Since the construction of Zhanggong Temple in 1578, Xining County has been occupied by the Ming and Qing armies for many times, and the situation is chaotic. However, the central beaches of Luoding, Dong 'an and Xining counties were not directly affected by the military conflict. This place seems to be a peaceful place in troubled times. The locals attributed this phenomenon to Zhang Yuanxun's protection and gradually deified Zhang Yuanxun.
It is an old rumor that Hou Rong of Yumaba went to the countryside to urge the department to visit Liantan Xiquan Academy in the winter of five years of Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty (1866). One day after dinner, an old man in white in Lu Yu went outside the courtyard and said to him, "The west bandits invaded the county, are you still wandering around here?" Hou Yi was taken aback and hurriedly asked his name. The old man said, "Zhang!" When the city asked again, the old man had drifted away in the direction of Zhanggong Temple.
Seeing the situation in the city was even more shocking, he hurried back to the county seat, immediately stepped up his alert and organized the four townships to prepare for resistance. When western robbers came, they saw a red light and were surrounded by troops outside the city. Knowing that they were on guard, they dared not invade rashly and ran away. The city guards put down the invasion of western bandits without a single soldier and a general.
Afterwards, in order to thank Zhang for his thought of saving the people and providing disaster relief, the city mayor wrote down a four-character plaque, hung it on the temple of Zhang Gong Temple, and inscribed a couplet to remember it:
The foreign coach didn't dare to invade. By the light, he saw the magic thing shining with golden light in the distance and drove it out.
The bandit turned into a wolf thief. He was on the river. Fortunately, he was warned by the old man in white.
As soon as the news came out, the incense in Zhanggong Temple was more prosperous. Whenever there is trouble in the county, the gods will first warn the police to protect public order. Since Xianfeng and Tongzhi, there have been many bandits and chaos, but even a corner of the beach has been celebrated safely. This matter is also contained in the "Old Xining County Records".
Liantan Zhanggong Temple Fair is held on the 20th of the first month and the 6th of August every year. A small celebration in five years, a anniversary in ten years. On the sixth day of the eighth lunar month in the first year of the lunar calendar, this day is considered by local people as Zhang Gong's birthday. Please invite Nanzhai Taoist priest for three days and three nights. During the period, dozens of Mount Tai around sang and danced, and the sound of gongs and drums was endless. Three days later, I respectfully invited the Bodhisattva to travel. According to Liantan-Xiba-Dongba-Liantan, the patrol walked for dozens of miles on both sides of Nanjiang, and the patrol time was as long as 12 days. Zhanggong Temple, founded in the sixth year of Wanli in Ming Dynasty (1578), was built by Zhang Yuanxun, the commander-in-chief of Guangdong in Ming Dynasty.
Zhang Yuanxun, the world minister, was a professional marine police officer of Xinhe in Ming Dynasty. Shen Yi has a plan. He is a policeman. Under Qi Jiguang, he made meritorious service and joined the company commander. In the fifth year of Wanli (1577), he served as the chief military officer, guarding Guangdong. He led the troops to quell the "Yao chaos" in Liantan area, and later generations built temples.
Liantan Zhanggong Temple is one of the relatively complete ancient buildings in Ming Dynasty in our county. 1985 was listed as the first batch of key cultural relics protection units in Yunan county. 1986 was donated by compatriots from Hong Kong and Macao for maintenance and gradually restored to its original appearance.
Zhanggong Temple is located on the right side of Liantan Middle School in Liantan Town. It was built in Wanli of Ming Dynasty (1587), with a history of 422 years. The temple was rebuilt five times, the earliest one was built in the 27th year of Wanli (1599), and it was also built and expanded in different degrees in the Qing Dynasty. The last reconstruction was in Guangxu three years (1877). The first seat is a two-room building with God's Hall in the middle, where there are statues of the Founding Father, Miss Zhang and other generals. On the right side of the entrance is the kitchen, and on the left is the residence, negotiation place and storage room of the temple and others. There is an ear-shaped building on the left, with three rooms for worshippers to rest and so on.
The temple seat extends from west to northeast, and was originally a building complex composed of internal and external buildings. The main buildings are vestibule, main hall, quadrangle pavilion, annex hall and cloister. There are auxiliary buildings such as stage, battery, hexagonal pavilion, gray brick plastic lion and fence in the front and back yards. Before liberation, people from Sanluo (Yunnan, Luoding and Yunfu) came to the temple fair to celebrate their birthday every day (the 20th day of the first lunar month), which was very lively. After liberation, the auxiliary buildings such as the battery in the backyard were demolished to build a granary, and the stage, gatehouse, fence and double lions in the front yard were demolished in the ten-year catastrophe, leaving only the main building area 1.900 square meters.
The halls are arranged vertically and horizontally, with a front hall, a four-corner pavilion in the middle and a back hall, with accessory halls and cloisters on both sides. The layout is balanced and symmetrical, with a square plane. There are two granite columns supporting the flying head in front of the temple, covered with green glazed tiles, and six lattice columns supporting the weight in the main hall, with a bucket arch at the column base. Columns are arranged in rows to form a bright room, a spacious room. Painted with carved beams and painted buildings, it is gorgeous and magnificent. What is more worthy of appreciation is that the walls of the hall are engraved with various poems and colorful paintings, inlaid with exquisite carvings, vivid ancient tasks, exquisite and unique birds ... All the decorations retain the artistic characteristics of southern buildings in Ming and Qing Dynasties, which has certain artistic and historical research value. Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage List Project —— Brief Introduction of Zhanggong Temple Fair
Zhanggong Temple is located in Liantan Town, Yunan County, the hometown of folk culture and art in China. Liantan Zhanggong Temple was built to commemorate Zhang Yuanxun, the chief soldier of Guangdong Province during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, and has a history of more than 400 years. Zhang Yuanxun was originally the Ministry of Qi Jiguang, a famous anti-Japanese soldier, and was promoted to Guangdong company commander for his meritorious service in the war of resistance against Japan. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, an indigenous rebellion took place in Luopang Mountain area (the county and district under the jurisdiction of Yunfu City today), which lasted for decades. In the fourth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Yuanxun was ordered to lead the troops in counterinsurgency. The inscription on Zhanggong Temple says that "the land eroded by years will be returned to its territory", "the traveler sings it, and the resident is safe", and the officials and the people feel their gratitude, "so the temple is built on the beach". Therefore, Zhang Yuanxun was named the general of "protecting the country and protecting the people" by the Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
In Liantan, the legend, customs and culture of Zhang Gong attract hundreds of thousands of believers from all over the world to pay homage every year. For more than 400 years, incense has flourished and the scene is lively and spectacular.
The lively Zhanggong Temple Fair
Zhanggong Temple Fair is a folk mass activity and a folk cultural activity with folk beliefs as its main content. For hundreds of years, people have enriched and diversified the contents and forms of commemorating the belief in Zhanggong Temple, thus forming a fixed activity time and a relatively stable form of expression, making Zhanggong Temple Fair a characteristic folk activity that still exists in western Guangdong, reflecting traditions, beliefs, lifestyles and folk customs, and having a wide and far-reaching influence in Nanjiang Valley.
Temple fairs in Zhanggong Temple are mainly based on the "Temple Fair Birthday" on the 15th to 20th day of the first lunar month and the "Autumn Festival" on the 6th day of the eighth lunar month. The main contents of the temple fair include ten thousand people's worship, eight-tone birthday celebration, lion dance performance, costume parade, sesame oil donation, signature unwrapping, vegetarian meals, mountain climbing, singing folk songs, acting, setting off firecrackers, making banquets, and holding a bow parade.