Nanxiang is a thousand-year-old town. As early as four years in Liang Tian (AD 55), the Baihe Nanxiang Temple was built, named after it.
Later, five generations of brick pagodas were built ―― Twin Towers, the bonfire pier left by Han Shizong, a general who fought against the Jin Dynasty in the Southern Song Dynasty ―― Hecha Mountain, a garden built in the Ming Dynasty ―― Guyi Garden.
It has a history of more than 1,5 years and is one of the four famous historical and cultural towns in Shanghai.
The Hecha Mountain in Nanxiang was not only a beacon pier built by Han Shizhong, a famous anti-gold star in the Song Dynasty, but also was called "Heshe Mountain" a long time ago.
When Hecha Mountain was a muddy mound, there lived a crane and a snake. Somehow, two hostile animals, "eating" and "being eaten", actually existed in the same place.
But later, a nun came here, set up a hut and settled down. "Can cranes and snakes be compatible?" The fact that cranes and snakes appeared at the same time on the mud pier made the nun somewhat suspicious, but she couldn't understand the reason, so she drove away the snake that looked scary, leaving only the crane and her company.
Then, one day, another monk came here, and the monk decided that the place was very feng shui, and building a temple would be full of people and Buddha's light.
So he said to the nun, "I'm going to build a temple here. Do you agree?" It is crazy for a nun to build a temple on such a muddy mound. There are not many people around, and even if it is built, it is a waste of material resources and manpower. Where can anyone burn incense and worship Buddha?
"I don't have the strength to make it yourself." However, the monk Zou Fang still insisted on building the temple, going to the east to get some money, and going to the west to get some silver. After a few years, a temple was finally built by him. Although the area is not very large, it is quite magnificent, not only with Buddha statues and Guanyin statues, but also with statues of the earth god.
Seeing that his hard work has finally turned out to be a positive result, the monk's heart is full of joy, and his mind is full of lively scenes where pilgrims come to pray.
Besides, after seeing the monk build the temple, the nun was a little unhappy and jealous at first, but gradually she was deeply inspired, thinking how wonderful it would be to build her own buddhist nun in the future.
But there is already a temple in Heshe Mountain, so it is impossible to rebuild a buddhist nun, not to mention how difficult the process is. If it can be built in the end, it will be laughed at by the people, and it will be very unpleasant for people to have buddhist nun next to the temple. So I packed my bedding, said goodbye to the monk and immediately got up and left here to beg alms everywhere.
Although the temple was built, the incense never flourished. Even those who came here to burn incense and worship Buddha did not feel very effective when they returned, so fewer and fewer people came here.
The monk Zou Fang couldn't figure out why this place was obviously a treasure trove of geomantic omen, but it didn't flourish. Why didn't the temple that he had worked so hard to build get everyone's recognition? So he began to look for the reason.
One day, while he was doing morning exercises, he suddenly noticed that a white crane would fly from time to time to stop at the southeast corner of the temple, and his blurred eyes seemed to be looking for something.
"This damn white crane must be making trouble here, ruining the geomantic omen here and driving mine away." Thought of here, without saying anything, the monk picked up the broom in his hand and smashed it at the crane. The frightened crane flapping its wings several times, but still refused to leave.
The monk who walked suddenly flew into a rage, and then picked up some big stones from his feet and threw them at the crane. After several rounds, the crane finally flew away with great reluctance, and the monk who walked happily breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the temple would definitely come back to life.
However, after a period of time, the monks found that the incense in the temple had not improved, and it was worse than before, and few people came.
The monk started to have a headache again. What happened? Confused, he really doesn't know what to do.
So I asked around and finally learned that there lived an old man in Nanxiang. This old man is over 1 years old. He is not only respected in the local area, but also knows the history of Nanxiang like the back of his hand and is deeply loved by everyone.
Presumably he should know the reason, so the monk planned to ask the elders for advice.
One morning, the monk Zou Fang went out, and after asking, he finally knew where the old man lived.
He gently knocked on the old man's door and respectfully asked, "Teacher, do you know that my temple is so well built? Why doesn't anyone come to burn incense and worship Buddha?" Is there a lot that I haven't done well enough? " The monk looked at the old man with an innocent face and felt wronged. He obviously wanted to do something good, but it backfired.
The old man sitting in the plush chair opened his eyes slightly, picked up his teapot, sipped his tea, and then shook his head and said, "In fact, the temple you built is very good, and you earned it through hard work.
But I think you are wrong in two ways. " "I am willing to listen to the teacher." The walking monk braced himself and listened carefully.
"First, because you are too utilitarian, you always think that the temple can be appreciated by the people, burn more incense and donate more incense money, which goes against the purpose of building the temple, and you should serve the suffering people and provide them with spiritual sustenance." Hearing this, the monk kept nodding and saying yes.
"Secondly, there used to be a white crane and a snake in the place where you built the temple. The crane and the snake were originally animals that didn't respect the sky, but they actually survived together here. Now that the crane and the snake have been driven away, the aura here is naturally gone." The monk suddenly felt regretful when he suddenly realized that the snake was driven away by the nun, but at the beginning, he was angry and drove away the white crane. Adding mistakes led to the lack of incense in the temple now.
it's a pity that regret is useless, and only action can save it.
From then on, he often used his spare time to tell the people about Buddhism and Taoism. After his efforts day and night, the incense in the temple gradually began to flourish.
At the same time, he planted many bamboos around the temple and cultivated many fertile fields. After a year or two, the temple became lush and green.
The white crane he drove away also flew back from afar. Snakes often appeared in the jungle, and the incense in the temple grew stronger every day.
due to the improvement of the environment and other aspects, the local people began to live and work in peace and contentment, and lived a happy life.
Because cranes and snakes are of great significance here, they also symbolize the connotation of harmonious coexistence, so some people renamed this place "Crane and Snake Mountain".