Chen Ruinan and Zhaonan, Cantonese returning from America, first proposed raising money from the various Chen lineages to build a temple for worship of their ancestors and an academy to train their clansmen for the imperial examination during the late Qing Dynasty [REF].
The Guangzhou municipal government approved the hall's status as a special preserve in 1957 and introduced a folk arts and crafts gallery in 1959 [REF].