| The details of decoration of the gate of the Charisma Hall. |
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| There are a lot of exquisite stone carvings on the base and banister of the entrance of the Charisma Hall. | In the overseas Chinese hometown, the features of the mixture of the multi-cultures in the local buildings are not only reflected in the ordinary vernacular dwelling, but also in the traditional building of the ancestral temples - the local people's spiritual sustenance. The patriarchal system of thousands of years deep rooted in the heart of Chinese people. No matter who rose in position and fortune, he would seek for "'returning to his hometown in glory", "fallen leaves that return to their roots", "'returning to his hometown to hold a memorial ceremony for his ancestors" under the strong influence of patriarchal consciousness and the close blood relationship. This has been particularly stressed in those overseas Chinese. In those overseas Chinese, the influence of patriarchal consciousness is not negative totally, but has risen to the love of their kith and kin and the strong homesickness for their hometown, as well as the strong patriotic enthusiasm. In the early 20th century, countless overseas Chinese returned to their hometown to set up factories, open schools and engaged in public welfare, as a result, promoting the all-round development of the society, economy and culture of their hometown. Judged from the above facts, we can see that many overseas Chinese though physically were abroad, yet spiritually still at home. They succeeded to Chinese cultural tradition, once successful abroad, they would follow the tradition to build ancestral temples at home or abroad to bring honor to their ancestors and encourage their descendants.
The peculiarities in the hometown of the overseas Chinese reflected its cultural and economic background. Those overseas Chinese lived abroad for a long time, having actively or passively accepted quite a little Western way of life and aesthetic judgment. The ancestral temples they built inevitably betrayed their ideological changes, as a result, there appeared "mixture of Oriental and Western elements" and "multi-combination" in the building's plane layout, decoration style, technique and material.
Among the extant ancestral temples built by the overseas Chinese and their relatives, the most stylish and famous one was the "Charisma Hall" in Kaiping, which was located in Jiaodizui Xu of Dihai Town, one of the three ports. It was a memorial building in memory of Yu family's ancestor - Yu Jing. According to the historical record, Yu Jing (A.D. 999-1064), a well-known minister in the Song Dynasty, born in Qujiang of Guangdong Province, also named An Dao, and named Wu Qi after death. In order to commemorate him, his descendants built a temple in Qujiang, named "Charisma Hall". From then on, Yu family's descendants at home and abroad all named memorial building "Charisma" or "'Wu Qi'" in memory of their ancestor. For example, in the United States, there is "Charisma Hall" and "Wu Qi Hall"; in Canada, there is "Yu Charisma Hall"; and in Guangzhou, there is "'Wu Qi School".
The Charisma Hall was built by Chinese builders in the light of the Western style of buildings, a product of the cultural exchange of East and West through civilian channels. Owing to their less educated background, those traditional Chinese builders were less restrained by the so-called "regulations". Through combination of Eastern and Western building styles, the Hall appeared more lively and natural, novel and touching. The style and function of the Hall were the same as the traditional ones. The whole building was a large well-balanced "quadrangle", both independent and connected, with strict structure and magnificent grandness. The most important and successful feature of the building is its 18 well-designed fire-prevention walls. These fire-prevention walls originated from horse-head wall and absorbed the traditional Fang 'ershan Wall of the local ancestral temples, hence resulted in the unique style.
In considering the building decorations, the different parts within the hall expose the use of Chinese traditional crafts such as stone sculptures. wood sculptures, brick sculptures, pottery sculptures and iron castings, while detailed decoration reflected the Western building technique. For example, the top of the up most part of the entrance to the lane is of Western pediment style and with scroll-type decorative sculptures: lower to it are small eaves of Chinese blazed tiles and Chinese-style wall pictures of mountains and water; still lower is the inscribed-board with Western decorations.
The pillars within the Hall were also masterpieces of the combination of Eastern and Western styles. Some pillar heads were decorated with flowers in classical Greek or Roman styles while the pillar bodies have no any sharp or mild concave troughs. At the same time some pillars were erected on typical Chinese pillar bases. The material of the pillars was mostly of stone. And there are a few iron pillars. For example, the half octagonal "Xuan" stretching out in front of the Hall is none other than the green blazed tile roof supported by four carved iron pillars, reflecting the use of new material and technology.
Making a comprehensive survey of the watchtower, arcade-dwelling and ancestral halls, one can see these buildings have one general character, that is, boldly absorbing the alien culture and merging it with local culture, so as to produce a new building culture. Most of the resident houses in Wuyi are "buildings without architects". Ordinary people were not restrained by "regulations" and trammels of conventional ideas, they made full use of whatever they thought useful. Although their efforts and practice were not surely to achieve desirable effects, yet this reflected their mentality of open-minded and the creativity of "seeking for something new, something changeable and something better". |
