Introduction: Wu Temple, also known as Taigong Temple. Similar to the Temple of Literature, which worships the confucian sages of past dynasties, the Temple of Wu worships some famous warriors of ancient times. Wumiao rose during the Tang Dynasty and became popular in the surrounding vassal states. For example, the Wu Temple in Vietnam still enshrines 18 warriors, but 12 of them are Chinese. So who are they? How many do you know?
History of the Wu Temple
In the ancient concept of governing the country, if there is "civil rule", there must be "martial arts", so in the first year of the Tang Dynasty, Tang Gaozong advocated the construction of a martial temple side by side with the Temple of Literature to commemorate those military generals who left a great reputation in history.
Of course, the military generals here do not only refer to those who charge forward with a sword, but more consideration is to those who have made outstanding contributions to the military art of war. To be precise, these people are all handsome people who are one in a hundred.
However, to build a temple, there must be a leader, just as the Temple of Literature is honored by Confucius, so Tang Gaozong, after taking into account all aspects of consideration, decided to honor Jiang Taigong, the king of Wucheng in the Zhou Dynasty, and Zhang Liang as his consort, in addition to selecting the "Ten Zhe" and sixty-four generals.
In this way, China's first martial temple was built in the capital at that time, and like the Temple of Literature, it was sacrificed every spring and autumn.
At that time, China was a superpower with deep cultural roots, so it deeply influenced the surrounding vassal states. In this case, the wumiao culture began to spread among the various vassal states. For example, the Wu Temple in Vietnam was built in 1835 by order of the Vietnamese Emperor (then Nguyễn Dynasty) Emperor Ming.
According to the requirements of Emperor Mingming, the Wu Temple in Vietnam at that time was built according to the specifications of the Tang Dynasty, but the number of people enshrined was very different from the Wu Temple in China. Counting Jiang Taigong and Zhang Liang, the Vietnamese Wu Temple enshrined only eighteen people. Six of them were Vietnamese, and the rest were Chinese.
Twelve Chinese
The first of these twelve Chinese, Jiang Taigong and Zhang Liang, did not change it, after all, this was stipulated from the Tang Dynasty, and if it was changed without authorization, it would lose its original meaning.
The third is Sun Wu, the author of Sun Tzu's Art of War. If nothing else, take the phrase "a soldier who surrenders without a fight" makes many people spend their entire lives studying and understanding. In addition, Sun Wu's military philosophy and thought have a very important position in both ancient and modern times, so he was also well-deservedly selected to enter the Wu Temple.
The fourth was Guan Zhong, the pioneer of the Fa. Needless to say, even Zhuge Liang leaned on him, which shows his important position in history.
The fifth was the famous military figure Sima Rang Tho of the Spring and Autumn Period. In ancient times, Sima Rang Tho's name was not worse than Jiang Taigong's, and his ability to repel the attacks of the two major princely states of Jin and Yan between talking and laughing showed that his military achievements were extraordinary. However, because he died early, there are not many stories circulating. But this did not affect his contribution to the military, so there was no objection to his selection for the Martial Temple.
The sixth is the soldier Han Xin, a genius warrior who has been hard to find in the ages, don't look at his humble origins, but as long as he is given a small chance, he can soar to the sky. It can even be said that Liu Bang was able to establish the Han Dynasty, and Han Xin had half the credit.
The seventh is the well-known bow to Zhuge Liang. The Vietnamese have extra respect for Zhuge Liang, especially his spirit of bowing and exhaustion. But as far as the real history is concerned, Zhuge Liang did not actually make much contribution to the military. I don't know if it was influenced by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms that I was selected to enter the Wu Temple.
The eighth is Li Jing, the god of war of the Tang Dynasty, who did have outstanding merits in the Tang Dynasty, not to mention that he was the founding hero of the Tang Dynasty, so it is worth remembering the merits of the annihilation of the Eastern Turks in one fell swoop.
The ninth is Li Sheng, who is known as the enemy of all people. Perhaps because it was built according to the specifications of the Tang Dynasty, there were many Tang Dynasty warriors in the Vietnamese Martial Temple, but this Li Sheng was also well deserved. Because this man enlisted Tubo, the border of the town, and put down the rebellion, as long as he intervened, there would be no enemy that could not be defeated. Hence the nickname "Ten Thousand Enemies". It can be said that in the middle of the Tang Dynasty, the situation of continuing to flourish was indispensable to this Li Sheng.
Guo Ziyi, the tenth famous general of the Tang Dynasty, in fact, people who study the history of the Tang Dynasty know that there was a lack of famous generals in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, so that after the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty was almost overthrown to the ground, if it were not for Guo Ziyi, perhaps the Tang Dynasty would have perished in this chaos.
The eleventh, Yue Fei, who was loyal to the country. Yue Fei was not surprised to be selected, because he had too many legends, his merits, his loyalty, his filial piety, his army, and it was worth studying and studying to pick out one at will.
The last one is Xu Da, the founding god of war of the Ming Dynasty. Xu Da is the representative of the Confucian generals, which is in stark contrast to chang Yuchun of the same period. He was distinguished in helping Zhu Yuanzhang unify the world, and it can be said that he was the first founding hero of the Ming Dynasty.
The above are the twelve Chinese famous places enshrined in the Vietnamese Martial Arts Temple, which can be said to be well-known. Although these people were in different periods, they all made outstanding contributions in the military field.
So how many of these twelve do you know?
References: "History", "Old Book of Tang", "History of Ming"