Jiayingguan is next to the provincial road from Jiaozuo to Zhengzhou, about 5 kilometers away from the urban area, about 15 kilometers away from Wuzhi City, and only two or three kilometers away from the Yellow River levee in the south.
Along the Zhansi Highway towards Zhengzhou, I saw a large signboard of Jiayingguan in a place called Erpuying, which was actually written by Mr. Jiang, and I was once again surprised by his love for calligraphy and writing forms. His hobby of calligraphy is to write wherever he goes. The writing form is characterized by writing his name first, then his place, and finally his time, which can be simplified to "people, places and times". Turn left and go south along the People's Victory Canal. In two or three minutes, you will reach the gate of Jiayingguan. Jiayingguan was built in the first year of Yongzheng in Qing Dynasty (1723). It was built by yongzheng emperor to commemorate the people who built a dam in Wuzhi to block the mouth, sacrifice the river gods and reward the river management. It is a trinity of palace, temple and official residence. Its architectural style is similar to the Forbidden City, mainly including the mountain gate and the imperial pavilion. Locals call it "Temple Palace".
Jiayingguan now covers an area of more than 14 mu, with the mountain gate, the Imperial Monument Pavilion, the front building, the dressing hall, the Dragon King Hall, the Wind Temple, the Rain Temple and the Yuwang Pavilion on the north and south of the central axis. The east-west cross-court is Hetai and Daotai yamen. Jiayingguan Mountain Gate is a single eaves resting on the top of the mountain, covered with blue glazed tiles at the top, and a five-step heavy arch under the eaves. The materials used are very small and exquisite. There are colored paintings on the wood outside the eaves, with clear style and bright colors. In front of the door, there are five characters written in calligraphy by yongzheng emperor.
Entering the mountain gate, the Imperial Monument Pavilion, which is unique in pattern and form, is the first in China. The Imperial Monument Pavilion looks like the crown of the Qing Dynasty, and it is magnificent. The Imperial Monument in the pavilion is towering in copper color, with 24 dragons winding on both sides, and the unicorn at the base is in front of it. yongzheng emperor personally wrote a book, Dan, which is exquisitely made. It can be called the first bronze monument in China and deserves the title of national treasure. I don't know when the flaw appeared on the left side of this monument, but it was actually made of iron. Because I didn't know much about the smelting and pouring process, I was very puzzled. How did the ancient craftsmen create such a delicate iron-made copper monument with different melting temperatures? This tablet was written by yongzheng emperor himself, and it is the first one in China according to my ignorance. In addition, the stele pedestal we see is generally a tortoise-shaped stele, but here it is a lying unicorn (scientific name). It is said that the tortoise is the sixth son of the Dragon King and the tortoise is also the son of the Dragon King, but there are many versions of the legend. Listen to some tourists, saying that unicorns are dragons in the Yellow River, and they were suppressed here by yongzheng emperor, which is a kind of statement. On the post in front of the pavilion, there is a straightforward and profound but highly targeted couplet: the first part is "The river rises and the river falls to maintain the crown", and the second part is "Is the people's heart related to the Qing Dynasty?" It is said that this is also a couplet written by yongzheng emperor himself, and its good intentions can be imagined. At this time, it occurred to me that this couplet still has positive educational significance until now, and those officials should be allowed to come here often.
The Central Hall, a cloister-style building with double eaves and hills, has sixty-five paintings of dragons and phoenixes painted by caissons in a pure Manchu style. This is an early work of Manchu people after entering the customs, and later it gradually merged with Chinese culture. This kind of painting is gone, so these dragon and phoenix patterns are also a must in China. The gold medal of "Qin Ci Run Yu" in the hall is neutral, and it is verified that "Run Yu" was given by yongzheng emperor in Wuzhi. He used to be an imperial envoy to supervise the affairs of river management, and later fell in love with river management, leaving the court dispute. After building a temple for river management, Yongzheng asked to stay in Jiayingguan and become the first abbot of Jiayingguan. In fact, he spent his whole life leading the Yellow River management in Henan.
In the center of the main hall sits a statue of Niu Niu, and on both sides are four river-governing ministers of Ming and Qing Dynasties. In fact, the halls on the east and west sides are filled with famous river management heroes in history (of course, some of them were added later). The East Hall is dedicated to Jia Jean of the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Jing of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Jia Lu of the Yuan Dynasty, Pan Jixun of the Ming Dynasty and Bai Ying, the "White King". Among them, Jia Rang first put forward three strategies for river management, which are still in use today. Wang Jing practiced three strategies for river management, and the Yellow River did not change its course for 8 years. The West Hall is dedicated to Song Li, the minister of the Ministry of Industry of the Ming Dynasty, Liu Tianhe, the minister of the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty, and Qi Sule, Ji Zengyun and Lin Zexu, the three governors of the Qing Dynasty. Everyone knows that Lin Zexu once served as the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and Destruction of Opium at Humen had a great national integrity. How did he become the Dragon King of the River? It turned out that during the Daoguang period, he was the governor of the river, in charge of the repair and defense of the Yellow River Canal in Henan and Shandong. After the defeat of the Opium War, the Qing government dismissed him as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi and sent him to Xinjiang. On the way, the Yellow River burst and Lin Zexu was ordered to block the mouth. "The courage and courage are clear and bright, and the trillion lives are heavy and light." Lin Zexu is a true national hero.