Kuixing Tower on the city wall of Wenchang Gate
Kuixing Tower, built on the city wall of Xi'an, is located 667 meters east of the Yongning Gate Tower at the south gate. This building, named "Kuixing", should have nothing to do with military defense. Because under the city wall where Kuixing Tower is located is Sanxue Street in Xi'an.
Sanxue Street is famous for "one temple and three schools", and the "three schools" are Xi'an Fu School, Xianning County School, and Chang'an County School. "One Temple" is the Temple of Literature, also called the Temple of Confucius, and is now the Forest of Steles Museum. These "one temple and three learnings" are closely related to the imperial examination system in feudal society.
And "Kuixing", also known as "Kuixing" and "Kuisu", is one of the 28 constellations. Gu Yanwu's "Daily Knowledge: Kui": The Kuixing Statue "fights for ghosts." Therefore, the head of the statue of Kui Xing is like a ghost, one foot is cocked back, such as the big hook of the word "Kui", one hand holds a bucket, such as the word "Dou" in the middle of the word "Kui", and one hand holds a pen, which means that the name of the test person is determined with a pen. Therefore, since the Song Dynasty, the Kuixing Building has been placed in the school, such as the Ming Xi'an Mansion Xueyi Gate, Chang'an County Xuexi have built the Kuixing Building.
In the "Historical Records", there are: "Doukui Dai Kuang six stars said Wenchang Palace." Ancient legend "Kui Xing" is the god who dominates the rise and fall of Wenyun, and is respected by people as "Wenqu Xing" and "Wenchang Xing". If he is hit by his pen, he will be able to write brilliant articles, and even become the champion. Therefore, in ancient Confucian temples and schools, there were Kuixing Towers for worshipping incense. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Xi'an Fuxue, Xianning County, Chang'an County and Confucius Temple were built at the foot of the city wall, and Kuixing Tower was also built on the Xi'an city wall. Kuixing Tower is also called Wenchang Pavilion, in response, the east side of the building was officially opened in 1986, and the city gate of building four door openings is also called Wenchang Gate.
Kuixing Pavilion on the north side of Kuixing Tower
As the saying goes, "the southern genius and the northern general", which actually refers to the pitiful number of champions in Shaanxi. There were 3 people in the Ming and Qing dynasties, all because of the poor basic education in Shaanxi.
It is reported that during the Wanli period, even in the annual township examination public list, no one in Xianning County passed the examination. Then, local officials naturally feel uneasy, which affects their career promotion. If the emperor is to blame, he will lose his black gauze hat. In desperation, I can only rely on the gods' "Wenchang Star" and "Kui Xing". As a result, Kuixing Tower naturally settled on this section of the city wall. This may also be less common across the country. Wanli Wuwu forty-six years (1618) township test list, Xianning no middle, Zuobu political envoy Gao Di as a cultivation of the wind vein, built a brick tower outside the second gate, the city head Xun position Kui Xinglou. "Kuixing Building, which was built in the head of the city, is located in the southeast of Xianning County. It is 667.5 meters east of the South Gate Building. ...... This building is a two-storey four-corner point-shaped building, five zhang and one foot high, the spire is Yongyu, the heavy eaves carved railing, luxurious and magnificent.
It is worth mentioning that this Kuixing Tower is facing the Wubenfang of the Tang Dynasty outside the south city wall, and it is the location of the highest central university in the Tang Dynasty, Guozijian and Confucius Temple.
And the stars are moving, the vicissitudes of time, in the south gate of the foreign affairs of the country of the temple of Taixue, Confucius Temple, and "Shitai Filial Piety Sutra", "Kaicheng Stone Scripture" and other famous steles a number of national treasure-level steles, all moved into the South Gate of the academy gate, Sanxue Street area, there is now the Forest of Steles Museum.
This area is close to Xianning County, and Kuixing is indeed the only place in Xi'an with a deep cultural context. The author also speculated that at that time, let Kui Xing upstairs go to the city wall, did he also want to touch the light of the prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty outside the city?
The enthusiasm for the construction of Kuixing Tower in various places contains a special meaning on the cultural level, which means a shelter facility for cultural prosperity.
The base of Kuixing Building is square, with a side length of 9.4 meters, and the building has two floors, with a height of 14.65 meters, and is equipped with a corridor. When was the Kuixing Building built? "Xi'an Dictionary of the Ming and Qing Dynasties" contains: This building started construction in September of the 47th year of Wanli (1619) and was completed in June of the following year. However, in the 39th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1611), the "Xi'an Mansion City Map" has been marked with Kuixing Tower. It seems to be in conflict with the "Xi'an Dictionary of the Ming and Qing Dynasties". There is also a legend that the Jiankui Star Tower is exquisite, and only the place where the champion is born is qualified. Shaanxi Ming Dynasty produced Kang Hai and Lv Zheng two champions, Kang Hai was the champion in 1502, and Lv Zheng was the champion in 1508. Therefore, Xi'an Mansion should be qualified to build Kui Xinglou in 1502 at the earliest in the Ming Dynasty.
This building was rebuilt by Huang Jiading, the governor of Huang Jiading in the third year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1664), and Bi Yuan, the governor of the 46th year of Qianlong (1781), and was destroyed in the early years of the Republic of China. From 1986 to 1987, the Xi'an Ring City Construction Committee rebuilt on the original site.
People can see here that they are addicted to alcohol, unkempt, unkempt, staggering, hanging a wine gourd on their waists, holding a bucket in one hand and a pen in the other, and it seems that Wenchangxing, who is half-awake and half-drunk, is the dignity of Kuixing.
Generally, the statues of Kuixing are all hideous, with red hair and ringed eyes, and two horns on their heads, which resemble ghosts. The right hand holds a Zhu pen, which means to use the pen to point to the name and surname of the child, the left hand holds an ink bucket, the right foot steps on the head of the big ao in the ocean, which means "monopolizing the head", the left foot swings out of the kick shape after lifting, the shape echoes the right stroke order of the word "Kui", and the foot is the Big Dipper pattern.
The image of this Wenchangxing is so embarrassing and shabby, it is indeed far from the ordinary New Year's paintings that are either sanctimonious, or chic and elegant, or heroic, or dignified Wenchangxing and Lushen.
Kuixing in the Kuixing Pavilion Shrine
It should be noted that this area was not historically a Kuixing tower on the city wall. For example, the distribution of buildings in Xi'an Fuxue is "Kuixing Building in Yimen"; in addition to the Spring Breeze Rain Workshop and Shooting Garden, there are also Kuixing Towers. The Kuixing brick tower built outside the second gate of Xianning County is still there. This Kuixing brick tower is carved with the three words "Kuixing Pavilion", Kuixing is Kuixing, so it is also called Kuixing Pavilion, and was included in the list of the second batch of municipal key cultural relics protection units in Xi'an. Today's "Kuixing Pavilion" is surrounded by cascading houses, which seems very lonely.
The story of Kui Xing is legendary: there was a Xiucai in the ancient Guanzhong, and his name is no longer available. This person is very smart, talented, recited, and exported, but his appearance is extremely ugly, so he has repeatedly failed in interviews. He was ugly, had a pockmarked face, was lame in one leg, and walked with a limp, but his articles were so well written that he was finally admitted to the township examination and the Hui try step by step, and he topped the high school list again and again. When he arrived at the palace examination, the emperor saw his appearance and the walking posture of painting a circle to the temple, and immediately felt displeased, and the emperor asked in a somewhat playful tone: "What is your face?" He replied: "Back to the saint, this is 'hemp face reflecting the sky, holding the stars'." The Emperor thought that this man was still shrewd and interesting, and asked, "What about your lameness?" and he replied, "Returning to the Holy Lord, this is 'jumping the dragon gate with one foot and taking the lead'." The emperor was amazed at his extraordinary temperament, and then asked: "Then I ask you a question, and you must answer it truthfully: You say, for example, who writes the best article today?" He thought for a while and said: "The articles in the world belong to my county, the articles of my county belong to my township, and the articles of my township belong to my brother, and my brother asks me to change the article." The emperor was overjoyed when he heard this, and after reading his article, he was even more amazed, and Long Yan was happy: "He is worthy of being the first in the world!" so he appointed him as the champion.
Old Kui Xing Lou Drawing/@陶浒
The talent, wisdom, and extraordinary temperament of this ugly literati made him the first four stars of the Heavenly Realm, the Big Dipper, and he was in charge of fame. The word "Kui" is taken apart, half of it is "ghost", which reflects the ugly face of Kuixing, and half of it is "Dou", which indicates that Kuixing is only eight buckets high, and it should also be in the constellation of the Big Dipper. It is said that the Zhu pen in Kuixing's hand criticizes you as what you are, and you are what you are. The literati's "let your article be high, I'm afraid that Zhu Bi won't nod" comes from this.
The origin of the so-called "monopoly leader" is: in the Tang and Song dynasties, the jinshi in the examination, that is, those who ascended the course, wanted to collectively go to the palace to meet the list, and they had to stand under the front steps of the palace hall where the emperor worked, and the champion who ranked first in the top three stood on the head of the big turtle (ao) or shenglong on the stone slab in the middle of the steps, so it was called "the head of the monopoly".
And "Kuixing Kicking Fight", when folk craftsmen sculpt or paint the statue of Kuixing, they deliberately shape it into a hideous appearance. He stands on top of the head with one foot, the other foot up, holding a pen in one hand and a bucket in the other, implying that the stars are fighting and dominating the leader. Kui Xing because of the saying that "Kui is the leader", that is, it contains the meaning of the first leader, so it is up to Kui Xing to point to the fight, and the one who takes the exam will "dominate".
Regarding "Kui Xing Kick Fight", there is another folk legend that Kui Xing failed to win the top exam three times in a row, and the reason is that he is extremely ugly. In a fit of rage, Kui Xing kicked off the wooden bucket containing the book and threw himself into the river to die. Although Kui Xing did not win the three yuan, the people admired his talent and shaped him into a god, using the title of "Kui Xing Kicking Fight" to seek good luck.
In the Forest of Steles Museum in Xi'an, there is a stone stele, engraved with the "Kui Xing Point Dou Tu" painted by Ma Dezhao during the Tongzhi period of Mu Zongzaichun in the Qing Dynasty, a ghost on the picture holds his hands high, holding a "bucket", one leg is raised to make a jumping action, the sense of movement is very strong. The screen is also dotted with an open book and a few stars. The theme picture is composed of "ghost" and "fight", which is a pictogram of the character "kui". Add stars and books to form a "Kui Xing Dot" diagram. The painting also hides the eight words "self-denial and revenge, righteous self-cultivation".
What is the reason why this Kui star of Xi'an Stele Forest can become the god of Lu? This is reminiscent of Zhong Kui, who was beaten down from hell before his "debut" at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, and that is even more a story of tragic fate. It is said that during the Tang Wude period, Zhong Kui went to Beijing to take the exam, but he failed to be selected because of his ugly appearance, and he was angry and crashed to death. When the emperor heard this, he gave him a red robe for burial. But Zhong Kui's talent can't be suppressed, and he can become a god after death, and he has become a household name and a god that everyone loves and reveres.
Therefore, there is also a saying that it is a Kui star in Chinese history, referring to Zhong Kui, the "Tang Cifu Town House Sage" of Shijing Town, Xi'anhu County, Shaanxi Province during the Tang Dynasty in Taoism. The sequence of Chinese folk gods is more chaotic, Zhong Kui is not only respected as the god of fortune and the god of the door, but also said to be the Wenqu star who is in charge of the fate of people's scientific research, which may have lost because of his ugly appearance, and died in anger, causing the emperor's sympathy, and the reason why "Kui" and "Kui" have the same homonym. There is a legend in the area of Guanzhong in Shaanxi: "Please Zhong Kui, the top of the list! Zhong Kui is really a god, send us Fulu Shou Xi'an!" People have come to Zhong Kui's hometown to invite Zhong Kui and worship Zhong Kui's portrait, so that they can worship at any time nearby. He had a pen in his hand and counted the names of those who had won the exam. Whoever dreams of a star will be the lucky one in the examination room. The auspicious pattern of Kuixing dotting buckets and the custom of literati believing in Kuixing existed as early as the Song Dynasty and prevailed in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The Three Holy Statues in Sanxue Street
Shaanxi Provincial Art Museum has the Qing Dynasty shadow puppet "Kui Xing", Kui Xing's appearance is strange, the iron face is bearded, the leopard's head is ringed with eyes, and there are poems: "The eyes are like a little lacquer, the hair is like a halberd, and the lips are like a bloody red hair like a halberd." "The image is closer to the popular Zhong Kui.
These two are related to the myths and legends of Chang'an, one positive and one negative, which makes people admire and sigh. The author thinks that this first gives a revelation to geniuses, so that they must never be ashamed of themselves, and must definitely be self-reliant, and God will not lose their talents. It also serves as a warning to those in power all over the world that they must act on the basis of merit, let alone judge people by their appearance.
Kuixing Tower in the winter moon