Emperor Hall

Emperor Hall

Tianzi hall, located at the top of the famous mountain in Fengdu County, Chongqing, sits from west to East. The structure of Tianzi hall is majestic and the craft is fine. It is made of traditional cornice and bucket arch, hollowed out and carved, log bearing, two rafters and ridge. The roof has four inclined planes and is shaped like a parasol. Covering an area of 2569 square meters and a construction area of 2400 square meters, it is composed of four parts: memorial archway, Mountain Gate, palace and ER Xian Lou.

Mythological architecture

In ancient myths and legends, the emperor's hall is the place where King Yama lives in the tenth Hall of hell and the fifth Hall of Yama,

Reality exists

Tianzi hall is located at the top of Fengdu County, Chongqing. The structure of Tianzi hall is majestic and the craft is fine. It is made of traditional cornice and bucket arch, hollowed out and carved, log bearing, two rafters and ridge. The roof has four inclined planes and is shaped like a parasol. Covering an area of 2569 square meters and a construction area of 2400 square meters, it is composed of four parts: memorial archway, Mountain Gate, palace and ER Xian Lou.

Historical evolution

Tianzi hall in Mingshan, Fengdu, Chongqing, was built in the Western Jin Dynasty. It was originally called Qianzhu hall, and has a history of more than 1600 years. In the Tang Dynasty, Xiandu temple was built, and in the Song Dynasty, it was renamed Jingde temple, also known as Baihe temple. In the Ming Dynasty, it was renamed the palace of hell, which was destroyed by fire. The existing Tianzi hall was rebuilt in 1664 A.D. in the third year of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty. It was formerly called Yanjun hall, commonly known as Tianzi hall. It is the largest existing ancient architectural complex in Mingshan.

Architectural features

Main building

The main building of Mingshan Tianzi hall in Fengdu County of Chongqing is composed of four main parts: the archway, the gate, the main hall and the two immortals building.

From the famous mountain steps up, the first one in front of us is the archway of the emperor's hall. In front of the archway of the emperor's palace, there is a "kaosin stone" (inside the white border in the right picture), which is said to be the last pass to the hell. When the dead come here, they all have to stand on the test stone with one foot, hold their chest up and look at the four big words "God's eyes are like electricity" in front of them for assessment. Those who do good deeds and accumulate virtue in the world can pass smoothly, while those who do evil will be sent to the 18th level hell for punishment.

"Kaosin stone" is followed by the memorial archway of the emperor's hall. The archway is a wood stone structure, with a height of 10.5 meters. On the front, the word "emperor's hall" is written horizontally, and on the back, the word "Youdu" is written.

Pass through the archway and enter the gate. There are four statues on both sides of the gate. You see Bai Wuchang with a White PU fan in his hand, a smile on his face, a big white belly, and a high hat with the words "you are here too". He is responsible for receiving the souls of those who have done good deeds and accumulated virtue. Black impermanence, with a ferocious face and a hat that says "catching you", is responsible for catching the ghosts of evil spirits. The other three statues, such as chicken foot ghost, Eagle general and snake general, are ferocious and terrifying, specializing in the bad guys of Tina. If you go further inside, you can see a couplet made by monk Xiaoshan in the late Ming Dynasty

It doesn't concern class. We have to go through here. Step by step

This life is not this life

Indeed, regardless of class, rank or rank, or position, we all have to go back to the Yin Cao Prefecture after death, waiting for the Yin emperor to rise and fall, and seeking regeneration from it. There is also a couplet:

You should be scared if you are here

It's hard to deceive people by his deception

Admonish people that no matter how treacherous or tricky you are, you can't pass the pass of emperor Yin. It's better to be loyal and honest.

"Yaoling hall" was engraved by Tang Hu, the magistrate of Fengdu County in 1668, and "heaven and earth" was inscribed by Nengtai in 1708. One side of the bronze mirror, commonly known as "Zhaoyao mirror", is hung in the hall. It weighs 31 kg. The original was cast in the Ming Dynasty. It is a national second-class cultural relic. It is collected in the county cultural administration office, and now it is a replica. It is said that a county magistrate reflected a cow in the mirror and asked the monk why? The monk told him that "I have been a corrupt official for a long time, and I will become an ox in 1997." The county magistrate then ordered people to use bird, chicken and dog blood to stain and destroy the mirror, and it was dark from then on.

In the middle of the hall, there is a six meter high sitting statue of the Yin emperor, wearing a golden crown, a boa robe, a jade belt around his waist, sitting upright with a GUI, eyes wide open and solemn.

On both sides of the emperor Yin, there are six statues of meritorious officials standing in the case, and on the bottom there are four judges, namely, the good reward department, the evil punishment department, the inspection department and the judge Cui. There are also ten Yin Shuai, namely day tour, night tour, wasp, leopard tail, beak, fish gill, impermanence, ox head, horse face and ghost king. Each of them was twenty-two feet tall and majestic, as if they were ready to carry out the orders issued by the emperor Yin at any time. No matter how capable the evil spirits are, even if they can go up to heaven and enter the earth, they can hardly escape their hands.

The graceful and beautiful sitting statue of the emperor with a phoenix crown on her head and a xiapi on her back is said to be a figure of flesh because it is made of cotton and clay. Legend: the emperor's mother, Lu Ying, was born in Dazhu, Sichuan. Her father is a rich Councillor, and she is the only child. She is as beautiful as a flower and loved by her parents. When he was 18 years old, he and his mother came to Fengdu Jingxiang and worshipped the son of Yin. They fell in love at first sight. After returning home, they fell in love with each other and died three days later. Her parents were very sad, "thinking every day, dreaming at night." her mother dreamt that Lu Ying told her that she had become the queen of heaven and told her parents to come to Fengdu to see her. So her parents came to Fengdu to catch up with the temple fair. When they came to Mingshan, they saw the emperor's mother, who was their daughter, and they burst into tears. The abbot advised, "since your daughter has become the empress of heaven, she should be happy that she has become one person in the underworld and ten thousand people in the underworld. Even our family still depends on her." After listening to the monk's words, the couple happily returned to Dazhu. Since then, people from Dazhu have been carrying candles to famous mountains to attend temple fairs every year.

Ancillary buildings

There is an east-west hell on the left and right porches of the temple of the son of heaven, also known as the 18 storey hell, where the kings of law enforcement are shaped on the top and all kinds of punishments are shaped on the bottom. In the East hell, there are such hell as motui, Gouxin, Huoluo, Hanshui, daoshan, chexie, and so on; in the West hell, there are such hell as dunchong, sawjie, cooking oil pot, tongue pulling, sutra mending, and runner; in the West hell, there are such hell as Wangkui, Qinhui, dog killing police wife, Mulian saving mother, and so on. According to the legend, those who are not filial to their parents in the world will go to the cold hell; those who are corrupt officials and oppress the people will go to the pestle hell; those who cut corners and cheat customers will go to the sawing hell; those who rob other people's money will go to the burning hell; those who engage in prostitution will go to the frying pan The 18th floor hell is people's imagination, which is intended to persuade people to do more good deeds and accumulate more virtue in the world.

Address: Tianzi hall, Zhongxian County, Chongqing

Longitude: 108.065501

Latitude: 30.298037

Chinese PinYin : Tian Zi Dian