Free calligraphy classes slated for Tangjiawan youths

The renovated Cuiping Tang Ancestral Hall will offer free calligraphy classes for local teenagers beginning this winter school break and recommence as a center of cultural inheritance and education, a Tangjiawan Community spokesperson announced on Jan 2.

There will be 10 to 20 students with an open class once a week. The community is now seeking professional and well-educated calligraphy teachers in the area.

Located on Shanzhi Street in Tangjiawan Town, the ancestral hall was built during the reign of Emperor Kuang-hsu (Guangxu) in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). 

Cuiping Tang Ancestral Hall [Photo by Su Zhenhua / Zhuhai Daily]

The hall was recognized as an immovable heritage of the Zhuhai National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone in November 2011 and of Zhuhai city in July 2012. A dedicated fund was allocated by the zone government to renovate it in 2015.

Costing about 100,000 yuan ($15,375), damaged friezes, bricks, and ventilation and lighting facilities were repaired at the end of 2017 to restore the hall to its former splendor, said Li Hainan, Party branch secretary of the community.

According to Li, the renovated hall will open to the public for free. With it as a carrier, traditional culture in relation to ancestral halls is expected to unfold.

Furthermore, city-level intangible cultural heritage Medicated Thread Moxibustion and Tangjiawan Tea Refreshments bases were set up in the ancestral hall early last year.