Chapter 40 Section VIII

Qingyang Palace is outside the city wall in the southwest corner of Chengdu. It was built during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty and has been repaired several times.It is said that the Yuanshi Temple, which is said to be a Taoist priest, is not as magnificent as Zhaojue Temple outside the North Gate, Wenshu Monastery inside the North Gate, and the jungle buildings of the two monks, but the structure is generous after all, and the legacy of medieval buildings can still be seen . Temples, like government offices, face south from north.Its gate is facing a small street, leading to it is a five-hole big stone bridge, named Yingxian Bridge.This street is named after Qingyang Palace, called Qingyangchang.Although small, it is an equally important rice market and live pig market outside the south gate.

The overall structure of Qingyang Palace is like this: facing the road, there are a pair of big stone lions.There are three red walls and three mountain gates.Entering the gate, there is a rectangular empty dam. After walking, there are two gates. The base of the gate is more than one foot higher than the mountain gate, and the repair should be more elegant.Going in again, there is another rectangular empty dam with a stone corridor in the middle and cypress trees on both sides.Going in again, it is the first hall. The foundation of the hall is about three feet high. The hall is composed of three couplets, with convenient doors at both ends.Going in again, the empty dam is bigger, there are more trees, and the east and west are side halls; in the northwest corner of the west side hall, there is another courtyard, which is the residence, living room, and place where the lottery tickets are sold.In the middle of the dam is an exquisitely built Bagua Pavilion. The base of the pavilion is more than five feet high, and there are four stone steps to go up; the whole pavilion is made of pure stone except for the tile bucket, and the carving is also very good; The statue of Lao Tzu sitting on the back of a green bull in Banjiao is very impressive.To the north of the Eight Diagrams Pavilion is the main hall. The big five couplets are built on a six-foot-high platform made of stone strips. In the center of the hall, there are three huge statues. In the early years of Guangxu, after the Peixiu Temple, a sculptor surnamed Cao made it by himself. It looks like a sitting, so big, without drafting, but it is really not easy to shape the parts so well.It is said that it is based on the "Fengshen Bang", the middle is the leader of Tongtian, the upper hand is the Taishang Laojun, and the lower hand is Yuanshi Tianzun. The Taoist priests are also called Sanqing.There are bronze sheep on the left and right in the hall. Some are as big as real sheep and have different shapes, but the casters are extremely delicate and flexible; If you are enlightened, if a certain part of your body hurts, you only need to touch a certain part of the divine sheep, and you will be cured, but it will not work until you have karma.However, most antique experts say that it was a smoker in Jia Shidao’s mansion in the Southern Song Dynasty, because there was a sheep with a seal of Hongmei Pavilion on it, but no one can tell when it flowed into Sichuan and came to the main hall of Qingyang Palace to pretend to be a god sheep. .Behind the main hall, the empty dam is not big, and there is a smaller hall on a higher platform, which is the Guanyin Hall.Copying in from the two sides of the platform, there is another hall, with three couplets and buildings. The downstairs is the Doumu Hall, and the upper floor is the Yuhuang Pavilion. The foundation of the hall is naturally higher.On the east and west sides, there is a man-made earthen platform about three feet high, surrounded by short walls and raised by stone steps, with a small hall and a couplet on each platform;Passing through the Doumu Hall, we are separated by a distance of ten feet, forcing the back eaves to be another stone platform with a height of ten feet.In terms of terrain, it is the last and highest point in the whole temple.A tall pavilion on the stage enshrines the statue of Li Yuan, Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty. Perhaps this is what history says about Li Yuan's relationship with Lao Dan?

February 15th is said to be Lao Tzu's birthday.On this day, the incense in the Qingyang Palace is very prosperous, and at the same time it is the time for the gathering and trading of agricultural tools, bamboo wares and various practical objects. Chengdu is not called temple fair, but simply called Qingyang Palace. To the tenth day of March. People from the four townships would naturally travel hundreds of miles to buy what they needed.People in the city prefer to come here.However, they are not like the country people who come here to buy agricultural tools and bamboo wares with peace of mind. They also buy things, but they buy small gadgets, calligraphy and paintings, jade wares, flowers and trees, etc.; Tea and wine, for a spring outing banquet.Even the wives, grandmas, and girls of official families and rich families, who are only allowed to meet the men at home, can also show their faces when they go to the Qingyang Palace. Looking at the men with dead eyes, people in the city like to go to Qingyang Palace, and sometimes they want to come every day, this is also a big reason.

To the east of Qingyang Palace, separated by a wall, there is also a Taoist temple called Erxian Nunnery.It is also very grand, and it is more secluded and winding than Qingyang Palace, and there are more houses.Outside the gate of the temple is a pine forest, and outside is a dry field. Every year when visiting Qingyang Palace, the earth wall between the two temples is dug up, and tourists will come and go through the gap in the wall. On the side of Qingyang Palace, there is a collection of agricultural tools, bamboo vessels, calligraphy, paintings and small food.The field of Erxian Nunnery is a place where bamboo sheds are set up to sell tea and wine, and flowers and trees are planted, while the nunnery is a place where gadgets and jade wares are sold.

Recently, a gentleman surnamed Ma, who started his business as a businessman, built a villa next to the main road in front of the Taoist grave of Erxian'an, with some decorations.It was originally to commemorate one of his sons and one daughter, but because of his good reputation, he forced these two sons and daughters who died of tuberculosis to be dutiful sons and daughters. Crossing the main road, a stone archway was built, and a plaque was hung on the door, inscribed as the Temple of Shuangxiao.It can be lent to people for banquets during weekdays, and Qingyang Palace is a place where officials and gentry gather for banquets.

In addition, on the opposite bank of the river, there is a very small place called Baihuatan.It is a fake antique made by a Xuezheng surnamed Huang more than ten years ago, and it can still sit up. ·When Mrs. Cai and Luo Waizui came to Erxian Nunnery in a chicken bus, there were already many tourists. If Aunt Cai wants to burn incense, she should first go to Qingyang Palace. According to the rules, she should also start burning in front of the Ditang of the Shanmen. In front of every statue in the temple, she must give a pair of small candles, three sticks of red incense, and three kowtows.But she didn't come here just to burn incense, so she just went to the main hall, knelt down in front of the statue of Sanqing, and kowtowed nine heads among many believers.

In the Hall of the Three Purities, there are people all over the place.Almost all women come to burn incense and kowtow, while most men come to see women.After the women kowtowed, some pulled away and left, some waved their sticks and left—a dozen or so lottery cylinders, all ringing in the arms of the women, mingled with the sound of the iron clattering wood, just throwing There are several Taoist priests in Muqi. ——Some had to touch the bronze sheep before leaving.There are also some men who walk together, most of them are on the same road, if they go after beautiful women, there are not many; this is because most of the women who burn incense in the Sanqing Temple are uglier than men, I'm afraid you won't look at her The average middle-aged country women who came to tease you on purpose, even if there are one or two people who are a little interesting, they all have strong and fearless protectors with them.Women from large households in the city did not come to burn incense at all.Therefore, most of the people who look at women here are ignorant but not stupid men who always stand there blankly, like albatrosses on the beach.

Mrs. Cai kowtowed, although she didn't draw the lottery, she wanted to touch the bronze sheep.And the two bronze sheep were crowded with people, especially children. Luo Weizui swept his eyes around, and saw that men who usually look at women are drooling and staring at Mrs. Cai; many women are also like this, and they seem to see more deeply than men.He was very happy in his heart, but at the same time he was a little jealous; he hoped that Mrs. Cai would be a top talent everywhere, attract people's attention and envy everywhere, but he didn't want her to be seen harshly, as if she was seen by too many people. To gain too much is to lose him.Then he roughly pulled her arm from the crowd and said, "Let's go! Don't touch it anymore!"

She was still a little attached, but seeing Luo's crooked expression, she had no choice but to follow him, through the main hall, to the Guanyin Hall; incense was going to be burned here.Then I walked around to the back of the hall, and I saw a lot of people going up and down on the high platforms on both sides.Chengdu is a flat place without any hills and hills, so everyone is very interested in an earthen platform several feet high; children are especially happy, running down from the stone steps, turning over and running up again, adults The women kept yelling, "Don't run away! You'll have leg pain when you go back!" The women always frowned, blushed, and braced their backs after going up once because their feet were weak. , I had to catch my breath for a while, and said: "I'm really exhausted! I will never climb this high place again!"

Mrs. Cai did not show weakness, she smiled at the women, lifted her flat shoes vigorously, and walked onto the birth platform in one breath; standing outside the small hall, looking at the short wall, a The evergreen trees blocked his eyes, and he couldn't see anything.After stepping off the Nativity Platform and going up to the Taoist Platform, she was already better than ordinary women, and she was still undeterred. In the end, she was able to walk up to the last high pavilion and burn incense.However, after coming out, I squeezed to the side of the Bagua Pavilion, and saw a soba noodle stall next to it, with many men and women eating buckwheat noodles, so I also touched the bench and sat down.

Luo twisted his mouth and said: "Don't eat this, let's take a break and go to a restaurant." She pursed her lips and said with a smile: "Where do I want to eat buckwheat noodles? You don't know, my legs are sore!" The eldest son Tian laughed beside him and said, "That tells you to be brave? Little feet, you can't do it!" Her face immediately turned up, she looked at Tian Changzi, and when she was about to turn him away, a group of tourists, male and female, walked past, chatting and laughing all the way.Among them was a very eye-catching young lady, about sixteen or seventeen years old, with a small body and a naturally red and white face. Although she had small feet, she was dressed like a girl under the banner; Batulu has a vest, on his head, there is a very neat long bangs on the forehead, and behind his head is a very charming braid. The black hair, set off by the white and tender nape of his neck, is even more eye-catching.When she walked past Mrs. Cai, unintentionally, a pair of sparkling eyes landed on her face, fighting with her clear eyes;The young lady took two steps, then turned her head and gave her another generous look. She couldn't help but tugged Luo Waizui's sleeve and said, "Look, this young lady is really good-looking!" The eldest son of Tian shrugged his nose and said, "It's not only good-looking, you smell it, how fragrant it is!" Luo said with a twisted mouth: "Misses from official families are already well-raised, with thin skin and tender flesh, delicate features, plus well-groomed clothes, they will naturally stand out in these places! ..." Zhang Zhankui supported him with his elbow and said, "Brother, look, there are already three tails!"