The Chen Family Temple陈家祠

【Introduction】

The Chen Family Temple was an ancestral[?n’sestr?l]adj.祖先的, temple of the Chen families in Guangdong Province. As a Chinese saying goes, “people of the same surname were in the same Family 500 hundred years ago.” This adage [’?d?d?]n.谚语,格言is known to all in China and is certainly true as applied to适用于the fact that people of the Chen families in the 72 counties of Guangdong Province jointly共同地,联合地 built this temple, in 1894 in the present –day Zhongshan Qi Road, as a place of their clannish 自成一帮的activities on special occasions as well as a shrine for offering sacrifices[’s?krifais]n.牺牲, 舍身;献祭, 供奉;祭 to their common ancestors[’?nsist?]n.祖先, 祖宗. Otherwise called Chen Clan[kl?n]n.宗族, 家族; 氏族 Academy[?’k?d?mi]n.专科学校, it was also a school for children of the Chen families. In 1959, it was converted[k?n’v?:t]vt. & vi.(使)转变, into the Guangdong Folk Art Museum, for the temple structure itself is a comprehensive[,k?mpri’hensiv]adj.广泛的, 综合的 expression of the exquisite[’ekskwizit]

adj.精致的, 精美的 Guangdong folk arts and crafts.工艺

Covering a ground space of 15,000 square meters, with a floor space of 6,400 square meters, the temple is built in the traditional Chinese architectural [ɑ:k?tekt??r?l] 建筑学的;建筑上的 style. It is laid out in a symmetrical [s?’metr?k?l]adj.对称的;匀称的 way, with the longitudinal [l?nd?i’tju:dinl]adj.经度的,纵向central line as the axis[’?ksis]n.轴;轴线, 中心线 and the structures on one side corresponding 符合的, 一致的 exactly with those on the other. Its wide-open main halls and the lattice-walled格子框架wing-rooms are interspaced 留…的间隔,留空隙的by courtyards 庭院，院子and connected with corridors, and huge suspended悬浮的 or floor screens as well as solid brick walls are used as partitions[pɑ:’ti??n]n.分开, 分割;分割物, 隔墙 between halls and courtyards and between rooms; thus creating an artistic effect of being structurally compact but appearing spacious[’spei??s]adj.宽敞的 and magnificent, and producing a contrasting对比的 effect of the big with the small, the high with the low, the open with the hidden and the true with the false.

Another feature of the temple structure is that all the houses are gable[’ɡeibl]n.尖顶屋两端的山形墙 roofed, with two slopes[sl?up]n.斜坡, 斜面to drain away使流走(双檐滴水) the rainwater, which is the traditional style of roof structure corresponding to相当于..., 与...相一致houses for the people in old China and to temple buildings of this kind.

In the feudal society [’fju:dl]adj.封建的社会of old China, a strict hierarchy[’hai?rɑ:ki]n.等级制度was formed. Under this social estate [is’teit]n.土地, 财产system, everything was rigidly严格地stratified分层的. The size, height and color of a house and even the style of its roof must match the social status [’steit?s]n.身份, 地位;情形, 状况of its owner or user. That’s why, in the former imperial[im’pi?ri?l]帝王的palaces, all the back houses for servants and soldiers are low and gable-roofed with grey tiles [tail]n.瓦片, 瓷砖, but the main buildings in the middle have yellow roofs with slopes on four sides.

While being constructed in the national style of architecture[’ɑ:kitekt??]n.建筑学, 建筑术;建筑风格, 建筑式样, the temple structure is unique in the way it is decorated, the way that is characteristic[,k?rikt?’ristik]adj.特有的, 典型的 of this province. Stone-carvings, brick-carvings, lime sculptures, [la?m] [’sk?lpt??]灰雕 ceramic figurines[si’r?mik]adj.陶器的[,f?gj?’ri:n]n.小雕像,小塑像,, wood-carvings or artistic objects of iron-casting 铁铸can be found everywhere. They are made into flowers and trees, insects and birds, animals and human figures 人像and even architectural complex n.综合体, 集合体. These works of art are used not only for the purpose of decoration but are also symbols[’simb?l]n.象征, 标志;符号 or implications[,?mpli’kei??n]含义, 暗示of one thing or another, or depictions [d?p?k??n] 描写of various scenes from stories of Chinese history and legends. For example, the peony flower is a symbol of richness and wealth, the twin lotus flowers on one stalk stand for an affectionate挚爱的couple of husband and wife and the lion sculpture, power and dignity [’diɡniti]n.庄严, 端庄, 尊严.

【Outside the Main Entrance】正门外

The Stone Lion and the Unicorn-like Animal双狮和独角兽

Here (in front of the temple) are two granite [’ɡr?nit]n.花岗岩, 花岗石statues [’st?tju:]n.雕像of the lion that exists in reality. 实际上,事实上。 The one playing a ball is male and the other patting a baby lion is female. Such lion statues can also be seen in other parts of the country, squatting [skw?t]vi.蹲坐; 蹲majestically [m?’d?estik]adj.雄伟的, 威严的;壮丽的at the main entrances of the houses for the upper class of old China, because they are a symbol of power and dignity.

But the unicorn-like animal on the roof, with a single horn on its head, is a fictitious [f?k’t???s]adj.假的, 虚构的animal that is peculiar to Guangdong province. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), natural calamities自然灾害 [k?’l?miti]n.灾祸, 灾难were of frequent occurrence [?’k?r?ns]n.发生, 出现;事件; 发生的事in the area. At that time, man was absolutely powerless对某事无能为力的before nature. When calamities occurred[?’k?:]vi.发生; 举行, people had no choice but to resort to采取superstition [,sju:p?’sti??n]n.迷信, 迷信行为. They looked upon natural disasters as demons[’di:m?n]n.恶魔,恶鬼 and ghosts and created this beast of prey 捕食to expel [iks’pel]vt.驱逐, 赶走them. So, this unicorn-like animal is a mythical想像的;虚构的beast [bi:st]n.兽that is endowed with赋予supernatural power n.超自然的能力to exorcise 驱除evil spirits.

The Sculpture of Gourds葫芦雕— A Token象征 of a Flourishing Family 繁荣的, 昌盛的家族

The sculpture of gourds [g?:d, g??rd, g??d]in pairs on the roof or in other places of the temple is a token of a flourishing family with ever-increasing不断增长的 members. It incarnates[?n’kɑ:n?t]赋予(思想、精神等) the Chen family’s desire[di’zai?]愿望, 欲望, 心愿 that its clansmen would live and multiply [’m?ltiplai] (使)增加;(使)繁殖continuously连续不断地,接连地 like gourds growing luxuriantly [l?g’???ri:?nt, l?k’???r-]adj.茂盛的,郁郁葱葱的 to propagate [’pr?p?ɡeit]vt. & vi.繁衍, 增殖 successively接连着,继续地. This is because the gourd is a seedy多种子的plant and its many seeds will propagate in great numbers.

Masterpieces of Brick-carving

On the wall on either side of the main entrance is a picture carved on bricks, depicting [di’pikt]vt.描绘; 描画;描述different stories from Chinese historical[his’t?rik?l]adj.历史(学)的 novels. They are regarded as representative works of the exquisite[’ekskwizit]adj.精致的, 精美的 Guangdong brick-carving.

The Guangdong brick-carving is unique in the technique of its making. It is made in such a way that different parts of a picture are carved separately on small pieces of ready-made fired bricks before they are laid onto a wall to form an integral [’intiɡr?l]adj.构成整体所必需的whole, whereas但是 those of other provinces are made by carving a whole picture on a big piece of adobe [?’d??bi:]n.风干土坯，风干砖坯;(制风干砖用的)灰质粘土 (unburned brick) before it is fired into a hard cube and embedded[im’bed] 嵌入onto the wall. The former entails 需要 much more precision [pri’si??n]n.精确度, 准确(性)and skill and so is more exquisite and is of greater artistic value.

Liu Qing Taming驯服a Fierce [fi?s]adj.凶猛的; 凶狠的Horse