Brothers and sisters travel to Shanxi (3) - Jiexiu Houtu Temple

Take a taxi from Chenghuang Temple to Jiexiu Houtu Temple.

Houtu Temple is naturally a temple dedicated to Houtu. The ancients often said that "Emperor Heaven and Houtu", so who is Houtu?

In "Guoyu Luyu", it is said: "Jiu Youye, the uncle of the Gonggong family, and his son is called Houtu, who can level Jiutu, so he worshiped it as a society." In other early works, such as "Zuo Zhuan" and "Li In "Records" and "Huainanzi", Houtu is also called the son of Gonggong and the god of the center. "Book of Rites·Yue Ling" Zheng Zhu said: "Houtu is also the son of Zhuanxu (one of the legendary Three Emperors and Five Emperors), named Li, and also a local official." All in all, Houtu is a male god.

I remember that there is a large mural in the main hall of Yongle Palace - Wuji Hall: "Chaoyuan Immortal Staff Picture". It depicts the scene of gods from all walks of life worshiping Yuanshi Tianzun.

The main gods in the painting are the four emperors and four queens in the east, west, north, south and four directions. The so-called four emperors, also known as the four emperors, include the Supreme Jade Emperor in Haotian Jinque, the Emperor Ziwei in Zhongtian, the Great Emperor in the North Pole, the Emperor Gouchen in Shanggong Antarctica, and the Empress Dowager Earth. Judging from the picture, Houtu is a male emperor.

After the Sui Dynasty, because the sky was yang and the status was yin, Houtu gradually evolved into a goddess. In the sixth year of Zhenghe in the Northern Song Dynasty, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty named Houtu as "the land of the emperor who inherits the sky, imitates the law and makes great virtues". Since the Song Dynasty, Taoism has claimed that the God of Earth is in charge of the fertility of yin and yang, the beauty of all things, and the beauty of the mountains and rivers of the earth. Since then, Houtu has become a goddess, and the folks also call it "Houtu Empress".

It is impossible to test when the Jiexiu Houtu Temple was first built. According to the "Records of the Earth Temple after Reconstruction" in the temple, it was rebuilt in the first year of Ming Dynasty (457) by Emperor Xiaowu of Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty and in the second year of Datong by Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty (536). From this, it can be inferred that the Houtu Temple existed during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

According to the inscription "Reconstruction of the Earth Temple", "Dingyang Khan Liu Wuzhou and Qin King Li Shimin faced each other in Jiexiu in the Sui Dynasty. Yuchi Jingde, a general of Liu Wuzhou's department, spent a lot of time here and guarded the general. Tingling Lane) as its ruins.” In other words, Yuchi Jingde was ordered in Houtu Temple

The current pattern of the Houtu Temple was established when it was rebuilt in the eleventh year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty. Then until the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, there were many reconstructions and expansions, and gradually formed the current scale. We were here in 2011, when the Houtu Temple was undergoing major renovations.

The Houtu Temple faces south, but the entrance is arranged on the east side of the Zhaobi courtyard. A horizontal plaque hangs on the side door, titled "Sanqing Temple", and the couplets on both sides read: "In the early Yuan Dynasty, Hongmeng opened up all phenomena; together with the dry mountains, the Sanqing Temple is inside and outside." It was only later that I found out that this is indeed the Temple of Sanqing, and then The Earth Temple is behind the Sanqing Temple.

After entering the small gate, you will come to the courtyard in front of the mountain gate. On the south side of the courtyard is the screen wall, and on the front is the Shanmen Hall.

The Sanqing Guanying Wall was first built in the 14th year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty and re-fired in the 15th year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty. The screen wall is made of bricks, covered with yellow glazed tiles on the top of the mountain, the main ridge is decorated with dragon, phoenix and flower patterns, and there is a fairy mountain pavilion in the center. The heart of the wall is "Kirin making eight treasures" made of colored glaze. The unicorn is decorated with the sun and clouds, symbolizing light and auspiciousness. The so-called "Eight Treasures" are the eight rare treasures surrounding the Qilin, such as hanging coins, ingots, double water chestnuts, conch shells, corals, ruyis, double circles and rhinoceros horn cups.

The Shanmen Hall is also called the Temple of Heavenly Kings. It is unknown when it was first built. It was rebuilt in 1984 and 2012.

The Shanmen Hall has three rooms with a wide surface and a hard mountain top, with yellow, green and blue glazed edges, and glazed ridge decorations on the main ridge, which is very beautiful. There is a horizontal plaque above the gate with the inscription: "Quanzhen Resort". There are couplets hanging on the pillars on both sides: "one qi transforms the three cleans, the eternal spirit produces Taiji; the nine knives hide the eight trigrams, and the ten directions of incense and fire prove the inaction." The four heavenly kings are enshrined in the hall.

Behind the mountain gate is the Guodian, also known as the Dharma Protector Hall. In 155310, the Dharma Protector Hall was built at the same time as the Tianwang Hall. The hall is three rooms wide, with a single eaves and a hard top. A horizontal plaque is hung above the hall, and the title of the plaque is "Taoism opens the sky" written by Dong Zhiyu, a member of the official department in the 14th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty. The hall enshrines the "Four Marshals of Lingxiao Palace"-Wang Mo, Yang Sen, Gao Yougan and Li Xingba.

Pass through the hall and come to the second entrance courtyard. On the front of the courtyard are the Xianting Pavilion and the Sanqing Hall standing on the platform, and on both sides are the East and West Side Halls.

The pavilion is a rolling shed on the top of the mountain, open on all sides. The horizontal plaque under the eaves reads: "Quanzhen embodies Taoism".

The Sanqing Hall was first built in the Yuan Dynasty, and it is now built in the eleventh year of Ming Zhengde (1516). The building of the Sanqing Hall is very peculiar. The main hall is a double-eaved Xieshanding, five rooms wide, with a double-eaves cross Xieshanding building in the front, and a Xieshanding stage in the back. The stage and the main hall are integrated and seamless.

The horizontal plaque on the top of the main entrance of the main hall is inscribed: "Open the sky and set up the pole", and the couplets on both sides read: "The palace is majestic, seeing the majesty of the golden phase, it has helped the Sanqing Dharma Realm; ".

The front of the Sanqing Hall is dedicated to the highest god of Taoism-the Patriarch of the Sanqing: the middle is the Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun, the west is the Taiqing Daode Tianzun, and the east is the Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun. There are two statues standing east and west on both sides of the Sanqing statue, which are called "two princes": Zhang Tianling, the celestial master, on the east side, and Ge Hong, an alchemist on the west side.

On the east and west gables, the "Four Emperors" are respectively enshrined: Haotian Jinque Supreme Jade Emperor, Zhongtian Ziwei North Pole Emperor, Gochen Shanggong Antarctic Emperor, and Empress Dowager Earth Emperor. It is worth noting that among the four emperors, the Empress Dowager Diyi is still a male god.

Go around the Sanqing Hall and come to the third courtyard. To the north of the courtyard is the stage on the back of the Sanqing Hall. The stage and the main hall are combined into one, under the top of the mountain with double eaves. A wide platform protrudes in front of the stage, covered with a single eaves Xieshan top. On both sides of the stage, there are eight-character walls, and the walls are also covered with double eaves and suspended from the top of the mountain. The eaves of the entire building overlap, and the yellow glazed tiles are shone in the sun, and the golden light is shining, and the atmosphere is magnificent.

There is a couplet holding the column on the column at the mouth of the platform, and the title is: "Smooth eight points and four qi, the god and man Xu Yue; adjust the six rhythms to determine the five tones, and the horns and signs are all in harmony." The glazed unicorn ornaments on the eight-character walls on both sides are relics from the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty.

Under the stage, there are several ancient monuments, cultural relics of unknown age.

There are bell towers and drum towers on the left and right of the stage. The bell and drum towers are all on the top of the cross-hill, and there is a coupon door downstairs as a passage.

According to the records of "Reconstruction and Dedication of Buildings", Houtu Temple and Sanqing Temple were originally separated. And this stage was originally the three music sheds in front of the main hall of Houtu Temple. During the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty, due to the dilapidated music shed, it was planned to be rebuilt into a music building. But because the front is the Sanqing Temple, the distance is too close. So the Sanqing Hall was simply rebuilt and merged with the Lelou behind it. Since then, the two groups of buildings, Sanqing Temple and Houtu Temple, have been integrated into one. From an institutional point of view, the Bell and Drum Towers on both sides of the stage should be subordinate to the Houtu Temple.

On the front of the courtyard is the Houtu Hall of the Houtu Temple, which is commonly known as the Empress Hall because it is dedicated to the Empress of Houtu.

The Houtu Hall stands on the platform, with five rooms wide, and three wide stacked halls on each side. There are eleven rooms in a row, covered with yellow glazed tiles and suspended from the top of the mountain. In front of the main hall, there are three broad buildings covered with double eaves and the top of the mountain. The main ridge is decorated with the patterns of double phoenixes playing peonies and double dragons playing pearls. The carved glass lion vase in the center is very luxurious.

There is a horizontal plaque hanging under the eaves, with the inscription: "Good virtue carries things", and the couplets on the pillars on the columns on both sides read: "The spirit of caring, the miraculous work will never be replaced; the auspiciousness of Anzhen, authentic and boundless."

The Queen of Earth is worshiped in the Hall of Houtu. Dongduo Hall is Zhenwu Hall, dedicated to Emperor Zhenwu. The Xiduo Hall is the Sanguan Temple, dedicated to the heavenly officials, local officials and water officials. Heaven officials bless, earth officials forgive sins, and water officials relieve misfortunes. They are gods that people often worship. This three-in-one layout was created when Zhengde was rebuilt in the eleventh year of Ming Dynasty. At that time, Zhenwu Hall on the east side and Sanguan Temple on the west side were expanded to form the existing pattern.

There are side halls on the east and west sides in front of the Houtu main hall. The east side hall is the Jiuyaoxingjun Hall, and the west side hall is the Sancao Hall.

The Hall of Nine Obsidian Stars was added in the 11th year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty. It has been in decline for a long time. What you see now is an addition to the original site in 2012. The Jiuyao Xingjun Palace is three rooms wide and one room deep, with a hard hilltop on a half slope. Decorated with yellow glaze trimming. The nine obsidian kings enshrined are: the sun (Xihe), the sun (Wangshu), Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Jidu and Rahu. They dominate the good and bad fortune of the world.

Sancao Hall, like Jiuyaoxingjun Hall, was also built on the original site in 2012. The so-called Sancao refers to the three gods on duty of the year, month and day.

At the south end of the Nine Obsidian King Hall is the Empress Hall facing south. The Niangniang Hall is three rooms wide, with a hard hilltop on a half slope, and a building in front of it, which is the top of the hill with a rolling shed. Baosha. It is unknown when the Empress Hall was built. There were overhauls in the 1980s and 2004, and what you see now is the overhaul in 2013. Three empresses, Yunxiao, Qiongxiao and Bixiao are enshrined in the Empress Hall.

The buildings on the central axis of the Houtu Temple enter the courtyard three times, and all of them have been visited here. Then, we walked towards the compound on the east side.

This is the palace. It is unknown when the Guodian was built, but what we see now was rebuilt on the original site in 2012. The hall is three rooms wide and two rooms deep, with a single eaves and a hard mountain top, decorated with yellow and green glaze trimmings, and decorated with square hearts. The east side of the hall is dedicated to the Emperor of the Five Sacred Mountains, and the west side is dedicated to the Five Tiger Generals of the Shu Han Dynasty.

There is also a semi-underground passage from the Houtu Temple to the East Courtyard, and many statues of gods moved from Wangli Village are placed on both sides. Because the passage is narrow and almost dark, it seems a little scary to pass through the statues.

Entered the east courtyard. The east courtyard is very large. There are three courtyards in a row in the north, namely Luzu Pavilion, Guandi Temple and Tushen Temple. There are three stages in a row in the south, corresponding to the three Taoist temples on the opposite side.

The first one in the west is Luzu Pavilion. Luzu Pavilion is also known as "Taixu Cave House", which was built in the 12th year of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty. The southern end is a brick archway-style mountain gate. The forehead on the main gate is titled "Dongtian Fudi", and the titles on the east and west gates are "Longpan" and "Huju" respectively. The main hall in the courtyard is a three-eye brick cave dwelling without beams. The front of the hall is dedicated to Taiqing Daode Tianzun, and the two sides are dedicated to the Eight Immortals. Upstairs is Luzu Hall, dedicated to Lu Dongbin among the Eight Immortals.

The courtyard in the middle is Guandi Temple. The Guandi Temple was founded in the 2nd year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, and it is now a renovated building in the Qing Dynasty. The gate of Guandi Temple is five wide, and the middle three are open. The horizontal plaque on the gate is titled "Loyalty and Autumn Shuang", and the couplets on both sides are: "Fair and strong Fengshen, ask who can match the country to be the king and emperor; Tao seeks to secure the country, and wait for me to bring the sun and the moon, Xu Yi and Xu Zhong".

Entering the courtyard, the main hall is also a two-story building with three wide rooms and a kiln on the lower floor. In the hall, there is a statue of Guan Gong reading the Spring and Autumn Festival at night. On both sides are Guan Ping and Zhou Cang.

The last one on the east side is the Earth Temple. The main hall of the Tushen Temple was built in the seventh year of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty. It is three rooms wide, five purlins deep, with a single eaves and hard mountain top, peacock blue glaze trimming, and square heart decoration. The couplets in the main hall are full of land spirit: "The soil that breeds all things is priceless; the prosperous land has spirit."

After reading this, the visit to Houtu Temple is all over. Take a taxi back to the city to complete the tour of the day.