Guangdong Cantonese Opera Museum locates in Changcheng District of Foshan, inside the Huang Zhaoxiang Ancestral Hall. It covers for 3,000 square meters which is open since 2004. It is a Provincial Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.
Exhibitions in Cantonese Opera Museum
Guangdong Cantonese Opera Museum has totally 13 exhibition areas, which are divided into three parts: history, art and human. It has a collection of nearly 20,000 Cantonese opera articles and more than 3,000 cultural relics and pictures. It exhibits the Cantonese opera scripts, posters, drama costumes, musical instruments, famous calligraphy and paintings, and Cantonese operas from the Ming and Qing dynasties to recent years. The exhibits show the rich connotations and unique charms of Cantonese opera cultures.
The museum reflects the historical style and architectural art of the ancient buildings. It uses a combination of static and dynamic to express the artistic characteristics of Cantonese opera. The exhibitions also use the multimedia technologies, such as the interactive computers to narrow the distance between audience and the exhibition. The large screen and high-definition projection equipment assist to display the essence of Cantonese opera.
The exhibitions also combine the contemporary materials and ancient decorative styles to restore the old scenes and reproduce the history of Cantonese opera. For example, the main hall was preserved well based on the Huaguang Temple of Qing Dynasty and the stages were made in a traditional style.
Introduction of Huang Zhaoxiang Ancestral Hall
Huang Zhaoxiang Ancestral Hall is the largest ancestral house complex in Chancheng District. Built in the late Qing Dynasty, it is the ancestral hall of Huang Zhaoxiang, the founder of a famous proprietary Chinese medicine in Foshan.
The ancestral hall is magnificent, exquisite and unique in design with luxuriously decorations. It is a typical existing ancestral architecture in Foshan. Sitting to east, the main building is composed of the main gate, pavilions and courtyards, which are arranged along the central axis. On the left and right sides, there are also the residential houses, symmetrical and beautiful. The blue bricks on the front wall are smooth and beautiful.
The main gate is tall and majestic and the decorations are luxurious. The porch beams are covered with the exquisite golden and wooden carvings. There are many figure statues based on folk stories on the roofs, which preserve the overall characteristics of Lingnan architectural features. The decorations have the important historical and artistic values.