In front of the Dacheng Hall of the Confucius Temple in Beijing, there is a famous ancient tree, named "Touching Cypress", also known as "Removing Adulterous Cypress", which is a genus of "side cypress". According to experts, the tree is nearly 800 years old. Although the tree was born in the Confucius Temple, can it really "get rid of adultery"? And how to "get rid of adultery"? If you are also curious, the following Xiaobian will reveal it to you.
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The Dacheng Hall of the Confucius Temple, a place where officials and readers used to worship Confucius, has existed in many places in China, and Beijing is certainly no exception. The Dacheng Hall of the Confucius Temple in Beijing was built in the Yuan Dynasty and rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty. The book describes its scale: five rooms wide, nine deep purlins, single eaves on the top of the mountain. The entire building sits on a tall masonry pedestal and is solid and stable. The high relief seawater dragon pattern on the middle imperial stone, the five dragons play beads, come to life.
The "touching cypress" we are talking about today is located in front of the Dacheng Hall of the Confucius Temple in Beijing. It is said that it was planted by Xu Heng, the head of the Yuan Dynasty GuoziJian (equivalent to the headmaster of the highest school at that time), and although it has experienced nearly 800 years of ups and downs, it is still leafy and vigorous.
So how does "touching the adulterer" and "removing the adultery" do you? Speaking of which, it is also related to Yan Song, a traitorous minister of the Ming Dynasty. Everyone knows that during Yan Song's reign, he framed his colleagues, formed parties for personal gain, and took bribes for bribes, while his henchmen and descendants were even more arrogant and extravagant, running rampant in the imperial court. Yan Song's dictatorship weakened the Ming Dynasty's national strength, seriously damaged the frontier defenses, and devastated the people.
As the old saying goes: As long as the time comes, good and evil will be rewarded. Although Yan Song was full of power, he did not expect to plant a heel in front of the Dacheng Hall of the Confucius Temple.
Originally, once the Jiajing Emperor of yan song dynasty went to the Confucius Temple to sacrifice Kong, as a courtier, he could not enter the Dacheng Hall, and could only sacrifice outside the temple. However, Fei Yang was accustomed to Yan Song but did not care about this set, and had to step on the imperial road that only the emperor could walk, and prepare to enter the cheng hall to complete the sacrifice ceremony.
Just when he was full of pride and triumphantly paced to the foot of a gu cypress tree, suddenly the wind blew wildly, and a branch of the gubai sticking out actually pulled yan Song's official hat down. Yan Song's face suddenly changed in fright, his soul was not possessed, and he fled into the wilderness.
Yan Song was indeed convicted, was stripped of his black hat, and finally starved to death on the street, and he was not allowed to die well, and he was also listed as one of the six traitors of the Ming Dynasty in the History of Ming. Because of the many evils he usually did, the people suffered greatly from it, so they believed that this ancient cypress could distinguish between loyalty and adultery, so they called this tree "touching the cypress" or "removing the adulterous cypress".
It seems that in order to prove that he really has the ability to "eliminate adultery", this extremely spiritual Gubai has a "contest" with another Ming Dynasty traitor, Wei Zhongxian.
Legend has it that Wei Zhongxian once also came to the Confucius Temple to worship The Confucius Temple, and he knew that he would never do bad things on weekdays and was not welcomed by people, so he saw this "touching cypress" in front of the Dacheng Hall, and there was some hesitation. One of his courtiers seemed to see his scruples, and said in his ear at the moment: Chitose Ye, although this tree once touched Yan Song's black veil, but think about it carefully, it should be that Yan Song was proud at that time, only to walk with his head held high, did not pay attention to the branches that stretched out, and was knocked off the official hat. As long as you pay attention to the branches sticking out when you pass under the tree, you should never do anything.
Wei Zhongxian felt that there was some truth in what this courtier said, and he said that he had come to sacrifice with great fanfare, and if he slipped away in ashes, wouldn't it mean that he was a thief with a weak heart? At that moment, he plucked up enough courage to step under the ancient tree. However, just as he was carefully walking under the tree like a thin ice, suddenly "clicked" a dead branch fell from the tree, just smashing on Wei Zhongxian's official hat, and Wei Zhongxian, who was already weak-hearted, hugged his head and scurried away with a "ma ya" sound.
Later, Wei Zhongxian was indeed eliminated by the Chongzhen Emperor. Since then, "removing adulterous Cypress" has become more famous. So that later in the Qing Dynasty, it is said that there was a very intriguing dialogue between He Yan and Ji Xiaolan in front of the tree.
Ji Xiaolan: People are watching the heavens, and adults believe in heaven and justice?
Although he was treacherous, his mouth was very hard: that was natural, so I and someone were doing things with a clear conscience.
Ji Xiaolan: Presumably, the story of "removing the adulterous cypress" in front of this temple has also been heard by the adults, so I asked the adults, do you dare to walk under this ancient cypress?
He Yan groaned for a long time, but finally he smiled and said: Old Ji, these are all far-fetched things that the predecessors have forgotten, do you believe it? I don't play these little kids' games with you.
After saying that, He Yan turned his head and walked out of the Dacheng Hall - he didn't dare!
Is it far-fetched or is it true? If you look at the current situation of this "extermination cypress" in front of the Dacheng Hall of the Confucius Temple in Jingcheng, although it has stood for more than 700 years and is still leafy and green, its roots and branches are far away, and there is absolutely no possibility of touching yan Song's official hat.
Fortunately, the Qing Dynasty left an old photo, which can be clearly seen that the previous "extermination of adulterous cypress" grew a side branch horizontally, but it has died (perhaps because of the touch of the adulterer, the spiritual ancient tree prefers to cut off its branches). In the Qing Dynasty, perhaps the Republic of China, because of poor management, the dead branches were broken, so that the most important feature of "removing the adulterous cypress" disappeared, making people do not know the origin of its name.
Anyway, there are many cypress trees, but there is only one "Treacherous Cypress", because he touched Yan Song's wusha, smashed Wei Zhongxian's official hat, and made people with ghost fetuses jealous. Therefore, this "rid of adulterous cypress" is not only a cultural relic, but also a cultural relic that inherits history, which is worthy of our good protection.
Citations: "Beijing Folklore" Author: Wang Yan Publisher: Forbidden City Publishing House
Wenlan Hairun Studio Editor-in-Chief Wen Xiucai, this article is written: Special History Writer: Mei Lichang