The Ancestral Halls In Remote Areas Of Hunan Under The Influence Of Foreign Culture During Modern Times

This paper aims to systematically study a kind of ancestral hall known as"civilized architecture"（or"civilized"ancestral hall）located in remote areas of Hunan,which appeared since the late Qing Dynasty.While maintaining traditional functions such as ancestor worship,these"civilized"ancestral halls obtain an obvious western architectural style.These Sino-Western ancestral halls are mainly discovered in the former Baoqing Prefecture of Hunan Province and in its surrounding counties.Obviously,the emergence of the"civilized"ancestral hall was a direct response to the Westernization Movement and the eastward spread of western influence during the reform movement in 1898.The reason why it appeared in Hunan can be traced back to the duality between intense conservatism and radical reform of the Hunan people at that time:on one hand they fiercely reject cultural invasion of Western imperialism,and on the other hand they strongly desire new knowledge and technology to seek reform to the dissatisfying situation during the end of the 19^th century.Hunan was a province that emphasizes education,thus when the new education policy was implemented,new education immediately became a common practice in Hunan,which made it a leading role in the area at that time.Comparing with traditional private schools,new schools no longer aim for the imperial examination.And under the provisions of the new school system,new schools needed to meet the requirements of allowing more students to be enrolled in different grades.However,for remote villages that lack condition to build modern schools,transforming ancestral halls into"civilized"ones that serve new educational functions became their best choice.Therefore,most"civilized"ancestral halls are bifunctional for being both ancestral halls and schools.In order to fulfill the functions of the new school,"civilized"ancestral halls usually show following characteristics:1)the coexistence of the different spaces oriented from both the traditional ancestral hall and the new education space.Within the"civilized"ancestral halls,new functional spaces are produced,such as classroom,auditorium,corridor,outdoor activity space,which are all irrelevant with sacrificial issues.The space that originally belonged to the ancestral hall was gradually vacated and transformed into the new school,indicating the weakening traditional concept of etiquette when"clan society"was changing into"civil society"in the early modern times.2)The facade of the"civilized"ancestral hall shows to the secular society its identity and significance is completely different from the traditional ancestral halls.In particular,the two martyr temples in the early years of the Republic of China adopted the form of"civilized architecture",reflecting the new values represented by the Beiyang government.The appearance of"civilized"ancestral hall is influenced by both the local architectural style,and foreign influence from the surrounding areas.3)The decoration on the“civilized”ancestral hall is no longer just the auspicious theme of strengthening relations among kinsfolk and clans but has begun to appear to imply many new ideas under the theme of the time,which is"awakening the people",and further strengthen the educational goal of"enlightening the people".In addition,the content of decoration theme has gradually changed from legends or historical themes to realistic themes.Different from the architectures of central cities in modern China,these ancestral halls in Hunan are built by local craftsmen.Their structural system and materials maintain the local traditional practices,while their owners are local enlightened gentries who have been influenced by modern"civilization".Therefore,the functions and appearance of“civilized”ancestral halls also reflect the duality of tradition and modernity.The"civilized"ancestral halls that are both ancestral halls and schools provide us with a vivid case to observe how local traditional construction system responds to the impact of modern civilization.It is precisely because of this response that made the"civilized"ancestral hall a typical modern cultural transformation heritage that witnessed the changes of local society.However,the biggest challenge confronted by these ancestral halls is that they are being"restored"into the form of traditional ancestral halls in the name of protection.The main reason for this is that its’identity as an ancestral hall is emphasized,but its’other identity as a modern school has been neglected.As a vernacular heritage that records social and cultural changes,the"civilized”ancestral hall was originated from and truly reflects the cultural changes of the modernization of the traditional society.Based on the previous research on the architectural history of"civilized"ancestral hall,this paper reinterprets the heritage value of it as a vernacular heritage from a dynamic perspective.And by adopting the method of cultural route research,the overall heritage value of“civilized”ancestral halls as a whole was discussed.Considering the modern"civilized"vernacular buildings scattered in Hunan rural areas as tangible heritage elements and the thriving new education along with the phenomenon of the vast emerging Hunanese talents as intangible heritage elements,jointly represents the heritage content of"open wisdom"that reveals the cultural transformation at the spiritual level of cultural evolution.At last,its heritage value as China’s modern transformation heritage is discussed and an ideology for its individual and overall conservation strategy is provided.