Year after year, today, March 28, the year of Nongyin, is the twenty-eighth of March of another year. How many years, I have visited the lively Dongyue Temple Fair, and I have rushed through the crowded March 28 episodes! That inseparable memory has always been cherished in my heart.
▲Panorama of Dongyue Temple (painted by the moderator of Dagang Information Port "Old Leaves")
Dongyue Temple is dedicated to the Taishan god Dongyue the Great. The Dongyue Temple in Dagang is grand in scale, and the statue of Emperor Dongyue in the main hall is mighty and solemn, dressed and hatted, just like a real person. Behind the main hall there is also a sleeping house dedicated to the mother-in-law. Legend has it that March 28 is the birthday of Emperor Dongyue, and a grand temple fair is held on this day to celebrate. The Dongyue Temple Fair in Dagang lasted for five days from the "opening of the seal" on the 24th of March to the "outing" of the 28th of March, and people from the four townships and eight miles and Yangzhong, Hanjiang, Jiangdu, Yangzhou and other places came to pray for the blessings of the gods, and every family and family and friend were at home.
▲Dagang March 28 episodes (courtesy of Zuo Guangbin)
The "renunciation" of March 28 is the climax of the Dongyue Temple Fair. In the early morning of "please the spirit", many men and women in the main hall who came to the temple to worship in turn. After dawn, the honor guard went out of the mountain gate for the second time, and the one who walked in the front was Ma Ben, with a shirtless upper body, a bright steel knife in his mouth, and a long whip in his hand. Immediately behind Ma Ben was a band that played various pieces of music in addition to drumming and chiming the bell. Behind the band were the deacons carrying the "Avoidance" and "Silence" signs, followed by the Gong and Drum Team, the Flag Team, the Apricot Yellow Umbrella Team... There are also various performances in the team: dragon lantern dance, stilt walking, boat swinging... The most interesting thing is the "lifting of the cabinet". Eight people carried the pavilion forward, and the boys and girls on the pavilion performed various programs. Finally, there are the three statues of Emperor Dongyue and the Three Gods of The City God and the Messenger of the Rapid Report. The procession of the meeting was huge, out of the mountain gate, across the top bridge, from the Gonggu Mountain all the way to the west, through the Cai Temple, Guanyin Pavilion, out of the west to the Gate, all the way to the Guandi Temple. Honor guard, band, gong and drum team, flag team, apricot yellow umbrella team..., and various performances: dragon lantern dance, stilt walking, swinging lake boat..., and finally the three gods of Dongyue Emperor and Chenghuang and The Rapid Report Division. The road is crowded with people on both sides.
▲Dagang March 28 episodes (courtesy of Zuo Guangbin)
The Dongyue Temple Fair in Dagang has a long history and continued until after liberation in 1949. In 1950, Dagang Middle School was established in Dongyue Temple, and only some buildings such as the Mountain Gate, the Ancient Opera Stage and the Lingguan Hall were retained. Since then, the 28th temple fair in March has been changed to a material exchange conference, and the people call it "exchange" (jiāolěi). After the reform and opening up, the name "exchange" has become history again, and the "March 28 episode field" has been restored. On the 28th day of March, men, women and children from all over the country went to Dagang to catch up with the market and buy production tools and daily necessities. The center of Dagang town is full of all kinds of stalls, from bamboo and wood farm tools to daily necessities, from cloth and satin, clothing, shoes and hats to pastries and snacks, food, clothing, housing and transportation. The crowd was in a rush, and the shouts came and went. The people of Dagang have always regarded this day as a grand festival. Friends and family from near and far came to the market, and every household welcomed visitors like a New Year.
▲The author's hometown
In my memory, on the twenty-eighth day of March, my mother was the busiest. Before dawn, my grandmother and mother got up and were busy cooking. A large pot to cook rice, a large pot to boil water, a large pot to cook. Although the family was not rich at that time, they also had to burn some meat, stew an egg, fry a few vegetables, and entertain relatives and friends. Three pots and two stoves, one table after another, the front and back of the hall were crowded with people.
▲Dongyue Temple
In 1997, march 28 episodes were cancelled because of traffic impacts. This is an eternal pain in the hearts of the people of Dagang. The temple fair is an ancient Chinese traditional folk culture activity, which is a folk gathering integrating religious sacrifices, literary and artistic performances, and commodity trading. On June 7, 2008, Mentougou District, Chaoyang District, Beijing, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, Jinyuan District, Shanghai Xuhui District, Pan'an County, Zhejiang Province, Tai'an City, Shandong Province, Shiyan City, Hubei Province, Changsha City, Hunan Province, Foshan City, Guangdong Province, Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province, declared temple fairs (Miaofeng Mountain Temple Fair, Dongyue Temple Festival, Jinci Temple Fair, Shanghai Longhua Temple Fair, Tea Rush, Taishan Mountain Yue Temple Fair, Wudang Mountain Temple Fair, Fire Palace Temple Fair, Foshan Ancestral Temple Festival, Yaowang Mountain Temple Fair) was approved by the State Council to be included in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. In 2008, the 28th Temple Fair and Gathering Place in Dagang march were also included in the list of intangible cultural heritage of Zhenjiang New Area.
▲In 2014, the zhenjiang Dagang Dongyue Temple repair and protection project was launched
Dagang Dongyue Temple was built in the Tang Dynasty, with a grand scale, "the first name of the Rundong Temple". The Southern Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty and other historical periods have carried out some repairs and transformations, with the shape and appearance of the temple style in the Dongxiang area of Zhenjiang, and was included in the second national cultural relics census list in 1985. In 2014, the renovation and protection project of Dagang Dongyue Temple, located in the north campus of Dagang Middle School in Zhenjiang New District, was launched. General Secretary Xi Jinping said: "Historical and cultural heritage carries the genes and blood of the Chinese nation, not only to our generation, but also to future generations. We must respect history, culture, and ecology, comprehensively protect historical and cultural heritage, coordinate the development of tourism, special operation, and protection of ancient cities, build a solid bottom line for the safety of cultural relics, and protect the precious wealth left to us by our predecessors. "We look forward to restoring the March 28 market, protecting and inheriting folk culture, and promoting the development of the tourism economy in Zhenjiang New Area."
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