#Zhangzhou Historical Celebrity #Kaizhang Saint King Chen Yuanguang

Chen Yuanguang (Chinese: 陈元光; pinyin: ZhāngĀngāngĀnāng zhāng zhān), courtesy name Tingju (񆡌), was born in February of the second year of Tang Xianqing (657 AD). When he was young, he was brilliant, read the history of the classics, and studied the "Taigong Tao Strategy". At the age of thirteen, he won the first place in the township recommendation (wujuren). In the second year of Emperor Gaozong of Tang 's reign (669 AD), a "barbarian rebellion" occurred between Quanzhou and Chaozhou, and the imperial court ordered Chen Zheng (the general Guide) to enter Fujian to quell the rebellion, and Chen Zheng led more than 3,600 soldiers with fifty-eight surnames out of the town of Sui'an.

Chen Yuanguang followed his father into Fujian. In April of the second year of Emperor Gaozong of Tang (677 AD), Chen Zheng died of illness due to overwork. Chen Yuanguang attacked his post, led the army on behalf of his father, and sealed the Yuling Wei Yifu Zuo Lang General, quelled the "Kou rebellion" between Chen Qian and the "barbarian" leaders Miao Zicheng and Lei Wanxing in Guangdong, put an end to the war, and calmed down the southern Xinjiang of Zhennan, so that the southern Fujian area was stable. Chen Yuanguang was promoted to the rank of Grand Master of the Zhengyi Dynasty and was made the commander-in-chief of the Lingnan March.

　　At that time, Chen Yuanguang's town was located in the "Seven Fujians of the Earth, and the Territory of Hundreds of Cantonese", which was a place where ethnic minorities and Han people lived together. Chen Yuanguang held that backward production, fierce nature of the people, lack of management, and loss of education are the root causes of the disasters in this town, and to suppress them by force alone is to "use force to overthrow the outside, and to be courteous to the heart." Moreover, "the curse is invincible, and the migration is difficult to exhaust", "the more the work is, the less the effect".

In order to ensure long-term peace and stability in the area, it is necessary to establish prefectures and counties, advocate the indoctrination of the people, vigorously promote education, promote culture, implement the rule of law, and change the people's customs. Therefore, Chen Yuanguang went to the imperial court and asked for the establishment of a prefecture between the spring tides, named Zhangzhou, and sent assassins to manage it. At that time, when Empress Wu was pro-government, in the third year of Tang Chuigong (686 AD), Empress Wu issued an edict to establish Zhangzhou Prefecture (漳州府), which had jurisdiction over Zhangpu and Huai'en Counties, with Zhangpu Fuzhou as a county, and Chen Yuanguang as the governor of Zhangzhou (張州刺史) (prefect) as the commander of Zhangpu County.

　　Chen Yuanguang led the soldiers and soldiers of the government to cut thorns and thorns and open up mountains and roads. Reclaim the land and build water conservancy. Reward farming and develop production. Emphasis is placed on trade and trade is encouraged. Start an industry and prosper the economy. Establish schools and strengthen education. Pacify the thirty-six villages of Fujian and Guangdong, build forts and soldiers, and stabilize the borderlands. Therefore, it makes the north to Quanzhou, the south to Chaozhou, the west to Ganzhou, Cambodia to the islands of the South China Sea, thousands of square kilometers, no fire alarm, social stability, and the people live and work in peace and contentment.

Chen Yuanguang opened up the territory, was born into death, governed Zhangzhou, bowed down, protected the Minnan Sheji, spread the culture of the Central Plains, benefited The Zhangxian County, benefited the people, and achieved outstanding achievements and meritorious deeds throughout the ages.

　　On November 5, the second year of Emperor Jingyun of Tang Ruizong (711 AD), the sons of Miao Zicheng and Lei Wanxing, the sons of "Barbarian Kou", gathered in Chaozhou to rebel against the imperial court, and the enemy infiltrated Yueshan. Chen Yuanguang heard the news and rode lightly to resist, but when reinforcements arrived, he was killed by the enemy general Lan Fenggao's knife wounds, and he was killed in the line of duty, at the age of fifty-five.

The people of Zhangxian County, smelling like mourning concubines, cried out for it. He was buried in Sui'anxi Dazewakiyuan (present-day Zhangpu Pantuo Dazewan), and later moved to Zhangzhou.

　　For Chen Yuanguang's meritorious achievements, the imperial court has greatly praised him. In the first year of Tang Guang's reign (712 CE), Emperor Xuanzong of Tang bestowed Chen Yuanguang with the title of Grand General of the Leopard Tao Wei Zhen Army, Marquis of Linzhang, and Wenhui of Mi Zhongyi. In the fourth year of The Tang Dynasty (716 AD), the prefecture was moved from Sui'anxi to Li Aochuan (present-day Zhangpu County).

In recognition of Chen Yuanguang's merits, emperor Xuanzong of Tang ordered the construction of the "Shrine of the Faithful Martyrs" on the outskirts of Zhangpu (the former site of the present-day Chenghui Temple), and set up the "ShengDe Shi Ancestral Hall" to commemorate the ming dynasty, send local officials, and sacrifice the Spring and Autumn Festival. It is stipulated that several local officials will stop at the Matou Bridge Arch in front of the temple, and the civilian officials will get off the palanquin, and the military attache will get off the saddle and make sacrifices. In the third year of Tang Zhenyuan (786 AD), the prefecture was moved to Longxi (present-day Zhangzhou), and Emperor Dezong created him "Lingzhao conforms to the King of Guangji".

In the eighth year of the Northern Song Dynasty (1075 AD), Emperor Shenzong of Song posthumously awarded the title of "Marquis of Zhongying". In the third year of the Northern Song Dynasty (1112 AD), Emperor Huizong of Song posthumously awarded the title of "Kaizhang Lord Saint King" and gave the temple the title of "Weihui Temple". In the fourth year of the Northern Song Dynasty (1122 AD), Emperor Huizong of Song gave him the title of "Duke of Zhongze". Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty crowned him the title of "Heroic Martyr Zhongze Xianyou Kangpi Gong" and so on. In the fifty-fifth year of the Qing Dynasty (1790 AD), Emperor Gaozong Qianlong celebrated his eightieth birthday, and Xiangguo Caixin entered the capital to celebrate his birthday, and when he returned to his hometown, he brought back the Qianlong Emperor le to give the emperor a pair of lamps, and the imperial book "Kaizhang Saint King, Gao Feng Ceremony".

The descendants of the Cai clan hang new lanterns in the temple every year on the eve of the Yuanxiao Festival, and this custom has been passed down to this day. Chen Yuanguang was proficient in the art of war, proficient in the history of scripture, full of strategy, erudite and talented, and authored the "Wang Ju Collection" and "Longhu Collection". Because he led the army to guard southern Xinjiang, developed and governed southern Fujian with outstanding merits, was revered by the people of Fujian and Guangdong as the "Holy King of Kaizhang", and his temples were revered throughout Fujian and Taiwan and Southeast Asia, there were more than 100 "Holy King Temples" on Taiwan Island alone, and there were nearly 100 "Holy King Temples" in Zhangpu, and incense was very popular throughout the ages.