(Continued from "Weekend Tour to Eastern Shanxi Part 3—Stork Tower and Thousand Years of Singing"
Loyalty throughout the day? Towering righteousness
From Yongji to the east This is Yuncheng. The main reason to go to Yuncheng is to go to Jiezhou Guandi Temple. Yuncheng is the hometown of Guan Gong. It has a strong Guan Gong worship culture and the largest Guandi Temple in the country. Jiezhou was a county in ancient times, located from Chang'an to Taiyuan. Next to the official road, it is currently a town in Yanhu District, Yuncheng City. Guan Gong was born in Jiezhou and lived here until he was 19 years old. There is still a local legend that he helped the people and killed bullies when he was young. Story.
The worship of Guan Gong started earlier. Soon after his death, the phenomenon of worshiping Guan Gong appeared among the people, and was gradually introduced from China to surrounding areas and countries. It is said that there are still dozens of people in the world. Countries and regions have preserved this culture. Currently, there are more than 30,000 Guandi temples in Shanxi and more than 300,000 Guandi temples across the country. Times have changed, and more than 1,800 years have passed, but Guan Gong still remains in the local area. It is affectionately called "Master Guan", which shows the profound influence of this culture.
The Guandi Temple Scenic Area is mainly divided into three parts, the Jieyi Garden in the front, the Guandi Temple in the middle, and the Imperial Palace in the back. Garden. Jieyi Garden and Guandi Temple are located on the north and south sides of the original Guandi Temple. Currently, for the convenience of tourism, you can enter the scenic spot through the newly built Guandi Temple gate behind Jieyi Garden and visit Jieyi Garden backwards. Then cross the official road and enter the ancient Guandi Temple complex and the later-built Imperial Garden.
The Jieyi Garden was mainly built to commemorate the three sworn brothers in Taoyuan. Except for a few inscriptions, most of them were built later. On the front of the official road is a large screen wall that remains from the Ming Dynasty. Although simple protection measures have been taken, there is still the risk of collapse. The glazed four-dragon wall on the screen wall covers the three realms of heaven, earth and sea. It is solemn and simple, and is really a treasure of Emperor Guan. The main entrance of the temple is Duanmen, with red walls and green tiles, which is spectacular. On the forehead of the middle door are the words "Guandi Temple", with the words "Jing Zhong Guan Ri" on the left and "Yong Zheng" on the right. The three iron stakes given by the emperor remind worshipers to enter the holy place, followed by the Zhimen Gate, Meridian Gate, Shanhai Zhonglingfang, Yushu Tower and Chongning Hall.
The ancient buildings are mainly composed of logs and stones. They are simple and solemn, solemn and majestic. You will find various imperial plaques stacked on top of each other, almost all of which can be hung on the archways and palace doors. When you walk around, you will be impressed by the ancients. I am shocked by the architectural technology and elegant aesthetic design, and I am also shocked by the powerful spiritual power contained in this high-standard building, so that I always have the urge to kneel down.
For thousands of years. Since then, people have spared no effort to gather here all kinds of praises, all kinds of exquisite designs, all kinds of palaces and lofts, as well as all kinds of stone pillars and stone tablets representing immortality. Can it not be shocking? It is a devout belief. Even a 10-year-old child can tell one or two things about Guan Gong, but it boils down to the inscriptions on both sides of the gate, "loyalty throughout the day, great righteousness respected by the world." In fact, it is the "loyalty" and "righteousness" in Mr. Guan. I think this is why, while the people were devout in their faith, so many emperors granted Guan Gong additional titles. During his lifetime, he became a waiter, after his death, he became a king, and gradually he was granted the title of emperor. He then became as famous as the literary sage Confucius during the Chinese feudal dynasty. Wusheng. So what exactly are loyalty and righteousness?
Loyalty is the responsibility to the country (of course, in ancient times, it was more accurate to the king), righteousness is the responsibility to brothers, friends, and the people. Loyalty is the Chinese people's responsibility and responsibility to a person. The psychological expectations of heroes. Guan Gong supported the Han Dynasty, made friends with Taoyuan, loved the people, and was brave and powerful. These are the reasons why people miss and worship him from generation to generation. Especially not being persuaded by Cao Cao to stay, sealing gold, sealing, withdrawing maids, passing five passes and killing six generals, protecting his sister-in-law thousands of miles, and following Liu Bei, this is loyalty; in the battle of Huarong Daoli in Chibi, regardless of personal life and death, thinking about old feelings, leaving Cao Cao, who was defeated and fled, had a way out. This was righteousness. This kind of flesh-and-blood, affectionate, righteous and loyal person not only conforms to the spiritual requirements of "loyalty" of feudal emperors to their ministers, but also conforms to the moral hope of "righteousness" of ordinary people for heroes. Therefore, the worship of Guan Gong has never been interrupted for thousands of years.
As time goes by, the Yellow River surges. Perhaps many people will say that Guan Gong passed five passes and killed six generals is just a historical legend, which is far from the historical facts in "Three Kingdoms". In fact, this is no longer important. Ordinary people cannot verify them one by one and there is no need to verify them. When we worship Guan Gong, we want to set up a moral mirror for ourselves, enrich and inherit this moral connotation of "loyalty" and "righteousness", and pass it on to our descendants with the times. If everyone is patriotic and dedicated, everyone is enthusiastic about helping others, and everyone dares to take responsibility, isn't this a new interpretation of "loyalty" and "righteousness"?
Sometimes the reasons for the choices of ordinary people cannot be explained, but they are very simple. Jiezhou Guandi Temple was built in the Sui Dynasty, 1,500 years ago. It has been destroyed and rebuilt many times, but it is still there. Even during the catastrophe of the 1960s, it was miraculously preserved due to some special reasons. It travels through the years and remains motionless, as if it is silently showing something to the world.
Anything that can withstand the erosion of time and still be fresh, I think, should be immortal.
? (End)