The old temple is a palace-style building facing south, with five entrances and four patios. There is a well outside the gate, which is full of sweet water for people to use. There are two rooms connected to the roof in the gate, leaving a pedestrian passage in the middle. If both rooms are covered with boards, they can be used as a stage facing north and inward. Stepping into the gate, you can reach the levee in the temple. There is an ancient banyan tree on each side of the levee, which makes people feel cool. The second is a hatchback, and the statues are separated. The left compartment consists of three branches: inspection, examination and reward, and the right compartment consists of three branches: good news, hell and punishment. Its statue is magnificent and awe-inspiring. The third entrance is the main hall, with a pavilion in front and a bedroom in the back. Five rooms wide and three rooms deep, double eaves, beam frame, exposed at the top. There are Panlong stone pillars outside the temple, which are beautifully carved, flexible and spectacular. There is a vault in the center of the hall, with a round window to the outside, decorated with golden through holes and carved beams and painted buildings, which is solemn and magnificent; The temple is dedicated to the body of the Lord of the City God, and behind the seat is a tall statue of the Lord of the City God, with a yellow robe and a golden crown, which is dignified and serious, making people respect. The outer wing of the hall has east and west hatchbacks, each with a wide corridor. The east hatch is hung with a big clock, under which there is a plastic messenger, followed by lord protector and Judge Yang. There is a big drum on the west wing, next to which are the messenger on duty, the main book and Judge Yin. The two corridors leading to the fourth entrance of the moat have doors, and the temple is dedicated to the Lord and wife of the city god, and there is a statue sitting there, commonly known as the mother hall of the city god. The fifth entrance behind the hall is the monastery. The whole temple is solemn and generous, with a blue tile roof and eaves decorated with dragons catching pearls, lined with figures, flowers and plants, and colorful. The temple is covered with exquisite couplets and plaques, which shows the simplicity of the temple and is admirable. The spacious temples and magnificent buildings show the intelligence and artistic creativity of the working people of Han nationality in ancient China.
In the 30th year of the Republic of China (194 1), Qiu Qiuxing, deputy head of the National Army, sent troops to Anxi Town God Temple, and the Lord and Deputy Statues of the Town God were moved out and temporarily sacrificed to a short man's house in the north street of the county, and other statues were removed. In 32 years of the Republic of China (1943), due to the official infrastructure, the temporary temple of God in Aizitou Town needed to be demolished. The contractor chose another place to build a two-room temple next to the North Gate Bridge, and moved in the same year. 1953, Huang Chengzhu moved to the East Hall of Dongyue Temple to worship, and 1985 moved to Tan Yue Temple of Dongyue Temple to worship. 1958 and 1986, the first and fifth halls of the old temple were demolished by the education department and built into dormitories. Today, there are only two or four halls left in the old temple. 198865438+February, Anxi Chenghuang Temple was announced by the county people's government as the second batch of key cultural relics protection units at the county level.
1990 65438+1October 16 at the initiative of Ms. Chen Meiying, an overseas Chinese in New Zealand, and with the support of relevant county departments, the site was located on the east side of Dongyue Temple, and a new Anxi City God Temple was built according to the original temple regulations, and Ms. Chen Meiying built one to three halls alone. On June 5th 1992, the renovation project of the new temple was completed. Since then, relatives of overseas Chinese in Likababa and Yangtaoyuan in Singapore have donated money to continue to build the fourth and fifth halls, and many stoves and believers have also donated supporting facilities.
Anxi City God Temple and Dongyue Temple stand shoulder to shoulder, which is a five-entrance hall, built on the mountain, north-south direction. It covers an area of more than 2,000 square meters, with a building area of 1 100 square meters. The first hall is five rooms wide and three doors, with diabase dragon columns under the eaves, door bolts and window sills carved with blue and white stones respectively. There are carp yue longmen, double dragon playing with pearls, two lions throwing balls, lion phoenix peony, pine crane lotus, bamboo deer and other patterns. Hanging buckets and other roof truss components are carved with flowers, lotus flowers, the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon and flutes to attract phoenix. The second hall is the City God Temple, which rests on the mountain with double eaves and is exposed at the top, making it a bucket. Five rooms wide and five rooms deep, with a pavilion in front. The statues in the first to third halls all imitate the style of the old temple. Three statues of the city god sit in the main hall, facing three round lattice windows respectively, with eight lords and nine lords standing on both sides. The three halls are the sleeping halls of the city god. The fourth hall is the Lohan Hall, dedicated to Guanyin Bodhisattva. The Fifth Hall is the Buddha Hall of Sakyamuni, dedicated to the Three Treasures Buddha. The whole temple has red walls and green tiles, resplendent and magnificent; Flying over the eaves and walls, flying gold and flowing colors; Carving dragons and phoenixes is a wonderful feat, even better than the old view. 1999 1, the county cultural relics management Committee erected a symbol of cultural relics protection in Xincheng Temple.
Anxi City God Temple has a long history and many cultural relics. The seal of the Lord of the Treasure Hall is said to have been given by the Emperor of the Song Dynasty. Jade square, side length 7.5 cm, height 5 cm. Seal is a traditional seal script of "sealing Qingxi to show the blessing of printing". There is a lying toad engraved with the word "Wang" on the seal stand, which symbolizes the understanding of Yin and Yang of Anxi Town God and shows his spirit. A pair of diabase dragon columns standing in front of the new temple were originally built by the old temple and made by famous craftsmen of the previous generation. They are exquisitely carved and lifelike. There are two ancient inscriptions in the temple, "Oracle Bone Inscriptions" and "Shipbuilding Inscription", which were established in February of the 12th year of Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty (1807) and written by Xia, a magistrate of a county. The Oracle tablet is 44 cm long and 70 cm wide. The inscription reads, "An Yi Feng Xianyou Bo inherits God and praises him. Every year, the scholar gives a banquet to welcome him." Shipbuilding inscriptions are 2 10/0cm long and10cm wide. According to records, in order to meet the expenses of fasting and welcoming Nuo in spring, two river boats were built to transport salt from Quanzhou to Anxi, tax-free, "at the expense of interest".
There is a pair of ancient couplets in the worship pavilion of the new temple of Chenghuang Temple: "Pet the tin robe, the first of the eight Fujian; Praise the Earl of Wuyi as incomparable. "Legend has it that since the Song Dynasty, Anxi Town was given a royal robe by the emperor as the main reason for curing the ills of the Empress Dowager Song, and it was also the lord protector in five surrounding counties (namely Nan 'an, Anxi, Jinjiang, Tong 'an and Hui 'an) to protect the people from drought, waterlogging, wind, insects and beasts, so it was knighted twice by the court and given a golden crown by the Song Emperor. Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty gave him the imperial edict of "Qin family protects Qingxi and helps Bo", but the city god in other counties in the province did not have this honor, because it was "the first in eight provinces" and "unparalleled in five cities".
Throughout the ages, romantic celebrities have felt the exquisite beauty of Anxi City God Temple, and made great contributions in poetry, leaving many famous plaques and exquisite couplets. There are Zhang Ruitu's Master of Yin and Yang in the Ming Dynasty, Ye Shaofen's Master of Yin and Yang in Qingxian County, Huang Zhai's Dream, Cindy Lee's Protect My People, Zhuangcheng's True Spirit and other ancient monuments. Qin, a scholar in the Ming Dynasty, wrote: "Evil never dies, and the ancestors die of virtue; Good is not prosperous, and the ancestors are prosperous. " Yuan Jun, the champion of the Qing Dynasty, wrote, "The merits show rivers and mountains, and there is a golden dragon in front, followed by Lu Feng, and eighteen miles belong to the blessed land; The sound is bright, Dongyang Bell, West Crocodile Drum, and the first dragon fights the Baigong Gate. " Qing Yaosheng Chen Zirui wrote, "God depends on virtue; Don't deceive yourself when you are alone ","Look at the sly heart of the world, don't blame this public for spitting; Seeing that the color of Sri Lanka is black and mixed really shocked our generation. " There are also ancient couplets, such as "rewarding and punishing good and evil cause and effect; There is no difference between yin and yang, "and" good and evil are rewarded, and there is no end; When you fight for fame and fortune, you must know that there will always be an end. " Come to the temple and ask yourself what you do on weekdays; When you go home, don't forget to bow your head and be sincere today. "Evil is rewarded with evil, evil with evil, evil with evil, and good with evil." Heaven knows the earth, you know me, what is ignorance? " And "the evil mirror hangs high, and good people may wish to lead; There are many shadows, and people with evil thoughts should be afraid of voyeurism. " Good and evil are hard to hide here, so you don't have to kowtow in front of the stage; I have never been completely flawed, so I can't bear to shake my mouth under the stage. "Hell is just around the corner, and I can only realize it if I commit a crime. The mirror of evil used to hang on the stage, but if you want to be proud, you will be merciful "and many other couplets to persuade good. "
Historically, the government attached great importance to the annual spring outing in Anxi Town. In the Qing Dynasty, a ceremony was held to welcome the city god, and a sacrificial ceremony was held to pray for the gods, later referring to the Dojo set up by monks and Taoists to eliminate disasters. Very lively. In the 12th year of Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty (1807), in February, Anxi County ordered Xia Yi to make the "Oracle Bone Inscriptions" tablet. For many years, it has been stipulated that cups are thrown in front of the gods on the 16th day of the twelfth lunar month, and a proclamation is posted on the second day of February the following year, indicating the date to the county. It is agreed that the cup will be held in rain or shine and greeted the next day (an ancient ceremony to expel epidemic ghosts). When the altar is removed after cooking every year, the first four people respectfully ask the master of Qingxi Town to tidy up his clothes and sit in the first eight seats that night 12. At about 5 o'clock in Rosty Yi, the first person advocated welcoming out of the temple. The patrol route is: from the East Gate, along the river ditch and hillside to Xiangyun Ferry, to Fengshan Huang's ancestral grave (commonly known as Champion Tomb), and then back to the Fengchi Temple in Xiangyun Ferry to set up curtain security (Note: the current route is: East out of the mountain gate → Fengshan Road → 83 1 Road → Xiangyun Road → Shennei → County Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. → Fengshan Tomb → Return → Shennei. Between 10 and 1 1, the doors of the temple are closed, and all officials and bureaucrats in the temple (all of whom must be replaced by people) March in shifts, led by Eight Lords and Nine Lords. Four people burn incense to serve, and the presiding monk is responsible for the roll call. At the end of the afternoon, the whole team walked around the hall, then shouted out with the temple gate wide open, arranged ceremonial ceremonies and sermons, eight tones, Taige and theater, and went out of the west gate to welcome uncle into the city to visit the streets, county government, Confucianism and schools (the current route is: Fengshan Road → 83 1 Road → Xiangyun Road → Shennei → County Pharmaceutical Factory → Fengshan Huang Zu. In ancient times, rituals were very complicated. The procession marched to the entrance of the county yamen, and the county magistrate arranged the incense table and greeted it in person; When the team went to Nanmen Lane, the whole team stopped for a while. Master Qingxi Town God put on his coat and hat (that is, the judge's costume), and then the guard of honor lined up to drive, with gongs and drums and flutes ringing. The four first people followed Eight Lords, Nine Lords and Master Town God into the Confucius Temple to go around Chi Pan. Then he went down to the south tinker (execution ground), presided over the monks wearing robes and carrying equipment. When they arrived at the tinker, they waved their equipment and rang the bell to summon the wronged soul and asked for permission to come and complain. After a week's detour, the parade took to the streets of the county, and folk advocates and drama teams waited by. Generally, the procession will enter the temple at about 3 pm that day, and then the presiding monk will select several people from each of the four streets and throw divination cups one by one. The winner will be the new leader next year. After that, there will be a handover ceremony between the old and the new, and then a tour will be conducted in the evening according to the route. Newcomers will be responsible for labor, torches and lanterns, which usually ends on 10 in the afternoon.
Legend has it that Qingxi Town God is very prominent and effective. There are three records in the Qing Qianlong edition of Anxi County Records: First, "Xu (year, 1520), the master of spring, ordered Anxi in April, and Gu Nian, a citizen of the city, suffered from tigers for a long time, but he burned his writing in the city god temple, and the arrow god would win." The more you fly, the better you will be. On the third day of Wuzi, one person was killed and the people were dumbfounded. Forced by the times, Zou Lu witnessed it and wrote the article "Chopping Double". Second, "In the 16th year of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty (1677), on July 28th, Cai Mao led thousands of people to Anxi, and was about to attack the city, when he suddenly saw A Jia riding out of the East Gate. Cai suspected that reinforcements had arrived and retreated. At that time, I thought that the city god had appeared, so I ordered Cindy Lee to write a plaque in the temple,' Protect our people'. I got it. "Third", in the 20th year of Qianlong (1755), on the 11th day of the first month, Chen Fu, a county citizen, killed Wang Yirang, the landowner, in Houtanglong, and refused to admit it. The city ordered Zhuang Cheng to fast and bathe and pray to the God of the Town God. The next day, he took the prisoner to the temple to answer questions. Suddenly, the ghost attached to his wife Huang, vividly questioned Yves and pointed out the murder weapon. Fu bowed their heads and said nothing, and the dust settled. The audience is different. Zhuang ordered people to carve the inscription in the temple to regulate the funeral. "
Legend has it that during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period, the Japanese invaded China and sent planes to bomb Anxi County. People found two eagles hovering over the plane in the sky. The plane dropped many bombs, but there were no casualties in the county. After the Japanese plane flew away, the legal personnel of the Chenghuang Temple found that the gods of Chenghuang Gong and Chenghuang Ma were dripping with sweat, and then they suddenly realized that this eagle was the incarnation of Chenghuang. After the news came out, the street people spontaneously held a "show to the public" ceremony to worship soybeans, which meant to provide bullets for the magic soldiers or let the gods scatter beans into the soldiers to resist foreign invasion.
The spirit should shine and benefit all parties. Up to now, there is a folk story that "Qingxi Town's immortal saints bless fishermen" along the coast of Jinjiang. Legend has it that one day about 100 years ago, there were more than 200 fishing boats in Jinjiang, and suddenly a small boat came head on. An old man stood on the boat and shouted, "I am the owner of Qingxi. I have come to show you the temple. That is, when there is a typhoon, the fishing boat must turn around and return as soon as possible." When all the fishing boats entered the port, a big storm suddenly came and the fishing boats were safe and sound. To this end, fishermen widely spread that "Qingxi Town is a miracle, and the police typhoon is true." The fishing boat returned safely, and the people were full of praise for the fishermen. "Ballad. Since then, people in Quanzhou, Jinjiang, Shishi, Nan 'an and other coastal areas have set up altars to worship the god of Qingxi Town, and many people often go to the temple of Anxi Town to burn incense and pray for peace and happiness. Many places have also set up separate furnaces to worship the god of Qingxi Town.
There is also a widely circulated story in Singapore about the appearance of the god of Qingxi Town. In the 1940s, Japanese imperialism invaded Singapore. On one occasion, the Japanese army dispatched a large number of planes to bomb all parts of Singapore, which was in ruins. During the Republic of China (17 (1928), there was no bombing at all from Anxi to the location of the Singapore City God Temple. Therefore, the local overseas Chinese have more respect for the Lord of God in Anxi Town, and have built two magnificent temples in Qingxi Town in Likebaba and Yangtaoyuan successively, which are still flourishing today. Every year, the Town God Temple of the two places organized a delegation to seek roots in Anxi Town God Temple, and it became a routine to worship ancestors and pray for the blessing of Anxi Town God Temple.
Anxi City God Temple has experienced thousands of years of ups and downs, and enjoys a good reputation at home and abroad. As early as the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, Anxi ancestors brought incense to Taiwan Province Province, and then distributed it to Taipei, Tainan, Kaohsiung and all parts of the island. According to incomplete statistics, there are 222 sub-furnaces in Taiwan Province Province. Singapore also has Leek Temple and Yangtaoyuan Temple. Since the Qing Dynasty, Anxi City God Temple has set up more than 70 stoves in Jinjiang, Nan 'an, Quanzhou, Shishi and other places, and has built several stoves in Southeast Asia such as Malaysia. Every month, especially on May 28th, the birthday of Zhenshen, believers at home and abroad send delegations to visit the Ancestral Temple in Anxi Town, which effectively enhances the friendship at home and abroad and across the Taiwan Strait, and promotes the exchange of history, religion and culture.
1994 10, Anxi County People's Government placed Dongyue Temple and Chenghuang Temple under the management of Fengcheng Town People's Government, and established Dongyue Temple and Chenghuang Temple Garden Management Office and Cultural Relics Protection Management Group, adhering to the purpose of patriotism and dedication to society, actively improving the cultural taste of Chenghuang Temple, and successively building a number of supporting facilities and achieving good results. At the same time, we should give full play to the positive significance of the religious culture of the Town God Temple in the cultural exchanges between Fujian and Taiwan and friendship with foreign countries, and strive to build the Town God Temple in Anxi into a place for people to carry out normal religious activities, a cultural bridge connecting patriots at home and abroad, and a window to display the modern civilization of Anxi's hometown of overseas Chinese, thus achieving good social benefits.
Chenghuang belief is a cultural phenomenon with a profound social background of the traditional history and culture of the Han nationality. There are many temples in Anxi City God Temple in Minnan, Fujian, Taiwan Province, Southeast Asia and other places, which play a positive role in promoting traditional culture and cultural exchanges with Taiwan Province and overseas, and have positive practical significance in enhancing the national cultural identity of China people on both sides of the strait and promoting the process of peaceful reunification of the motherland.