After the Song Dynasty, the city god began to be personified, and the masses often regarded the heroes or famous officials after their death as City Gods, such as Suzhou worshiped Chun Shenjun Huang Xie during the Warring States Period, and Shanghai worshiped Qin

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The City God is the god of nature, and wherever there is a city, there should be a City God temple. The earliest City God Temple was built in Wuhu City God Temple in the second year of Wu Chiwu (AD 239) in the Three Kingdoms period. After the Song Dynasty, the city god began to be personified, and the masses often worshiped the heroes or famous ministers after their death as the city god. For example, during the Warring States Period, Huang Xie, the king of Chunshen, was worshiped in Suzhou, Qin Yubo was worshiped in Shanghai, Wen Tianxiang and Yangjiao Mountain were worshiped in Beijing. , Hangzhou worshiped Zhou Xin, Kuaiji worshiped King Pang, Nanning and Guilin worshiped Su Yan, etc. It is impossible to verify which hero or famous official the Wuyang City God was built in the Yuan Dynasty, but for ordinary people, this is not important, as long as the City God is here to bless good weather and good harvests.

There are countless Chenghuang temples all over the world. Wuyang County, known as the "Emperor's Country", is of course indispensable for this temple, which "cuts off evil and eradicates evil, protects the country and protects the country". In the long history of Wuyang, there have been many heroes and talents. Fan Kuai and Wu Han of the Han Dynasty, and Sima Yi of the Three Kingdoms period were all granted marquisship here; General Wang Chang of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Wang Jian, the former Emperor of Shu, were all born here. this. For thousands of years, without the City God to ensure that Wuyang Valley is prosperous and the people are prosperous, those emperors will definitely not agree.

When I came to Henan Beiwudu in addition to eating Hu spicy soup, I also had to visit the Chenghuang Temple. The City God's Temple in Wuyang is a place full of legends. The air of the City God's Temple is full of legends, and the most ancient one is the story of the City God marrying a concubine.

The City God's Temple, which has gone through seven hundred years of ups and downs, is located on the West Street of the county. According to the "Wuyang County Chronicle" recorded in the Daoguang period, the City God's Temple was built by Daru Huachi in the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1311 AD). The original building scale It was quite large. At that time, there was a stone archway in front of the temple. On the plaque were the four characters "It is not up to people to calculate". Under the plaque was a stone abacus model. After passing the archway, there are five mountain gates, which are divided into upper and lower floors. The upper floor is the theater and the lower floor is the court. After passing the mountain gate is the worship hall. In front of the worship hall, there are six wing rooms on the east and west sides. There is a bell tower in the north of the west wing and a drum tower in the north of the east wing. Behind the worship hall is the main hall, and behind it is the "bedroom" of the City God - the palace. In front of the palace, there are three east and west wing rooms. There are auxiliary halls and Taoist temples on the east and west sides of the main hall. Unfortunately, due to historical changes, many buildings in this exquisitely constructed and rigorously structured ancient building complex have been damaged. Today, only three worship halls, three bedrooms, and three east and west wing rooms remain.

Standing in front of the City God's Temple, I think about how shocking the four characters "It's not up to anyone" on the tall stone archway back then were. I believe that many people who are greedy and thief will realize their mistakes in front of these four words. Look back in time. Although the stone archway no longer exists, the principle remains.

Entering the worship hall, the City God dressed in "official uniform" sat upright and looked down at all living beings. Data shows that the City God is one of the eight gods in "Zhou Palace". "Cheng" originally refers to a high wall built with earth, and "Huang" originally refers to a moat without water. In ancient times, man-made cities were built to protect the safety of the people in the city, so tall city walls, towers and moats were built. They believe that things closely related to people's lives and production safety have gods, so the city and the god are deified as the protector gods of the city. Taoism incorporates it into its own pantheon, calling it the god who cuts off evil and eliminates evil, protects the country, and rules over the souls of the dead in the underworld.

In the palace behind the worship hall, a lady stood on each side of the City God in casual clothes. There was a bed on each side of the palace, and there were quilts, sheets and other items on the bed. There is a legend about the City God’s wife Ru (commonly known as the second grandmother). It is said that in the early years of Wucheng Town, Wuyang County, there was an innocent and lively little girl who went to the Town God's Temple with her elders to burn incense and fulfill their vows. When the old man kowtowed and offered incense, the naughty little girl saw that the fan in the hands of the Town God was very beautiful, so she took advantage of the old man's carelessness and took advantage of it. The fan inside was replaced by the City God. On the way home, the old man discovered that the little girl's fan was wrong. After asking about the situation, the old man was shocked and took the little girl back to the City God's Temple to change the fan back. However, no matter how hard he pulled it out, the fan in the City God's hand also came out. Not coming out. Not long after returning home, the little girl fell ill, and the City God had a wife by his side.What's interesting is that after this family got married to the City God, they would go to the City God's Temple to "invite" the second mistress back during the busy farming season, arrange a bed, and make offerings. As a result, the family went to work in the fields, and the unattended children at home stopped crying, which was very effective. Once, a daughter-in-law of this family was stubborn - the second grandmother she "invited" was nowhere to be seen, and she even arranged bed offerings. Is this true or false? She secretly returned home from the fields, lifted the quilt on the bed, and saw a big snake! Fortunately, the big snake swam away slowly and leisurely. After that, the family went to the City God's Temple to invite the second grandma, but it didn't work. However, every year at the temple fair held on the 19th day of the fifth lunar month on the birthday of the City God, it is said that the folks in Wucheng Town can touch the official clothes and clothes of the City God because the City God is their "relative", but people from other places are not allowed to touch them randomly. If you move, you will inevitably get headaches and fever, and you will be punished.

Obviously, this is just a bizarre folk legend. The reason why this story is "created" to have such a nose, eyes and appearance is because ordinary people want to "make porcelain" with the City God, so as to express their kind and beautiful wishes. . On the other hand, this is also a symbol of the personification of the City God.

History is full of helplessness, but the future is full of excitement. The prosperous old dream of Beiwudu Town can be vaguely discerned from the City God's Temple, Caipai Building, and Pawnshop Courtyard. Perhaps they will also witness the glory of Beiwudu Town tomorrow.

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