text: Wu Xinglin
Picture: Wu Xinglin Yang Zhenglin
Original: Shiyan Evening News
Sibaoshan,
Laojun Hall,
Hall offers three gods.
Bell rings,
sets the magical case,
pilgrims kneel on the ground.
burn high incense,
crack the head,
Laojun Make a wish in front of you.
Do good deeds,
Do good deeds,
Do many children, blessings and peace...
Distance of Laojun Palace (newly repaired)
Stroll through the ruins of Laojun Palace in Fenghuangshan, Qingqu Town, Yunyang District. This folk song , which has been sung for hundreds of years, seems to still linger in his ears. The historical storm of the first hall of the three provinces cannot help but come to his eyes -
1. The rise and fall of the whole story
Laojun Palace was built in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. In early October 1985, the author learned about the construction history of the Laojun Palace in a family tree of the Wu family in Henan: in the second year of Taiding (1352 AD), Zhao Chousi and Guo Bodhisattva in Henan rose up at the junction of Henan and Hubei, resisting the tyranny of the suffering officials, and were later brutally suppressed. Among them, the three Wu brothers led a small peasant army to break through the siege in the bloody battle. Later, they turned to Biyang and went westward through today's Tanghe and Neixiang . They entered Dengzhou and zhe northwest to Xichuan. They crossed today's Shaanxi border and entered Shangnan. They were blocked and severely damaged. The latter three brothers led their remaining troops to the south, followed the remnants of the Qinling south extension into northwestern Hubei, and followed the mountain to the Fenghuang Mountain in Qingqu, Yunxian County. One day at dusk, the three brothers who had traveled a long distance were hungry and sleeping on the ground in a daze. However, the elder brother tossed and turned and fell asleep. Looking back at that time, I have been forced to have no way out, and the blood alliance has been in trouble, swords and swords, bloody storms, and escaped from death and left my hometown for more than three years. But now, under my eyes, I still have no clothes covering my body, no food filling my stomach, no place to stand on my body, and my life and death are hard to tell. I can't help but feel sad. In a trance, Taoist Laojun floated up and said to my elder brother, "This is a treasure land, which can be established in a temple to preach, and it is enough to accomplish things..." The elder brother woke up and had a headache. He got up and saw that there was a large round bluestone pillow under his head, with two clearly visible footprints on it. At this point, the elder brother suddenly realized. On March 3rd of that year, with the strong support of the local people, the three Wu brothers raised funds to build a Taoist temple in Sibaoshan, called "Laojun Palace". A bronze statue of Laojun with a height of 15 meters and weighs about 65 kilograms, and a large round bluestone with footprints was used as the base. At the same time, it also casts an copper bell , which is about 100 cm high and has a diameter of about 70 cm. According to legend, when the temple was first built, it was repaired and expanded many times from the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the end of the Republic of China. The largest structure covers an area of about two square kilometers. The main hall building consists of four parts: the front hall, the back hall, and the east and west side halls. Perhaps because the people in the old days regarded Laojun Palace as a holy place for spiritual sustenance, the number of statues in the hall has been increasing. From the initial worship of only Taoist Tianzun , Yuanshi Tianzun and Lingbao Tianzun , Lingbao Tianzun , Sanqing Zun , and Confucius , Huode Xingjun , etc., there are 72 clay sculptures, pottery, wooden and copper statues. There is a bronze bell about 100 cm high and about 70 cm in diameter under the ancient tree in front of the hall. There is a saying that "there is constant cigarettes and the bells are constant." During the Ming and Qing dynasties, pilgrims from Hubei, Henan and Shaanxi provinces gathered from all directions. Laojun Palace was once respected by pilgrims as the "first hall of the three provinces". Laojun Palace was also set up as a township office of the Kuomintang and later a township office of the Sanxiang Township Office. Before and after liberation, there was also a school here.
1958, during the Great Steel Making Movement, the Laojun Palace in Sibaoshan was ruthlessly razed to the ground, and the relics in the hall were lost everywhere.
2. Revolutionary ruins
Laojun Hall of Fenghuangshan, Xigou Village, Qingqu Town, is the main throat that guards Yunxi to Yunyang Prefecture . During the War of Liberation, the first shot to liberate Yunyang was fired here, which is an important part of , the revolutionary base in Hubei, Henan and Shaanxi.
At the end of June 1946, the Kuomintang ruling group headed by Chiang Kai-shek launched a full-scale civil war and launched an attack on various liberated areas across the country.
Chen Geng and Xie Fuzhi's Corps are the Taiyue Corps of the People's Liberation Army of Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan. On August 22, 1947, the corps forced the crossing of the Yellow River from Pinglu and Yuanqu in southern Shanxi, and advanced into in western Henan. I successfully crossed Danjiang on November 10th. Later, the 34th Regiment liberated Yunxi County. The liberation of Yunxi greatly encouraged the people of Yunxian County. The underground party organization of Yunyang sent people to Yunxi to contact the People's Liberation Army troops, and informed and reported the heavy troops of the Kuomintang in Yunyang to guard the Laojun Hall and other defense intelligence. After learning about the situation, the 34th Regiment quickly formulated a combat plan to conquer the enemy's defense line at the Laojun Hall, and planned to decide to liberate Yunyang before New Year's Day 1948. The reactionary army led by Jiang Zhilan, the bandit leader who was famous for his ruthlessness and good at hitting the branches, was guarded in Laojun Hall. In order to paralyze the enemies stationed in Laojun Hall, our army spread the New Year's Day atmosphere in Yunxi, decorated the lights and rehearsed the program, practiced gongs and drums , and bought meat and vegetables. This caused the illusion that the troops would have to spend a lively New Year's Day in Yunxi.
On the evening of December 29, the 34th and 36th regiments of our 12th Brigade set out from Yunxi in two directions. At dawn on the 30th, our 34th regiment arrived at Qingqu, Yun County after a 70-mile march. The Second and Third Battalions suddenly launched a fierce attack on the enemies entrenched in Laojun Hall, and captured forty-eight enemies in an instant, seized a small steel cannon and forty-nine rifles. As a result, more than 500 defenders who tried their best to fight, actually scattered birds and beasts. After the rest of the security brigade fired a few shots in Laojun Hall, they hurriedly retreated to Yunyang City, and then escaped from Hanjiang . That night, our army's crossing the river battle began. At dawn, our army and ships stopped in the west of Dayan River and began to cross the river on a large scale here. However, the fleeing enemy had already fled to Shiyan to Junxian . Yunxian was then liberated.
Stone Floor
During the Great Revolution, Laojun Palace was once a transportation liaison station for our party’s underground organizations. At that time, Master Jueyuan was the secret liaison officer of the Communist Party’s underground organization. One night, the moon was dark and the wind was high, and the underground party organization held an organization meeting in Laojun Hall, and the wind leaked. The Kuomintang spy rushed into the hall with a gun. Master Jueyuan wisely overturned the incense burner to cover the safe retreat of the party group members, but Master Jueyuan was cruelly lit by the Kuomintang spy. When the people around learned about the situation, they raised funds to buy a coffin and buried the old Taoist priest.
3. Cultural relics
Although Laojun Palace has experienced disasters, a large number of precious cultural relics have been preserved to this day.
When Taoist Jueming was in charge of the three years of Xianfeng, the people from all over the world raised funds for the Fire De Star Lord God Association, the inscription recorded the grand occasion at that time. The inscription was:
Fire De Star Lord God Association Stele
Chang Thinking Home of Accumulating Goodness , there will be good fortune. If you do not do good because you are small, then you will accumulate good. It’s also my teacher. Boss Zhang is generous and willing to do good deeds. In the first year of Xianfeng, I protected me. The Fire De Star Lord God Association, and the surnames donated small funds to prepare for the meeting in the future. □And the sky is as small as water, the profit is small, and the current season is enough. The one who has unearthed the money to help is 4,000 yuan, and the money is kept in charge. It can be provided for the needs of the meeting for about four or five years. The good is not small but it will be helpful to the meeting for good. Fortunately, I have a bright future. I can get my heart and not think about overwhelming the good. I respect it and engrave it with my will. Zhu Lianbi Song Huichuan Sunday, June 23, 3rd year of Xianfeng, Xiang, the disciple, Sunday, Guanzi, the abbot, Jueming, Jingli,
Stone Incense Burner,
, Stone Incense Burner,
, Stone Cylindrical Paper Money Burner (also known as Incense Burner), is thick at the top and thin at the bottom, with a diameter of forty cm in the upper and lower diameters, with a ventilation opening on the side, and an incense ash passage that runs through the upper and lower in the middle; such as stone millstones, tall stone tablets, stone house components, bricks and tiles and other large numbers of precious cultural relics are scattered deep in the Four Treasure Mountains. There are also Jueming, Jueyuan and nine Laojun Palace hosts, and 12 Taoist priests also slept in the mountain behind Laojun Palace.
Life utensils
4. Repair the twists and turns
Although the years have passed, the ancient palace has been lost. However, in the area of the former site of Laojun Hall, it is still a Feng Shui treasure land.Nowadays, every Qingming Festival, many villagers still spontaneously go to the ruins of Laojun Hall to draw incense to pay homage to the tombs hidden in the deserted smoke and grass of the roads such as Jueming and Jueyuan, and still tell the story of Laojun Hall’s past grand occasion. When spring is warm and flowers are blooming, the nearby primary and secondary school students also go out to Laojun Hall in groups from time to time to overlook the full view of Qingqu Xinji Town. What is even more commendable is that the villagers of Normal University, Zhou Mingxue, Shi Yongqing, Yang Jinlong, etc. in Quyuanhe Village in the town are determined to rebuild the Laojun Palace, not only to restore its old system, but also to expand its scale, and to restore the glory of the former Taoist holy land, and to build it into a well-known cultural attraction. To this end, they spontaneously organized the masses to report to relevant departments for approval, and donated more than 300,000 yuan in 2014 to build a two-layer glazed eaves and steel-concrete structure of the New Laojun Hall. However, when faced with a capital bottleneck, the back hall, side hall, walls and surrounding greening are still weak in construction. When the time comes, the country is strong and the people are rich, the ancient palace is full of glory, and everyone hopes to return.
Close-up view of Laojun Palace
Laojun Palace is a revolutionary victory that fired the first shot of Yunyang liberation, and its status in the hearts of the people around the world is self-evident. Investing in the restoration of Laojun Palace’s kindness will surely be recorded in the history of Yunyang’s development, leaving an immortal monument in the hearts of the thousands of people with rich cultural heritage! Therefore, the author prays that the new Laojun Palace can recreate its former style as soon as possible, so that the wishes of many fellow villagers in Qingqu Town will no longer be mirrors, water and castles in the sky!
