Gold in Hand-Study Tour in Shanxi (Shuanglin Temple, Wupingyao Ancient City)

According to the local people, it takes three days to visit Pingyao ancient city, but we only have one day, more than half a day to be exact, because there is Shuanglin Temple to visit in the afternoon. So I got up early in the morning and got together. Fortunately, I live in an inn in the ancient city. I was already in the ancient city when I went out, and the ancient city gradually woke up in the morning.

Pingyao ancient city was built in Zhou Xuanwang period and expanded in Hongwu period of Ming Dynasty. It has a history of more than 2,700 years, and has completely preserved the style and features of the county seat in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is also the most complete existing ancient city in the Han area of China. There is an ancient city wall as high as 10 meter, which surrounds the whole ancient city in a square shape. The whole city wall is more than 6 kilometers in a circle. On the wall, the width is more than 6 meters and the narrow place is more than 2 meters. There are six gates in the whole city, one in the north, one in the south, two in the east and two in the west. Each city gate has a heavy urn, and many watchtowers and watchtowers are scattered on the city wall for changing shifts or observing the enemy.

The ancient city belonged to Jin State in the Spring and Autumn Period and Zhao State in the Warring States Period. Until the early Ming Dynasty, in order to defend the wall built by foreigners, Hongwu expanded and repaired the original wall for three years. Later, the city walls were thickened and repaired in the past dynasties, which made the ancient city walls thicker and thicker and stood still, and divided Pingyao County into two worlds, inside and outside the city.

Many historical sites and ancient buildings are still preserved in the ancient city, such as Pingyao County Ya, Rishengchang Ji, Confucian Temple, Qingxu Guan, Chenghuang Temple and other buildings, all of which are relatively well preserved.

Coming down from the city wall and passing through Lingxingmen is the Confucian Temple, which is also a place for offering sacrifices to Confucius. Built in the early years of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty, it is the oldest existing Confucius Temple in China.

The Confucian Temple is a courtyard structure with a north-south central axis, which enters from Lingxingmen and passes through Dachengmen, Dacheng Hall, Mingluntang, Jingyi Pavilion and Zunjing Pavilion along the central axis. The Dacheng Hall inside was rebuilt by Jin Dading for three years, and it still maintains its original appearance. Many people ask for blessing cards in front of Dacheng Hall, and then hang them on the blessing wall in front of or on the side of the hall. Some people pray for well-being, and of course they have to study and work. After all, this is the Confucius Temple.

After Dacheng Hall, you can reach Minglun Hall through Longmen, which is the main learning place for academic officials, and also the hall where Confucius and Confucianism instilled the relationship between the monarch, the minister and the father.

Go further and you will arrive at Jingyi Pavilion. There is a statue of Xu Jishe in front of the pavilion. Only the names under the statue are in Chinese, and the rest are in English. I don't understand this late Qing scholar. There won't be too many people who should know, so I won't just explain it to foreigners.

Xu Jishe has the title of Galileo in the East and a native of Wutai, Shanxi. Daoguang has been admitted as a scholar for six years. He used to be the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and the minister of the Prime Minister's yamen. He was the first minister in charge of Wentong Museum. However, he was impeached because of his inconsistent way of doing things with court officials, and his official position was also reduced. Xianfeng served as dean of Chaoshan Academy in Pingyao for six years and devoted himself to academic research.

Jingyi Pavilion is mainly used to worship heaven. It was built in the 20th year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty, but it was burned by Japanese invaders in 1943. The present Jingyi Pavilion was later moved from the south of Shanxi. The "one" in Jingyi Pavilion comes from "One is one, the foundation of all things, the invincible way" in "Yan Quanxun, Huai Nan Zi", and the ancients' understanding of the unity of all things is still very profound. For example, Buddhism is the only way, and Zen masters in past dynasties have always taught practitioners "yes or no", but it is difficult to understand it thoroughly.

Out of the Confucian Temple, I went to Pingyao County Ya, located in the center of the ancient city, built in the Northern Wei Dynasty. It is one of the four well-preserved ancient halls in China and the largest existing county government in China. The internal master-slave structure of the whole county government is reasonable, from which we can see the daily life route of the county grandfather and the small leisure garden. There is also a big fairy building in the last building of the county government, which is the only building in the Yuan Dynasty. When I walked out of the county government, I just caught up with the court performance in front of the People's Hall. Many people read it, but they don't know what the case is or who is the official.

There are many places worth visiting in Pingyao ancient city. For example, Rishengchang Bank, which was established in the third year of Qing Daoguang, is the first national bank in China. It once manipulated the economic lifeline of the whole Qing Dynasty, with semicolons all over more than 30 cities in China, as well as Europe, America, Southeast Asia and other countries. It can really be described as "connecting the world". There is also the Chenghuang Temple, which was built in the early years of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty. It is centered on Huangcheng Daxiong Hall and consists of four parts: Caoliulou, Tudi Hall, Zaojun Hall and the Temple of Wealth. The building is large in scale and has been well preserved so far.

After entering the Chenghuang Temple, a stone will be paved to "dare to enter" the gate. You can only go to the main hall of Chenghuang Temple if you dare to get started. Interestingly, the couplet in front of the gate reads "Dare to go out and dare to enter, nothing to ask for."

City God is an important god universally worshipped in China's religious culture. Most of them are played by famous ministers and heroes who have contributed to the local people. They are regarded as the gods who protect the city in China folk and Taoism. Therefore, people can't live without faith, which has nothing to do with ghosts and gods, but the most effective way to settle down.

In addition to some historical sites and ancient buildings, there are many dazzling shops and many local residents living in harmony with the ancient city here. It seems that the changes of the times have nothing to do with them, but they have changed their clothes and electrical appliances, and the days are still the same.

After lunch, we went back to the inn to pack our bags. We ate some fruits lazily in the warm sunshine, then strolled around the outer wall of the ancient city with our luggage and enjoyed the last adobe. Then we got on the bus and drove in the direction of Shuanglin Temple.

Shuanglin Temple was originally named Zhongdu Temple. Because the capital of Jin Dynasty is here, it is called Zhongdu Temple. However, it is impossible to verify when the temple was established. However, there is a line on the existing stone tablet of the Northern Song Dynasty that says "Wuping rebuilt the temple in two years". Wuping is the national title of Beiqi. Since it was rebuilt, it must have been built earlier. Even from Beiqi, it has been 1400 years now. From the Northern Qi Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, Zhongdu Temple was renamed Shuanglin Temple. This "Sara" is taken from the scene of Sakyamuni Buddha's nirvana. Because the Buddha died in the ancient city of Tianzhu, between two trees of sand trees along the Posti River, the two trees had white flowers on all sides, which was called "double forest when he died".

Shuanglin Temple has experienced wind and rain disasters since the Song Dynasty, and it was very dilapidated at the end of Yuan Dynasty. Later dynasties have been repaired, so the buildings in the temple now belong to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The total area of the temple exceeds15000m2. There are ten temples along the north-south axis, and the pattern is symmetrical. There are stone ladders around the gable of the temple, and the temple can be surrounded along the gable. This should be established to facilitate past patrols. In the architectural style of temples in China, this way of patrolling gables should be rare.

The temple is very quiet. First, there are no monks practicing here. Second, early winter is not the tourist season. Although there is no gathering of pilgrims in the past, it adds a sense of tranquility. The most precious thing in the temple is the colored sculptures in various halls. There are more than 1500 statues, large and small. The largest is more than three meters high, and the smallest is about ten centimeters. In each hall, scenes of Buddhist ceremonies or Buddhist stories are scattered. These statues are basically very realistic, with both form and spirit. They are the treasures of China's painted clay sculptures, which can be completely preserved to this day and are precious. Unfortunately, the murals of the Ming Dynasty on the side wall of the Hall of the Great Hero are quite mottled, leaving only a vague outline.

In the courtyard of the temple, there is also a pagoda tree, which has a history of thousands of years. The height of the tree is 1 1 m, and the trunk is empty. At a distance of more than two meters, it is divided into two branches, both of which are flourishing and endless. Together with this old pagoda tree planted in the Tang Dynasty and several conscientious security guards, they are guarding this ancient temple. Not only some people sigh: the scenery also needs manual efforts.

Farewell to Shuanglin Temple, it's past four o'clock in the afternoon. A group of people got on CMB and went all the way to Lingshi County. They won't have dinner with the brothers in the team tonight, because a musician who studied recording with me for a while came to see me by car from Zuoquan County and made an appointment to have dinner together. In fact, he arrived in Pingyao at noon, just afraid of disturbing my trip. He visited the ancient city of Pingyao and went to Lingshi County to wait for me first.

The musician's name is Li Fei, but I really don't remember when he started learning computer music with me. I only remember that he is a very attentive person, but he is not very solid in recording, but he is very enthusiastic. I just met him when I was studying in Shanxi this time.

After arriving at Lingshi, I settled down, tidied up a little, then went downstairs to see Li Fei and went to a hot pot restaurant for dinner. During the dinner, I learned that Li Fei is the father of two children and Li Fei's work experience. I want to shoot a documentary called "I am a musician". Perhaps this documentary has nothing to do with music itself, but more to let people know about the mental journey of musicians and those who look glamorous but.

Say goodbye to Li Fei, tell him to be careful on the way back, and then walk back to the hotel. The wind is not very cold tonight. I don't know if it's because I'm used to the temperature, or because I've been going south since I left Taiyuan. However, the next trip will turn to the north.