White horse king

White horse king

Baima king is a traditional folk belief in Fujian and Taiwan, and a Taoist God with a long history of belief. Baima Zunwang temple in Yixi, Gushan District, Jin'an District, Fuzhou is a ancestral temple shared by villagers on both sides of the Strait. According to historical records, Han Gaozu enfeoffed wuzhu as the king of Fujian and Yue in Han Dynasty. When he was king of Fujian and Yue, there were big eels harming the common people. The third son of Ying was called "Baima Sanlang" and died in order to protect the territory and pacify the people. Villagers built temples in the village to honor Baima Sanlang's kindness.

Taoist deities

Baima king is a Taoist God widely believed and believed by people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait with a long history. It is a typical God from man to God in the local Taoist immortal belief system in Fuzhou. In the long-term process of belief, the story of the white horse king has been constantly evolving and enriching, showing the spiritual pursuit of Fuzhou people for advocating heroes and conquering nature, and embodying the local characteristics of Fuzhou Taoism which is tolerant and good at creating gods.

historical origin

The three mountains annals compiled by Liang Kejia in Song Dynasty states: "Shanxi, Chongji, Guangying, Lingxian, Fuyou temple, north of Gushan, south of Dacheng, there are two pools in the gorge, and the lower pool is six feet wide, which is beyond calculation. (Note: it's five li from shangtan. ）In the past, the third son of Ying, king of Fujian and Guangdong, had the courage to shoot the eel in this pond. He was thirty feet long. Because of his temple, the natives were called white horse Sanlang It is also recorded that during the Tang and Song Dynasties, the temple repeatedly prayed for rain to show its spirit, which was highly praised by officials and granted by the imperial court. In 1248, Chen long, the prefect of Chunyou County of Song Dynasty, prayed for rain and became the official, so the magistrate changed his name to Shanxi. Sanshan annals, which was written in 1182, is the earliest and most complete county annals in Fuzhou. Its records about the belief of the white horse king in Yixi are the earliest. There are only records of Baima Sanlang shooting giant eels to show his divine power, and the local people set up temples to offer sacrifices. There are no records of giant eels harming the people and Baima Sanlang's men and horses and their followers' martyrdom.

More than 300 years later, the records of Baima Sanlang's human and horse martyrdom appeared in the book "general annals of Bamin, geography, mountains and rivers, Shanxi" compiled by Huang zhongzhao in the Hongzhi period of Ming Dynasty: "Shanxi, formerly known as Liaoxi. In sangxili, the north of Gushan Mountain and the south of Mahayana, there are two pools. The lower pool is six feet wide and five miles deep. According to legend, when the king of Yue Ying, there was a big eel in the stream, three feet long. The third son of Ying, Baima Sanlang, is brave and can shoot it. Eel anger, wrapped with tail, Sanlang people and horses are drowned, Yi people set up a temple to worship it It not only increases the plot that the third son of Ying died together with his horse when he shot eels, but also changes the title of "Bai Ma San Lang" which was granted when the native built a temple to his original name. It provides space for the Folk Imagination of this subject in the future.

Wang Yingshan's min Du Ji in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty and Lin Feng's Rong Cheng Archaeology in the Qing Dynasty followed the saying of Ba Min Tong Zhi, and added the saying of "harm for the people" and "harm for Fujian" successively. There are more abundant and vivid descriptions in the novel "Mindu Bieji" in Qianjia period of Qing Dynasty. Baima Sanlang not only has a name and a great reputation, but also adds the plots of leopard, eel and Baima Sanlang's killing and sacrifice, which makes the hero image more vivid and full. At the same time, the origin of his name was changed to "Junzhong is Baima Sanlang" to show his bravery. Because of the wide spread of the novel, the folk image and story of Bai Ma San Lang are basically confused with the other records of Min capital, which is far from the records of Liang Ke Jia's three mountains. In addition, in the Five Dynasties, King Shenzhi of Fujian used to use the name of "Baima Sanlang". Later generations recorded that he was "Baima Sanlang in the army" and was also respected as the God of Baima king after his death, which caused confusion among the people and often made jokes about "Guan Gong vs. Qin Qiong".

However, folk creation is not only that. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, there was a drama "white horse king". Although the plot described the story of white horse king Sanlang shooting eels in eel stream, the eel essence became the incarnation of Princess Shishan, the daughter of the Dragon King. She had a previous marriage with white horse king Sanlang. After dying together in the fight, she became a fairy couple. Sanlang was named white horse king and Princess Shishan was named Yingde. Therefore, Baima Sanlang also had the title of "Baima Zunwang". Later, many temples dedicated to Baima Sanlang were called Baima Zunwang temple, and some temples were also dedicated to the gods of his wife.

Influence of later generations

Later, the Fuzhou folk added the following plots of Bai Ma Sanlang's entourage, five marshals and eighteen generals who were killed at the same time, and the relics drifted to become the divine medium, which cast a mysterious color on the fate of some temples in Fuzhou. For example, in the Baima King Temple in Yingzhou, Taijiang, there is a legend that Baima Sanlang's boots drifted from eel stream to Yingzhou, Taijiang, and were picked up as gods by the people. Baima Sanlang was worshipped as a God, and was honored as "the Han Dynasty's vassal house should be the king of Baima" (Han Dynasty's vassal house refers to the king of Fujian and Yue as a vassal of the Han Dynasty). Although Kangshan temple in Jin'an did not offer sacrifices to Baima Sanlang, it offered sacrifices to marshals Liu, he, Wang, Deng and Chen who died at the same time, and distributed them to other temples. Because of the large number of the five marshals, some temples only invite Liu and Deng, two marshals, to be the main gods or to be worshipped. Although the main god of Cangshan sanshengwang temple is still Baima Zunwang, KANGYI king and Xunshan king, who are said to be brothers, are added to the left and right sides of the temple, so they are called sanshengwang. The origin of the two brothers has nothing to do with the historical records of eel Creek. What's more, according to the folklore of Antan in Taijiang, there was a royal doctor named Zou Wen who also died with Bai Ma Sanlang. After his death, he became a God and appeared many times. He was regarded as the king of medical officials. Later, he built a temple in Antan to offer sacrifices and became the only temple in Fuzhou.

With the continuous creation of local historical records and folklore, the content of Baima King's belief is constantly enriched, and the belief system is constantly expanding. It inherits the belief of Minyue king of Han Dynasty, and develops the belief of five marshals and other subordinate gods. It has an influence all over the urban and rural areas of Fuzhou area, and along with the immigrants to Taiwan.

Ancestral temple

Baima Zunwang temple in Yixi, Gushan, Jin'an District, Fuzhou is the ancestral temple of the villagers on both sides of the Strait. In recent years, with Baima Zunwang Temple spreading abroad, Mazu's Baima Zunwang temple has become one of them. The Baima Zunwang temple in Yixi, Gushan, Fuzhou, was built in the Han Dynasty. According to the historical materials such as minduji, it can be proved that the Baima Fuyou Zunwang temple in Yixi is the ancestral temple. On the mountain are the ancestral hall of the king of white horse and the platform for shooting eels. It is estimated that the larger Temple of the king of white horse at the foot of the mountain was rebuilt on the new site of the Tang Dynasty.

Temple legend

There is an ancient temple in Qili Village, xiaocang Township, Lianjiang county, Fuzhou, which is called "Baima Zunwang" temple. During the Lantern Festival, villagers gather in the temple to hold banquets for guests from four villages and eight Li. During the banquets, they argue about all kinds of things and get drunk. Only in this way can the whole village achieve peace and longevity. There is a story about the origin of this folk custom.

Once upon a time, Qili Village was a good place. People say: "good seven Li, Jing seven Li, Jing Jing all in seven Li." Later, a thousand year old pine on the hillside came up with a monkey, which was exposed to the essence of the sun, and became the essence of two times. At first, monkey spirits only ate wild fruits and bamboo shoots. Later, they became more and more hungry. They often visited the village, ate a lot of poultry, and took many good women as wives. They also asked the village to present a couple of boys and girls on the night of the Lantern Festival every year, otherwise the whole village would suffer. Since then, the she family in Qili had no chance to live in peace. They asked the government to send troops to eradicate the monsters, but the government ignored them. As a result, most of the people in the township fled, leaving the land desolate and desolate.

The day after tomorrow, general leizhi came to Sheshan. He was the capital of Fujian Province sent by the emperor. After entering Fujian, general Lei often disguised himself as a civilian and went to the she mountain to ask for help. Once, on a white horse, he wanted to cross the stream. See a farmer is driving two big buffalo across the stream, cattle see the rapidity of the stream, die not past. The farmer was sweating so much that he had to pull the bull hard and look at the other bank with a dull nose. When general Lei saw the scene, he went down to the farmer and said, "I'll help you." After that, he pulled off a few big rattans, tied up the two buffaloes in the blink of an eye, folded a big pine branch as a shoulder pole, and carried it across the stream without breathing or sweating.

One day, the general came to Qili and saw that the field was deserted. Only a few old people were digging wild vegetables. Heart a sour, unconsciously shed tears. Only when you come forward to inquire about the root cause can you know that the monkey spirit has done evil. Angry, he said to the old man, "I must kill the devil and do harm to the people." When the old man saw that he was a stranger, he quickly replied, "we've got your mind, but the monkey spirit's magic is very powerful and changeable. I'm afraid I can't win." the general replied, "I'll live here and discuss with my countrymen. With everyone's help, I'm sure I can win!"

Since then, general Lei has lived. Every morning, he goes to the hillside to observe the changes of monkey spirits. At night, he goes out to find out where the monkey spirits are. He saw clearly that there was a big tree hole in the thousand year old pine, in which several women who had been taken away were locked.

One night, he took his sword and went out to the tree cave by monkey spirit. We know from women that monkey spirits often tease them and ask them to sing folk songs to them every morning. Monkey spirit is most afraid of losing his soul. Every year a few days before he eats a boy or girl, he deposits his soul in a very secret place. Only if he takes his soul and burns it in a fire, he will die. But the monkey spirit is smart. Every year it has to change places. No one knows where its soul will be. After listening, general Lei whispered in the woman's ear for a while and then quietly returned to the village.

In the middle of the night, the monkey spirit came back to the cave. A woman suddenly said, "Monkey King, just now there was a man outside the cave who said that he wanted to kill you during the Lantern Festival. We were very scared."

Chinese PinYin : Bai Ma Zun Wang