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Originally published in Rural Youth Magazine, Issue 10, 2023
The thousand-year-old town still exists today
Text / Wang Li
The town of Hòu is famous for its porcelain. As early as the Tang and Song dynasties, the exquisitely fired Jun porcelain became the royal treasures of the court. There are many relics of this thousand-year-old town: Lingquan Temple, Huaxilou, Deng Yu Village, Junyao Ruins...... The profound historical accumulation and unique landscape have made Shenyuan win the honors of "China's Famous Historical and Cultural Town" and "Top Ten Beautiful Villages in Henan".
神垕镇
Shenyuan Town in Yuzhou City, Henan Province is located in the remaining veins of Funiu Mountain. The mountains and rivers here are beautiful, simple and elegant, and the national treasure "Jun porcelain", which ranks first of the five major porcelains, originated here.
Shenyuan Old Street: It has survived for thousands of years
After a thriving market, past the city gate, and across a small bridge, the ancient town of Shenyuan comes into view. The buildings and city walls of blue bricks and gray tiles, the quaint old houses and shops, and the red lacquered old porches decorated with flowers and trees...... At first glance, the ancient charm of Shenyuan Town is far away, and a thick sense of history comes to the face.
Located in the center of the town, Shenyuan Old Street, also known as "Seven Mile Long Street", is paved with bluestone slabs, and there are many shops on both sides, and the Wen family compound, Deng Yu Building, Gun Tower and temples are lined up one after another. Most of the ancient dwellings here are built in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the exquisite stone carvings, wood carvings and porcelain art render the simplicity and elegance of ancient Chinese architecture. Walking along the old street, there are also antique markets, Jun porcelain streets and other places.
As a "foodie", I also smelled the fragrance on Shenyuan Old Street and found some delicacies hidden in small restaurants in the streets and alleys: mutton old soup and tofu dishes, fried cold noodles with fire and sandwich, roasted tofu, Yuzhou thirteen bowls, braised mutton, Sheng Maoxiang pastries, old yogurt...... These are all local specialties.
More than 1,000 years ago, the location of Shenyuan Town was only a few connected ancient villages, and later with Jun porcelain, it gradually formed a prosperous town. Since the Tang Dynasty, the exquisite porcelain produced from this mountain col has become famous for its "one color into the kiln and ten thousand colors out of the kiln". In the Song Dynasty, it became even more famous, and the royal family set up an official kiln in Shenyuan Town, and Jun porcelain also became a royal treasure of the court.
With the reputation of Jun porcelain in Kyushu, and even among the first in China's porcelain, the silent Shenyuan Mountain suddenly became noisy, and there was an endless stream of merchants. A large number of businessmen came here to settle down and buy real estate, and over time, the town took on a new look, and the seven-mile long street became more and more prosperous and lively. The wall at the end of the old street is unkempt and rugged. At a glance under the sunset, I felt as if I was under the ancient city wall where Supreme Treasure and Zixia Fairy had a conversation in "Journey to the West". A watchtower stands on top of the city wall, and the word "Shenyuan" is written in italics in the middle of the ancient building.
It was built in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty in the Guandi Temple
If you look at Shenyuan Town from the air, it is like a miniature version of the ancient city, with a moat, a walled gate, a city wall, and a turret, which can prevent floods and prevent bandits. This is a relatively rare and well-preserved ancient building complex in China, which has high historical and cultural value. The ancient street that has witnessed the vicissitudes of Shenyuan Town for thousands of years is a must-see place for tourists who come to the "porcelain capital".
Make your own "national treasure" in Jun Porcelain Cultural Park
Its full name is "Shenyuan Jun Porcelain Culture Theme Park", located in the northeast of Shenyuan Ancient Town, and is the first scenic spot in Yuzhou City to Shenyuan Town. Jun porcelain cultural park covers an area of 145 acres, is a theme park built on the basis of the ancient Jun kiln ruins of the Song and Yuan dynasties. Inside, there are panoramic sand table display of Shenyuan Ancient Town, ancient Jun kiln ruins, LED film and television commentary, Jun porcelain exhibition hall, handmade Jun porcelain experience hall, and so on. Through the physical objects, pictures and videos in front of them, visitors can learn about the production process of Jun porcelain, a famous craft treasure in the mainland, and its road to fame.
The porcelain furnace fire of Jun kiln has lasted for thousands of years, and it is still alive and well. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a folk song of "entering Shenyuan Mountain, seven miles of long streets, seventy-two kilns, fireworks covering the sky, merchants walking everywhere, and fighting money every day". This shows the prosperity of the local area in the past. To this day, the caves in Shenyuan Town are still firing the brilliant and beautiful Jun porcelain. Therefore, Shenyuan is also known as "the only living ancient town in China".
Jun porcelain view is like a scene, knocking is like a chime, magnificent and dazzling, rich and crystalline. After the carcass is done, no one knows what the ore powder added to the glaze looks like, just burn. When it comes out of the kiln, it is purple and red, but each piece is different from the others, and there are no two pieces of Jun porcelain in the world that are exactly the same.
Jun porcelain
Jun porcelain is pleasing, and the moment it comes out of the kiln, it is a ball of purple gas. The ancients valued purple gas, so there was a saying that "purple gas comes from the east". Such an "aristocratic appearance", coupled with the unparalleled beauty and artistic value of Jun porcelain, it is no wonder that it is deeply loved by the ancient royal family.
The color of Jun porcelain is a kind of rich dazzling color. If you are in a daze at a piece of Jun porcelain in the afternoon, and then look at the sunset in the distance, you will find that the glaze of the two is so similar! I wonder if the old gentleman who fired the Jun porcelain will get inspiration from the sunset or the morning glow. According to the tour guide, his grasp of the heat of the porcelain kiln has been perfected.
Jun Porcelain Museum
But even if he is a powerful Jun porcelain master, he must let the works in his hands "total one billet skill, seventy-two, before it can be completed". Seeing the 72 production processes of Jun porcelain, everyone is amazed by those exquisite porcelain, which is really hard-won. After all, the magical "kiln change" is not something that can be controlled by humans. And seeing the meticulous busyness of the shirtless craftsmen, we have a deep understanding of the ingenuity.
The docent of the porcelain exhibition hall said that every process of Jun porcelain production affects the birth of an artistic life. Due to the extremely high pursuit of the craftsmen who inherited the ancient method of firing, the success rate of the standard porcelain was too low, and every piece of Jun porcelain became a rare treasure. Since ancient times, there is a saying that "gold is priceless and priceless" and "Yatang cannot boast of being rich", which shows the high value of Jun porcelain.
Fortunately, in the experience area of Jun Porcelain Theme Cultural Park, visitors can learn to make porcelain with the most traditional local "hand-drawn blank" technique. While experiencing the ancient skills, it is still very commemorative to make a piece of Jun porcelain that belongs to you and take it home for collection.
The story of the ancient bells of the Burlingon Temple
Walking on the smooth stone road of Shenyuan Ancient Town, along a main street, you can step into many quaint courtyards. Located in the center of the ancient street, the Buringwen Temple is one of the most eye-catching ancient buildings.
Founded in the Song Dynasty, the Boling Weng Temple, also known as the "Kiln Temple", is a symbolic building of Jun porcelain culture and an important symbol of the "porcelain town" of Shenyuan. As early as 1986, the Boling Weng Temple was designated as a cultural relics protection unit in Henan Province. The temple is roofed with a herringbone slope with green and gold glazed tiles. The eaves and tiles of the large temple show a sense of momentum with endless tension, which makes the roof and the thick and stable main body of the building form a clever contrast, showing the beauty of movement and stillness. I have to say that this is a masterpiece of ancient architectural design in the mainland.
Burlingon Temple
On the bluestone pillar at the entrance of the Boling Weng Temple, there is a pair of calligraphy couplets engraved - "The Lingdan Treasure has been passed down through the ages, and Kunde is far from the utilitarian merchants". This couplet is neat, ingenious, and intriguing. There is also a pair of bluestone lions, a female and a male, separated on both sides, which is cute.
The temple door is a semi-circular arch, engraved with four big characters of "Bo Ling Weng Temple". The gate is commonly known as the "Flower Opera Building", because after entering the door, looking back, it is a pavilion-style small stage, on which you can sing. There were originally three kiln gods enshrined in the temple: one is Bo Ling Xianweng, the second is the Holy Mother of Golden Fire, and the third is the King of Tushan. These immortals are all related to the Jun porcelain industry in Shenyuan Town: Tushan Dawang controls porcelain raw materials, Boling Xianweng controls porcelain technology, and Jinhuo Madonna tube firing technology, all of which are indispensable. Among them, the Holy Mother of Golden Fire, it is rumored that she was originally an ordinary folk woman, in order to fire a perfect Jun porcelain, she did not hesitate to sacrifice herself to the kiln, and finally the porcelain produced by the kiln is a rare boutique in the world. The meaning of the legend should be understood in this way: only when you devote yourself to the realm of selflessness can you create a stunning boutique.
The main buildings in the Bo Ling Weng Temple are the Flower Opera Building, the Kiln Temple, the Guandi Temple, the Wooden Archway and so on. Copper wind chimes hang from the tips of the temple cornices, and when the breeze blows, the bells sway in the air, making a string of gold and jade artifacts that echo the bells in the main hall.
Coming to the temple is like stepping into a historical space. In the melodious bells, everyone seems to see scenes of ancient life: caravans carrying porcelain-making raw materials, coming from the Xishan path, talking and singing all the way, and ringing horse bells all the way; in the cold winter season, the ancients wore cotton jackets and moved out of the kiln to warm porcelain, and their mouths let out a surprise cry of "this kiln has changed".
At the temple, you can also experience the traditional kiln god worship ceremony, participate in a special temple festival, listen to the kiln god stories sung in the ancient temple, and enjoy the wonderful performances on the flower theater upstairs.
In addition to the above scenic spots, at the southern foot of Fengyi Mountain in the eastern suburbs of Shenyuan Town, there is also a Lingquan Temple that was built in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The age of the white fruit tree in front of the ancient temple is more than 1,500 years old, and there is a spring behind the tree, the water is clear and sweet, especially suitable for making tea.
Ancient town streets
"Shenyuan Tiandi" is a collection of culture, tourism, commerce in one of the Jun porcelain historical and cultural characteristics of the pedestrian street, the buildings on both sides of the street are antique, the shops have Jun porcelain culture and art museum, cultural and creative center, Jun Neighbor Tea House, Star House B&B, Jun porcelain master shop, etc. "Shenyuan Tiandi" is close to the old street, after shopping for two streets, you can go to the Jianye canteen of "Shenyuan Tiandi" to eat, and you can taste a lot of special food. In addition, there are historical sites such as Tianbao Village, Qiyu Bridge, Guandi Temple, Yixing Public Merchant Name, and Ceramic Government Office in Shenyuan Ancient Town, all of which are worth visiting. While nostalgic Range Rover, you can also add a lot of historical and artistic knowledge.
At night, the gods are quiet, the sky is clear and clear, and the stars are like the kiln of Jun porcelain changing color, reflecting the entire ancient town of the Central Plains. There is a husband here at night, knocking on the bangs and walking away...... This bangzi is matched with the sound field of the streets and alleys of the thousand-year-old town, which is particularly rich and far-reaching.
The thousand-year-old town still exists today. A trip to Shenyuan Town to feel the ancient charm and poetic porcelain love here is enough for you to remember for a lifetime.
Rural Youth Magazine
Source: Rural Youth Magazine, Issue 10, 2023
Final review: Lin Yuhong
Reviewer: Yang Ming, Liu Zhuying
Editor: Zhang Xiao