I'm Xiao from Changting xinqiao town, Longyan, Fujian. I found that the original name of our ancestral hall was Henan Hall, and the couplet was a famous minister with eight leaves and a bachelor's deg

I'm Xiao from Changting xinqiao town, Longyan, Fujian. I found that the original name of our ancestral hall was Henan Hall, and the couplet was a famous minister with eight leaves and a bachelor's degree in five classics. Xiaowu in Xiaowutang is Xiao's in Changting. In addition to Wengjiasheshan Town, the earliest residence of Changting was established, and several other places all came from this branch. The Xiao family in Lanling did not build an ancestral temple in Changting City, so Xiaowutang's Xiaowu also played the role of family celebration and ethnic reunion. People usually call it ancestral home.

The ancestral home is in the south of the city, which is the most prosperous place in Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. The main building is in a suitable location, facing north to south. From south to north, it is 100 meters long. Along the central axis, there are eight halls and seven wells criss-crossing. This is a typical Hakka residential building form. There is a brick wall in the house, two doors can be opened and closed, and there are several hall doors and inner room doors, so that the whole house can be connected, separated and closed. On both sides of the living room and patio are wings of different sizes, with the left and right doors and windows facing each other, and each household is close to each other, forming a whole. It embodies the characteristics of the deep house compound.

In the early years, in the south of the ancestral home, there were two houses across the street that echoed from afar, and the three just formed a zigzag. One in the east, covering an area of about one mu, is said to be a home school. There are more than a dozen large and small halls, a main hall and a patio for children to read scriptures and practice rituals, and a kitchen for boiling tea and hot water. To the west of Lunan, there is another house, with the gate facing the main entrance of the ancestral home. It is estimated that it should be a place of separation when people are prosperous. It's a pity that the school in the east has collapsed and become a lawn for children to chase and play. The house in the west has a new owner. But even so, it does not affect the grandeur and solemnity of the ancestral home itself.

The ancestral home is in a superior position, and Huijimen, one of the gates of Tingzhou ancient city, is not far from the east along Xiaowutang Lane. Walking out of the city gate, you can see the scene of Tingshui running. A little farther north from the back door, you can go to Xianqian Street in Wuwuxi, which is close to the Ya Xian and Jianping ruins that have already disappeared. The west is connected with South Street; After going north through Sanyuan Pavilion, you can directly buckle the yamen; To the south, it passes through the well-preserved Zhu Bao Tower, and you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of Qinglan in Zhu Bao.

The doorframe and crossbeam of the ancestral home gate are all made of big stones, forming a slightly curved arc with the wing walls on both sides. Just above the gate is engraved "Three Famous Masters", which means: My grandfather Xiao He was honored as Sean and Han Xin by Liu Bang. The doorposts on both sides are engraved with the family style of "eight famous ministers, five classics bachelor". The font is vigorous and the pen is sharp. According to legend, it is the official book of my calligrapher from the 18th Zutingzhou. Crossing the generous threshold, the inward side above the gate is inlaid with the word "to be neutral", which is also the ancestor's expectation for future generations to follow the Confucian doctrine of the mean and peace.

After the gatehouse, it is a big yard of about 10 square meters, surrounded by wide stone strips, and the main hall is covered with stone strips in the middle. The main hall is wide and high, and there is plenty of light in the south. Five giant plaques are hung on the five beams above, and the word "assistant minister" is on the front one. He is the "signboard" of my ancestor Xiao Lvjingde. He worked as a magistrate in Tingzhou for two years, and then he was transferred to the assistant minister of the Ministry of Finance. Other works also have their own sources, and they were all demolished under the pseudonym of Hughes during the Cultural Revolution. Fortunately, there is also a very valuable one, which was inscribed by the magistrate Fang and Mo in the seven years of Qianlong. This plaque is a reward from the magistrate for my enthusiasm for rural construction. So far, the reason why this plaque escaped the disaster is unknown, but according to the old man, it was because it was hung on the back of the back door and was not found. Later, he was taken to the pigsty.

Speaking of couplets, it is also an important feature of the guild hall. There are at least five couplets of different lengths in the hall. Painted couplets are hung on the columns. During the Spring Festival, huge scrolls and nave are hung between the couplets. It is said that these words and pictures are all celebrities from different dynasties, such as Yi Bingshou and Shangguan Zhou. Of course, we can't prove whether these people are true or not. Yang Fang, the master of Neo-Confucianism in the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu's favorite pupil, was a good friend of the scholar of my fifth ancestor and an in-laws of my eighteenth ancestor, and was called "Li Qingtian" in the Qing Dynasty. They may have left Mo Bao, but unfortunately, none of them can be preserved. Now the walls of the hall are empty.

On both sides of the main hall are the two most important rooms in the ancestral home. Not only spacious, but also a small independent patio. The patio is used to entertain close friends and VIPs to have tea and discuss the next hall. There are plush chairs and small desks in the hall, and the walls are covered with celebrity calligraphy and painting. The whole small hall is full of books. There is a small door behind the screen of the main room leading to the back room, and then turn into the hall behind the screen, so that outsiders and family members do not interfere with each other. It's a house in a house, a hall in a hall. Cross the threshold on both sides of the nave from the hall, that is, enter the hall. The area of the hall is not large, which can accommodate about two square tables and several seats. It is a place where celebrations are held in the front hall and tea, wine and vegetables are transferred. Usually it can be used for a small family to eat or rest. To the north of the hall is the patio, and then the central hall. It is also relatively tall, but the area is slightly smaller than the hall. If the hall is mainly used to receive foreign guests, the central hall is the place for family gatherings. At the highest point behind it, there is an open shrine, about one meter deep, one meter high and four meters wide. This temple is dedicated to the gods of ancestors. The highest one in the middle is the main card of Lanling Hall, and the next one is the statue of my grandfather painted by Ma Guodian. By the way, Ma Guodian is an excellent figure painter with lifelike figures, so Changting people have a saying: Ma Guodian is not good at drawing you. This person is so ugly that even the character painter Ma Guodian can't draw you well. There are also five incense burners of different sizes on the shrine. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the clansmen climb the ladder to burn incense, and the offerings of each household are placed on the altar in front of the hall, which is made up of two square tables. Over time, the surrounding area of the shrine has been blackened by fireworks. Of course, it must not be washed in the dark fireworks, so as to show that the ancestors' fireworks are very prosperous. Through the two side doors around the nave, there is another hall and patio. There is a partition wall in the north, which divides the whole house into two parts: the front hall and the inner room. There is a door in the middle of the wall. As soon as the gate closes at ten o'clock, I don't know that the house ends here. After opening, the two are combined into one, only to see a hole in the back, which fully proves the craftsman's design intention. After this door is a patio and a hall, and then a two-story building rises. The facade of the building is new, and the downstairs is the inner hall. Parents usually have a short meal here, with bedrooms on both sides. There are more rooms upstairs and downstairs, behind the inner hall is a larger patio, and there is a deep well in the patio for family to draw water. You can go to the back hall in the future, which is divided into two parts: the north hall and the north hall. The entrance of the hall is wide, so you can not only witness the northern sky, but also enjoy the scenery of Beishan, forming a unique scenery. Further on, the terrain suddenly rises, much higher than other places, that is, it reaches the place commonly known as "Yudunzi", which is pronounced as "Queena Ding" in the Hakka dialect of Tingzhou. It is said that all the women in the Lao Xiao family have given birth here, and they will not be "Ding Bai" when they grow up. Go through the "Jade Pier" and the corridor connected with it, and then go through a row of bedrooms, that is, come to the small garden. The garden area is not large, about 100 square meter. It is said that there was a prosperous time when flowers were in full bloom all year round and the branches were fragrant all year round. Only in the late Qing Dynasty, the family wealth declined, and the garden became a wasteland, which was used by the people to grow vegetables. In the past, Fang Ying was hard to find.

When was the ancestral home built? There is no test. Judging from Volume 6-City Chapter of Changting County Records and my family's old genealogy about my 12th Shang Ying's public excavation of Xiaowutang, the ancestral home existed before Ming Jiajing, but generations before and after Shang Yinggong did not seem to have the strength to build this house. Further speculation is that my fifth ancestor Gong Qian Zhai Gong, the old genealogy records: the male scholar has been an official for many years, and his adoptive parents were moved to Jiajun South Gate by Weng to welcome their relatives to the city. In addition, a few years ago, I dug the foundation and found that there was no rubble under the ancestral house, but loess, indicating that the ancestral house was originally a wasteland before it was built. It seems that we can compare the majestic tombs of Zushan, Kengkou, Gongcun River in Qianzhai. There are few people in Weiss, and there is no need to build this mansion. Based on this, it seems to be speculated that the ancestral home was first built in the Southern Song Dynasty, and was later expanded on the original site by the 18 th Xiugugong and the 19 th Gonggong, that is, during the Kanggan period. The reasons are as follows: first, the home is too busy at this time, and the old house can no longer accommodate it. Secondly, since the 17th Congress of the Communist Party of China, several generations of Xiao family have had great influence and high reputation in Tingzhou, and the deeds of Gong have been recorded many times in the existing Tingzhou Prefecture Records and Changting County Records. The clan of Damen has been handed down as the official document of Bayi Prefecture, and the existing horizontal plaque in the hall is the county constitution's award to Xiuba, which echoes the expansion of the new house. In fact, it has nothing to do with the prosperity of generations and the emergence of celebrities. According to this, it seems that the ancestral home was built in the period of Xiaozong and Ningzong in the Southern Song Dynasty, which has been more than 800 years ago, and its expansion has been 300 years since the Qing Dynasty.

The ancestral home has a long history, and many talents and celebrities who have served the country, been honest in politics and made achievements in the history of the village have been cultivated in successive dynasties. If you don't count the Northern Song Dynasty Jingde Jinshi, Tingzhou Magistrate Xiao Law, the builder of this house, Nanyue Sergeant Supervisor, Songzhou Fifth Ancestor and Songzhou Fifth Uncle Chunxijin, you have only lived in this house, and the Ming Dynasty that grew up in this house is: Ming Yongle Jinshi, official household doctor, ambassador supervisor, Xiaoqing VIII; Xiao Zhuan, the tenth Confucian official in the official department; The tenth Xiao Jingxuan: the twelfth Xiao Huaxuan of Xian Cheng; Xiao Yinxi, the 3rd official of Fu Biao Materials/KLOC-0; Xiao Xi, the first 14 magistrate of the inspection department; Xiao Huaxi, Fourteenth Classic History of Baodi County; Xiao, Qian Biao, the 16th director, etc. In the Qing Dynasty, more than ten people's charitable deeds of benefiting farmers successively entered Tingzhou County Records and Changting County Records. As for the period of the Republic of China, there were about ten officers who served as Kuomintang generals, including Xiao Gan, the division commander of the18th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, Xiao Jing, the security commander of Fujian, Xiao Jing, the leader released by Kuomintang War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, and Xiao Xiao, a senior translator of the National Government. After liberation, there are even more talented people, such as Xiao, the director of the PLA, Xiao Jianheng, a famous writer in China, Xiao Huating, a professor in Tsinghua University, and the chief engineer of the Fujian Provincial Communications Department. It can be said that my ancestral home has not only a long history, but also outstanding people. It is a must in Tingzhou, but unfortunately, the ancestral home has been in disrepair for a long time, and the house is in disrepair, which has not attracted the attention and protection of the government!