The Chen Family Temple陳家祠

【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.諺語,格言is known to all in China and is certainly true as applied to適用于the fact that people of the Chen families in the 72 counties of Guangdong Province jointly共同地,聯(lián)合地 built this temple, in 1894 in the present –day Zhongshan Qi Road, as a place of their clannish 自成一幫的activities on special occasions as well as a shrine for offering sacrifices[’s?krifais]n.犧牲, 舍身;獻(xiàn)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.?？茖W(xué)校, it was also a school for children of the Chen families. In 1959, it was converted[k?n’v?:t]vt. & vi.(使)轉(zhuǎn)變, into the Guangdong Folk Art Museum, for the temple structure itself is a comprehensive[,k?mpri’hensiv]adj.廣泛的, 綜合的 expression of the exquisite[’ekskwizit]

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

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] 建筑學(xué)的;建筑上的 style. It is laid out in a symmetrical [s?’metr?k?l]adj.對稱的;勻稱的 way, with the longitudinal [l?nd?i’tju:dinl]adj.經(jīng)度的,縱向central line as the axis[’?ksis]n.軸;軸線, 中心線 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…的間隔,留空隙的by courtyards 庭院，院子and connected with corridors, and huge suspended懸浮的 or floor screens as well as solid brick walls are used as partitions[pɑ:’ti??n]n.分開, 分割;分割物, 隔墻 between halls and courtyards and between rooms; thus creating an artistic effect of being structurally compact but appearing spacious[’spei??s]adj.寬敞的 and magnificent, and producing a contrasting對比的 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.尖頂屋兩端的山形墻 roofed, with two slopes[sl?up]n.斜坡, 斜面to drain away使流走(雙檐滴水) the rainwater, which is the traditional style of roof structure corresponding to相當(dāng)于..., 與...相一致houses for the people in old China and to temple buildings of this kind.

In the feudal society [’fju:dl]adj.封建的社會of old China, a strict hierarchy[’hai?rɑ:ki]n.等級制度was formed. Under this social estate [is’teit]n.土地, 財(cái)產(chǎn)system, everything was rigidly嚴(yán)格地stratified分層的. 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, 狀況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, 瓷磚, 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.建筑學(xué), 建筑術(shù);建筑風(fēng)格, 建筑式樣, 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 鐵鑄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.綜合體, 集合體. These works of art are used not only for the purpose of decoration but are also symbols[’simb?l]n.象征, 標(biāo)志;符號 or implications[,?mpli’kei??n]含義, 暗示of one thing or another, or depictions [d?p?k??n] 描寫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摯愛的couple of husband and wife and the lion sculpture, power and dignity [’diɡniti]n.莊嚴(yán), 端莊, 尊嚴(yán).

【Outside the Main Entrance】正門外

The Stone Lion and the Unicorn-like Animal雙獅和獨(dú)角獸

Here (in front of the temple) are two granite [’ɡr?nit]n.花崗巖, 花崗石statues [’st?tju:]n.雕像of the lion that exists in reality. 實(shí)際上,事實(shí)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.雄偉的, 威嚴(yán)的;壯麗的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, 虛構(gòu)的animal that is peculiar to Guangdong province. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), natural calamities自然災(zāi)害 [k?’l?miti]n.災(zāi)禍, 災(zāi)難were of frequent occurrence [?’k?r?ns]n.發(fā)生, 出現(xiàn);事件; 發(fā)生的事in the area. At that time, man was absolutely powerless對某事無能為力的before nature. When calamities occurred[?’k?:]vi.發(fā)生; 舉行, people had no choice but to resort to采取superstition [,sju:p?’sti??n]n.迷信, 迷信行為. They looked upon natural disasters as demons[’di:m?n]n.惡魔,惡鬼 and ghosts and created this beast of prey 捕食to expel [iks’pel]vt.驅(qū)逐, 趕走them. So, this unicorn-like animal is a mythical想像的;虛構(gòu)的beast [bi:st]n.獸that is endowed with賦予supernatural power n.超自然的能力to exorcise 驅(qū)除evil spirits.

The Sculpture of Gourds葫蘆雕— A Token象征 of a Flourishing Family 繁榮的, 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不斷增長的 members. It incarnates[?n’kɑ:n?t]賦予(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連續(xù)不斷地,接連地 like gourds growing luxuriantly [l?g’???ri:?nt, l?k’???r-]adj.茂盛的,郁郁蔥蔥的 to propagate [’pr?p?ɡeit]vt. & vi.繁衍, 增殖 successively接連著,繼續(xù)地. This is because the gourd is a seedy多種子的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.描繪; 描畫;描述different stories from Chinese historical[his’t?rik?l]adj.歷史(學(xué))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.構(gòu)成整體所必需的whole, whereas但是 those of other provinces are made by carving a whole picture on a big piece of adobe [?’d??bi:]n.風(fēng)干土坯，風(fēng)干磚坯;(制風(fēng)干磚用的)灰質(zhì)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.精確度, 準(zhǔn)確(性)and skill and so is more exquisite and is of greater artistic value.

Liu Qing Taming馴服a Fierce [fi?s]adj.兇猛的; 兇狠的Horse