Sacred And Secular Space: On Hezhou Ancient Stage In Guangxi

Hezhou is located in border triangle of Guangxi, Hunan and Guangdong, sandwiched between Hunan and Guangdong. It has been a vital fortress along the Xiaohe Ancient Road in Qin Dynasty as well as one of the earlier areas in Guangxi accepting the Central Plain culture and Chu culture. The ancient stages, legacies of Ming and Qing Dynasties, are scattered among the villages of Hezhou, not only numerous but also with precise craft. By combining fine arts, anthropology and other discipline approaches, this paper attempts to learn the history, spatial distribution, type and structure, through detailed field trips of the ancient stages in Hezhou, to exhibit the specific features of the ancient stages and the corresponding folk activities. Focusing on the architectural features and cultural functions, this paper highlights the cultural characterastics of the ancient stages. In terms of architectural features and cultural functions, Hezhou ancient stage is a kind of entertainning space with the sacred and secular features. This paper can be divided into five chapters:The first chapter, based on the folk beliefs and historical and cultural backgrounds, describes the main reason for the formation of the ancient stages:a popular belief in deities and religious sacrifice ceremony. The emergence and prosperity of the stages have a strong regional color. As Hezhou is a vital fortress along the Hexiao Ancient Road, the economic development and migration of Han nationality as well as merchants from Hubei and Hunan provide a strong guarantee for the development of stages.The second chapter, on the basis of the field-trip investigation, depicts geographical distribution of the ancient stages in Hezhou, classifies them by the method of typology and delves into the building construction. Built mostly during the Ming and Qing dynasties, Hezhou ancient stages mainly ditrubute in Fuchuan and Zhongshan. In terms of type, they can be typed as temple stage, Citang stage, ancestral stage, hall stage and so on. As for the main building structure, it can be divided into fastigium, caisson ceiling, doors for on and off the stage, costume room, and several other parts.Architectural features of the ancient stages in Hezhou are dicussed in the third chapter.In addition to construction, Hezhou ancient stages are special for their architectural features, which find expression in the construction orientation--northward direction and in the carved decoration with mysterious and simple plain features.The fourth chapter makes a summary of the cultural functions of Hezhou ancient stages and argues that the stages bear a complicated cultural functions. From the viewpoints of purpose, the most basic function of stages is offering worship and praying to the deities. Along with the popularization, development and utilization of stages, the functions of stages begin to take on the features of social education, entertainment and communication, cultural heritage and so on.The last chapter is conclusion. Through the above research, it can be concluded that the space centered by the stage, is a structure closely linking religion with folk custom, showing the integration of religion and secular life—a unique cultural landscape. the culture functions for entertainning deities and common people and the cultural characteristics with sacredness and secularity are not only attribute to the architectural art formation of Hezhou ancient stages, but also play as a direct impetus. Therefore, Hezhou ancient stage is a kind of cultural space with sacredness coexisting with secularity.