Shenmu Hejin Temple is a cultural tourist attraction.
Hejin Temple, also known as Buddha Temple, was built around the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty and has been around for more than 400 years. It is located on a huge rock in the middle of the river, across the river from Huangshitoudi Village in Shenmu Town. The temple faces south and faces south. It originally had eighteen halls in three entrances and more than eighteen Zen halls and guesthouses at the back. The temple mainly enshrines the founders of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, as well as the Guan Sheng Emperor, the Bodhisattva of Eyes, and the Erlang God Yang Jian. The mountain gate faces Lelou, guarded by stone lions on both sides. There is an ancient cypress inside the gate, more than ten feet high, with a round crown and a straight trunk, like a hammer of the gods. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Hejin Temple was renovated many times and became very popular.
In the 1920s, there were still more than 20 monks, and Buddhist services involved 48 altars covering a hundred miles in radius. Every year on the 28th day of the fourth lunar month, there is a traditional temple fair, where villagers gather, merchants fill the fields, and worship, entertainment, and trade are unprecedented. After the war and the Cultural Revolution, the monks fled and the temples were destroyed. After the reform and opening up, inspired by national religious policies and cultural relics protection policies, villagers spontaneously restored cultural relics and rebuilt the main hall and some corridors.
The stone on which Kawajin Temple stands is facing water on three sides and one hundred landings, forming a peninsula shape. Although the stone wall near the water is not very high, it is steep and unreachable. There is a huge iron ring embedded in the north end wall, which is a legacy of folk traditions and gods. It is said that when Dayu was controlling floods, he cut a gully in the north mountain of Shenmu City to divert the water from Zhuolunchuan into the Kuye River. This gully was the Shigulzi. Unexpectedly, the cut stones were washed away by the water three times and two times to Shamaotou at the mouth of Kuye River, blocking the river channel and causing frequent floods. Once the stone ravine was opened, the feng shui of the sacred tree was ruined. From then on, famines continued here, and the land was barren and the people were impoverished. Dayu regretted it very much after learning about it, and ordered his Hercules to pull the stone from the mouth of the river to the north of Shenmu City overnight to block the stone gully. Hercules arranged an iron ring on the boulder and rode the night pull stone to the north, facing difficulties along the way. Before dawn, we finally arrived at Huangshitou. At this time, there were already people in the village getting up early to make a living. Hercules asked a village woman: "How far is this place from Shenmu City? Can we get there before dawn?" The village woman said: "We can't get there, there are still more than forty miles." She didn't answer the question well. , Hercules suddenly lost his energy and left the boulder in the river. After that, the mouth of the Kuye River became unblocked and the floods reduced. Thousands of years later, the Shenmu area reincarnated and gradually became wealthy. Building a temple of the gods with magical stones is a perfect fit!
The original site of Hejin Temple is on the stone cliff of Hexi in Guojiata Village upstream, commonly known as Yanya Temple. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Cunwu, a wealthy man from Shiyao Village downstream, spent his life savings and moved it to its current location. Zhang Cunwu was an honest man and did not benefit from the temple even during the construction. He even brought his own drinking water. Shortly after the temple was built, Zhang died. To commemorate him, people set up a merit tablet for him in the temple so that he could enjoy incense with the gods.
Transportation Guide
Scenic spot address: Huangshitoudi Village, Shenmu County, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province
Bus route: Take the bus from Shenmu County to Sha_ Town or Take the shuttle bus from Hejiachuan Town and get off at Huangshitou Underground on the way.