Chapter 14 In the early days of the Republic of China, Heilongtan prayed for rain and recalled the past

Opening the almanac in 1979, Gengshen was the year of ten dragons to control the water. According to the experience of the older generation, "there are many dragons and four relying on them", it must be an early age.Regardless of whether this statement is a superstitious statement or accumulated experience, but this summer, the rain was thin and the clouds were thin.During the Meiyu period, there is no mold or rain, and the sun is scorching all day long. Reservoirs in the north and south of Taiwan have increased water consumption and accelerated evaporation.In order to save water, the water supply company shortened the water cut-off from every three days to every other day, and opened all 497 deep-water wells in the private sector to meet emergency needs.Thanks to the two typhoons "Knox" and "Percy" coming one after another, this terrible drought was finally lifted.

In ancient times, there was a long drought and no rain. The emperor personally led all the officials to pray for rain in the suburbs, hoping that the rain would fall soon. This was originally a superstitious behavior in the age of people's wisdom.Songru, the Prince of She, also had an affair with him personally, and afterwards he told us this incident as a story, so he still remembers it very clearly.He said: "When Feng Huafu (Guo Zhang) was the President, there was a year from the beginning of summer to the summer for more than 100 days. There was no rain in Pingjin, North China, and even the well water dried up. There were no refrigerators back then, and most people thought To eat some refrigerated fruits, the only way to cool them down is to use bamboo baskets and bamboo baskets to tie the melons and fruits into the well, but the well water is 1,000 yuan, and even iced watermelons and cantaloupe can’t be eaten. There used to be a hidden place in the east, west, and north cities of Beiping. For ice cellars, Shichahai’s ice cellars have the thickest soil, the largest reserves, and the largest scale. However, in the summer of that year, the scorching sun engulfed the earth, and the soil was soaked in the sun, and the whole square of natural ice piled up in winter melted automatically. Generally, cold drinks are sold. The peddlers had no choice but to give up selling cold drinks and switch to another business. The worst thing is that some restaurants and wine shops can't store fish, shrimp and seafood that cannot be separated from ice. , is also temporarily closed.

"Rumors abound in the market. Some people say that President Feng drained all the water in Zhongnanhai last year to catch fish. This angered the Dragon King who protects the sea, so there has been no rain for many days as a warning. This rumor soon spread to Feng. He heard it from the President's ears, although he didn't believe it, but he was worried about it in his heart. At that time, the Beiyang government was running into poverty, and he knew that from the Yuan and Ming Dynasties to the Qing Dynasty, every time the emperor's longevity or the birth of the crown prince and princess were held During the celebration of birthday soup and cakes, several kinds of fish feces must be bought, hung with red gold plates with dragon patterns and phoenix colors, and sent to Xihaizi Taiye Pond (Zhongnanhai) for release. Of course, there are quite a few fish with gold medals accumulated over the ages. So I signed a peace agreement with a German salvage company and entrusted the salvage. The government's financial resources have dwindled slightly, and President Feng Da has naturally benefited from it. The official documents asking for relief came in a steady stream, and of course I was a little impatient and uneasy.

"There was a You Cheng in the Political Affairs Hall who offered advice to the President. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, whenever the drought was severe, they would ask for an iron plate to pray for rain at the Black Dragon Pool in the west of Beijing. Although we should not be superstitious about theocracy now, after praying for rain, it happened to rain. Pei Jiang can also slightly comfort the people's hope of stretching their necks and raising their toes. Although this suggestion was adopted, but as a dignified head of state, he was so superstitious about theocracy, he hesitated a bit, and finally came up with a plan to balance both ends, so he used According to the petitions of farmers from all over the country and the reason of following the public opinion, Emperor Gong ordered the chief of agriculture and commerce to go to Heilongtan to pray for rain. After the official document was delivered to the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, it happened that the chief of agriculture and commerce was a reformer at that time, and he did not believe in theocracy. In violation of this, the technical supervisor Zhu Jin (Ziming) was appointed by the Ministry to represent and sacrifice. Zhu was a disciple of Liang Dingfen, the Minister of Planting Trees in the Dongling Mausoleum in the late Qing Dynasty. Get it.

"After Zhu's sacrifice, he said: The iron plaque for praying for rain was left by Zhang Tianshi, the 42nd generation Qiankun Taiyi real person of Jiangxi Longhu Mountain, who prayed for rain in the Yuan Dynasty. , after Jiajing, it was renamed Da Guangming Hall, and it became a dojo specially set up to pray for rain, blessings and disaster relief), all the seal altars and ritual utensils, the curtains and curtains, the stars and feathers, and the crown and wonton, solemn and magnificent. Unfortunately, in the last years of Xianfeng, the household department A big fire burned for three days and three nights, and burned all the household registration files. Thanks to a heavy rain, the fire was extinguished. Someone suggested that the iron plaque for praying for rain from Longhu Mountain should be suppressed, so Zhang Tianshi’s iron plaque was removed from the household The ministry started to be enshrined. Since the founding of the Republic of China, the old office of the Ministry of Households was placed under the office of the financial and taxation agencies under the Ministry of Finance. Few people know. Since you want to go to Heilongtan to pray for rain, you must find the iron plaque and escort it to the edge of the pond to sacrifice. After many visits, the iron plaque was invited out, enshrined in the colorful pavilion, and guided by drums to Heilongtan. The pond is at Xizhimen More than 30 miles away from Lengquan Village, on Huamei Mountain in the north, the site of the pond is 70 to 80 meters wide. It is said that women in the Jin Dynasty used the stones beside the pond, purple daisy and green snails, as thrush pencils, so the pool of water looks dark and gloomy. It is also said that there is a black dragon hidden in the pool, so it adds a bit of mystery and horror. Because the water in the Black Dragon Pool has never dried up or flooded, a Dragon King Temple was built on the northwest hillside. The temple is built according to the mountain situation, the corridor waist is back to the man, and the Kejiayun is repaired. Therefore, there are very few temples dedicated to the Dragon King, except for the Wanshan Hall in Zhongnanhai, and the Dragon King Hall in the Summer Palace, and all of them are dedicated to the Dragon King. The Dragon King Temple in Heilongtan has statues, bronze crowns and scarlet cloaks, which are even more majestic than the Southern Dragon King Temple, which uses crowns to hold guigui. In the early years, there was a temple named Gaomendou in the temple. Later, because superstition was abolished in the early Republic of China, there was no incense. He also found another way to make a living. This time, Heilongtan prayed for rain, but he came back to answer his errand. Gao Mendou said: In the 22nd year of Guangxu, there was a festival of praying for rain, and it took decades. Yes. He heard from the elders that Yan Fenyi (Song) of the Ming Dynasty was sent to the Black Dragon Pool to pray for rain when he was in Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty. , the pool is as black as ink, and no one dares to enter the pool to fish for it even though they have paid a lot of money. Now this iron plate with a dragon and an elephant flying white is no longer a legacy of the Tianqing Mansion. In Dai Zi (Wen Kai) of the Qing Dynasty In ", there is an article about Yan Song's iron plaque for praying for rain falling into the pond, and the existing iron plaque is no longer the original record. Gao Mendou's words are not groundless nonsense. A few days later, it really rained heavily in Yingchou, and the drought was like Zhaosu, and finally the rain was not in vain."

This story was told half a century ago. The author went to Liling, Hunan Province before the Anti-Japanese War, and caught up with another interesting drama about praying for rain.That year there was a severe drought in the local area. Everyone carried the clay statue of the Dragon King out of the temple and walked around the street. They poured cold water on the Dragon King while walking. Followed by a number of Buddha wives holding incense in their hands, chanting words in their mouths, and I don't know what prophecy they were chanting. After asking people, they found out that they were in the procession of praying for rain.