In the south of the Southern Song Dynasty Village, there is a Jade Emperor Temple, which is a rectangular courtyard facing north and south, and the existing main buildings include the Five Phoenix Tower and the Bell and Drum Towers on both sides, the Dedication Pavilion, the Main Hall, and the left and right side halls and boxes, which are the largest and most complete preserved ancient building complex in the whole village.
WufengLou is located at the forefront of the Jade Emperor Temple complex, with three wide rooms and three deep rooms, the plane is square in shape, and the outer side is built with heavy eaves dripping water and a corridor, which is rumored to have been added to the Qing Dynasty, but it did not destroy its overall style.
On the east side of the Ming Dynasty, there is an inscription engraved on it, which reads:
Township Covenant Qin Anzhi, Sheshou Miqi, Wang Sanxi..."
Here it needs to be explained that the so-called township covenant and the head of the society are all the names of a kind of spontaneous organization in the ancient countryside. For example, the township covenant, which is roughly equivalent to the chief of the village, is responsible for handling daily civil disputes, which is generally borne by the elders of the clan and the qualified elders; and the head of the society, according to the explanation of Zhao Shuli, a peasant writer from Shanxi, is the leader of the village responsible for major activities such as sacrifices.
WufengLou is mainly architecturally exquisite.
The main structure consists of four gold pillars running up and down, and the building is covered with a dark layer, which is actually three floors. The first floor is the passage into the Jade Emperor Temple, the eaves of the porch, the interior space is tall and spacious, and the original single wooden ladder made of old mulberry trees leads to the second floor.
This ladder has been used for hundreds of years, and it is a reverential feeling to think of the person who climbed the first day to climb to the second floor through this trembling and majestic single tree. I don't know what the ancients did this for, perhaps to test the sincerity of the climbers.
This ladder carved from mulberry wood is seven meters high, with a diameter of 42 centimeters and a large head diameter of 76 centimeters, and 15 steps are carved; according to the annual ring, it is 500 years old.
However, another wooden staircase has now been built, and the old mulberry wooden staircase has also been preserved, and it is placed obliquely on the wall for people to see. On the nameplate next to it is a sentence:
Liu Tianjun excused himself not to offer the Heavenly Tree, Jade Emperor One Soul and Red Lotus.
The second floor is actually a low mezzanine in the upper and lower parts of the building structure, and the huge bucket arch rear tail compresses the space here to a relatively narrow, and it is necessary to pass sideways and bow your head carefully, otherwise there is a danger of breaking the forehead.
When you get to the top floor, you are suddenly cheerful, there are no doors and windows here, and you can feel refreshed on all sides. Standing on the fence, you can not only overlook the scenery of the cottages outside, but also enjoy the amazing beam structure inside the Wufeng Building and the unique Bagua Algae Well on the roof of the building, and feel the unique beauty of the exquisite construction skills and complex wooden structures of the ancient craftsmen.
The entire pavilion is densely covered with heavy eaves, and a group of majestic bucket arches hold up flowing cornices, full of masculine power, while the highly protruded cornices have a hint of the spirit of Jiangnan Pavilion.
The fusion of the two temperaments makes this complex and rigorous building show a handsome beauty in the rough, making people feel that this is not only a pavilion, but also a work of art, which can be called the most beautiful pavilion-style ancient building in the ancient Shangdang area.
The reason why the mountain gate of the Jade Emperor Temple was built in the style of a pavilion is said to be related to a beautiful mythological story.
According to legend, the five daughters of the Jade Emperor were tired of the strict rules and boring life in the heavenly court, and they met to live the life of ordinary people in the mortal world, so they turned into five phoenixes and quietly left the Heavenly Palace to come here, saw the beautiful mountains and rivers here, and the scenery was pleasant, so they settled down, and used their own magic to bless the local customs and rains, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment.
In order to thank the five fairies for their kindness, the villagers built the Five Phoenix Tower in front of the Jade Emperor Temple, which means the embroidery building of the five sisters, which not only allowed the five fairies and the Jade Emperor to receive incense together, but also made them and their fathers in the main hall rely on each other to form a full flesh and blood affection.
This Jade Emperor Temple complex is said to have been built in the Song Dynasty, in the Jin and Yuan periods have been overhauled, according to the inscription on the stele in the temple, the forty-second year of the Ming Wanli (1614) was rebuilt again, Chongzhen sixteen years (1643) Golden Makeup Shrine, the Qing Dynasty is more than many repairs, the existing Wufeng Tower and the Pavilion, the main hall and other buildings still retain the style of the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties.
Passing through the first floor of the Wufeng Building, the courtyard is closely connected with the construction of a pavilion through the first floor of the Wufeng Building, and there is a pavilion in the courtyard, which is a four-pillar structure with a single eaves on the top of the mountain, the plane is square, built on a wide stone platform, with front and rear steppings, and surrounded by stone railings.
One of the highlights of the pavilion is the four stone pillars.
On the square pillars, there are carved dragons, phoenixes, curly grass, flowers and other patterns, with simple lines and refined techniques.
The top of the pillar supports four thick large foreheads, which are densely covered with majestic and intricate fighting chess pieces, and groups of them stretch their heads high into the air, jointly holding up the wide and flamboyant cornices. The eaves are like the wings of a phoenix, and they are raised high in an atmospheric and confident manner, and the cornices of the Five Phoenix Towers are in a relatively symmetrical manner, which sets off the momentum of this group of buildings.
Another attraction of the pavilion is the use of wood and moi.
The pavilion is empty on all sides, and the exquisite and gorgeous octagonal algae wells are placed on the corner beams, which are densely arranged by layers of small bucket arches, and the technique is more exquisite than the algae wells in the Wufeng Building.
But the most peculiar thing about this pavilion is that the forehead on the east side is made of two woods, so why use a broken beam in such a complex complex? Explanations based solely on the lack of wood are certainly not convincing, and this is also an unsolved mystery in the Jade Emperor Temple.
According to the locals, the reason why the four characters of the four corners of the eaves endure feng shui sun and thunder and electric shock day and night is because they are the four evil people who are disliked by the people of Changzhi: Pang Juan, Wu Zixu, Han Xin, and Luo Cheng, which is also a rather unique local legend system in Changzhi, which is very different from other regions.
The northernmost point of the Jade Emperor Temple is the main hall of the Jade Emperor Hall, which is also called the Ling Xiao Treasure Hall by the villagers because it enshrines the throne of the Jade Emperor.
It is a five-room large hall on the top of a hanging hill with six rafters, and between the front of the hall and the pavilion, there is a flat and wide platform, which is a place for the faithful to offer and prostrate.
This is a relatively old practice, originating from the temples of the Jin Yuan Period, and the pavilion is the dance floor and music pavilion of that time, which has the function of sacrificing and performing music and dance for the gods, which gradually disappeared after the Ming and Qing dynasties generally built a stage in front of the temple.
The front eaves of the Jade Emperor Hall of the Pavilion are supported by a row of bluestone cornered square pillars, and the partition doors are set up between the Ming and the left and right, and the two branches are straight windows, the most dazzling purpose is the dense layer of bucket arches under the eaves, at the top of each stone pillar and the tween position between the left and right two branches, there are thirteen stepping chess pieces that jump five times, and the tweens between the Ming and the two times are oblique.
The total height of the bucket arch is even more than half the height of the cornice, and its density and complexity are rare among the many temples in southeastern Jin. This also reflects that in order to express their sincere belief in the Jade Emperor, the ancestors took all their respect and patience to cultivate the shenqiu, and naturally created unusual architectural masterpieces.
In the face of the majestic chess piece that blooms like a bunch of acacia flowers, you will be immediately stunned and amazed by this extreme work of strength and beauty.
Such a group of gorgeous, exquisite craftsmanship and complete layout of the ancient building complex has experienced hundreds of years of vicissitudes, is still well preserved, and the local villagers love and faith in the Jade Emperor is inseparable, the tall Wufeng Tower is a local symbol and pride.
After the founding of new China, Yuhuangguan was used as a village office and was also transformed into a primary school. In the crazy years of the "Great Destruction of the Four Olds", the secretary of the commune at that time tried his best to prevent the Destruction of the Five Phoenix Tower and the Jade Emperor Hall by the Red Guards, which enabled us to still see this splendid temple today. In fact, many of the preserved ancient buildings in Shanxi have had similar experiences.
The three main buildings of the Five Phoenix Towers of Changzhi, any of which are placed in other provinces or regions, can be said to be well-deserved national treasure-level cultural relics; and these three magnificent ancient buildings are miraculously gathered in a corner of Changzhi County, but they are unknown, which is a great loss for the ancient construction community; if you can't see it, it is a great regret for the search enthusiasts!
Resources:
"Searching for the Ancient Temples of Shanxi (Southeast jin and jinnan)", Lianda
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