The capital city god temple in the 1950s was painted by Tao Hu
"The city is a veritable 'city', a pool of walls is very well preserved, a circle of 'city' is neatly circled, and the four sides of the city gate are full of people coming and going, and the past and present of the ancient city are originally connected, perfect without any gaps." This is the famous writer Wu Kejing's description of Xi'an City in the book "Taste of Xi'an". Walking through ordinary alleys and downtown neighborhoods every day, this city is like a profound and vivid book, often walking new. Even if you walk around the bell tower, you can appreciate the profound heritage of the Forest of Steles, the City Wall, the Academy, the Confucius Temple, and the Capital City God Temple. These diverse traditional cultural symbols will open up layer by step, and even if you glance at them, the all-encompassing folk customs will be intertwined.
Human beings are social animals, from the primitive society to build a "city" to prevent the invasion of wild beasts and external forces, to the modern city, becoming the home of the people to live and work in peace and contentment, the birth of the City God Temple should also be based on this.
The use of the word chenghuang began in the I Ching ,"Chengfu Yu Huang". "City" is the city wall, and "god" refers to the moat (moat). If there is a city, it must be protected, so there is a city god. Chenghuang is one of the most important deities in Chinese civil society, and in ancient times, wherever there was a city pool, there was a city god temple with a unique local style. Where it is located, it is also a bustling place. Xi'an Capital City God Temple is located in the middle of the West Street in Xi'an City, was founded in the Ming Hongwu period, has a history of more than 600 years, because it governs the city gods of several provinces in the northwest, so it is called "Capital City God Temple". Together with the City God Temple in Beijing and Nanjing, it is called the three major city god temples in the world.
"The giant pillars stand majestically, the cornices fly, the carvings and decorations carry out the auspicious atmosphere, and the painted golden splendor." I stared at this Ming and Qing style, atmospheric and majestic Mountain Gate Arch, and couldn't help but be impetuous first. Stepping onto the green brick path, I found that this small commodity street still had the feeling of childhood. As with the New Year's Festival at that time, all kinds of needles and threads, incense offerings, and antique jade objects were also placed... "The City God Temple, nine miles and three, all kinds of trades are inside; from Aya Luo and silk satin down to the cow cage and horse whip..." This oil poem is not only a portrayal of "the city of the temple", but also the original taste of the day. All the way down, the small flag with the word "Fu" on the top of the head was spread all the way to the front of the temple gate. The more you walk forward, the more you can't help but be religious in your heart.
When I was a child, my mother would always come to the City God Temple to kowtow to incense, and I was attracted by the candy blowers and dough kneaders outside the City God Temple, and the small groceries of chicken feather shuttlecocks and glass marbles also seduced my heart. Every time, I eagerly hope that my mother in the temple will come out quickly, and visiting the temple fair is my greatest pleasure. On the stage, the gongs and drums are sonorous, I can't understand it and don't have to listen, but I like to see the exquisite costumes on the stage, wearing black gauze hats, wearing red robes, wearing embroidered pleated dresses... At that time, although I did not understand that costumes were one of the most expressive aspects of drama, I liked to judge the identity of actors based on costumes. When the song card of Qin Ruan Zheng na sounded through the door, when the tight drum was knocked, the curtain began, and every time it felt fresh and wonderful, until "the song was finally dispersed, and the floor was cold", there was a bit of a trance, and there was an indescribable faint sadness. At this time, my mother would always give me a string of sugar gourds or a piece of rose mirror cake, the sweetness always made people happy, licking the sugar gourd, holding the shuttlecock or sticker, and the unknown sadness was suddenly gone.
Walking through the end of this small commodity street, there is the Wenchangge Temple of Wealth. Bypassing the Temple of Wealth, you will see the Yi Gate of the Capital City God Temple. Scan the code to enter. The temple is green with green trees and green vines, and it is quiet and quiet. I walked past the Zhongxiao Ancestral Hall on the right side of the Yimen Gate, and saw a magnificent wooden archway directly opposite the theater building, with the four big characters of "Feeling and Responding" written in the middle of the archway, and a huge abacus hanging on it, and the middle of which was written "People are not as good as heavenly calculations." After passing through the archway in awe, we came to the main hall dedicated to the god of the city god, with arches out of the eaves, covered with glazed tiles, and various exquisite patterns carved on the doors. Inside, the main hall is high and wide, and the copper taiji figure is overhanging. The center is dedicated to the god of the city god. On both sides are the Judge of the Imperial Guard and the Four Values of Gong Cao.
The city god of Xi'an was the Han Dynasty general Ji Xin. Because Liu Bang was besieged by Xiang Yu in Xingyang City, he took the initiative to ask Liu Bang to pretend to be Liu Bang to escape from the back door, and after being caught by Xiang Yu, he was burned alive. In order to thank him for saving his life, Liu Bang named him the God of the City. I think that the reason why people believe in the City God is probably because the City God is different from other gods, because there is a figurative existence and grounding. Looking at the City God Temples across the country, it is found that the City God Temples in each place commemorate different people. During his lifetime, the original god of the city god was a hero who defended the town, and after his death, he was revered as a god by the locals, and had the power to finally judge the good and evil deeds of the people during their lifetime. "Rewarding good and punishing evil, and saving life and death", it can be said that the city god culture is a sublimation and summary of the moral character of historical figures, and plays an encouraging and warning role in soothing people's hearts.
Xi'an's capital city god temple is not large, and when it is turned down in a circle, the "introspection" is involuntary. All of its doorposts have links, which are summarized and condensed, and have a finite meaning of infinity. The sun had not yet set, the sky was mild, and I strolled through the plaques in the temple with great interest before slowly stepping out of the temple door. Returning along the small commodity street, looking up at the four big characters on the back of the Mountain Gate Archway Building, "Are you coming", I couldn't help but stop again, when I was a child, I liked the bustle of the temple fair, and never paid attention to these plaques. Perhaps, the magnificent righteousness exuded by the Yang Lian of the City God Temple is also the reason for the public to get relief and uphold integrity.