Entering along the east gate of Fufeng Old City, as soon as you enter the ancient city, a simple and elegant, magnificent and solemn ancient building complex will immediately come into view, which is one of the best-preserved ancient building complexes in Shaanxi - Fufeng City God Temple.
Built in the third year of Ming Hongwu (1370), this city god temple has experienced 647 years of wind and rain, with a long history and profound heritage. It is "5 years old" older than the Sanyuan City God Temple, and "17 years old" longer than the City God Temple in Xi'an, which can be regarded as the "big brother" of the existing City God Temple in Shaanxi. The whole building is built according to the terrain, sitting north and facing south, with exquisite design and reasonable layout. The location is high in the north and low in the south, and the difference between the north and south heights is more than ten meters. As you enter the temple through the majestic South Gate, follow the three-story steps up the stairs and feel the worship of the steps step by step. Stepping on this layer of bluestone paved stone steps, before I saw the true face of the city god, I already felt that the gods of the temple were solemn and solemn, sweating and trembling.
Fufeng County God Temple
The City God is the ruler of hades in people's minds, and is the protector of a city. It is in charge of both the ghosts of the Yin Cao Mansion and the people of the Three Houses of Yang. The belief in the city god places good wishes on people to protect the city and protect the people, promote good and punish evil, eliminate violence and be safe, and pray for blessings and peace.
Unlike the City God Temple in other places, the City God Master of the Fufeng City God Temple is not those illusory gods and foreign gods, but a famous incorruptible official in the local history of Fufeng, known as Wang Lun of the Iron Courage Imperial History.
Wang Lun (王纶), courtesy name Ruyan (汝言), was born in the eighth year of Mingshun (1464 AD). He once served as the governor of Zhendingzhi County, the inspector of Imperial History, the inspector, and the prefect of Jiaxing. He was a clean and honest official, had excellent political achievements, was not afraid of power, and was upright. He fought resolutely against the magnates Quan Huan, Hong Zhong, Gao Hui, and the eunuch Liu Jin, and for a while the sound shook the government and the opposition. During his time as inspector of imperial history and patrol, he investigated and punished a number of corrupt officials, and the corrupt officials at that time heard of his reputation and were discouraged, and they could not wait for him to come to inspect, so they fled. Therefore, he was called "black-faced king" and "sweeping king" by the people of the time.
When he first took up the post of Zhendingzhi County, this place was a poor county with poor people and thieves. Coupled with the years of exploitation by officials, the people did not have a good life and fled one after another. After he arrived at his post, he made a drastic move to crack down on bandits, reduce the tax burden on the people and the unreasonable charges and expenses of the government, so that the people could go home and farm with peace of mind and recuperate. And establish rules and regulations, strict laws and regulations. In just three years, he spent his days and nights in public service, worked hard, and worked hard, so that this place changed from a backward area of poverty and backwardness, full of thieves, and a lack of livelihood for the people, to a happy land where the houses were not closed at night and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment. The imperial court sent officials to evaluate his performance for three years, which was greatly surprised, and after reporting his deeds to the imperial court, the emperor was very happy and promoted him to supervise the imperial history. When Zhending's father and elder heard that he was leaving, he jointly wrote to the imperial court, helped the old man and the young, stood by the side of the road, and told him to stay. The emperor and the elders of the court were greatly moved when they heard his deeds, and they sighed one after another, saying that if the county orders were like him, why worry about the country's long-term peace and stability?
A corner of the Fufeng County God Temple
During the Ming Zhengde period, the grand eunuch Liu Jinquan fell to the opposition, and the party was different. The chancellor Xu Jin, because he had participated in the petitioning of Liu Jin, Liu Jin hated him to the bone, so he framed Xu Jin on trumped-up charges. Wang Lun, who was then supervising the imperial history, and Xiong Ji were ordered to try the case, and before the two left, Liu Jin instructed the two to say: "There are different rewards for re-impeachment, otherwise there will be different punishments." It means that there is a heavy reward for aggravating the treatment of Xu Jin, otherwise it will be severely punished.
After a detailed investigation, Wang Lun and Xiong Ji found that Xu Jin had been framed and many of the charges were not convicted. After returning to Beijing, Wang Lun wanted to truthfully report to the imperial court and exonerate Xu Jin. When Liu Jin heard this, he was furious and sent someone to arrest Wang Lun and Xiong Ji and prepare to execute them on charges of forming a party for personal gain. Xiong Ji was afraid of Liu Jin's power, so frightened that he fell ill and wanted to commit suicide. Wang Lun persuaded Xiong Ji: "It is not too late to die in the dynasty, and it is not too late to do so. ”
Above the court, Wang Lunyi was stern and generous in his speech, arguing for Xu Jin's reasoning. Liu Jin could not argue with Wang Lun, and became angry. Wang Lun had no fear, and The Shaanxi "stunned baby" made a mistake and actually pulled down his belt to hit Liu Jin, and Liu Jin ran down the palace in fright. This scene stunned the Manchu Dynasty Minister of Culture and Military Affairs, and since then he has had a nickname "Iron Guts Imperial History".
Later, he returned to his hometown of Fufeng with Ding Worry, and Emperor Wuzong arranged for him to build a house in the northwest of the county town, allowing him to live here, and Wang Lun lived here in seclusion, away from the officialdom, regardless of political affairs, and lived in this place for thirty years until he died at the age of eighty-six.
During the Jiajing period, Guanzhong suffered a great famine, and Fufeng was the most severely affected, and hunger was everywhere. The government was unable to provide disaster relief, so he set up a porridge shed at the north gate of the county town, cooked bean porridge to help the victims, saved countless people, and was rumored to be a beautiful talk.
The Wang family lived in Tiandu, and under his influence, the Wang family had a family of calligraphy and family style. In its genealogy, "Dun Xiao Ti, Shang He Hou, Chong Qin Frugality, Prudent Marriage" and so on are listed as "family discipline family rules". From the 15th century to the 19th century, the Wang family produced 4 jinshi, 14 juren, and more than 50 gongsheng in the Ming and Qing dynasties. As for the students and inmates, there are innumerable. Like Wang Heng of Baoding Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty, Wang Long in Zhending Province, Wang Dong in Dingliao Wei, Wang Jie in Chengtian Patrol, Wang Bingjian in Zhejiang, Wang Yujia in Hanlin, and Wang Zhengya in Ouningzhi County, all of them were from the Wang family.
Fufeng County God Temple
Wang Lun's outstanding merits and upright and noble character have been widely praised by the fufeng people from generation to generation, and the people of Fufeng respected him and loved him, so they revered him as a god and enshrined him as a city god at the City God Temple, hoping that although he was still alive and dead, he would continue to proclaim justice, protect the country and protect the country, promote good and punish evil, and bless the people.
Fufeng writer Zhang Xinhao
Zhang Xinhao, a native of Fufeng, Shaanxi, is currently a member of the Chinese Prose Literature Association and the Shaanxi Writers Association. In recent years, in his spare time, he has adhered to the study of Fufeng regional culture and published more than 100 essays and other works. He is the author of the cultural essay collection "Looking Up at the Tent", and some works have been selected into the "2014 China Prose Ranking". Participated in the editing of Ma Rong's cultural research series "Da Ru Ma Rong" and "Selected Essays of Fufeng Writers".