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The Significance and Value of Protecting Chenghuang Temple Now

Fujian and Taiwan are separated by a river and geographically close. For a long time, Fujian people and compatriots in Taiwan Province Province have a close blood relationship in life customs, customs and religious beliefs. Among them, the belief in the city god in Taiwan Province Province originated from Fujian and rooted in the city god in Yeshan, Fuzhou. Therefore, it will undoubtedly play a positive role in promoting cross-strait cultural exchanges, inheriting and carrying forward the traditional culture of the Chinese nation to study the city god culture owned by the people on both sides of the strait and explore the cultural connotation and positive significance of the city god belief. The splendid 5,000-year-old culture created by Chinese sons and daughters is a spiritual bond that unites all the people of China and an important economic foundation for peaceful reunification. City God worship is a unique religious belief in China, which has a history of more than 1000 years. Taoist priests are in charge of the city god temples all over China, and the ceremony of celebrating the birthday and inviting the city god to travel around the world is also presided over by Taoist priests, which shows that the city god belief belongs to a category of Taoism in China. Most of the city god temples in China are the fusion of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, which cannot exclude the penetration of Confucianism and the Buddhist theory of reincarnation into the city god culture, such as a couplet between Yeshan in Fuzhou and the capital god in Fujian: "Evil will die, evil will not die, and morality will die." The moral of this link is to quote the saying of "three generations of results" to warn the world that "good is rewarded with good, and evil with evil." It's not that the time has not come. " This combination of punishment and education is easily accepted by the world; If everyone is caring and doesn't do bad things, the public security of the whole society will be much more stable, so it will be easily accepted by the government and will not interfere. Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, the belief in the city god has been highly respected by the supreme rulers. After Zhu Yuanzhang's imperial power was restricted in the Ming Dynasty, in order to consolidate his ruling position, prevent officials from being unkind, lead officials to force the people to revolt, and improve the status of the city god many times, in the first month of the second year of Hongwu (1369), he sealed the city god in Kyoto and other places, announced the establishment of county town god temples, and stipulated them. In the third year of Hongwu, the city god sacrifice was listed as a national sacrifice ceremony, "establishing the temple system and attaching importance to the official hall", and "the king of the kingdom personally offered it." Everything in the province, state and county is ordered by the Lord. "Later, it was formed that when the local protocol department took office, it was necessary to fast, bathe and worship the local city god. This step by step knighthood, step by step worship, makes people have two yamen, one yin and one yang. In addition, local officials in China often turn to the city god for help when they have unclear situations or when natural disasters are beyond their power. It also makes it seem that in the eyes of the people, the yin official is higher than the yang official, so that the belief of the city god is spread all over the country and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. In the twentieth year of Hongwu (1387), after Zhu Yuanzhang completed the reconstruction of the capital city god temple, he once said to Song Lian, a bachelor of imperial academy, "I built the city god temple, which made people know and fear it; If people are afraid, they dare not do anything. "His son, Judy, has an imperial edict, and there is a saying that' the good and evil of the people are under surveillance, so that you can't get away with it', all of which express the purpose of the feudal emperor to use God to promote the faith of the city god and consolidate his dominant position, which is recorded in Ming History, Book of Rites and A Record of Mao. Second, the belief in the city god in our country began with the ancient emperor offering wax water. The worship of towers by the early city god originated from the idea that everything in nature has a god. Looking up the "suburban special articles" in the Book of Rites, there are "Eight Waxes of the Son of Heaven". Sacrificial workshops and water songs are also things. " (Zheng Xuan's Note: "Water is harmony, ditch is also") In the last years of ancient times, Xia was called Jiaping, Shang was called Qingsi, and Zhou was called Dawax. "The Book of Rites" and "Li Yunpian" have: "The son of heaven is a big wax. Shuiyong is the seventh. " It shows that in the Spring and Autumn Period, among the eight gods sacrificed by the emperor at the end of the year, the seventh one is the water fairy. Zhao Yi's "Jade Cong Kao" also said in Volume 35: "Water is also a city, and Yong is also a city." All show that the city god comes from water. It is a long process for the city god to change from a natural god to an idolized and personalized god. According to Volume II of Jiajing's Annals of Anxi County in the Ming Dynasty: "Later generations thought that the high city was deep in the pool and kept away from the outside, and its heroic spirit was a god, so it was necessary to sacrifice it. Its worship is synonymous with mountains and rivers. The world does not pay attention to it, and often treats it with humanity. It is a loss to want to add titles. (1) Shao Peng's Monument to the Reconstruction of the Town God in Xinghua House also states: "The dragon is the country, the depression is the pool, and the four rings are far-reaching, which is a solid image of the Town God. "However, people's fear lies not in their form but in their gods, that is, their eyes, so they must think about their appearance, think about their actions, gather their spirits, inspire Si Tong, and ... shape the painting from this." These two historical books vividly reflect the origin of the idolization of the city god. The God of Town God, commonly known as "Lord of Town God", can be traced back to the Qing Dynasty of the Five Dynasties (934-936), and the emperor conferred the title of Lord of Town God at the end of the Tang Dynasty. "Examination of Wang Litong" contains "those who have contributed to the people should be worshipped, and those who can resist disasters should be worshipped." Zhou Wei, the censor of the Western Han Dynasty, stood up for justice. When Xiang Yu captured the city, he made him a general and enjoyed Wan Huhou's lure and surrender. Instead of falling, Zhou Ke angered Xiang Yu and was boiled to death. After Liu Bang ascended the throne, he thought of his loyalty and made all counties in the world set up temples to worship. This event was recorded in Lin Tong's Changle Tujing in Song Dynasty and Fu Ning Fu Zhi in Qing Ganlong, indicating that the belief and personification of the city god in humanistic worship came from Han Dynasty. The earliest city god temple in Fujian was built in 282, when Jin Taikang moved to the capital city. Since 17 16, it has been expanded in Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Even if it was destroyed by war and fire, some officials or kind men and women donated money to rebuild and repair it. After liberation, 1996, with the support of Fuzhou Municipal People's Government and the enthusiastic support of overseas villagers, the temple was rebuilt on the original site. Now the temple is magnificent. In addition to Zhou Ke, there are famous martyrs 13 from Tang Dynasty to Ming Dynasty, such as Dr. Tang Guanglu, Gong Fan, Mr. Song Zhonggong, Zhi Wugang Army, Governor Zhang Gong and Zhi Long. (three) honest and clean, loyal to their duties, to defend the country and the people; Some attach importance to teaching, set up hospitals, promote advantages and eliminate disadvantages, and have outstanding achievements or virtues, which are deeply admired and loved by Fuzhou people. Therefore, after their death, they hope to use the heroic spirit of these officials and martyrs to continue to play their role in protecting the country and defend the country, and attach themselves to the Chenghuang Temple, the capital of Yeshan. The belief in the Three Cities God and the sacrificial activities have certain cultural connotations. When the Chenghuang Temple was built, celebrities at that time were invited to write couplets in advance, engraved on the lintel and the sides of the gate and the stone pillars in the temple. Most of the contents are praises or warnings to the temple gods, and their significance is not only philosophical, but also far-reaching. For example, there is a couplet by Zheng Banqiao in Qing Dynasty in Chenghuang Temple in Huaixian County, Shandong Province: "It's just the end of the game." Do something good and learn from ghosts and gods. An Wei City God Temple couplets: "No matter how lawless you are, do you still have courage when your evil mirror is hung?" "Knowing that I can forgive, put down the butcher knife and turn around." Wait a minute. In addition to persuading the world to do more good deeds and be kind to others, it also leaves a retreat for those who have made mistakes and done bad things, and advises them to wake up in time and change their ways. This is similar to the Buddhist propaganda of "putting down the butcher's knife and becoming a Buddha on the spot", which is to persuade people to be honest and has certain social significance. Secondly, after the completion of the Town God Temple, local celebrities or officials are always invited to write eulogies or inscriptions. In a large number of small sacrificial activities every year, celebrities and scholars are also invited to recite poems, leaving precious historical materials and beautiful poems for future generations, such as Zhang Shuo's sacrifice to Jingzhou Town God in Tang Dynasty, Li Bai's sacrifice to the political monument of Han Gongde, Ezhou Secretariat, and Zhang Jiuling's sacrifice to Hongzhou. In Song Dynasty, Lu You wrote City God Temple in Ningde County and Pray for Rain in Fuzhou City God. In the Yuan Dynasty, Han began to dabble in politics, such as writing an inscription for You Ling and erecting a monument for the Town God Temple. In the Ming Dynasty, Ye's poem "Remembering the Town God Temple in Fuqing County" and Xinyang Hu Shou 'an's poem "Ren Man Town God"; In the Qing Dynasty, Zhu Lian, director of Zhangzhou official school, wrote Rebuilding Aocheng and Moving to Shishi Town God Temple, and Yang Guisen, the magistrate of Changhua County, Taiwan, wrote Taking Office in Town God Temple. Especially in the Tang Dynasty, Li Shangyin wrote the most articles about the Town God, including four articles: Sacrificing to the Town God of Yizhou, Sacrificing to the Town God of Guizhou and Saicheng God. These works handed down from generation to generation can provide very detailed historical materials for future generations to understand the construction of the city god, investigate the temple repair behavior of local officials and natural disasters, correct false and wrong cases, resist foreign aggression, and distinguish good from evil.