Qing'an Guildhall

The diverse roles the location has served have caused it to appear in English accounts under a variety of names, particularly before the adoption of pinyin as a standard romanization scheme. It was known as the Tianhou Temple, the Tianhou Palace, the Tien-how-kung or the Palace of the Empress of Heaven, from one of Mazu's epithets. The merchants' involvement in northern maritime () trade led local Chinese to refer to it as the North Guildhall. Fokien Guild House the Guild House of Fokien Merchants, and the Guildhall for the Fujian People or Fukien Hui Kuan. The present-day museum is sometimes translated as the Museum of Maritime Affairs and Folk Custom in Eastern Zhejiang. File:Ningbo Qing'an Huiguan 2013.07.27 17-12-51.jpg|The entrance, with the character for luck above those for "Palace of the Empress of Heaven", surrounded by stone carvings File:Ningbo Qing'an Huiguan 2013.07.27 17-00-17.jpg|Sign announcing the Qing'an Guild Hall's protected status ==History==

The complex lies at the heart of present-day Ningbo on the east bank of the Yong River as it is formed by the confluence of the Fenghua and Yuyao rivers. After Ningbo and Xiamen were reopened to international trade by the treaty ending the First Opium War, nine prosperous merchants—Dong Binru, Feng Yuxiang, Su Qinghe, Fei Lengkan, Fei Fusheng, Sheng Bindeng, Tong Xianglong, and Gu Xuan It is one of the largest surviving Mazu temples in China and some of the old stone carvings have been preserved and incorporated into the present museum. File:Temple of the Goddess Ma Tsu-pu, Ningpo.jpg|The Great Hall in the early 19th century File:Ningbo Tianfei Temple, colorized.png|A colorized version of Thomson's photograph ==Architecture==

The west-facing complex covers and consists, from front to back, of the Entrance, Second Door, Front Stage, Great Hall, Rear Stages, and Rear Chamber. The second door, having been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, was reconstructed from historical drawings held by Southeast University. The front stage is high, wide, and about as deep, being roughly square. By placing it before the main hall, it was thought that the gods could enjoy watching the opera shows. The walls were designed to produce a resonating effect during performances. The front and rear chambers and the two stages are linked by wing-rooms to one another. The southwest corner has seven side-rooms. The north side includes a separate area for greenery and the north and west sides each have a private courtyard, used as the offices for the guildhall. The style is believed to have been widely influential and copied. To the north of the present complex lies Qing'an Park. ==Exhibits==

The museum collects regional art concerning Mazu, including large frescos. The 14 tile carvings over the entrance include Twin Dragons Playing with a Pearl, the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, "Dragon Tongue Squad", Fishing, Wood-cutting, Farming, and Reading. The beams of the front stage mostly depict stories from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, including Three Heroes Fighting against Lu Bu and the Empty Fort Strategy. It also includes some carvings of actors and auspicious designs such as Magpies Perching on Plum Trees, dragons, phoenixes, and peonies. The screens are engraved with paintings of six ladies. Curved rails ("Rails for Beauties to Lean On") line three sides of the stage. For younger children, it has many scale boat models with woven sails and moving parts. One of the models is based upon the western-style gunboat purchased by the temple's 19th-century restorers in 1854 to suppress pirate attacks on their vessels. File:Detail of stone carve in Qingan Association 4.jpg|Stone carvings at the EZMAFCM File:Detail of wood carve in Qingan Association.jpg|Gilt woodcarving at the EZMAFCM ==Gallery==

File:Tianfei Temple, Ningbo. Wellcome L0055831.jpg|The right foo dog which protected the temple's great hall, File:Tianfei Temple, Ningbo. Wellcome L0055881.jpg|A stereogram of the left foo dog which protected the temple's great hall, File:Monks at Amoy Guild House, John Thomson Wellcome L0056011.jpg|A stereogram of a porch File:Ningbo Qing'an Huiguan 2013.07.27 16-23-44.jpg|The present-day complex from across the Yong River ==See also==