Visit the Tamsui Ancestral Temple

Written by Sheng Fu Word Count 1953

It is not difficult for us to find that temples are all over the country, and Huizhou seems to be especially numerous, why are there so many temples and Bodhisattva immortals?

On that day, I interviewed the old city of Shui, and naturally I couldn't avoid the Tamsui Ancestral Temple. This is my first time to the Tamsui Ancestral Temple, and there is something unclear before I arrived: Huidong Jiulongfeng Tan Gong Ancestral Temple is called the Ancestral Temple because Tan Gong got the Tao there It is not difficult to understand, why is the Tamsui Ancestral Temple called the Ancestral Temple?

Tamsui Ancestral Temple Ritual Gate

Located at No. 47 Ancestral Temple Front Street in the old town of Tamsui, Tamsui Ancestral Temple is a household name in the local area. It is understood that the Tamsui Ancestral Temple was built in the eighth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1580), which has a history of more than 400 years. It was rebuilt in the fifth year of Daoguang (1825) of the Qing Dynasty. During the Cultural Revolution, the temple was severely damaged. In 1988, it was restored in accordance with the Qing Dynasty and rebuilt again in 1996. It was rebuilt in 1999.

Sitting in the north and facing south, it is composed of the main hall, the side hall, the pavilion, the square, the outer wall, etc. It is the layout of the quadrangle courtyard type in two, the hall is divided into two into three rooms, one into the worship pavilion, two into the statue of the gods, the two sides of the wall are decorated with the dragon and phoenix, landscape, flowers and birds, twenty-four filial piety maps, three visits to the thatched house, three Ying Zhan Lu Bu, eight immortals across the sea and other murals.

The main hall of the ancestral temple is also called Xietian Palace, which is known as "the first male at home". In the middle is Guan Gong (Guan Shengdijun). There are couplets on both sides of the statue: Han Feng Hou, Song Feng Wang, Ming Feng Emperor, Confucianism called Shengshi, Buddha Tao called Tianzun. Horizontal batch: righteousness.

The right side is offered: the landlord, the five grains, and the Tai Sui; The ones on the left are: the second prince, the eldest prince, and the third prince.

On the right side of the side hall are: Tan Gong Immortal Saint, Lu Ban Immortal Master, Hua Tuo Immortal Master; On the left is the Goddess of Mercy and the Queen of Heaven.

It is reported that Tamsui has been inhabited by the ancient surnames of Zhan, Dai and Li since the end of the Song Dynasty. At first, these three surnames were fighting for a recognized feng shui treasure in the city, and there were constant disputes and frictions, and the residents' lives were very unstable. Later, the county magistrate sentenced these three surnames to jointly build a temple in the place to worship the folk Guan Emperor, named Zhongyi Temple, which is now the ancestral temple. After the completion of the Zhongyi Temple, the people of the three surnames have been loyal to each other since then, and they no longer interfere with each other for this land, and they live in peace, and the people of Tamsui are becoming more and more prosperous.

Here, I would like to give a thumbs up to this county official, whose way of dealing with contradictions is commendable. Unfortunately, there is no record of the county official's surname. The fact that such a meritorious person did not leave a name makes me suspect that this story may be apocryphal.

Due to the special historical significance of Zhongyi Temple, it stands out among many temples such as Luban Temple, Tan Gong Temple and Ma Niang Temple in the local area, and was finally crowned by the Tamsui people at the beginning of the temples, which is called the Ancestral Temple.

It turns out that the "ancestral temple" of Tamsui Ancestral Temple means this. It can be seen that things are man-made.

The Tamsui Ancestral Temple was also the site of the establishment of the first anti-Japanese democratic regime in the Dongjiang region and even in South China, which made its status and significance even higher.

The twelfth day of the first month of each year is the "incense day" of the ancestral temple. On this day, people from Tamsui and the surrounding area are rushing to light a pillar of incense here to take home, which means that the incense continues to be connected from generation to generation.

Xietengu

On the outer wall on the left side of the ancestral temple, there is a special poem, written by Deng Chengxiu, the "Iron Pen Imperial History":

The Kui building reflects the Jade Void Palace, and the sunset cow land is half facing east.

The ancient well is connected to the East China Sea Palace, and the Tanhua bell and drum make trouble in the Chan Palace.

Meizhang is really wonderful, and Tiehu Academy is endless.

Reverse water crab-shaped Fu Hall, back to the Dragon Gu Lord Xietian Palace.

The Kuilou and Yuxu Palace, Niudi, Gujing, Tanhua, Meizhang, Tiehu Academy, Crab Shape, and Xietian Palace mentioned in the poem are exactly the "Eight Views of Tamsui Scenery".

When I visited the old town of Tamsui that day, there was an "ancient well" in the plan, but I didn't know that it was one of the eight scenic spots of Tamsui at the time. So, by the way, let's talk about the Eight Views of Tamsui.

It is understood that there are only two remaining Eight Views of Tamsui: Xietian Palace (i.e., Tamsui Ancestral Temple) and Crab-shaped Fu Hall (ruins).

Kui Lou mirrors the Jade Void Palace. Yuxu Palace is the original classroom Wenchang Temple before Deng Chengxiu founded Chongya Academy, and later renamed Wenchang Palace, built in the 16th year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty (1836), it is the earliest school in Tamsui. Kuixing Building is connected to the main hall of Wenchang Palace, which was later expanded due to the needs of the school, and its location is at the mouth of Yongxing Lane, Hongxing Community, Tamsui Street.

The sunset cowland is half east-facing. "Ox Land" is a treasure land in Feng Shui theory. The cow land written in the poem is a small hill located in the south of Tamsui Weicheng, behind Chongya Academy. With the expansion of Chongya Middle School, the cattle land has been leveled into the sports field of Chongya Middle School.

The ancient well is connected to the East Sea Hall. There is an old local saying that there is fresh water only when there is an ancient well, and the ancient town of Tamsui is named because of this ancient well. At the end of the Song Dynasty, Tamsui was nothing more than a sparsely populated small ruin, called "Shangxu". Since the ancient well was dug, the population of the town gradually increased, and in the early Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Tamsui formed a larger market town and was renamed "Tamsui Market". It is said that the location of this ancient well is at the foot of Luwu Mountain in present-day Tamsui Street.

According to the "Huiyang County Chronicle", the plane of the ancient well is irregular, the sand bottom, the well fence is constructed with stone, about 8 meters long, 6 meters wide, and about 1.8 meters deep. The well water is warm in winter and cool in summer, clear to the bottom, endless, and often overflows in all seasons. Because the water is clear and light, it is called "Freshwater Ancient Well".

In the summer of 1988, Huiyang tap water was built into residents' homes, and the ancient well was eliminated. At the end of the 90s of the last century, the land around Gujing was expropriated and built into today's gymnasium and swimming pool, and the swimming pool was named "Gujing Xianchi". Around Gujing, the place names of Gujing Road and Xianjing Street were left.

Deng Chengxiu's poem "Eight Views of Tamsui".

Tanhua bells and drums make the cicada palace, and "Tanhua" is Tanhua hermitage. Tanhua Nunnery is located in Shangxinwei in what is now Tamsui Yaoling. The hermitage does not exist today, but the Tanhua Road, which was named after the Tanhua Nunnery, is still there.

Mei Zhang's opening screen is wonderful. "Meizhang" refers to today's Yangmei Mountain, which is located in the Kumquat Municipal Nature Reserve in Kumquat Village, Shatian Town, East Tamsui.

Tiehu Academy is forever endless. Tiehu Academy is a rural academy opened by Deng Chongrun, the grandson of Deng Yigui, the founder of the Deng family in Tamsui, at the foot of Luwu Mountain in Tamsui during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty. In the nineties of the twentieth century, the Tiehu Academy community was built here, and there is a thick book carved in marble in the community, which is engraved with the four characters of "Tiehu Academy".

Crab-shaped guild hall in the reverse water. "Crab-shaped in the backwater" refers to a pond shaped in the shape of crab claws, which has long since disappeared, and buildings have been built on the pond's site, but the guild hall supported by the "crab" is still there. Walking nearly 100 meters west from Zumiao Street, you will arrive at Guangyi Street, where the Guangyi Hall is located. In July 2010, Guangyi Hall was announced as the first batch of cultural relics protection units in Huiyang District.

Of course, I didn't know about this at the time, so I didn't look at it. If you are interested, you can pay a visit.

Tamsui ancestral temple site monument

The main entrance of the main hall

Inside the Ancestral Temple

Inside the side nave

Signature, symbol