Connection between the ancestral hall and its villagers : the case of Zhang Huaiyue ancestral hall of Hubei village, Shenzhen

Abstract

The Zhang Huaiyue Ancestral Hall, located in the Luohu District of Shenzhen China, was originally constructed in the late of Ming Dynasty (around 1465-1487) by Zhang's clan to commemorate their ancestor Zhang Huaiyue. Surrounding the temple is south of Huibei Village, a historic residential area of more than 200 buildings built by the Zhang family. The original temple was destroyed in the Qing Dynasty (around 1662-1664) and rebuilt in the 1804 of the Qing Dynasty. Due to the current modernization and urbanization of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, a large number of historic villages in the city are gradually disappearing and being replaced by modern high-rise buildings. For example, Caiwuwei Village, located in the Luohu District, has now become a well-known financial center in Shenzhen, with numerous tall buildings. As one of the last relatively intact historic villages in Shenzhen City, the area around the "Zhang Huaiyue" Ancestral Hall have almost been replaced by modern buildings and skyscrapers. In the next ten years, Huibei Village will continue to further upgraded, modernized and remodeled. and reconstructed in an all-round way. At present, the entire village area has been included in the city reconstruction plan. In the future, this ancient ancestral temple and its surrounding ancient villages will be preserved and revitalized to better integrate into the urban development. In this context, many attempts to explore ways of conservation, but those studies focus on the tangible aspect and sometimes the intangible aspect of these village, and what is missing is the connection between the tangible elements like architecture and the intangible elements such as the people, which is one of the most important parts of the conservation. This dissertation therefore focuses on identifying and documenting the connection between the “Zhanghuaiyue” ancestral hall and the Huibei Village community in order to provide a more holistic people-centric understanding of this unique heritage place.