The small Zijin City is an underdeveloped area in Guangdong in terms of economic strength, but its cultural characteristics are not inferior to other famous historical and cultural cities. According to Mr. Ye from the county museum, Zijin people have always been fond of building ancestral halls, and almost every village has built ancestral halls. According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 500 large and small ancestral halls in the county. Today, there are 34 ancestral halls with different surnames near Xiahou Street and Rulin Street in the county.
Why are there so many ancestral halls with different surnames built near the county seat of Zijin County?
After asking around, I found out that the local people think that the county government has good feng shui. It faces Guanshan Peak in the front and Zhuangyuan Peak in the back. The cultural context is in this neighborhood, so ancestral halls are built around the county government office, especially Ming Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty built the most ancestral halls. However, friends who work in the same industry said that the Zijin County government is not big, and there are fewer and fewer talents coming out. The answer to this Feng Shui mystery lies in the saying: "The iron net is off the head, and the golden tortoise floats on the water. No one is rich for three generations, and it is difficult to be an official." Get ahead".
It is said that there is another reason for the formation of such a dense ancestral hall. When Zijin County was first established, the population of the county was less than 5,000. The successive magistrates of the county were troubled by the lack of popularity and economic depression. After that, some people adopted the squire's suggestion and built a palace academy in the county, recruiting students from all townships and surnames to study in the county, and at the same time mobilizing families of all surnames to build ancestral halls in the county. As for the land for building ancestral halls, the authorities also provide it free of charge. As a result, families with various surnames rushed to occupy territory, built large-scale construction projects, and competed with each other, not to be outdone. During the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, Ancestral Street gradually took shape.
Traditional Chinese society is a clan society, and the ancestral hall is the spiritual home of the Hakka people. Its first function is to worship ancestors. The ancestral hall is the residence of the souls of the ancestors of a family and a sacred place where members of the family worship their ancestors. "Sacrifice to ancestors and educate those who come", "Tracing back to the past, don't focus on the temple", "Without the temple, there is no ancestors, and without the ancestors, there are no ancestors".
Forced by war and other factors, the Hakka people migrated from the Central Plains to the south and experienced hardships. The difficult living conditions required spiritual support. The most powerful spiritual power comes from the unity within the clan. Blood is thicker than water. , at this time, it seems appropriate to use the banner of the ancestors to unite the clan members. Chongzu, as a matter of course, is dictated by filial piety. Many Hakka people have prominent figures among their ancestors. For the Hakka people, their ancestors are their pride and their spiritual support. Therefore, during the difficult migration to the south, the Hakka people still did not forget to carry two things with them. One was the genealogy. During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom war, the touching story of Hu Zhigao, a member of the Tanhu clan in Shangzhuangzhai, Jixi, abandoned all his family property and fled carrying his genealogy. People sigh with admiration; secondly, they carry the bones of their ancestors on their shoulders and when they arrive at a new settlement, they clean them, place them in the "gold poppy", and rebury them. This shows their strong concept of ancestor worship.