Beizhen Temple

Beizhen temple is a Taoist temple. It is two kilometers west of Beizhen City, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province. It was first built in the 14th year of kaihuang reign of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty (594 AD). At that time, it was called Yiwulu Mountain Temple. It was rebuilt and expanded in Jin Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty. Beizhen temple is the mountain temple of Wulu mountain. "Zhou Li Zhi Fang Shi" says: the northeast is called Youzhou, and its mountain town is Yiwulu. Therefore, Yiwulu Mountain is the town of northern China. In the Sui Dynasty, Yiwulu Mountain was granted the title of "Guangning Duke", in the Liao and Jin Dynasties, the title of "Guangning king", in the Yuan Dynasty, the title of "Zhende Guangning king", and in the early Ming Dynasty, the title of "God of Beizhen Yiwulu Mountain". According to historical records, since the Sui Dynasty, every town has set up a temple on the mountain, built a temple and set up a master, and offered sacrifices in the spring and Autumn period. Beizhen temple is a place for worshiping the gods of Yiwulu Mountain. Since ancient times, people who visit Mount Lu have to pay homage to the temple of Beizhen first, so there is a saying that they should pay homage to the temple first and then visit the mountain. The existing buildings keep the style of Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Beizhen Temple

Beizhen temple, located on the hill 2km west of Beizhen City, Liaoning Province, China, is the mountain temple of Yiwulu Mountain, and the most complete one among the five largest towns in China. In 1988, it was listed as the third batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Beizhen temple was built in the 14th year of kaihuang (594) of Sui Dynasty, which was initially called "Yiwulu Mountain Temple". In 1164, it was rebuilt and renamed Guangning shrine. In the second year of Dade of Yuan Dynasty, Wulu mountain was granted the title of King Guangning of Zhende. After the temple was expanded, it was renamed "King Guangning Temple", which was destroyed at the end of Yuan Dynasty. Ming Hongwu three years in the original site reconstruction, renamed "Beizhen temple.". Beizhen Temple faces south from the north and is built close to the mountain. It is 240 meters long from north to South and 109 meters wide from east to west. From south to north, there are stone archway, Mountain Gate, Shenma hall, bell and Drum Tower, Yuxiang hall, main hall, dressing hall, Neixiang hall, bedroom and so on. There are 56 stone inscriptions of yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties in the temple, and the "Guangning Palace" site built in Qianlong period in the east of the temple.

Brief introduction to temples

Taoist temples. It is two kilometers west of Beizhen City, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province. It was first built in the 14th year of kaihuang reign of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty (594 AD). At that time, it was called Yiwulu Mountain Temple. It was rebuilt and expanded in Jin Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty. Beizhen temple is the mountain temple of Wulu mountain.

"Zhou Li Zhi Fang Shi" says: the northeast is called Youzhou, and its mountain town is Yiwulu. Therefore, Yiwulu Mountain is the town of northern China. In the Sui Dynasty, Yiwulu Mountain was granted the title of "Guangning Duke", in the Liao and Jin Dynasties, the title of "Guangning king", in the Yuan Dynasty, the title of "Zhende Guangning king", and in the early Ming Dynasty, the title of "God of Beizhen Yiwulu Mountain". According to historical records, since the Sui Dynasty, every town has set up a temple on the mountain, built a temple and set up a master, and offered sacrifices in the spring and Autumn period. Beizhen temple is a place for worshiping the gods of Yiwulu Mountain. Since ancient times, people who visit Mount Lu have to pay homage to the temple of Beizhen first, so there is a saying that they should pay homage to the temple first and then visit the mountain. The existing buildings keep the style of Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Reconstruction and expansion

Beizhen temple is the mountain temple of Yiwulu Mountain. There is a temple at the foot of the mountain. It was built in Jin Dynasty. According to the inscriptions, the present Beizhen temple was basically rebuilt and expanded in 1421 and 1495 respectively.

Beizhen temple has a large scale, 109 meters wide from east to west and 240 meters long from north to south. The buildings in the temple are arranged from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain. The main buildings in the temple are Yuxiang hall, main hall, dressing hall, Neixiang hall and bedroom hall, which are built on an I-shaped platform. Before the wuchong hall, there are stone archway, Mountain Gate, Shenma gate, bell and Drum Tower, and then there are Xianrenyan, cuiyunping and other scenic spots.

Layout structure

There are five halls in Yuxiang hall, which is the place to display the incense and wax offerings for imperial court and Royal Sacrifice. Behind the Yuxiang hall is the main hall, which is the symmetrical center of the whole building in the temple, and also the largest building in the temple. The hall is 23.4 meters wide, seven rooms wide and five rooms deep. It is the place for holding the memorial ceremony. The main hall is of Xieshan style wooden frame structure, with green brick walls, green glazed tile roof, carved beams and painted buildings, and red columns and purlins. The walls are painted with famous paintings from Han Dynasty to Ming Dynasty There are 32 portraits of literati, ministers and generals, each with his own look, vivid and colorful. There is a clay sculpture of "mountain god of Beizhen" in the hall. In the center of the hall is a bronze plaque of "Qianshi holy area" written by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty.

There are three dressing rooms at the back of the main hall, which are the places for worshippers to change their clothes before they enter the hall. After that, there are three inner incense halls, which are places to store sacrifices and incense of local officials. The last palace is the inner residence of the mountain god, so its scale is second only to the main hall. The plaque "Yucong Jiaqi" presented by Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty was hung in the center of the hall eyebrow, and the hall was surrounded by white stone railings.

Stone tablet in the temple

There are also 56 stone tablets of yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties preserved in the temple, including 12 stone tablets for sacrificing and closing mountains in Dade, Huangqing, Yanyou, Zhishun and Zhizheng years of Yuan Dynasty, 16 stone tablets for repairing temples in Yongle, Chenghua, Hongzhi, Zhengde, Longqing and Wanli years of Ming Dynasty, and 28 stone tablets for sacrificing and repairing temples and visiting mountains poems in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Daoguang and Guangxu years of Qing Dynasty It is of great value in both ancient studies and calligraphy.

Architectural features

The buildings of Beizhen temple are arranged in accordance with the mountains, rising from south to north. The main buildings are located on the central axis, with grand scale and grand momentum. In the middle of the temple is a six column and five story archway with a stone beast on each side. Up the stairs is the Xieshan Sanquan cave gate, with the word "Beizhen Temple" engraved on the bottom of the gate. After entering the mountain gate and climbing 20 steps, there are two horses and two horseboys in the hall, which are the mounts and followers of the mountain god.

Passing Shenma hall, to the north is a tall platform surrounded by carved stone railings. The main buildings are on the platform. From south to north, it is Yuxiang hall, main hall, dressing hall, Neixiang hall and houdian.

The main hall, with five rooms in width and three rooms in depth, is a large wooden frame structure of Xieshan style, covered with green tiles, carved beams and painted buildings, which is simple and elegant. It is a place for holding sacrificial ceremonies. There is a "mountain god of Beizhen" on the altar in the north of the hall. On the walls on the East and west sides of the hall are portraits of 32 founding fathers of the Ming Dynasty. The back hall is the inner house of the couple of mountain gods, second only to the main hall in size. There are statues of the couple of mountain gods and boy and girl in the hall.

zone of action

In the northwest corner of Beizhen temple, there is a huge natural stone like a screen, named "cuishiping". There is a small hole under the stone. It is said that if you drill through the hole, you will never have low back pain. Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty made it one of the eight sceneries of Lu Mountain and wrote poems and Fu for it. Since the temple was built in Beizhen, emperors over the years have held sacrificial activities here to pray for the blessing of the gods. There are 56 steles left in the temple since Yuan Dynasty. Among them, there are 12 yuan steles, 16 Ming steles and 28 Qing steles. These steles are precious historical materials for studying the politics, economy and culture of yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Honors

Beizhenmiao is a well preserved Zhenshan temple among the five major Zhenshan temples in China, which has important historical and artistic value. It was announced as the third batch of national key cultural relics protection units in 1988.

Historical evolution

Beizhen temple has been damaged for many times in war. Let's find its trace from the vast historical documents.

The earliest record of Beizhen temple is that Wulu mountain was granted medical treatment by Shun, and it was called Youzhou Zhenshan. According to the book of Sui · etiquette, in October of the 14th year of Sui kaihuang (594 AD), four towns in the whole country were granted imperial edicts, and temples were set up on the mountain. It is an early record of the temple built for the medical wizard to enter the mountain. The site of the temple remains to be studied.

In 751 ad, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty appointed Wulu mountain as Guangning Duke. In the first month of that year, he sent Bikang to offer sacrifices. According to historical records, six kings of the Liao Dynasty visited Yiwulu Mountain for more than 40 times. The reason is that in Liao Dynasty, Xianling and Qianling were built in Yiwulu Mountain, and Xianzhou and Qianzhou were set as Fengling towns nearby. Xianzhou is in today's Beizhen City, and Qianzhou is in Pingchuan in front of Beizhen temple.

In 1164 A.D., the imperial court awarded the sacrifice to Wulu mountain, and built the Guangning temple at the location of Beizhen temple. The transit of Zhongdu road in Jin Dynasty made Wang Ji have the sentence of "Guangning temple, Yunmei list" in his poem Guangning temple, which proves that there has been a temple for a long time. In the second year of Dade in the Yuan Dynasty, Wulu mountain was granted the title of doctor, and Guangning temple was set up for "King Guangning of Zhende", which expanded the scale of Guangning temple in the Jin Dynasty. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there were only three main halls. In this regard, Cheng Yu, a poet of the Ming Dynasty, wrote in his poem "paying homage to the temple of Beizhen" that "the temple looks like a war, but the Weasels at Taiyuan cave are enthusiastic. There is no crane driving in Xianting, but snake walking in Mangdong.

Beizhen temple was built on a large scale in Ming Dynasty. In the year of Hongwu, Yiwulu Mountain was called the God of Yiwulu Mountain in Beizhen. He ascended to the throne from the Duke and the king. In the 23rd year of Hongwu, he built a temple and offered sacrifices every year. On the east side of the hall, there are some ancillary buildings, such as slaughter Pavilion, God storehouse, God cupboard and so on. In the 19th year of Yongle, the old buildings were demolished and three main halls were rebuilt: five in the front hall, three in the middle hall and seven in the back hall. In front of it, Yuxiang hall and Shenma gate were built. It took four and a half years to build brick walls around the temple: it was repaired again in the seventh year of Hongzhi. So far, the largest mountain temple has basically taken shape. The Manchu and Qing dynasties attached great importance to Yiwulu Mountain in their hometown, and sent officials to repair it several times. Add stone square and imperial stele Pavilion. On the east side of the temple, Guangning palace, Wanshou temple and Guanyin hall were built. During the war in the Republic of China, Beizhen temple was damaged. During the "Cultural Revolution", the Red Guards "broke the four old" and pushed all the stone tablets to the ground, causing heavy damage.

A comprehensive view of the development of Beizhen Temple

Chinese PinYin : Bei Zhen Miao