Rongcheng, a city in Jieyang City, is named after the banyan tree. It is adjacent to the Huangqi Mountains and faces the alluvial plain of the Rong River. The south and north rivers of rongjiang are belted, parallel at the west gate of the ancient city, and then meander to the east to meet the shuangxizui of Fortress Town, forming a unique terrain shaped like a gourd, which is known as floating water hyacinth and water lotus.
Photo by Huang Zhihui
Such green mountains and beautiful waters, the natural environment is unique, it is a treasure of feng shui, and it is a place of great achievement.
Since the Song Dynasty was established as a county administration and the Jieyang Xuegong was built, Rongcheng has achieved remarkable results in culture and education and produced talents, with the Song and Ming dynasties being the most important. During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, Rongcheng also built the City God Temple and relocated the Buddhist Twin Peaks Temple. Since then, the temples of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism have stood side by side, and the incense is exuberant. In 2010, the low-rise houses in the middle of the Xuegong, The City God Temple and the Twin Peaks Temple were transformed and built into the Xuegong Square, so that the three cultural ancient buildings around the Xuegong Square each displayed heroic posture, contrasted with each other, and set off each other, forming a unique cultural landscape of Rongcheng.
Jiangshan has been praised by the literati since ancient times. The rioters left many verses and articles praising Rongcheng. Good sentences such as "The bamboo trees in the city are mostly by the water, and the people in the city are half-tied to the boat" make this famous historical and cultural city in Guangdong Province look picturesque. In the autumn of the year of Prophecy, Yang Ke, vice chairman of the Guangdong Writers Association and a famous poet, led a well-known writer in our province to unveil the style. Writers praised the cultural relics and cultural relics protection of Rongcheng, and at the same time created and recited many beautiful articles and wonderful poems, adding a heavy stroke to the cultural history of Rongcheng. I have the honor to accompany the Provincial Writers Association to collect the wind, feel the wisdom of the sages, and appreciate the style of modern poets and poets and scribes, which is an extremely rare time in life.
Good books are not tired of reading a hundred times, good jade is not tired of playing a hundred times, and good times are not tired of a hundred times of appreciation. Although Xuegong Square and Xuegong, Chenghuang Temple, twin peaks temple in front of their own homes, although they have also visited and visited many times, but the previous excursions and sightseeing are all sloppy and fancy, did not stop for a long time, did not carefully appreciate their respective architectural structures, carving, lacquer painting, mosaic techniques, let alone from the aspect of ideological connotation to taste. Xuegong Square and Xuegong, City God Temple, and Twin Peaks Temple interpret the cultural phenomenon of Rongcheng and even Jieyang respecting Confucianism and respecting Kong, revering The Tao, respecting Gods, and worshiping Buddhas, which is indeed worth savoring.
Stepping into jieyang Xuegong, a national key cultural relics protection unit, you will be amazed by the magnificent architectural structure and antique charm. Jieyang Xuegong adopts a three-axis and five-entry layout, and the central axis is a high-platform foundation hall-style structure; The main buildings are Zhaobi, Lingxing Gate, Panqiao, Panchi, Dacheng Gate, Dacheng Hall, Dongxi Temple, Dongxi Zhai, Chongsheng Ancestral Hall, Zunjing Pavilion, etc.; The existing total area of more than 20,000 square meters, second only to the Confucius Temple in Qufu, Shandong, is the largest and best-preserved building of its kind in Guangdong; many experts and scholars believe that Jieyang Xuegong has high scientific research value and artistic level, and is "the pearl of ancient architecture in Lingdong".
Photo by Chen Jierong
The appearance of the palace, flying beetles soaring in the sky, inlaid porcelain shapes are vivid; corridors, red tiles and green eaves, carved beams and paintings; Dacheng Hall, magnificent, golden splendor, sages and sages complement each other; reverence for the shrine, solemn and solemn, people are awe-inspiring.
Some scholars have questioned why Jieyang was able to create such a large-scale university that was several times larger than the surrounding counties and even the capital cities during the Tang Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty, when the administrative center of the Chaoshan region was not in Jieyang. There is no historical reference to this issue. However, I personally believe that this should be explained from five aspects: one is that Jieyang respects Confucianism and Wei wei into a custom, the second is that the founder county Ling Sun Yizhong's vision of education and education is advanced, the third is that some single buildings were built for the Ming and Qing dynasties, the fourth is that the successive leaders of Jieyang attach importance to the efficacy of cultural relics protection, and the fifth is the aura of the Rongcheng landscape.
Jieyang's culture of reverence for the Tao and worship of gods, like the Chinese culture of reverence, has a long history. Jieyang's culture of reverence for the Tao and worship of gods is mainly reflected in two aspects. One is a place dedicated to practice, such as the Huayang Temple, the Nianggong Temple, etc.; on the other hand, it is the culture of believing in and worshiping Gods. The most prominent manifestation of the culture of believing in and worshipping gods is the worship of gods every New Year's Festival. Among the many places of worship to the gods, the exuberance of the incense in the Jieyang City God Temple can be said to be one of the best.
Photo by Tu Yingpeng
Jieyang City God Temple has been famous as early as the Ming and Qing dynasties. This, on the one hand, is the long-standing folk belief in Jieyang, and on the other hand, the influence of the imperial seal after the Tang Dynasty, especially in the early Ming Dynasty. Fang Shizai said that the Jieyang City God God of the City God Temple can help correct and suppress evil spirits, protect sentient beings, and also help ancient magistrates in solving and judging strange cases. Based on such a prominent divine power, the pilgrims of the Yi people are endless, and every New Year's Festival, it is even more crowded.
As the saying goes, the gods appear, pilgrims multitude. Jieyang City God Temple was founded during the Ming Hongwu years, although it was destroyed several times and repaired several times, the Ming and Qing dynasties personally presided over the reconstruction. Because of the tens of thousands of believers and official support, the Jieyang City God Temple has lasted for a long time, and combined with the psychological needs and aesthetic characteristics of believers in various periods, it has been continuously expanded and improved in architectural scale and decoration during renovation. Thus forming a temple rich in Chaoshan folk architectural style, both appreciative and folkloric.
Jieyang City God Temple is a three-entry courtyard layout, the main buildings are archway, gate, hall, bell and drum tower, apse and so on. The whole building is mainly composed of stone and wood, with a mixed structure of wearing bucket type and picking beam type, with good wind resistance and earthquake resistance; the roof ridge comprehensive clay sculpture, inlaid porcelain and other artistic decorations are decorated with patterns such as "dragon and phoenix chengxiang", "fish kiss ridge" and "double dragon play beads"; the gods in the temple are dignified and stable, and the carvings of dragons, phoenixes, lions, elephants, flowers and plants, and shou peaches in the shrine are vivid, varied and vivid. It is worth mentioning that it is written by famous scholars from all over the world, written by famous calligraphers inside and outside the province, and hung in the couplets on both sides of the halls and gods in the temple. These couplets, or exhorting people to punish evil from good, or metaphorical philosophy, have the significance of educating the people and adding a lot of cultural color to the City God Temple. In view of the architectural and cultural characteristics of the temple, in 1989, the Jieyang City God Temple was announced by the provincial government as a provincial cultural relics protection unit.
Located in the southeast of Jieyang Xuegong Square, Shuangfeng Temple, Chaozhou Kaiyuan Temple and Chaoyang Lingshan Temple are called "Chaoshan Three Famous Brakes". Shuangfeng Temple was founded in the 10th year of Song Shaoxing (1140), and the original site was in Shuangshan, Panxi (now Shuangshan Village, Guiling Town), and was created by the Zen master Fashan. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Stone Mountain Zen Master moved to this place. The main buildings in the temple, such as the Daxiong Treasure Hall, the Heavenly King Hall, the Tibetan Scripture Building, and the Guanyin Pavilion, are magnificent and majestic, and the Buddha is solemn. The courtyard is winding and quiet, towering bamboo, repairing, shading, and the posture is endless. Whenever the sun sets, birds and finches return home, accompanied by the sound of bells and drums, wooden fish tuks, and The Sanskrit sutras are heard. This scene is known as the "Twin Peaks Evening Bell" and is one of the eight ancient scenery of Jieyang. Twin Peaks Temple is a cultural relics protection unit in Jieyang City, and is the largest ancient temple in Jieyang.
Xuegong Square is designed in accordance with the concept of "ancient meaning, style and humanities", relying on the three cultural relics units of Xuegong, City God Temple and Twin Peaks Temple, and the square is organically connected with the three cultural relics and is seamlessly integrated. It has become a new cultural landscape in Jieyang. Carved with the large characters of "WanshiShishi Table", the archway with a height of more than ten meters soars in the air on the high platform; the stone sculpture on the apricot altar, Kong Shengren is calm and calm, confident, examining the values and outlook on life of modern people, and thinking about a new round of teaching courses. Disciple Zilu and Yan Hui stood on either side of each other, holding books in their hands, tirelessly working hard for the enlightenment of the sage Kong, and at any time after listening to the dispatch; behind the apricot altar, the twelve cultural totem stone pillars based on the life and deeds of Confucius symbolized that the Confucian spirit of towering heaven and earth was deeply rooted in the ancient and beautiful land of Rongcheng. Twelve volumes of stone carved scrolls with the theme of Confucius's ideological essence "benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, and faith" open naturally, fully demonstrating the wisdom of the sun, moon, and heaven.
Although the three cultures of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism are different, they are quite closely related to each other, and they are the same in terms of values in terms of outlook on life, all of which advocate harmony, be kind to people, and realize the greatest value of life. Confucianism advocates actively forging ahead and making meritorious achievements on the basis of benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, and faith, and realizing self-worth in the process of creating material wealth. Taoists believe that nature is the environment on which human beings live, and advocate understanding the Tao, cultivating virtue, seeking nature, keeping one's duties, fading fame and fortune, and promoting a harmonious society with perfect self; and pursuing the realm of the unity of heaven and man in which man and nature live in harmony. The Buddhists believe that the world is in one's own heart when one thinks differently, one can decide to go to hell or live in the world of Elysium, and advocates that all evils be done, all good deeds, and wisdom be used to maximize personal value in the process of giving love to others and contributing to society. Judging from the philosophical tendency, Confucian culture is the philosophy of joining the world, Taoist culture is the philosophy of birth, and Buddhist culture is the philosophy of doing the cause of joining the world with the idea of birth.
Whether it is the philosophy of entering the world, the philosophy of birth, or the philosophy of going in and out, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism can be owned in the form of cultural heritage in Jieyang at the same time and benefit each other, which is enough to deserve the feelings of people in Kong Meng's hometown and enough to be valued by scholars at home and abroad. No wonder Jieyang and Chaoshan have the reputation of "seaside Zoulu", no wonder Kyoto in the Ming Dynasty once "spoke vernacular on the royal street (Chaoshan dialect)", no wonder that among the seven sages after Chaozhou (Chaoshan), Jieyang was in most of them. Born as a Jieyang person, born as a Rongcheng person, I am sincerely proud!
May this flourishing humanistic atmosphere continue for generations to come!
Source: Jieyang Release, Wang Zengpeng
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