Taiyuan, a less famous tourist destination, has always been a place where I am satisfied. If nothing else, the Jinci Temple alone gives people enough reasons to come to this ancient city.
Although it's not my first time in Taiyuan, I came and went in a hurry last time and couldn't go to Jinci. I made a special trip here this time and finally got rid of an annoyance.
Before that, I had never written an article for a scenic spot or museum, but I thought Jinci was worth a whole text, so I seriously wrote this Jinci popular science paste, which contained many pictures taken on the spot.
1,< Lord of Jinci >
2. < The Construction and Changes of Jinci Temple >;
3.< The biggest mystery of Jinci Temple-The Battle of the Lord God >
4.< Existing buildings in Jinci >
5.< postscript >
The history of Jinci can be traced back to 3000 years ago.
At that time, Shang Zhouwang knew nothing about it, and Zhou Wuwang attacked him. Konoha defeated Zhou Wang's army. After Zhou Wang fled back to Chao Ge Palace, he set himself on fire and died, and the prosperous Shang Dynasty perished. Since then, the Western Zhou Dynasty, which ruled for 800 years, has been established, and its capital is now in the southwest of Xi City, Shaanxi Province.
Three years after the demise of Shang Dynasty, Zhou Wuwang died and was transferred to his son Song Ji as Zhou Chengwang.
According to legend, after he ascended the throne, when he went to the garden with his younger brother, he picked up a flat leaf on the ground, cut it into the shape of a reed and said to his younger brother, "I'll give you the flat leaf."
In ancient times, "Tong" and "Tang" were homophonic.
Although it looks like a game, history is like a stone. You are not kidding. From then on, Tangzhou became the fief of Wang Di.
The protagonist in the story "Jiantong Di Feng" is the original owner of Jinci-Tang Shuyu.
Yes, my son, my brother, and his mother is Jiang Ziya's daughter, whose real name is Ji. Later, she was named Tang Shuyu because her seal was in the Tang Dynasty.
The history of the Tang Dynasty can be traced back to the period of three emperors and five emperors. It is said that their ancestors came from the tribe of Emperor Yao and were called "Taotang History" because they were good at firing pottery. After Emperor Yao, the Tang Dynasty gradually declined, and the Zhou Dynasty surrendered after its establishment, but then rebelled. After Duke Ji Dan rebelled, the original ruler of the Tang Dynasty moved to Haojiang.
Therefore, the management and rule of Tang fiefs became an urgent problem, and it was at this time that they began to take over.
Because of its long history, it is difficult to verify Tang Shuyu's deeds of governing the country in those days. Only this character of "starting from Xia government, stronger than accommodation" can make us imagine the elegance of governance in that year.
After that, his son Xie Jiwei. Because of moving to the bank of Jinjiang, the country name was changed to "Jin", which continued the new policy of governing the country and made remarkable achievements.
It is precisely because of the good foundation laid at that time that this land can continue the prosperity of nearly 700 years in the Spring and Autumn Period; Can be mentioned, respected and worshipped in later generations; In order to leave a comprehensive architectural museum like Jinci.
At this point, we have basically introduced the owner of Jinci-Tang Shuyu. Now let's look back at this great building.
Jinci Temple, formerly known as Tang Shuyu Temple, was founded at an unknown time. However, according to research, the cypress tree on the main hall side of Jinci Temple is between 2600 and 900 years old. Therefore, it can be speculated that the earliest Jinci Temple was built at that time. It is speculated that after the establishment of the State of Jin, a branch of Shu clan moved to Jinyang and built an ancestral temple at the foot of the hanging urn at the source of Jinjiang to commemorate the ancestor Tang Shuyu.
After 3000 years, the architectural traces of that year have been exhausted, and the princes and princes of that year have already turned into loess. Only this dragon and cypress, silently, witnessed the historical changes again and again, witnessed one song after another.
Jin ci was first seen in the history books, and it was the Water Classic Annotation of the Northern Wei Dynasty:
In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Levin, Wen Xuandi, expanded the Jinci Temple, "building large-scale buildings and building ponds"; During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Jinci Temple was also renovated and expanded. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Guangyi, Song Taizong built many buildings in Jinci and inscribed them with inscriptions. Today's Notre Dame de Jinci main hall is the building of that year; Since then, the Yuan, Ming, Qing and modern times have also been repaired.
What is even more rare is that the transformation of Jinci Temple is not to reinvent itself, but to retain the original architectural style and maintain a high respect for the previous generation of buildings.
The inheritance from generation to generation and the relay from generation to generation have left us this architectural museum, which brings together the architectural achievements of China and gives us a glimpse of the essence of architectural art in different historical periods, just like a big family that has lived together for generations, which is all-inclusive and extremely harmonious.
There are many ancestral temples in ancient and modern China, but there are not many buildings like Jinci, which have been believed by generations and protected and repaired by rulers. There are different opinions about the reasons behind it, but we can get a glimpse of it.
From the origin of Jinci described above, it can be seen that Jinci is inseparable from the words "Tang" and "Jin". When it comes to "Tang" and "Jin", most people can associate it with several glorious times in China's history: the former Qin State of Jin, the Western Jin established by Sima's family, the Tang Dynasty established by Tang Gaozu Li Yuan, and the later Tang Dynasty of the Five Dynasties.
The fate of Jinci is also closely related to the rise and fall of these dynasties.
Needless to say, Jinci originated here, and it is precisely because of the achievements of Tang Shuyu and his son that Jinci has always been respected by the local people and its incense has flourished. It is said that the Jinci Temple near Wengshan Mountain in the west is the seat of Long Mai, with excellent geomantic omen, which can breed the spirit of emperors.
Therefore, for a long time, the God of Jinci has always been its original owner-Tang Shuyu, and everyone from the emperor to the people has kept him at a respectful distance.
Sima replaced Cao Liguo, and the choice of "Jin" was also closely related to the state of Jin in the pre-Qin period. Abandoning the old state of "Wei" and "inheriting Han from Jin" borrowed the historical precipitation of pre-Qin. Whether Jinci Temple was built in the Jin Dynasty is not recorded in historical materials, but the title was taken from it, and its respect can be imagined.
According to historical records, Wen Xuandi, the earliest emperor who renovated Jinci on a large scale, was born in Jinyang in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. In order to pray for the stability of the throne, he expanded the Jinci Temple on a large scale. Although the Northern Qi Dynasty lasted less than 30 years, his admiration for Jinci and Tang Shuyu can still be seen.
It is the most prosperous dynasty in China history-the Tang Dynasty that really pushed the glory and sacredness of Jinci to the peak. In 6 17 AD, Tang Gaozu took up the army in Tang Yuan. In less than a year, the Sui Dynasty perished and the Tang Dynasty was established. This place of war is Jinyang and Tang Shuyu, the ancestor of the Tang Dynasty.
During the Zhenguan period, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin personally wrote the Preface to Jinci, praising Tang Shuyu's achievements and praying that he would continue to protect the Tang Dynasty and remain immortal.
The worship of Jinci and Tang Shuyu reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty, which was extremely sacred in the hearts of local people.
Unfortunately, in the long river of history, nothing can escape the fate of ups and downs, and it is precisely because of Jinyang's heyday in the Tang Dynasty that Zhao Guangyi, Song Taizong, ordered the burning after capturing Jinyang City 300 years later. This move is to vent the heavy losses caused by Jinyang people's tenacious resistance, and also reflects his inner vigilance and fear of this land with "Long Mai"
However, shortly after Zhao Guangyi burned Jinyang City, he ordered a large-scale restoration of Jinci Temple. This seemingly contradictory behavior is actually not difficult to understand. After all, although Jinyang City has fallen, it is necessary to buy people's hearts and make the people sincerely submit. Building Jinci Temple is the way to win the hearts of the people.
However, during this period, a change that can't be fully explained has taken place in Jinci-the change of the main god. The original Jinci, the Lord God is undoubtedly Tang Shuyu, but today's Jinci, the Lord God has become the Virgin. This change occurred in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, but the specific reason and time have not been verified, and the prototype of the Virgin Mary is still a mystery.
From the perspective of the rulers of the Northern Song Dynasty, it is not difficult for us to understand this behavior. After all, Tang Shuyu is a generation of emperors, and the people have worshipped Tang Shuyu for a long time. Inevitably, there will be no second Tang Gaozu Li Yuan, which will threaten the rule of the current dynasty. If the Lord God is replaced by the Virgin Mary and Tang Shuyu's position is weakened, this folk worship will gradually collapse.
However, how to replace the main god of Jinci with the Virgin without causing fierce opposition from the people, and move the original main god Tang Shuyu to the slant hall to the north of the main hall? This is still a mystery.
Even the identity of the Virgin Mary is controversial. The most widely spread story is Jiang Yi, the mother of Tang Shuyu and the daughter of Jiang Ziya. Some people say it's Empress Liu of the Northern Song Dynasty. Some people also say that it is the image of the goddess Jinshui ... It is still inconclusive and has become the biggest mystery of Jinci.
Anyway, from then on, the virgin became the god of the main hall of Jinci, guarding this land. Fortunately, this did not affect the worship of Jinci in later generations. Successive dynasties have protected and repaired this great building, leaving us valuable historical materials and wealth.
Although there is no scientific basis for Long Mai's statement, it is a miracle that this building complex continues to be brilliant after 3000 years of wind and rain.
The biggest mystery in Jinci, the dispute between the gods, needs further historical data to be discovered and solved slowly.
Today, Jinci has become an open scenic spot with 100 temples, halls, buildings, pavilions, bridges and pavilions in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The core area of Jinci is west of Diaoweng Mountain, which is divided into three roads: middle, north and south.
With awe, I have visited today's Jinci Temple, or exquisite or magnificent buildings, telling stories of long years and mottled history.
The middle road is the essence of the whole temple, and it passes along the road, namely: Shuijingtai (Ming and Qing Dynasties)-Huixian Bridge (Ming Dynasty)-Ren Jin Tai (Northern Song Dynasty)-Duiyuefang (Ming Dynasty)-Xiandian (Yuan Dynasty)-Yuqiaofeiliang (Northern Wei Dynasty)-Notre Dame Hall (Northern Song Dynasty).
Entering from the gate, in front of it is the water mirror platform built in Ming and Qing Dynasties, which was used as a stage in those days, far away from the main hall.
At that time, on this stage, there were many disturbances, joys and sorrows, just like this Jinci, telling the charm of thousands of years of history.
On the side of the water mirror platform, you can see different architectural styles before and after. The front part is a single-eaved rolling shed roof, and the back part is a double-eaved rest peak.
The Water Mirror Terrace goes forward and passes Huixian Bridge, which is the Golden Man Terrace, which was built in the Northern Song Dynasty. The glass pavilion in the middle was built in the Ming Dynasty, and there are four iron men in the four corners, which means guarding the holy land here.
Behind the Golden Man Terrace stands an archway, which was built in the Ming Dynasty. The name of the archway is "Duiyue", which comes from the Book of Songs, meaning "preaching and teaching to solve doubts".
According to legend, the mother of Gao Yingyuan, a calligrapher in the Ming Dynasty, was ill and could not be cured for a long time. Later, she got a sign that said "add bricks and tiles". Gao Yingyuan decided to build a memorial archway in Jinci. The day after she broke ground, her mother recovered. Later, Gao Yingyuan wrote the inscription "Duiyue", which is now this precious plaque.
Passing through Duiyue Square, it is a sacrificial hall built in Yuan Dynasty, which is used for sacrificial occasions. It is made of wood, and there are no walls around it. It is used to place sacrificial objects. The plaque in the middle of the memorial hall is like a turtle, which means longevity.
On one side of the temple, you can see the exquisite wooden structure.
There is a famous fish pond flying beam on the west side of Xiandian, which is a cross bridge, which is an isolated case in China.
In ancient times, circles were called pools and squares were called swamps. There are fish in the swamp, called "Fish Marsh", and a bridge flies over it, called "Flying Beam"
According to research, this bridge was built in the Northern Song Dynasty, but the history of the bridge column can be traced back to the Northern Wei Dynasty 1500 years ago, and it is also recorded in Water Mirror:
The place where the fish pond flies is the main hall of Jinci today-Notre Dame.
Notre Dame was built in the Northern Song Dynasty. It is a wooden building with seven rooms wide and six rooms deep. It rests on the top of the mountain, with double eaves and upturned eaves on both sides. The whole building gives people a good feeling of rising at any time.
The front porch is two rooms wide, and it feels particularly open as soon as you step in, and at the same time you can't help but feel awe.
What impressed me most in Notre Dame was the eight lifelike carved dragons carved on the eight pillars in front of the temple, each of which was exquisite and even frightening.
Standing on the front porch of an empty temple, looking up at these dragons seems to devour all darkness and malice.
Notre Dame has an amazing number of plaques. After the accumulation of various dynasties, many literati Mo Bao have been left behind, some of whom have not been tested for a long time, but it also reflects that Jinci has a high status in various dynasties and generations
Another unique feature of Notre Dame Hall is its 43 colorful sculptures. Except for the sculptures made by two emperors for the Ming Dynasty, the others are original works of the Northern Song Dynasty, which are extremely precious.
Every clay sculpture is as big as a real person, which fully reflects the court life in the Northern Song Dynasty. Every clay sculpture has a vivid expression, which conforms to the identity of the character.
Among them, there is a statue of music age, which is particularly different. Her face is smiling. It seems that she is happy because she sings well and is praised by the Virgin Mary, but she is a little sad here, as if she is sad that she is in the court and her fate is like floating grass.
Mr. Mei Lanfang likes this clay sculpture very much and thinks that she "laughs like a life story"
Out of respect for tradition, the Madonna was not photographed.
Jinci North Road mainly includes Wenchang Palace (Qing Dynasty)-Dongyue Temple-Haotian Temple-Tangbei Pavilion-Tang Shuyu Temple (rebuilt in Ming and Qing Dynasties)-Lishanquan-Chaoyang Cave and Yuntao Cave.
Some buildings are relatively new, and some are not open, so we will not go one by one. Tang Memorial Monument Pavilion, Tang Shuyu Temple and Li Shanquan are the most impressive buildings.
The Tang Monument Pavilion was built to protect Li Shimin's Monument to the Jinci Temple.
The handwriting of the original tablet has been blurred, and we can still imagine the grand occasion when Li Shimin came to Jinci to pray devoutly.
Since the main hall of Jinci was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Tang Shuyu Temple was moved to Pian Hall, and now the ancestral hall is expanded from Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Although the Virgin became the Lord God, people still don't want to forget Kim's ancestors, and there is still a corner to mourn.
Li Shanquan and Nan Laoquan, located on both sides of Notre Dame, were founded in Beiqi and rebuilt in Ming Dynasty.
Goodness comes from Laozi: goodness is like water, and water is the goodness of all things.
Jinci South Road mainly includes Shengying Building-Liubi Pavilion-Sansheng Temple-Fu Shan Memorial Hall-Non-boat Pavilion-Difficult Old Spring-Jellyfish Building-Gongbo Temple and so on. Just like North Road, I don't count them one by one.
The most famous south road is: the first spring in Jinyang-the old spring, which comes from Mount Xuanweng. It has been endless for thousands of years, and the annual water temperature is 17 degrees, which is one of the three wonders of Jinci.
The South Monument was inscribed by the famous painter Fu Shan in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, and it is one of the "Three Famous Monuments in Jinci".
About Jinci, I will simply write here.
The accumulation of one thousand years is naturally beyond the reach of a layman like me. I wrote this article seriously with awe, just to give myself an explanation. If I am lucky enough to contribute to the inheritance of this land, I will be extremely honored. After all, in the process of traveling, I can say that there are very few tourists who know about Jinci, and the tour guide always repeats the rhetoric over and over again, which is actually meaningless.
In order to write this popular science post, I really spent a little time, consulted a lot of materials and watched some related documentary videos. I was still trembling when I put pen to paper, for fear of making common sense mistakes.
For the textual research of Jinci, many things are really inconclusive, and many mysteries remain to be solved.
However, this does not affect us to appreciate and respect this architectural complex that brings together China's architectural achievements, nor does it affect us to cross the Millennium to recall and pay tribute to the heroic spirit thousands of years ago.
This trip, the weekend tour was hasty, and I only brought a 50mm fixed-focus lens, which was a little regrettable that I couldn't take a panoramic view of the building.
In addition, I am not a researcher of ancient architecture in China, but I love history and all real historical sites, because Jinci has no professional analysis on architecture and architectural value, only some historical introductions and real pictures. At the same time, the research on the age of many buildings in Jinci is still inconclusive, and many introductions in this paper only refer to the current popular sayings. Please correct me if there are any mistakes.
The next article will write the travel strategy of Taiyuan weekend tour, and interested friends can pay attention to communication.
As a treasure trove of ancient buildings in China and the source of 5,000-year civilization, I will definitely come to Shanxi again, hoping to come to Jinci again.
Attached is a website of Jinci official website. When many people go out to play, they always look for strategies on various platforms, but they ignore official website, the most official way. The introduction of official website in Jinci is very detailed, and there is a VR panorama for your reference.
Jinci official website link: /jcbwg