Wulong Temple, built on the top of Tiantai Mountain in the 18th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1598), is a national key cultural relic protection unit. Luo Zhewen, a famous ancient architecture expert, called it "a group of swan song of ancient Chinese mountain stone buildings". Tiantai Mountain is located in Pingba County between Guiyang City and Anshun City (about 10 kilometers south of the county seat), close to Guiyang Huangguoshu Expressway and National Highway, more than 30 kilometers away from Anshun City in the west, and 50 kilometers away from Guiyang City in the east. On the morning of October 3, 2012, accompanied by relatives and friends in my hometown, I drove straight to Tiantai Mountain.
Figure "National key cultural relics protection unit" stele.
Figure The cliffs of Tiantai Mountain, towering into the clouds Wulong Temple.
The surrounding mountains are arched and guarded, which can be called a treasure land of geomantic omen.
Figure The roof ridge of Wulong Temple in Tiantai Mountain is condescending and occupying an important position. Note the lookout windows on its walls.
Figure Tiantai Mountain is surrounded by cliffs on three sides, and there is only a stone step road up the mountain on the north side, with a total of 465 steps.
Picture The 500-year-old ginkgo tree beside the stone steps on the mountain is called the "sacred tree" by the villagers.
Picture "Heaven in the Sky" mountain gate, with exquisite stone carvings of the Eight Immortals on both sides of the lintel. The couplet on both sides is "Jiutian Xingxiu appears in front of the mountain, and a shaft of haze is searched outside the gate".
Figure "Indian Zen Forest" mountain gate. The stone carvings are exquisite, including Taishang Laojun, Maitreya Buddha, Eight Immortals and so on. The couplets on both sides are "clouds come from the sky, natural and strange peaks are born, and the moon shines on the foreground of the beautiful scenery on the platform". The words "sky" and "tai" are embedded in the couplet three times, which is commendable.
The picture shows the "Yinfeng Pavilion" with only the stone base left. A girl (tour guide?) in Tunpu traditional Tunpu costume is very eye-catching.
Figure Wooden doors and windows and Tunpu girls in the main courtyard. The men in the window seem to be wearing traditional Tunpu men's clothing.
The left side of the picture seems to be the Great Buddha Hall, and the right side is the wing room.
One of the rooms in the picture contains Wu Sangui's relics - court clothes, court wat and sword. At that time, this was the main road of Yunnan-Guizhou transportation, and the nearby Tianlong Town was an important post station. When Wu Sangui passed by, he went up to the mountain to pay homage.
Figure One corner of the courtyard, from the narrow passage of the Great Buddha Hall and the room on the right side, continue to climb up through this.
The highest point on the top of the mountain is the "Jade Emperor Pavilion". With flying eaves and heavy pavilions, painted pillars and carved beams, it is the only Ming Dynasty imitation Song Dynasty building in Guizhou.
Pictured is a girl in Miao costume in front of Yuhuang Pavilion.
Fig. Stone carvings on nearby walls.
Picture A hall near the Yuhuang Pavilion hangs a sign of "Wu Sangui's Meditation Place". Such a spacious temple hall is really rare.
Figure Looking at the roof of the Great Buddha Hall from the window of the hall.
Figure The roof of the antique Great Buddha Hall is really extraordinary.
Figure Looking at the roof of the Great Buddha Hall and a viewing platform from the window. When you visit this place, you will feel as if you are in a celestial world.
The bird's-eye view from the lookout point shows that this temple also has the function of a fortress.
Figure Indoor Exhibits - Tunpu Intangible Cultural Heritage Land Opera Statues. Local opera, commonly known as "Tiaoshen", is a relic of the ancient Nuo culture and can be called a living fossil of drama. According to written records, it has been popular in Anshun for 500 years. Zhang Yimou's film "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles" is based on the background of the story.
Figure Indoor exhibits - "Dancing God" mask.
Figure Indoor exhibits - "Dancing God" mask.
After visiting Tiantai Mountain, drive to Tianlong Tunpu not far away. The so-called "Tunbao" refers to the base of a village in the style of a fortress, where the fields are guarded. Hundreds of forts with a radius of hundreds of miles around Anshun, Guizhou originated from the "North and South" in the early Ming Dynasty. In 1381 AD, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered generals Fu Youde, Mu Ying, and Gu Cheng to lead an army of 300,000 to conquer the remnants of the Yuan and Mongolian forces entrenched in Yunnan. The family members of soldiers, ordinary people, and even unemployed people in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangxi will be "transferred from the north to fill the south", implementing the strategic move of garrisoning the fields and guarding the border. The son of Shen Wansan, a rich man in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, went to Tianlong Tunpu with the army at that time. More than 600 years ago, these ancestors overcame thorns and thorns in the deep mountains and old forests, opening up wasteland and land. For six hundred years, it has thrived in the middle of Guizhou, inherited the Tunpu culture with tenacious vitality and maintained the excellent traditions of China, and shined brightly in the borderlands.
Figure Long Tunbao is only a few minutes' drive from Tiantai Mountain, which is the gate of Tunbao.
Not far from the entrance is the "Sigong Pavilion", which records the history of the four ancestors named Zhang, Chen, Shen, and Bao who opened up wasteland and opened up soil to create this fortress.
The tour guide in the traditional Tunbao costume led the way in.
Picture "Shen Wansan's Former Residence". This should be a bit of an exaggeration. According to the inscription "Sigong Pavilion", Shen Wansan's son did not come to Guizhou until later generations.
Figure small bridge flowing water.
Figure alley.
Figure alley.
Figure Alley - Bend over the door. It means that the door is short and you need to bend down to enter.
Picture Yanwuchang——the "Tiaoshen" museum, one of the essence of Tunpu culture.
Figure "Dancing God" mask collection.
Figure mask.
Figure mask.
Figure Tianlong Tunbao Stone Museum-in fact, it is the gate of the stone archway at the former site of Tianlong Academy.
Picture The interior view of the Stone Museum, the depth of the courtyard seems to be the school auditorium back then.
Figure The former site of Tianlong Academy.
This is the "Guizhou dragon" fossil discovered in Xingyi. It lived 225 million years ago, 100 million years before the dinosaurs.
Figure "Guizhou dragon" fossil.
Figure Small bridge and flowing water - the back street of the former site of Tianlong Academy.
Figure "Stone pavement and stone walls, stone tile-covered slate houses, stone rollers and stone mills, stone nests and stone vats". One of the ancestors of the Tunpu people in Anshun came from Shihui Lane in Nanjing. In 2005, a troupe led by the Tunpu people went there to seek their roots and ancestors. Nanjing was called "Stone City" in ancient times. Unexpectedly, the city of stone will reappear in the deep mountains of Guizhou thousands of miles away. There is really a force at work in the dark!
Figure Well. The small temple at the back is called "Crystal Palace", which is probably dedicated to the water god or the dragon king.
Figure Paving in Stone Town.
Figure The pavement is placed in front of the house facing the door.
Figure Silversmith shop. In the distance are residents of Tunpu playing mahjong in front of their homes.
Figure imitation bronze drum crafts.
Figure Silverware.
Picture The handicraft shop is decorated with agricultural tools, which has a unique charm.
Tutunpu women's embroidered shoes are called "crested shoes". It is said that it was worn by Queen Ma with big feet.
illustration shopping.
Villagers in Tunbao clothes provided free tea made in sand pots. "There is a hood on the head, two slings on the ears, two sweeps on the waist (reading the sound), and two curls on the feet." This jingle refers to a typical Tunpu attire, which is called "" Fengyang Han Clothes". The first sentence describes the headscarf and hair bun, the second sentence describes the earrings, the third sentence describes the belt, and the fourth sentence describes the crested shoes.
Photo Women in Tunpu sell roasted sweet potatoes.
Figure Tunpu women - silver shop assistants. Unmarried girls don't wear their hair in a bun, and keep long hair behind their heads.
Picture Tunpu women sell dry goods such as peppers.
Figure A new generation of women in Tunpu—persevering in sticking to the 600-year-old tradition and eagerly looking forward to new things.
The last photo is a good interpretation of the past and future of Tunpu culture: After six hundred years of ups and downs, Tunpu people have persisted in their excellent cultural traditions, which not only guide the eye-catching clothing, but also include language, Diet, customs of weddings and funerals, "dancing gods", folk songs, etc.; in the face of the surging economic tide and new things, Tunpu people are not lacking in innovative spirit and will not be arrogant. The Tunpu culture will continue to flourish in central Guizhou and will be passed down for a long time.
Finally, I would like to add that in addition to the Tianlong Tunpu mentioned in this post, the Tunpu cultural tourist attractions also include Yunfeng Bazhai near the Qiyan Bridge, which is about ten kilometers east of Anshun City, and Jiuzhou, which is more than 20 kilometers away from Anshun City. Of course, among the hundreds of ancient fortresses around Anshun, there may still be many pearls raised in the mountains that people have never known, waiting for people to know and discover.
