2021 Anshun Travel Notes (1) - Yuantong Temple and Wu Temple

The trip to Anshun is the most regrettable experience in 2021.

Originally, Anshun was only the first stop of the trip to Guizhou. Later, due to the arrival of the epidemic, the first stop became the last and only one.

Anshun has a long history. During the Spring and Autumn Period, it used to be the center of the northern part of the ancient Zangzang Kingdom - Yelang City. In the early Warring States period, the Yelang tribe rose up, overthrew the Zangcang Kingdom, and established the famous Yelang Kingdom, whose capital was Anshun. Of course, Yelang is famous not because of his strength, but because of the idiom story of "Yelang is arrogant".

Qin State unified the world, and Anshun was included in the northern part of Xiang County. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Yelang and other small countries refused to obey the imperial government's control, and were completely destroyed by the Han Dynasty. In the following dynasties, the ownership and name of Anshun area have been changed frequently.

In the fifth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1372), Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Fu Youde to be the general who conquered the South, and led his army into Guizhou to wipe out the remnants of the Qing Dynasty. In December of the same year, according to the emperor's will, the Acropolis was built in Anshun area, which was the beginning of Anshun City. Later, the status of Anshun Prefecture was established and became the political, military, economic and cultural center of central Guizhou.

In the 17th year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou was established. One of the governors was stationed in Qujing, Yunnan, and the other was in Anshun, Guizhou. In the first year of Kangxi (1663), the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou was removed, and the two provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou were placed under the jurisdiction of Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi, and the governor of Guizhou was relocated to Anshun. In the fifth year of Kangxi, the governor of Guizhou was withdrawn, and the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou was established and moved to Guiyang. In the sixth year of Kangxi (1667), the admiral of Guizhou moved from Guiyang to Anshun. In the third year of the Republic of China (1914), Anshun Prefecture was renamed Anshun County.

At present, Anshun is a prefecture-level city in Guizhou Province and also a famous tourist city.

More than 20 years ago, I came to Anshun. That time was the Kunming recuperation index given to me by my unit. After working for more than 30 years, enjoying recuperation treatment for the first time is indeed a memorable event in life. We chose Anshun for the free time during that recuperation. Although I only played for two days and stayed for one night, I used the carpooling method to travel with others, but I visited Huangguoshu, Tianxing Bridge, Dragon Palace, Xuantang and other scenic spots, and the impression was very good. So this trip to Guizhou, I chose Anshun as the first stop.

The high-speed rail goes directly to Anshun. I took a taxi from the high-speed rail station and went directly to the hotel booked online. After check-in, go to the street to find a restaurant for dinner.

Came to the food street near the hotel, found a restaurant that was pleasing to the eye, and ordered a plate of fried beef and a pot of grilled eggplant. A bowl of cabbage ball soup. The beef in Anshun is much better than that in Taiyuan. Also, grilled eggplant is delicious. Guizhou is still very particular about barbecue.

On October 19, after breakfast, visit Anshun Old Town as planned. We took a taxi from the hotel and came to Yuantong Temple.

Yuantong Temple was built in the 10th year of Xianchun in the Southern Song Dynasty, and its history was before Anshun was built. I don't think it's appropriate to attribute it to Yuan Dynasty buildings, because the Southern Song Dynasty regime at that time had not yet perished, so don't rush to recognize the Yuan Dynasty's year name.

When the temple was first built, it had only one courtyard and one hall, dedicated to Yuantong Avalokitesvara. At the end of Yuan Dynasty, the temple was destroyed by war. In the eighteenth year of Ming Hongwu (1385), Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict, and the imperial court issued funds, and Liu Ji, Mu Ying, and Kang Maocai were responsible for rebuilding the temples destroyed by the war throughout the country. Yuantong Temple was rebuilt at this time.

In the sixth year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1408 A.D.), Gu Cheng, the Marquis of Zhenyuan who guarded Guizhou, rebuilt and expanded Yuantong Temple. Afterwards, after successive reconstructions in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Yuantong Temple became the first of the three major temples in Anshun - Yuantong Temple, Chongzhen Temple and Dongyue Temple.

In the 1960s, the temple suffered damage. What you see now was rebuilt in 2006.

There is a square in front of the current Yuantong Temple. A group of aunts are dancing in the square, which makes people feel cordial. Here you can look up at Xixiu Mountain behind Yuantong Temple and the Xixiu Mountain Pagoda on Xixiu Mountain.

In front of Yuantong Temple stands a stone archway with four pillars and three gates. The strange thing is that the Tongtianzhu is used in the archway, which generally does not comply with the rules.

Enter the temple from the door on the right side of the archway. The front of the first entrance is the Daxiong Palace.

The main hall is three rooms wide, with a single eaves resting on the top of the mountain, and a front porch in front of the hall. Three horizontal plaques are hung under the eaves, inscribed respectively "Mahatma Palace", "Falun Changzhuan" and "Wande Majestic". , Cihang Purdue refers to the labyrinth."

There are three Buddha statues in the hall, and the general travel notes describe the three Buddhas: Sakyamuni Buddha, Medicine Buddha and Amitabha Buddha. But according to the Buddhist website, there are actually three Buddhas, namely the Dharmakaya Buddha-Vairocana Buddha, the Sambhogakaya Buddha-Lushana Buddha, and the Yingshen Buddha-Shakyamuni Buddha.

As soon as you enter the courtyard, there are two-storey wing rooms on both sides. The ancient trees in the courtyard are covered with red silk for blessing. Kazuki's red color is truly beautiful.

Behind the main hall is the second entrance courtyard. On the front of the courtyard is the Yuantong Pavilion standing on a high two-story platform. Yuantong Pavilion is a two-story pavilion of stone and wood structure. The pavilion is three rooms wide, with two eaves resting on the top of the mountain. The upper floor is the Buddhist scriptures building.

A horizontal plaque is hung under the eaves of the lower floor, saying "Yuantong Pavilion". There is a couplet hanging on the pillar of the front porch, with the inscription: "Bao raft saves three thousand worlds; manna spreads to four continents".

It can be seen from the appearance that, like the Daxiong Hall in front, its stone pillars are all original objects. So well worth a look.

I thought that I could go up the mountain in the temple and reach the Xixiu Mountain Pagoda. But the monk said no. It turns out that the Xixiu Mountain Pagoda belongs to the Xixiu Mountain Park and needs to climb up the mountain from the outside.

Go back the same way and come to the foot of Xixiu Mountain. Then go up the mountain along the stone steps. Xixiu Mountain is actually not very high, and it took a while to reach the top of the mountain, and saw the White Pagoda of Xixiu Mountain standing on the top of the mountain.

The White Stone Pagoda was first built in the third year of Yuan Taiding (1326 A.D.), when it was a geomantic omen. According to the "Anshun Mansion Annals" in the Xianfeng period, Anshun is surrounded by mountains, but the mountains in the south of the city are gentle. Therefore, experts believe that it is necessary to build a pagoda on Xixiu Mountain in the south of the city to make up for the lack of geomantic omen.

But later, with the gradual prosperity of Yuantong Temple, the stone pagoda was gradually connected with Yuantong Temple at the foot of the mountain and became a Buddhist pagoda.

The stone pagoda built in the early Yuan Dynasty was later destroyed by war. Later, it was rebuilt three times in the 20th year of Wanli in Ming Dynasty, the 10th year of Chongzhen and the second year of Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty. The stone pagoda seen now was rebuilt in the first year of Xianfeng. Because there are still carved stones on the second-level tower wall on the north side of the tower body: "Shao Hongru, Puding County, rebuilt in the first year of Xianfeng"; Names of other participating squires.

The plane of the stone tower is hexagonal, standing on a 2-meter-high base, which is also hexagonal, with a side length of 3 meters. On the corners of the pedestal are statues of strong men, though some are blurred.

The stone pagoda has seven levels and is more than 10 meters high. From bottom to top, it shrinks layer by layer, so that the whole tower is in the shape of a cone. On the bottom and second floors, there are Buddhist niches on each side. In the Buddhist niches on the bottom floor, there are carvings of heavenly kings and King Kong. On the second floor, there are six Buddha statues and dharma names. Receive and guide Amitabha Buddha, Namo Perfect Sambhogakaya Lusana Buddha, Quiet Dharmakaya Kunluchana Buddha, Namo Danglai's lower body Maitreya True Buddha and Netherworld leader Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

The platform on the top of the mountain is not big, so I went around the tower several times, took a few photos, and then went down the mountain. Go back to the foot of the mountain along the original road, then walk north along Zhonghua South Road, and come to Wumiao.

The Wu Temple was first built in the 15th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty. It was first named Shoutinghou Temple, and later renamed Guandi Temple.

In the fifth year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, Li Benshen, governor of Guizhou, rebuilt the Guandi Temple and renamed it Wu Temple. In the fifty-seventh year of Qianlong, the Guanyin Tower was built. In the eighth year of the Republic of China, Tang Xize, the governor of Anshun County, worshiped Guan Yu and Yue Fei together, and changed the Wu Temple to Guanyue Temple, but the local people have always called it "Anshun Wu Temple".

Due to disrepair and damage in the 1960s, around 2000, only the Guanyin Building, the main hall and the hatchback remained, and other buildings of the Wu Temple were in decline. After the efforts of the government departments, the remaining part of the Wu Temple has been fully renovated. What you see now is the result of the renovation.

This is a new stone archway on the side of the road. Four pillars, three gates and three drops of water rest on the top of the mountain, and the forehead is titled "Civil and Military Holy Spirit".

After the archway, there is a section of palace wall. Entering the gate of the palace wall is the first to enter the courtyard. As soon as you enter the courtyard, there are pan ponds and stone bridges. Generally speaking, only Confucian temples have panchi, so children who enter school are called "entering pan". It can be said that there is a Panchi in the Wu Temple. Moreover, the Panchi here is very unique. Its plane is octagonal, called Bagua Panchi, and it can be called a unique lake.

On the front is the main hall of the Wu Temple. The main hall is three rooms wide, resting on the top of the mountain. There is a front porch in front of the hall. There are six stone pillars in the front row and six stone pillars in the back row. The whole hall is supported by 36 stone pillars with a height of 14 meters. Therefore, although the entire hall building is old, it looks majestic and extraordinary.

There is a horizontal plaque above the gate with the title: "Illuminating the sun and the moon", and a couplet hanging on the porch column: "Strive to support the Han Ding, explain the Lin scriptures, defeat Wei and reject Wu with loyalty and righteousness, rule the north, south, east and west, and the emperors and Buddhas of Xianqin all over the world "The spirit is in the universe, the heart is the same as the sun and the moon, showing power and spirit to subdue demons and bandits, combining ancient and modern China and foreign countries, and all peoples worship the holy god of culture and martial arts."

This couplet is infinitely elevated to Guan Yu, which does not seem to conform to historical facts. Moreover, "cutting Wei and rejecting Wu" is not the established national policy of the Shu Han, and the Shu Han has never had the martial arts of "unifying the north, south, east and west". To be honest, the failure of the Shu Han lies in the four words "cut Wei and reject Wu"!

In the main hall are enshrined Guan Yu in military uniform, Guan Ping and Zhou Cang on both sides. The title of the horizontal plaque on the top is: "All the people in the world are extremely". Yue Fei was not among them.

Behind the main hall is the second courtyard. The main building of Erjin is Guanyin Pavilion. A Guanyin Pavilion was built in the Wu Temple, which is very puzzling. Buddhism and Taoism are originally two families, and Guandi and Guanyin are also incompatible. How could they be put together? Maybe it's because the killing spirit in the front is too heavy, and it needs to be balanced with the kindness and compassion in the back. One piece and one relaxation, the way of civil and martial arts!

The Guanyin Pavilion here is very similar to the Guanyin Pavilion behind Yuantong Temple, the difference is the three-story pavilion with three eaves. The pillars of the main body are also stone pillars, and the wooden structure part looks very old, and there are no plaques and couplets.

After watching the Guanyin Pavilion, the visit to the Wu Temple is over.

(unfinished, to be continued)