Longgang ancient temple

Longgang ancient temple is located in Shuikou Town, Kaiping City. It is the most famous ancient temple in Kaiping City. It was built by the four surnames of Liu, Guan, Zhang and Zhao in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. It has a history of more than 300 years. Longgang ancient temple is one of the oldest temple buildings in Kaiping. According to the records of Guangzhao Tongzhi, the location of Longgang ancient temple "springs from Yunshan mountain, connects Zhuhai, hovers and fluctuates like a rolling dragon, with a small hill rising in the middle, like the sky of the dragon head. On a rainy and gloomy night, you can always see the misty soil of the mountain rising into the sky, and if there are gods and spirits in it", so the place has a name: Longgang. The property right of Longgang belongs to the Liu family, but the Liu family is small, and there are many other families nearby. They all want to take away Longgang with "aura". In order to prevent other surnames from seizing, Liu family members gathered Liu, Guan, Zhang and Zhao family members to discuss the construction of a temple on Longgang to worship the statues of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and Kong Ming, and named the temple Longgang temple. In 1876, the first overseas Longgang temple was built in San Francisco of the United States, referring to the Longgang ancient temple in Shuikou Town of Kaiping. This overseas Longgang Temple inspired people of four surnames from other places to establish Longgang clan associations in various places. Over the past 100 years, Longgang clan organizations have been established in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Peru, Australia, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries, as well as in Taiwan and Hong Kong. In 1963, the world Longgang friendship association was officially established in Hong Kong. According to statistics in 2002, there are 143 units in the world Longgang organization. Today's Longgang organizations have spread all over the world, and the Longgang ancient temple in Shuikou, Kaiping City is recognized as the birthplace of these organizations.

Longgang ancient temple

Longgang ancient temple is located in Tangkou village, Liu surname, Shuikou Town, Kaiping City, Guangdong Province. It is one of the oldest temple buildings in Kaiping. It was built in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. It is a three entrance ancient temple with ancestral halls and temples. The temple worships the statues of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun, offering sacrifices to the four surnames of Liu, Guan, Zhang and Zhao. According to textual research, many of the four surnames in China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as foreign countries such as the United States, Canada and Mexico, have established Longgang ancient temple, while Kaiping Longgang ancient temple is the ancestor.

The origin of history

Longgang temple in danshuikou is one of the oldest temples in Kaiping. The origin of this temple, according to the "Guangzhao Tongzhi" records of the "Longgang Temple" Original: Yan. The property belongs to the surname Liu in shancaobu township. All the surnames nearby, known for their aura, are eager to seize it. Liu's family is small, and he is afraid of brewing disputes because he is a strong neighbor. Therefore, he gathered the surnames of Liu, Guan, Zhang and Zhao and decided to build a temple on the hill, offering statues of emperor zhaolie, marquis Miao of Guanzhuang, marquis Zhang Huan, marquis Zhao Shunping and Marquis Wu of Zhuge The origin of the name of the ancient temple of sinalonggang. So astringent pen for the record. In the first year of Kangxi, Liu Wenju, the editor of Liren academy, wrote it. ]

When the temple was built, it was the meeting place of the four clansmen at the beginning. Every year, there were two spring and autumn sacrifices (in addition, there were sacrifices for the fourth ancestor's birthday: the 19th of the first month, the 24th of June, the 8th of August, and the 9th of September). People of the four clansmen, fathers, elders, and clansmen all sent people to the temple to offer sacrifices in person, which was very grand and lively. After the memorial ceremony, they gathered family affection, discussed all matters, and worked together for the well-being. They became the contact center of the four clans, and the meeting place of dunqin and Muzu. From this, they established Longgang office, public welfare office, Taicheng office, Guanghai office, Xinhui office, Enping office, etc. Later, Longgang monthly was published to connect feelings, communicate news, strengthen unity and help each other. Later, Longgang offices were set up all over the country. In the late Qing Dynasty (about 1908), Longgang Temple served as a school, teaching officials, and Longgang groups were all over the world. Before the war of resistance against Japan (1935), the temple had a school with many students and good grades.

Longgang ancient temple is located in danshuikou port at the junction of Taishan, Kaiping, Xinhui and Heshan counties. It is the center of Longgang ancient temple. Facing Tanjiang River, it connects with Guangzhan highway, which is a provincial highway. It has convenient land and water transportation. Local people have made a living overseas very early, and most of the overseas Chinese in the United States are from Siyi. When the four surnamed people go abroad, they bring the organization, spirit and atmosphere of Longgang overseas. Since 1848, a large number of Chinese laborers have come to the United States to make a living. With the increasing population, societies have been established one after another. In the early years of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (around 1876), Longgang temple was first built in the old jinbululun port of the United States. It is the first Longgang temple built in the United States with reference to the Longgang temple in danshuikou of Kaiping. It has become a meeting place for the four surnames in the United States, It's actually the rudiment of the society. In 1906, the temple was destroyed by the great earthquake. In 1910, the Longgang office building in San Francisco was completed. It was the contact center of the four clans in the United States, and then Longgang groups were established one after another in the United States. Its founding dates can be traced back to 1888 in New York, 1890 in Bolun and shelu, 1919 in Honolulu, 1920 in Wulun and 1923 in mianfo city. In 1928, the first Congress of Longgang in the United States was held in Luoyang Province, which was approved and merged to form Longgang. Later, it expanded from the United States to other countries and regions, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Peru, Australia, Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and other countries, as well as Europe, Hong Kong and Taipei. In September 1963, the world Longgang friendship association was officially established in Hong Kong. Before that, in China, the Longgang office and the four surnamed people have strengthened their ties with overseas countries, helping each other and being very close. Around the 10th year of the Republic of China (1921), with the strong support of overseas Longgang offices and the four surnamed clans, Siyi Longgang Office published the Longgang monthly, which sent news at home and abroad to communicate and report on local news. There were four surnames at home and abroad. In 1956, Longgang quarterly was founded by Longgang friendship general office of America. It carried forward the spirit of Longgang, and made a lot of achievements with loyalty, benevolence, courage, sincerity, unity and mutual assistance. Longgang quarterly has published articles in several issues to discuss the origin of the name. It is generally acknowledged that it originated from the Longgang ancient temple in danshuikou, Kaiping. The argument is well founded and reasonable. According to Longgang quarterly, there are 143 overseas organizations with more than 3 million overseas relatives, accounting for about one seventh of the total number of overseas Chinese. According to the news of Yangcheng Evening News in 1984, there are more than 100 million people with the surname of Zhang in China, which is the most populous clan in China. Longgang clan has a large population. Longgang groups are all over the world. A clan group has such a long history, huge strength and a worldwide organization, which is rare in the world.

building structure

The architecture of Longgang ancient temple not only draws on the national style of ancient Chinese architecture, but also draws on the characteristics of palace and ancestral temple, and stands out from the rest. The ancient temple is located in the east of Tangkou village of Liu family in Honghua township (Yuanshan Caobu township) of danshuikou. It is a grand ancestral temple. The main hall enters three levels from the north to the south, and the auxiliary Temple enters three levels from the East, connecting the three story Kongming building. There is a ancestral temple of Liu family (belonging to Tangkou Village) in the west, forming a large architectural complex. The main hall is a palace style building with glazed tile, gold lettered roof, polished blue brick wall and dragon shaped ridge. The interior is a stone column and kundian wooden truss structure. The floor is paved with light red large-scale bricks, the patio is paved with hemp stone, and the patio has a horizontal gate leading to the East passage. The front seat of the main hall is the first to enter the center. The entrance is wide and there are stone plaques on it. Four convex characters are carved on both sides, and eight concave characters are carved on both sides. The calligraphy is vigorous, vigorous and beautiful. The golden light is shining. There is a pair of stone drums on both sides of the hemp stone drum platform. The paper bars on both sides of the walls are plastered with gray, and painted with colorful landscape paintings. The inscription is: wait for delicate calligraphy. Three dragons are carved on the three-layer wooden purlin, and flowers and birds are carved on the three-layer wooden purlin. A pair of stone lions are set on both sides of the hall. The whole facade is solemn, exquisite and full of vitality. There is an open square in front of the temple and a pond in front of it. The water in the pond is clear and fragrant with fragrant lotus plants all over the place. The green trees all around make it more elegant and magnificent. There are a pair of stone pillars on both sides of the entrance, and a couplet is carved,. In the 10th year of Guangxu, Zhong Dexiang of Nanning wrote and merged the book. It was set up when the ancient temple was rebuilt in 1886. There are many black stone tablets on both sides of the wall, engraved with the name of donation. On the top of the wall, the painting of landscape and figure is very exquisite. A broad stone patio is a little higher, which is the second entrance to the middle seat. There are four characters carved on the wooden plaque on the door. On the green glazed tile roof, there are two dragons playing with pearls, which are vigorous and beautiful. The upper part of the four walls are painted with mural characters. Another patio is a higher level, which is the third entrance to the main hall in the back seat. On the stage, four sages, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun, are worshipped In front of the statue, there are large and exquisite iron censers, carved wooden incense tables, exquisite oil lamps, couplets of stone pillars on both sides, various weapons and instruments, and wooden plates. All of them are exquisite products. On the ridge of glazed tile roof, there is a large pottery carving of Aoyu. On the east side of the corridor, there stands a bigger one, which is three stories high. Inside the building, there is a god Pavilion, engraved with Zhuge Liang's statue and a feather fan. It is peaceful, calm, natural and unrestrained, with infinite wisdom in its eyes. Murals, paintings, stories of the Three Kingdoms. Even the passage, you can get to the square in front of the gate. On the west side of the temple, a wall surrounds the whole temple. The layout of the whole building is rigorous, solemn and majestic, exquisite and beautiful. Decorative art, the ancestral hall, floor, column, wall, incense table, couplet, mural, to tile eaves ridge, a large number of use of stone, wood, brick, pottery

Chinese PinYin : Long Gang Gu Miao