Chapter 4 Old Capital Baita Temple Miscellaneous

There are two white pagodas in Beiping City, one large and one small. The small white pagoda is on Qionghua Island in Beihai, and the big white pagoda is in Miaoying Temple on Fuchengmen Street.These two lama pagodas, glass Kexue, stand opposite each other with clouds inserted, it can be said that the clouds are steaming and the sky is magnificent, and the atmosphere is myriad.The Little White Pagoda in Chunyin, Qionghua Island has the "Records of the Little White Pagoda" written by Emperor Zhangzong of Jin, which shows that this pagoda was built in imitation of the Big White Pagoda in Miaoying Temple, and was built by digging pools and stacking stones.From this, it can be proved that the big white pagoda was built first, and the small white pagoda was built later.

In the agricultural society of ancient China, the regular convergence of goods by merchants was originally called "Wu", and later evolved into "Zhanxu" in the south and "Ganji" in the north.Because Beiping was the imperial capital of all dynasties, it was neither called a market nor a market, because it was all traded in front of temples, so it was called a temple fair.A few years ago, the temple fair in Beiping stipulated that every month there would be three earth temples, four flower markets, five and six Baita temples, seven and eight Huguo temples, and ninety Longfu temples.These are regular temple fairs. As for the Youchangdian Fire God Temple where the lanterns are set on the first day of the first lunar month, ingots are borrowed from the God of Wealth Temple on the second day of the first month, Baiyun Guanshun Star Fair is held on the eighth day of the first month, and the Pantao Palace celebrates the birthday of the Queen Mother on the third day of the third month. On the third day of the first lunar month, Zaowang Temple celebrates Grandma Zaowang’s birthday, etc. There are countless temple fairs held every year.

Baita Temple was originally called Miaoying Temple, because there is a towering and majestic white pagoda in the temple, everyone called it Baita Temple, calling it the original name of Miaoying Temple, but its name was not obvious.If people from other provinces came to Beiping and asked where Miaoying Temple was, nine out of ten they would not be able to find out why it was there. If they asked about Baita Temple, everyone would know it.The temple is located in the north of Fuchengmen Street. Both Fuchengmen and Xizhimen belong to the inner city and are also the key to the west of Beijing.Fuchengmen is also called Pingzemen, so the elders in the capital called it Baila, and they called it Pingzhaimen. It is said that Wu Sangui invited Qing soldiers to drive away Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, and it was Fuchengmen that came out of the king.There is an alley called Chasing Thieves Alley in the south of Fuchengmenli Road. There is also a small temple in the alley dedicated to the Jinjia Wei Tuo. It was renamed Chasing Thief Alley.What people say has a nose and an eye, so we have to listen to it for the time being!

According to the lama in the temple: "At the beginning, the small white pagoda in Beihai was built in imitation of the big white pagoda in Miaoying Temple. At that time, because of the narrow terrain of Qionghua Island, the height and size of the pagoda had to be reduced by a quarter, so Later, one was called White Pagoda, and the other was called Xiaobai Pagoda." At first glance, the layout of the two pagodas is exactly the same, and it is really not easy to tell the size, but the size is different when you look closely. One year, the late Living Buddha Zhangjia presided over the Dharma Assembly to protect the country, bless the people, ward off disasters and bring blessings to Baita Temple.The gate of the White Pagoda is usually deep, and it is rare to climb up and take a look at it in leisure time.As soon as he approached the tower, before he boarded, Menggu Dingzi (meaning "suddenly") looked up, Chongyong towering, snow-capped, Yufeng standing upright, Cui Wei Qingtian, thinking that the bottom of the tower is the legend of sea eyes , It immediately produces a gloomy feeling.As soon as you enter the pagoda gate, even though it is hot summer, it is naturally cold and the heat disappears.The Buddhist hall on the first floor of the pagoda has a high hall, four towering pavilions, and a round arch of brocade clouds in the middle. , Conch Jiegu, order plate Youzhi.There are also a number of unnamed ritual objects for offerings, which are lingering in front of the Buddha, and sandalwood and Tibetan incense, converging into a rich and peculiar smell, which is hard to breathe.

There are benevolent people beside the gate to advise the young women who come to rejoice, it is best to burn incense outside the pagoda, not to go inside to worship, even if you go inside, you should not stand in front of the Buddha for a long time, because the Tibetan incense (also known as Jiangxiang) smelled by pregnant women ) too much for too long, easy to abort.Under the top of the white pagoda, there is a canopy made of copper and seven treasures. Under the double eaves, jade foils and pearls are hanging, which are usually vague and indistinct.What is strange is that in such a resplendent and magnificent tower tray, there is a wooden tray containing a lime hemp knife (before the invention of cement, blue and white lime was mixed with hemp silk to make the wall strong) and a tool tile used by masons. a knife.

At that time, I thought it was very strange that there was neither fish nor fowl, but after going down the tower, an old Beiping told a myth before he understood the origin of the knife plate on the tower.He said: "There has long been a legend in Beijing that there is a sea eye under the White Tower. There is a big gap in the belly of the pagoda. If the White Pagoda collapses, won’t the city of Beijing really be reduced to the bottom of the sea? Everyone is worried and limping. But no one can come up with a good idea because The pagoda is too big, and there is no way to hoop it over. Soon, a wretched-looking curium and bowl maker was brought to the Baita Temple, but he was arrogant and yelled for a big guy all day long. Does anyone have broken pots, pans and bowls? Take out the curium and ask him to make or make up the curium, but he always replies that he belongs to the big guy, and the small thing doesn't have curium. A woman got angry and said, "Since you don't use curium, but only the big guy, then the White Tower There is a big crack, you go to the curium!" Who would have thought that at night, someone would hear the bow of the curium bowl whizzing, everyone looked up the next day, and it turned out that the place where the white pagoda had a big gap A big iron hoop was used to cover the hoop, and the iron hoop was covered with lime. If you look at it suddenly, you can’t see that an iron hoop has been added! It is said that it is Lord Luban showing his sanctity, because he was tired from working all night I forgot to take the ash tray and the trowel knife, so I hung it under the tower tray.” This kind of bizarre myth exists everywhere, so we don’t have to take it seriously (the Peking dialect “seriously "the meaning of).

Although many temples in Beiping have a fixed period, but in order to be neat, they must belong to the three places of Longfu Temple, Huguo Temple, and Baita Temple, because these businessmen who set up stalls not only have to visit these three places every meeting period , and each booth seems to be fixed invisibly.You visit Longfu Temple and want to buy a hair-shaving grate or a bone hairpin for pinning your hair. If you feel that the size is not suitable, you can make an appointment with him. Wait for the next temple fair, or other temple fairs, and ask him to prepare it for you. Be sure to be right.

The positions of the stalls in each temple are also roughly the same. For example, when you enter the mountain gate, there are sellers of mountain products, and on both sides of the second gate, there are all kinds of jewelry stalls selling fake jewelry.Those who sell two pairs of large gate flowers for headwear, or velvet flowers and silk flowers for sideburns, and cut patterns are all against the base of the wall.Because their goods are protected from the wind and the sun, only a cloth awning against the base of the wall can be safe.As for food stalls and juggling venues, these are the places where ordinary citizens go to eat, drink and have fun, and they can't mix with people who actually go to temple fairs to buy things.The last time you enter the temple, the courtyard is spacious and bright, where you can eat and drink, and it becomes the permanent site of this group of people.

Although it is said that the goods sold in each temple fair are not much different, but there are also different ones.For example, some lama stalls specialize in agate and turquoise rosary bracelets and silver inlaid jewelry. They say they are from Tibet, but they are actually Nepalese products.Because there are many flower factories near Huguo Temple, those who love flowers like to stroll around Huguo Temple, looking for some exotic flowers and plants, or buying a pot or two of bonsai for fun. The lamas of Baita Temple are not very keen on accepting Buddhist duties, but they have a legacy of Taoism and are good at business.Their stalls are full of handmade wooden plates and bowls. We use them as bowls, but the Tibetans themselves use wooden bowls as lamps.In fact, their main business is selling Tibetan incense, saffron, Tibetan blue fruit, pangmen and other things.Tibetan incense is made of bitter catalpa wood produced in Tibet as the main raw material. This incense is brown, five feet long, thicker than a thumb, sealed with yellow paper, tied with red velvet rope and fine hemp stalks, and comes as a stick. Sell ​​it, otherwise the incense will be too long, and it will break if you squeeze it.In Tibet, this is the best incense offering dedicated to the Buddha. In the shadow halls (small ancestral halls) of the princes’ mansions in Beiping, on New Year’s Eve, a stick is lit before each happy face or enlarged image to show caution and grand etiquette.Even burning the leftover Tibetan incense sticks is considered a rarity. When a pregnant woman has trouble giving birth, she lights the Tibetan incense sticks in front of the pregnant woman.People of the older generation say this, but it is not known whether it is really so effective.

Although Tibetan incense is also incense, there are no scented wax shops in Beiping. Only Yongheguan and Baita Temple sell Tibetan incense.The Yonghe Palace is located in the northeast corner of the city, who made a special trip to the Lama Temple to deal with the lamas?Therefore, selling Tibetan incense in Baita Temple has virtually become a unique business.The saffron, Tibetan blue fruit, and musk sold by the lamas are all said to be Tibetan specialties, and it is true that they come from Tibet. In fact, nine out of ten are transported to Tibet from Bhutan and Nepal, where they are produced, and then transferred to Peiping.Lamas are most interested in musk. If you say to buy musk, they will be very mysterious. She will lead you to their residence, take out a large box and a small box, and cover it with you. ".The musk comes from the male deer, and the male deer has a scrotum, which secretes a kind of fragrant liquid, which is used to lure the female deer during the courtship period.There are a lot of fake musk, and you will come across fakes if you are not careful.According to experienced people, if there is a word "Du" engraved on the oil paper on the outside, the lamas guarantee that it is genuine, and it will be replaced if it is fake. It is true that the one with the stamp of "Du" is 30% more expensive than the one without the stamp of "Du".Although the Tibetan green fruit sold at the lama stall is as hard as wood and stone, the granules are the size of raisins, more than double the volume of those sold in pharmacies. It is sweet and astringent and slightly bitter in the mouth, and the taste is roughly the same. I don’t know if it is effective. Same thing.These things are only sold at a few stalls in Baita Temple, and occasionally in other temples, but they are rare.In Baita Temple, apart from the lama's residence, there are no cooking pots in the two verandahs (everyone pays, and bachelors work together as a small businessman who sells food and food), and no idlers are rented, only teahouses and chess clubs are rented, so the situation in the two verandahs, It is a little tidier and cleaner than Longfu Temple and Huguo Temple.

Among the businessmen of Baita Temple, there are two special figures who have made a splash in the world.One is named Yuzi, who makes rice, and the other is Haiye, who makes brown people. Both of them live at the gate of the palace. They set up stalls at Baita Temple every five or six days, and they rarely take advantage of the excitement of other temple fairs.People with the same surname and first name don’t know Yuzi. He won a certificate of excellence for participating in the Panama Games, with the words “Winner Yuziliang” written on it.His award-winning work is "The Heavenly Girl Scattering Flowers".There is an award-winning coloring photo (color photos were not invented at the time) which he regarded as a treasure and was not easily seen by others. The author only saw him once when he made a good deal.In the photo, the Tathagata Buddha sits solemnly on the lotus platform and preaches, the golden-winged roc spreads its wings in the misty clouds, Manjusri and Samantabhadra sit on green lions and white elephants, and the eighteen arhats look at each other with glaring eyes and lowered eyebrows.Scattered flower celestial maidens wear brocade clothes and pearl shoes, looking brightly, with plain silk hanging fragrant and light trains.The waiter Hua Nu is holding a flower basket, which is also a pearl of gold and emerald, and dances wonderfully.The whole play is housed in a seven or eight-inch antique glass box, and the layout and colors are beautifully framed, and even distance and separation can be just right. There is cause.What the author sees are just photos. If it is the real thing, of course it will be more lifelike.It’s no wonder that the review results gave him a general comment: “Ingenious craftsmanship is a great masterpiece among handicrafts.” get mouldy.According to him: "My picture was born out of Mei Lanfang's "The Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers". The heavenly maiden's costumes and even the eyebrows and eyes are similar to Boss Mei. Some parts of this exhibit have been changed and changed, pinched and pinched again." , It took three months to complete. Now that I am a few years old, my eyesight and finger strength are not flexible enough for such meticulous work, and I can’t do a job that I am satisfied with.” The author once took Yu Shuyan in "Washing the Floating Mountain" plays a still photo of He Tianbao, wearing a hat and black arrow jacket, with two knives in his back, holding a whip in his hand, and he is still kneading in a horse-riding pose. It took him three days to finish the job, and he did it. Careful and vivid, even the expression on the body and face is pinched so lifelike that it is absolutely perfect.The author has placed it in the Wenwan Pavilion for two or three years, and it has not lost its shape in the slightest.Later, fancier He Yousan saw it and wanted to take it away. Hai Ye is even more weird, even his neighbors don't know his name, only Hai Ye. What everyone can understand is that he is a fan of Peking Opera, and he often plays in a theater outside Fucheng Gate. Later, he suddenly collapsed (the voice could not sing brightly, Liyuan Xing called it "Tazhong"), and he couldn't say a word. When he was discouraged, he became a brown man for entertainment.He completely dramatized the clay figurines, with armor and flags, crowns and ermines, flamboyant sleeves and red dresses, and hairpins and embroidery. Every character can be made fine and lifelike.Even the clean ugly face, wielding a spear and holding a halberd with eighteen weapons is also meticulously done.He wrapped the gowns and brocade skirts of the poisonous figures with small sticks and hard bristles to surround them and glued them together. He put the delicate satin figures with gold and jade in the clay on the copper tea tray, and beat the edge of the tea tray with rice straws. The brown-tailed man was shaken and wandered around, and abnormal movements occurred from time to time, which was very interesting.Haiye's stuff, although it has not participated in international exhibitions, but before the Anti-Japanese War, the Ministry of Railways held a railway exhibition (referred to as "Iron Exhibition"). Scholars of folk dance discovered that all the finished products at that time were shipped back to Italy, exhibited in a museum for everyone to appreciate, and was even exhibited in France once.Family friend Jiang Zhenqing was studying fine arts at the University of Paris. After reading it, he wrote to me and asked me to buy brown figures from more than a dozen plays. I dare say that at that time, Parisians thought that having a few brown figures at home was the most fashionable display. . A priest of Pingzemen Church said: “Our church and the Anglican Cathedral in Xuanwumen were both built in the Ming Dynasty. The Hutong of the Patrolling Hall passed through Pingzemen and was defeated. The remnant soldiers and defeated generals could not avoid burning, killing and looting. The area around Baita Temple was the most robbed and suffered the worst disaster. The damage to the church altar is not counted, and it was burned. The pagoda courtyard, the main hall on the first floor was almost razed to the ground, and the collapsed beams and columns were all top-grade golden nanmu. The soldiers were in chaos and panic, and everyone was too busy to take care of themselves. The altar and the list of offering sacrificial vessels were all purchased from nearby people’s homes at a high price after the incident was resolved. Up to now, there is a piece of stone on the altar that records it in great detail, and it is still embedded on the wall as a souvenir.” Because I don't know Italian or French, I always wanted to see it but failed. At the gate of the palace behind the Baita Temple, under the east corridor and under the west corridor, there are sixty or seventy big houses each, and there are some with gardens. There are quite a few places, such as the residence of Liang Jiean, a descendant of General Yili, who is a descendant of General Yili. They all enter the house with a small garden outside.The strangest thing is that the main rooms of those houses are very tall and spacious, while the side rooms on the east and west sides seem to be much shorter, which is quite disproportionate.Later, when I talked to the older generation, I realized that there were several big houses under the East and West Wings.Although the size is too big, but the wood is good, and I don't want to break it, so I just built it with the raw materials, so the size of the hatchback group room is obviously unqualified.It seems that the two arms are two or three inches lower than the original position, which is very unsightly. When Song Mingxuan presided over the Jicha Political Affairs Committee, there were three singers, Fang Hongbao, Guo Xiaoxia, and Yao Junying, who were known as the Three Beauty of North China and became very popular.Yao, a native of Henan, sings Henan Zhuizi, with cloudy temple hair, long braids, and a natural pair of squinting eyes, which is quite popular for a while.Before the Anti-Japanese War, she bought a quadrangle house under the west corridor. She thought the gatehouse was too high, so she planned to remove the heavy cover, but when she removed the wood, she found that from the gatehouse to the corridor eaves, rafters and jue, it was all made of high-quality golden nanmu. .She sold the good wood, and with a few extra money, she earned a small quadrangle house in the Xuanwai Dama Temple.According to this circumstantial evidence, it is true that Li Zicheng defeated Pingzemen in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties and burned the Baita Temple.There are probably not too many people who know these old things now, so write them down, so that when you visit the Baita Temple in the future, you can prove it!