The door of the Yang Family Ancestral Hall is different from ordinary ancestral halls. It opens sideways, which is very strange. It turns out that the Yang family believes in Feng Shui. If the gate is opened diagonally and faces the Tuojiang River, the ancestral business will be prosperous and prosperous for eternity, just like the continuous flow of water from the Tuojiang River and prosperity. Entering the gate, you can see the cow head on the second door and the bat wood carving on the door. The cow head is a worship object of Xiangxi people, used to ward off evil spirits and bless peace; the bat brings blessings and good luck.
The Yang Family Ancestral Hall is a wooden structure with two floors. It consists of a gate, a stage, a hall, a gallery and a main hall, covering an area of ??770 square meters. The stage is opposite the main hall, with a single eaves resting on the top of the mountain. The eaves are decorated with Ruyi brackets. It is 16 meters high and has four pillars carved with dragons and phoenixes. It is said that the Yang surnames in Phoenix City are all descendants of the loyal Yang family of the Song Dynasty. Therefore, in the center of the stage is a lifelike colorful painting of "Mother Yang teaches her son". On it are written "Megatron Three Passes" in powerful characters. There are two doors at the back for worship. When actors come in and out, they are written "out as a general" and "in as a prime minister" respectively, highlighting the Yang family's pride of "going out as a general, entering as a prime minister". There are wing rooms and backstage on both sides of the stage, which are specially used for performers to put on their makeup and rest. There is a group of wood carvings in front and above the stage, depicting a young man and woman falling in love freely, overcoming many obstacles, and then happily married together, living a pastoral life where the man farmed and the woman weaved, and finally lived in peace with their children and grandchildren.
In front of the stage is a small patio covering an area of ??40 square meters, paved with red sandstones. Now a Miao sedan has stopped. The woman went up to sit on it, feeling that the bride was shy and joyful. The Yang Family Ancestral Hall was once a public place in Phoenix City for listening to books and watching plays. Especially during festivals, Nuo operas were staged to entertain the gods and ward off evil spirits. Huang Yongyu and other Phoenix celebrities often watched plays here when they were young, and stayed there frequently, while the elders of the clan watched from the corridors on both sides of the second floor. When the opera was being performed, the gongs and drums were noisy, and it was extremely lively and prosperous.
The gallery rooms on both sides are also very fine and elegant in workmanship. The windows, doors, and eaves are all hollowed out and carved. In the past, when the family had weddings, weddings, birthdays or important gatherings, they would dine in the Langfang. Today, it has become a small exhibition hall of Miao daily necessities and handicrafts.
In the corridor room, there is a wedding bed displayed. The eaves of the bed are like the dripping eaves of a stilted building. Moreover, Miao girls have the tradition of crying when they get married, with tears flowing like water, so it is called the dripping bed. The bed is also very small and cannot accommodate an adult at all - it turns out that Miao girls were very young when they got married in the past. There is also a large bed in the next room, with exquisite craftsmanship and rich carvings. The bed eaves have three levels. If you are a wealthy family, the bed eaves can even reach ten levels. After getting into this bed, the groom will say to the bride: "You and I will sleep on this bed for the rest of our lives, and we will never change anyone." - The love of the Miao people is loyalty. The Miao people believe that 12 is an auspicious number, with festivals such as "April 8" and "June 6". Therefore, 12 children's hats are also displayed here, expressing their infinite yearning for a better life in the future.
Farm tools, sandstone paintings, paper-cuts, flower ribbons, tie-dye and batik, etc. with Miao characteristics are all displayed here. The long-standing Chu Wu culture and Wu Nuo culture blend together to form a perfect The indigenous culture with local characteristics can be seen. "The little basket on my back swayed, and my mother carried me down the stilted building while laughing." Song Zuying, a Miao girl, sang "Little Basket on Her Back". Here, you can see a small backpack with fine workmanship, which can be used to carry children or do shopping. The Miao girls are best at tying flower ribbons, and their mother has been teaching them since they were very young. Girls weave their beautiful yearning for love into beautiful ribbons and give them to their special ones. Miao girls wear silver flowers on their heads, silver rings on their ears, silver rings on their necks, and silver bowls for eating. They "take more as wealth". In the past, when there were wars in western Hunan, the Miao people made all their belongings into silver ornaments. When necessary, people ran away and took away their belongings. ——Haha, you have to escape beautifully.
Main Hall: The main hall is of the beam-carrying style, with a rectangular patio paved with cobblestones. It is extremely elegant. It is a place for worship and discussion of the Yang family. It is filled with incense, solemn and mysterious, and is daunting. There are three murals painted on the front: a lion rolling a hydrangea, a carp jumping over the dragon gate and a unicorn delivering a child, which means that the family will be prosperous and many children will bring good fortune. In the middle is the memorial tablet of the ancestors of the Yang family. There is also a family motto of the Yang family on both sides, "The virtues of our ancestors are far away, and our descendants should not take them for granted."
"That is to say, the reputation of the Yang family has been famous for centuries. The descendants must not bring disgrace to their ancestors! In the past, the ancestral hall was the place where the family discussed and enforced the law, and it was also a place of sacrifice. Sacrifice ceremonies were held regularly every year. At that time, the clan members gathered in the ancestral hall and offered sacrifices. Three sacrifices were performed, three rituals were performed, iron cannons were fired, and ceremonial music was played. The ceremony was very grand.
The Yang family ancestral hall is exquisitely designed, with lifelike murals. The overall building has distinctive national characteristics and architectural artistic value, making it the most important town in western Hunan. A unique example of architecture