History

The building was supported to build by 48 Chen family members, providing accommodation for the sons of the clan for preparing imperial examination or dealing with personal affairs, and placing the ancestral tablets if Chen family member is willing to pay for it. It started to built in 1888 and finished in 1894. Afterwards, it also served as middle school, Guangdong Folk Arts Museum, printing factory. In 1986, it was promulgated by the State Council as a national key cultural relics protection unit. In 2002 and 2011, it was chosen as one of the top Eight Scenes of Guangzhou.

Layout

It situated on the No.7 Zhongshan Road in Guangzhou city covering 8,000 square meters, consisting of 9 halls, 6 yards, 10 adjacent accommodation and long corridors. The hall in the center is the main building where the Chen clan member held sacrifices or meetings in spring and autumn. Continue entering, ancestral tablet of Chen family and sacrifice hall has appeared. The side of the rooms is slightly low which was used for class in ancient time.  

Things to do in Chen Clan Academy

Wood Carving

Almost all of the wooden part was engraved numerous historical stories and auspicious patterns, main craftmanship are embossment and carving. The first beam above the front door described with Heaven Queen Birthday and Romance of the Three Kingdoms etc. In the middle of the hall, placing 20 double-sided carved screens featuring historical stories and folk tales, which was praised as the historical story corridor by folk artists by wood and steel knife. 11 gigantic carved wooden cages with 8 meters height on the rear part, engraving countless images of dragons, phenixes, flowers, characters and stories, which is the largest wood carving masterpiece of the Qing dynasty in Guangdong province.

Stone Carving

The stones using in Chen Clan Academy are granite which is dampproof, mould proof and strong enough. The handrail and balcony are decorated with flowers, birds, and fruit carving, which is full of the atmosphere of the Lingnan area and sincere respect to ancestors and gods. Besides, stone carving can be seen at pillars,  beam, breast board, stone lion, base and wainscot etc with vivid storytelling.

Brick Carving

The main craftsmanship of brick carving is embossment, partly the use of pierced carving, three-dimensional carving etc. All the brick carvings were made by famous folk artists, enriching the boring walls and emphasizing the style of Guangdong brick carving. The 6 large brick carvings on the front wall of Chen Clan Academy are made of Dongguan black bricks with fine texture, which combines with paintings, calligraphy and poems perfectly.

Lime Carving

Lime carving is wildly used in the traditional architecture decoration amoung Pearl River Delta. Use lime and fermented straws to make the shape then painted with a variety of colors. The lime carving of Chan Clan Academy is the outstanding part of the Lingnan area with 2,562 meters long and covering 2,448 square meters, which is mainly used for roof base, gable vertical ridge, porch roof, wing rooms, courtyard gallery and roof ridge.

Pottery Carving

Pottery ridge carvings, also called colored ridge, which is made by calcining clay sculpture, is mainly decorated for large buildings like temples, ancestral halls, guild halls etc. The front ridge has 11 pieces of Foshan pottery sculptures, it reflects the economic power of the Chen clan in Guangdong province. With 27 meters long, 2.9 meters high and carving around 224 characters with classic topics.

Copper and Iron Casting

It's very rare in the traditional architecture of the Qing dynasty to use copper and iron casting. The folk artists skillfully put the iron casing board in the frame of the stone fence, which looks very beautiful and unique.