The legend of the White Horse Temple
Text/Xianzhe Wuyou
There is a White Horse Temple at the north entrance of Gaoban Town, Jintang County. It is said that during the Qianlong period, the emperor and his entourage rode He rode two white horses across Gaoban Bridge to bless the people of Gaoban Bridge. The heroic appearance of the white horse leaves a deep impression on people. It was built to commemorate the two sacred white horses in people's hearts. The original White Horse Temple covered an area of ??more than 3 acres, and was entirely a wooden structure with tiled roofs. The main hall in the middle is dedicated to two white horses with upward hooves. The two horses face each other, and the passion is high. There are dozens of Bodhisattva statues in the side room for people to worship. At the back is the ear room, which is used for daily life. The house is surrounded by trees, and two towering trees in front of the door guard the temple. There is an incense stand on the dam in front of the temple, and devout people begin to burn incense and kowtow when they enter the temple.
Some people say that the White Horse Temple was built in memory of a local general named Tang in Gaoban. Legend has it that the general named Tang was extremely brave in battle. Riding the white horse made the general even more powerful. Every time he fought with the enemy, he always defeated the enemy. Sometimes a horse stumbles, and a man sometimes loses his saddle. One summer, the general led his troops to fight with the enemy. The army was defeated and only a few dozen soldiers were left. His remaining defeated soldiers were trapped in a village near Gaoban Town. The east, west and south sides of the village were heavily guarded by the enemy, and there was a silt river to the west. Due to the limited strength of the Tang Dynasty, it was unable to defeat the enemy. If you want to survive, you can only cross the river from the north. So the general whipped his horse, and the white horse also understood human nature and galloped across the ditch and ravine. After a fierce battle, the general led his troops to break through the encirclement. However, the white horse neighed, fell to the ground, and never got up again. The general felt sorry for the white horse and buried it deeply here. Since then, people in the village can hear the cry of the white horse every night. In order to commemorate the general and his white horse, people built a temple on the hillside at the north entrance of Gaoban Town. This is the "White Horse Temple".
The White Horse Temple is so popular and famous that there is another legend among the people. One year in the Tang Dynasty, there was no rain for a hundred days in Jinyuan County. The county magistrate was so anxious that he knelt down and knelt before the gods to pray for rain. His sincerity moved God. The God of Heaven told the county magistrate that he must go to Yunwu Peak to pay homage to the Rain God in order for it to rain. When he rode a white horse to the Yunwu Peak to pay homage to the Rain God, the sky suddenly became covered with dark clouds and strong winds. An hour later, heavy rain poured down from the sky, moistening the long-drought earth, and people cheered for joy. On his way back, the county magistrate passed through the Gaoban Yangxi River. Unfortunately, he was swept away by a flash flood. The magistrate and the white horse were washed more than ten miles downstream. People commemorated his merits, buried him generously, and built a white horse temple to worship him.
After the White Horse Temple was built, the incense became very popular, and nearby villagers went to pray for blessings. A local rich man was optimistic about the Feng Shui here, so he built a house next to the temple to get closer to the blessings. The rich man was very pious and went to the temple every morning to burn incense. His piety moved the white horse. As a result, this family became prosperous and prosperous. They bought hundreds of acres of land and had a good income. The children are very capable and get promoted and make a fortune. The locals are very envious.
According to the elders in the village, during the good weather season, Gaoban has a bumper grain harvest, and people often see the shadows of two white horses appearing in the golden wheat fields. Walking into the wheat field, the white horse was nowhere to be seen, and the crops in the field were intact. People who have seen the shadow of the white horse go to the temple to offer incense to the white horse. They know that the white horse is hungry, so it falls from the sky and comes to the world to eat.
The White Horse Temple was also destroyed during the period of destroying the Four Olds, and was later used as a storage room for the production team. But those two sacred white horses still remain deeply in people's hearts. At the original site, donors donated money to rebuild the two white horses. They are smaller in size than the original ones, but the charm is still there and the incense has been passed down.
In the hearts of local people, the two white horses are symbols of spirituality and the white horses that bring people happiness. Baima Temple is a holy place to prevent disasters and avoid evil spirits. Those touching legends are still widely circulated.