Ticket price for Cao'e Xiaonu Temple: 5 yuan
Cao'e Temple is the main visiting spot in Cao'ejiang Scenic Area. It is known as the first temple in the south of the Yangtze River and is located on the west bank of Cao'e River in Baiguan Town. . Cao E Temple was built to commemorate the story of Cao E who threw himself into the river to save his father.
Cao E (130143), female, was from Caojiapu, Shangyu. On May 5, the second year of Han'an in the Eastern Han Dynasty (143 years), Cao E's father was drowned in the water while sailing in the Shun River to meet the tide god Wu Zixu, and his body was not found. Cao E was 14 years old at the time. She cried along the river and searched for her father's body for seven days. She then threw herself into the river and died. Five days later, she surfaced carrying her father's body on her back. In order to commemorate her, later generations changed the name of Shunjiang River to Cao Ejiang River. In the first year of Jia of the Han Dynasty (151), a place was chosen for burial, and a monument with inscriptions was immediately placed. Because the poem was so well written, it shocked the literary world at that time. The famous writer Cai Yong visited the stele in admiration. After reading the inscription, he inscribed the words "young woman in yellow silk silk" and "grandson Junjiu" on the underside of the stele. None of the viewers understood its meaning. After Wei Emperor Cao Cao learned about it, he asked his counselor Yang Xiu if he could understand its meaning. Yang Xiu said that he already knew it, but Cao Cao walked more than 30 miles before he suddenly realized it. Yellow silk-colored silk is the character Jue; young women and girls are the character Miao; sons of granddaughters are the character Good; and the character Jijiu receives the character Xin, it is the character Ci. When four words are connected together, it becomes a wonderful word. Later, Cao Cao killed Yang Xiu for an excuse. It is said that this was one of the reasons why Cao Cao was jealous of Yang Xiu's talent.
After Cai Yong inscribed the stele of Cao E, Cao E became even more famous. The main hall of Cao'e Temple was built in the eighth year of Song and Yuan Dynasties (1093), and was expanded successively thereafter. Until 1983, local reconstruction was organized. The current temple covers an area of ??more than six acres, with a construction area of ??3,800 square meters. The environment in front of and behind the temple has been tidied up, and there are landscape facilities such as Shungeng Park nearby. It has become one of the most important tourist destinations in Shangyu.
According to historical records, emperors of all dynasties since the Song Dynasty have greatly praised Cao E. In the eighth year of the Song and Yuan Dynasties (1093), Emperor Zhezong of the Song Dynasty ordered the construction of the tall and glorious Cao E main hall. In the fourth year of Daguan (1110), she was granted the title of Lady Lingxiao. In the fifth year of Zhenghe's reign, he was granted the title of Zhaoshun. In the sixth year of Chun Dynasty, he was granted the title of Mrs. Chunyi, his father was granted the title of Marquis Heying, and his mother was granted the title of Mrs. Qingshan. From the second to fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1939), she was granted the title of Mrs. Huigan. In the eighth year of Hongwu's reign in the Ming Dynasty (1375), Zhu Yuanzhang ordered officials to go to the temple to pay homage, but Liu Ji personally wrote the inscription because of his sincerity. In the 13th year of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty (1808), she was granted the title of Mrs. Fuying. In the fifth year of Tongzhi (1865), she was conferred the title of Madam Inspiration and was given the plaque "Fu Bei Cao Jiang". During the Republic of China, many military and political figures from the Kuomintang inscribed couplets and plaques. Among them, Mr. Chiang Kai-shek's plaque "Light of Human Relations" is now hanging in the main hall of the temple.
The Cao'e Temple was first built in 151 AD. It has developed to this day and has mainly gone through the following major stages of development. The first is Jiangdong Temple, which has a history of nearly 600 years. "Book of the Later Han Dynasty." "The Biography of Cao E": "In the first year of Yuanjia, the county magistrate buried E next to Jiangnan Road and erected a monument." Although the temple was built and destroyed several times during this period, it was limited by the troubles of the "Iron-faced Cao River" and its scale was limited. There are no big developments. The second is that in the Northern Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty, the temple moved westward to its current location. According to the "Shangyu County Chronicle" written by Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty: "The Cao'e Temple is located on the west bank of the Cao'e River in the Ten Capitals. It used to be in the east of the Yangtze River and belonged to Shangyu. Later, it was destroyed by the wind and moved to its current location and placed under the jurisdiction of Kuaiji." The scale of the temple increased after it moved westward. It was expanded, but only five main halls were built. Third, during the Jiading period of the Southern Song Dynasty, the governor Wang Gang expanded the Caofu Jun Temple and Zhu'e Temple by five, and built a double cypress pavilion in the north of the main hall. Fourth, after the temple suffered a fire in the 18th year of the Republic of China, squire Ren Fengkui raised public funds to rebuild it. This construction not only further expanded the scope of the main hall, but also added a drinking pavilion, a stage, etc., which established the rigorous, well-proportioned and magnificent tone of the existing temple layout. In view of the long-term disrepair and the man-made destruction during the "Cultural Revolution", the temple was on the verge of collapse. In 1984, the Zhejiang Provincial and Shangyu Municipal People's Governments allocated funds, and under the auspices of the cultural relics department, Jiugong and Rucai spent three years to repair the temple, making this ancient building Rejuvenate.
In addition to the impressive architecture of Cao'e Temple, the sculptures and calligraphy works in the temple are of high artistic level. The art of sculpture and calligraphy, coupled with the architecture of Cao'e Temple, are integrated into one. Cao'e Temple is like an art gallery.
Cao'e Temple has a cultural heritage of nearly two thousand years, and its artistic taste is quite high. For example, the "four wonders" of sculpture, murals, couplets and calligraphy are well-known at home and abroad.
The carvings in Cao'e Temple are divided by texture, including wood carvings, stone carvings, and brick carvings. They are divided by techniques, including round carvings, openwork carvings, and relief carvings. The carving skills are exquisite, lifelike, and ready to be seen.
The murals in the Cao E Temple narrate the entire process of the legend of Cao E during his lifetime and after his death in the form of a comic strip. The lines are round and smooth, the composition is simple, and highly expressive. It is very useful for studying the history of painting in the Republic of China. value.
The large number of couplets in Cao'e Temple is rare in other temples. Moreover, the authorship of the couplets is quite high. Yu Youren, Ju Zheng, Liu Chunlin, Xiong Xiling, Wang Zhen, Li Shengweng, Ma Yifu, Deng Sanmu, etc. are all famous figures in the literary circles of the Republic of China. In this sense, it is not an exaggeration to say that Cao'e Temple Couplets were a great success in the literary world of the Republic of China.
The fourth masterpiece of the Cao'e Temple is the Song Dynasty stele written by Cai Bian. The stele is written in regular script, with flexible brushwork and high spirits. It is known as a model of regular script in the Song Dynasty. This stele has lasted for thousands of years and can be regarded as a treasure of the temple. It has been regarded as a treasure by celebrities in the calligraphy circles of past dynasties.
In addition to worshiping Cao E, the Cao E Temple also worships Zhu E, another filial daughter of Shangyu. Zhu E died on her knees and nailed a wooden board to redress her father's grievances. Her spirit was deeply moving, and she certainly deserves to be commemorated.