon-shaped and lotus-seated types. There are no corridors in the side bays on either side of the front and rear skywells. The protective walls have outward-facing eaves. The walls are constructed from rammed earth mixed with lime, sand, and clay. The bracket sets, beams, purlins, and their connections all feature exquisitely carved woodwork, perfectly proportioned and positioned. The spaces between beams and purlins preserve polychrome paintings from the Ming and Qing periods. Both stone and wooden structures incorporate a variety of carving styles. The roof of the ancestral temple is of the hanging gable style, with the side bays lower than the central and side ones, creating the appearance of wing rooms and enriching the roofline. The grand scale and vast floor area of Haiyun Ancestral Temple rank it foremost among similar structures in southern Fujian, making it of great significance for the study of early institutional designs of ancient ancestral halls. It is listed as a cultural relic protection unit in the sixth batch of Fujian Province.

　　   Historically, the Wushi Lin clan spread across the entire province, with many also crossing the strait to Taiwan. Descendants can be found in Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Fengshan, Yilan, Changhua, Nantou, Keelung, and Yunlin. Among them were the three brothers Lin Xie, Lin Jie, and Lin Liang during the Yongzheng era, who settled in southern Taiwan. Lin Yaoqi, a descendant who settled in Taichung, and Lin Ruiguo, who settled in Changhua, returned to Wushi in the early 1990s to trace their roots and pay homage to their ancestors. They played leading roles in building the Wushi Tianhou Temple and Changchun Middle School. Meanwhile, Lin Weishui from Yilan and others have organized multiple group trips back to their ancestral home for worship.