Bigan Temple

China's first temple with a tomb is known as the first temple in the world

Bigan Temple

Bigan temple, located in Weihui, Henan Province, is one of the most important architectural complexes of temples and tombs. It is the first ancestral temple in China with a tomb offering ceremony, known as "the first temple in the world".

The magnificent temples, towering buildings, simple and magnificent, show the wisdom and artistic creativity of the Han working people in ancient China.

Bigan temple is a national key cultural relic protection unit. Bigan tomb is the first recorded mound tomb in China, which has important historical value.

Brief introduction to temples

Bigan temple is located in Weihui City, a county-level city under Xinxiang City, Henan Province.

Bigan is a loyal minister who admonishes the king with death in Chinese history, known as "the first benevolence in the world". King Wu of Zhou made Bigan the God of the state. Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei dynasty built a temple for his loyalty.

Bigan temple was maintained by the government in the ancient city of Weihui.

The existing buildings were rebuilt in the 7th year of Hongzhi in Ming Dynasty. Bigan temple is an important architectural complex combining temples and tombs. It is the first ancestral temple in China that contains tombs for people. It is called "the first temple in the world". The temple is vast, simple and magnificent.

The main building of the temple is composed of Shinto, Zhaobi, Shanmen, Ermen, stele Gallery, mufang, side hall and main hall, with a total construction area of 47000 square meters.

cultural relics and historic sites

There are many valuable cultural relics in the temple. Its calligraphy, sculpture and architectural style are of high grade and historical value.

Bigan temple is a national key cultural relic protection unit announced by the State Council in 1996. It has become a tourist scenic spot integrating tombs, temples and precious historical relics. Bigan tomb is the first recorded mound type tomb in China. With its long history, complete layout, large scale and rich cultural accumulation, the tomb occupies an important historical position and is known as "the first tomb in the world".

There are many steles in the Bigan temple, from the Confucius sword stele in the spring and Autumn period to the imperial stele written by Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, a total of 64, covering almost all dynasties in the history of our country.

Emperor Qianlong's book

The stele of "Tomb of Yin Bigan" carved by Confucius sword is the only authentic work of Confucius found so far, which is known as "the first stele in the world". Emperor Xiaowen's "emperor's memorial to tomb of Yin Bigan" of the Northern Wei Dynasty is said to be the famous calligrapher Cui haoshu of the northern and Southern Dynasties, which is the top-quality stele of the Wei Dynasty.

The feeling of passing through the tomb of Yin Taishi, written by Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty, is a regular script with strict and graceful rhyme, gorgeous and dignified style. The fourth stone tablet on the left side of the corridor is a running script written by Liu Xilong of the Qing Dynasty, which has four big characters of "three generations of Gu Zhong". It is majestic and dignified. Among the top-quality steles are Tang Taizong's imperial edict to seal Yin Taishi and Bi Gan Wen to sacrifice Yin Taishi, and Yuan Dynasty's Liu Minzhong's tombstone to forgive and repair Bi Gan. These are famous steles all over the world, which are the rich treasure house of ancient Chinese calligraphy. The characteristic plants in the temple, Kaixin cypress, Banbai cypress and heartless vegetables, form a unique natural landscape.

Bigan is the ancestor of Lin family in the world. Weihui Bigan temple is the root of Lin family in the world. Since 1993, the Weihui municipal Party committee and the municipal government have held an annual commemorative meeting for the birth of Bigan. The children of Lin family at home and abroad have come to Weihui to pay homage to their ancestors. Bigan temple has become a holy land for the descendants of Bigan at home and abroad.

Related Legends

"Water spinach" is the most famous legend of Bigan temple. It is said that after Bigan's heart was dissected by King Zhou, his loyal soul touched the heaven, and the Jade Emperor sent Jiang Ziya to rescue him. He told Bigan to keep silent and ride southward to grow a new heart. He covered his robe and didn't speak. His face was like earth color. He drove his horse south. Unexpectedly, when he arrived at Muye, he met an old woman who had become Daji and was blocking the road to sell water spinach.

Bigan asked: "food can live without heart, how about people without heart?" The old woman replied, "if you don't have a heart to live, if you don't have a heart to die." After hearing this, Bigan vomited blood and fell to his death. The loyal soul turns into a millennium blue, and the red orifices seem to leave a cloud.

Up to now, there are still clumps of water spinach growing on the tomb of Bigan and in the fields around the temple. Water spinach, three leaves, no heart, people think it is more than dry Qiqiao Danxin into. The rapid development of history obliterates people's memory of ancient historical facts, and gradually evolves into this mysterious legend, in order to repose the reverence and grief of Bi Gan.

As the younger brother of emperor B of Shang Dynasty, Bigan was appointed prime minister. After the death of emperor B, King Zhou succeeded to the throne. With the assistance of Bigan, Bigan made great efforts to govern the country, worked hard to serve the people, and became increasingly prosperous and powerful. However, King Zhou indulged in wine and sex, attached importance to treacherous officials and neglected loyal ministers, so the Yin and Shang Dynasties quickly began to decline.

As a result, "when a neutrino goes, a Jizi becomes a slave to him, and he dies by remonstrance.". It is said that when Bigan died, his heart and liver were dug out by King Zhou. In order to commemorate Bigan's loyalty, Yingdu Chaoge's star picking platform was changed into a heart picking platform, on which a stone square was built, with three simple, vigorous and powerful words "zhongliefang". On the middle stone column, a tragic couplet was carved: "hard, loyal, benevolent, brave, miserable, cool, sad and sad!" It's the best compliment.

It is said that after being dissected, Bigan was instructed by God and man to go south for 70 miles to Xindi town to change his heart, but he could not talk to people on the way.

On the way to Bigan, he saw an old woman watering the vegetable garden. All the vegetables were careless, so he asked, "can this careless vegetable live?" The old woman said: "people don't want to die, but they still have to live, not to mention this dish?" Bi Gan Qi's seven orifices bleed, and he immediately falls to the ground and dies. In an instant, the sky is angry and resentful, the wind is strong, and the sand and rocks fly away, covering the body of Bi Gan, forming a sand dune, which is the tomb of Bi Gan buried in heaven. After King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Shang Dynasty, he led his ministers to this special Fiesta. Long Bigan was a loyal minister and inscribed an epitaph to express his admiration.

After King Wu exterminated Zhou, he found Mrs. Bigan and her son in the forest of Taihang Mountain, because they lived on the fruits of the forest as food when they took refuge. Therefore, King Wu granted the surname Lin and granted him the title of Duke Lin Mu. There is also a saying that the surname Lin in the world can compete with others. There are also donations from Lin's associations around the world in the Bigan temple. Now, every spring, representatives of Lin's descendants come here to worship their ancestors.

Distribution of scenic spots

According to the resources and development basis of the scenic area, the development layout of the tourist area is described as follows: "one heart, two rings, five functional areas". With the Bigan temple as the core, it expands outward and is generally divided into two rings: cultural display ring and ecological garden ring.

On this basis, the Bigan forest park tourist area in Weihui City is divided into five functional areas, namely temple area, cultural exhibition area, Lin Memorial area, ecological garden area and commercial service area, with a total area of 791000 square meters, of which the expanded tourist area is about 744000 square meters.

In 2011, it was listed as national AAAA scenic spot.

Temple area: it is the core scenic spot of Guoshen Bigan forest park tourist area, and also a national key cultural relic area. The main landscapes include Zhaobi, stele Gallery, hollow gate lion, main hall, Kaixin cypress, Xiaowen emperor stele of Northern Wei Dynasty, Qianlong Yushu stele of Qing Dynasty, Confucius sword stele, graveyard, etc. the built-up area is about 47000 square meters (in addition, the key protection area is expanded 100 meters in four directions, and the area is used for building For ecological garden construction.)

Cultural exhibition area: it includes the key protection area of the temple area, which extends 200 meters southward, 353 meters wide from east to west, and the Bigan square (63 meters in radius, with an area of 124.63 square meters), the fun garden of Yin merchants (25700 square meters), the theater (400 square meters), the celebrity stele forest, etc., with a total area of 109 thousand square meters. The main landscape planning of this scenic spot includes: Sanren temple, Bigan story hall, Yinshang history and culture hall, Zhongjian hall, Wencai temple, Bigan square, Yinshang fun garden, theater, etc.

Ecological garden area: outside the temple area, it extends 200 meters to the East, 300 meters to the south, 200 meters to the north, and reaches the control line of Beijing Guangzhou railway to the west, thus forming an ecological garden area. The main landscape planning of the scenic spot includes: Sun lake, Moon Lake, Guoshen bridge, Guoshen mountain, bamboo garden, plum garden, pine forest, gingko corridor, orchard, ecological flower nursery, Danxin Pavilion, etc., with an area of about 525000 square meters (including the key protection area of the temple area), which is another core scenic spot of Bigan forest park.

Lin's memorial area: located in the northeast of the ecological garden area outside the temple area, hidden in the dense forest, covering an area of 50000 square meters. Its main function is to commemorate the characters and deeds related to the Lin family. The main landscapes of the scenic spot include: Lin's Hall of fame, Lin's genealogy wall, "Liulan hall", Lin's statue area, Lin's ancestral hall (Lin's Hall of America, Lin's Hall of Thailand, Lin's Hall of Indonesia, Singapore hall, Lin's Hall of Guangdong, Lin's Hall of Hainan, Lin's Hall of Fujian, Lin's Hall of Taiwan, etc.), and Gongde stele forest. The overall architectural style of the scenic spot is the architectural style of Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Commercial service area: in the south of the ecological garden area, on the east side of Bigan Avenue, with an area of 60000 square meters. Its main function is to provide tourists with high-quality and comprehensive business services. The main landscapes are ecological parking lot, Nongjiale service point (i.e. the new "guoshenshen village"), teahouse, Bigan Avenue and the surrounding high-efficiency ecological agricultural park.

Tourism information

1. Opening hours: 8:00-19:00 in summer and 8:30-17:30 in winter

2. Pick up place: ticket office of scenic spot

3. Reservation criteria for special groups:

A. Free policy: children under 1.2m are free of charge;

Chinese PinYin : Bi Gan Miao