Seek the bus route from Nanhai Temple in Guangzhou to Yonghe Xinxin Sixth Road in Xintang Town, Zengcheng City.

Open classification: tourism, scenic spots

Nanhai Temple is an important place for foreign maritime traffic and trade in ancient China. It was built in the 14th year of Emperor Kai of Sui Dynasty (594) and has a history of 14 14 years. It is the only well-preserved and largest building in the ancient sea temple in China, and it is also an important witness that the Maritime Silk Road originated in Guangzhou since the Western Han Dynasty.

Nanhai Temple is huge, covering an area of 30,000 square meters and a depth of five meters. From south to north, there are memorial archway, head gate, instrument gate, ceremony pavilion, main hall and back hall on the central axis, cloisters on both sides, and a bathing pavilion on the southwest hill. Most of the existing buildings are Qing Dynasty buildings. The architectural layout of the temple has early architectural features, such as the corridor shape of the instrument door and the cushion of the head door. According to experts' research, there are still architectural relics of the Zhou Dynasty here. On both sides of the central axis are corridors and pavilions. The archway is three rooms and four columns, towering into the sky, made of granite stone, and the words "Ocean Out" are engraved on the front stone. Toumen was built in the Qing Dynasty, with three rooms wide and two rooms deep. The distraction wall is decorated with two columns, beams and carved fish, with cushions, hard hills, two dragons competing for pearls and tiles on the front and back sides. There is a pair of red sandstone stone lions in front of the door, with shadow walls on both sides. The appearance of the instrument is three rooms wide and four rooms deep, and the hard top and two sides are connected with the corridor. Ritual Pavilion, originally built in Ming Dynasty, 1990 was reconstructed in imitation of Ming Dynasty style. Daxiong Hall was built in the Ming Dynasty, resting on the top of the mountain with a single eaves, with five rooms wide and three rooms deep. Destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, 1989 rebuilt. Houdian is a reinforced concrete building rebuilt during Chen's rule in Guangdong in 1930s. When 199 1 was completed, a new tile ridge was installed in the back hall. This temple is called "Southern Forest of Steles" because it collects the imperial memorial tablets of emperors and the inscriptions of famous people such as Han Yu and Su Shi.

On the west side of the temple, there is a hill called Zhangqiu in ancient times, which was once a place to watch the sunrise on the sea. There is a bathing pavilion with a simple beam frame with a single eaves. In the pavilion, there is a tablet of Su Shi who was ill in Guangzhou during Jiading period, followed by the tablet of Su Shiyun in Chen Baisha in Ming Dynasty. "Fuxi Bath Day" is one of the eight scenic spots of Yangcheng in Song, Yuan and Qing Dynasties. Lin Zexu went to the temple to worship the sea before selling opium, and Sun Yat-sen and his colleagues also visited here.

The temple was announced as a cultural relic protection unit by Guangdong Provincial People's Committee in July 1962.

When you come to Miaotou Village in Huangpu, east of Guangzhou, an ancient and magnificent temple stands in your sight. It is a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit and an important site of foreign maritime traffic and trade in ancient Guangzhou, China. Nanhai Temple is one of the most intact and largest buildings in ancient China. The temple was built in the 14th year of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty (594) and has a history of 14 14 years. Later generations were rebuilt and expanded. The existing buildings are Qing Dynasty buildings, but they still retain the scale and organizational system of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Since 1988, the government has also carried out three major repairs to Nanhai Temple, and now it has basically restored its original appearance.

Only the temple was left before the restoration. Now the temple is huge, covering an area of 30,000 square meters. Its main building is Wujin Hall, and from south to north are Toumen, Yimen and Corridor, Ritual Pavilion, Main Hall and Zhaoling Palace in turn. There is a stone archway in front of Nanhai Temple, which says "Don't make waves". Many stone carvings of past dynasties are preserved in this temple. There are also ancillary buildings such as Huabiao, Shishi, Hanyu Monument Pavilion, Kaibao Monument Pavilion, Hongwu Monument Pavilion and Wan Li Bicheng Monument Pavilion in the Kangxi period, which constitute a number of ancient buildings with considerable scale. The temple also preserves the bronze drums and clocks of the Han and Ming dynasties, as well as important cultural relics, such as the jade seal of the South China Sea. There are also ancient and famous trees such as kapok and acacia. The bronze drum of Han Dynasty preserved here is one of the three existing bronze drums in China. There is a "Bathing Day Pavilion" on a hill to the west of the temple. The "Fuxi Bathing Day", one of the eight scenic spots in Yangcheng during the Song and Yuan Dynasties, refers to this place.

Since the Tang Dynasty, Nanhai Temple has become increasingly prosperous, and successive governments have also sent people to manage temple affairs. In fact, it has become one of the temples with the largest number of pilgrims and the highest status, which is mainly determined by the increasingly developed status of Guangzhou's maritime trade.

The ancient Maritime Silk Road in China began in the Western Han Dynasty and reached its peak in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Especially in the Tang Dynasty, the trading fleet from Guangzhou passed through South Asian countries, crossed the Indian Ocean, reached West Asia and the Persian Gulf, and reached the east coast of Africa as far as the west. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it went further to Europe and America. The total length of this route is 10000 kilometers, which connects the political, economic and cultural exchanges between the East and the West and expands China's influence in the world.

Nanhai Temple, which is in an important position on this route, had a pier in ancient times, and outside the pier was the vast sea-the South China Sea. The South China Sea is actually the part of the Pacific Ocean near the Southeast Asian continent, and the sea is next to the Pacific Ocean and leads to the Indian Ocean. Sailing boats or ships from far away must pass through this ancient pier located in the South China Sea Temple. So many merchant ships stopped here to worship in temples, praying for safe routes and smooth business. As a result, Fuxi Town near the temple was crowded with business travelers and folk temple fairs in day trading. The prosperity of Nanhai Temple witnessed the prosperity of maritime trade in Guangzhou. It is not surprising that many precious historical relics have been left behind, including inscriptions and inscriptions given by the emperor. Of course, the people are even more grateful to God in the South China Sea who has blessed them with smooth sailing and safety.

Nanhai Temple faces south and covers an area of 30,000 square meters. It is the architectural style of the Ming Dynasty, grand and simple.

There is a stone archway outside the temple, which is "not making waves." From south to north along the central axis, the main building of the temple consists of five entrances: Toumen, Yimen, Liting Pavilion, Main Hall and Zhaoling Palace, with one entrance higher than the other. Other ancillary buildings are centered on Wujin, which is symmetrical left and right. This is a typical traditional temple building in China.

The story of Nanhai God

Speaking of the establishment of Nanhai Temple, people will naturally ask about the name of Nanhai God. The South China Sea God is called Zhu Rong, and some historical books are called Zhu Chi, which is the abbreviation of Zhu Rong and Chi Di. In fact, Zhu Rong and Chi Di are the same person, and Zhu Rong is Vulcan. In today's fire, people still think that Mr. Zhu Rong is here. Who is Zhu Rong? How did he combine water and fire into one god? There are many legends here.

Legend 1: Zhu Rong was the emperor of China. He changed it with fire. His name is Chi Di. According to legend, Zhu Rong is still a musician. He often plays melodious and touching music on high mountains, which makes the Lebanese people refreshed, emotional and full of love for life. Zhu Rong was buried in the sun of Hengshan Mountain in Nanyue after his death. In order to commemorate him, later generations called the highest peak of Nanyue Mountain Zhurong Peak.

Legend 2: In ancient times, during the reign of Di ku (Ku Treasury), there was a man named Li Zhong, the son of Zhuan Xu. His official position is "Huozheng", that is, Huoguan. Li Zhong is loyal to his duties and strives to serve Di Ku and the people. When he was a fire officer, Di Ku awarded him the title of "Zhu Rong". "Wish" means forever and continuously, and "Harmony" is a symbol of light, that is, I hope that Chongli will continue to shine on the earth with fire and bring people light forever. After his death, Zhu Rong was buried in the south peak of Hengshan Shunsi Temple in Nanyue, which is now under Zhurong Peak.

Legend 3: During the Huangdi period, Huangdi made a tour to the south, and he couldn't tell the direction clearly, so he asked Zhu Rong to distinguish the south. That is to say, Hengyang Nanyue was first distinguished by Zhu Rong, so he served as Si Tuleideng. Later, Zhu Rong was granted the land of Chu and became the ancestor of Chu people.

There is also a Zhu Rong Hall on the top of Zhurong Peak in Nanyue, Hengyang today. There is a stone railing on the rock behind the hall, which can be used to lean on? Look at the scenery of Beishan.

How did this Vulcan, the ancestor of Chu people, Zhu Rong concurrently serve as Poseidon? The ancients believed that the south belongs to fire, which is a symbol of light and the root of fire is water. Therefore, I hope to integrate fire and water, which is in line with the divination that "≦" in Zhou Wenwang's Eight Diagrams belongs to fire and is located in the south.

Legend 4: During the period of Emperor Yao, the floods were terrible, the mountains were submerged, the tombs were destroyed, and the Li people lived in dire straits. Emperor Yao ordered the cannon to cure the flood, but nine years later, it didn't work. Later, Gun learned that there was a kind of treasure called fallow soil in the sky. As long as you throw a little into the soil, it will grow up immediately, pile up into mountains and banks, so Gun tries to steal fallow soil from the sky to the world. Use it to stop the flood, and finally the earth gradually loses sight of the flood. However, God knew that the cultivated land was stolen, so he sent Zhu Rong, the god of fire, down to earth to kill the gun in Yushan and recapture the remaining cultivated land. God also ordered Zhu Rong to supervise human water conservancy and let him take charge of one side of water. Because Zhu Rong is the God of the South, it is a combination of fire and water, and it is also the God of the South China Sea.

Since Zhu Rong is also the God of the South China Sea, he should certainly choose a station for him to manage the South China Sea. This place must have at least two conditions. First, it is close to the mouth of the South China Sea, and there is a port nearby, which is convenient for merchant ships to enter and leave the sacrifice. Second, there is a certain population nearby, so people can often go to the temple to worship and worship the management. Fuwei Town (now Miaotou Village) is located in the Pearl River Estuary on the South China Sea coast, about 80 miles away from Guangzhou. On the north bank of the Pearl River, facing the Fuxi River (a section of the Pearl River), it is connected to Shiziyang in the east, Humen in the lower part and Guangzhou in the back. It is the main maritime traffic route in and out of Guangzhou in ancient times, and it can reach countries in the South China Sea when going out to sea. Fuxi Town enjoys a very advantageous geographical position, and is known as "only a hundred steps from the sea, there are always storms, and the shore is close to the abyss of accidents". It became an ideal place to build a sea temple, so people built the Nanhai Temple here, giving Zhu Rong a place to live. But Zhu Rong has two functions, namely, Nanyue Zhurongfeng, Hengyang is the real palace, and Nanqiang Temple keeps the palace for him. In fact, the establishment of Nanhai Temple is closely related to Guangzhou's relative stability, rapid economic development and frequent maritime traffic and trade since the Southern and Northern Dynasties. At that time, in addition to the Silk Road in the northwest, the exchanges between China and other countries in the western regions developed rapidly. Many overseas businessmen and monks came to China by boat, and China ships also went abroad to Guo Fan. Due to the vagaries of the sea, the desire to pray for Poseidon's protection is increasing day by day. In the fourteenth year of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, he wrote a letter to build the Nanhai Temple, which can be said to be natural and adapted to the needs of the people and the government at that time.

Toumen

After the stone archway, it is the courtyard of Toumen. There are a pair of bluestone watches and a pair of stone lions on the east and west sides of the courtyard, which shows the majesty and extraordinary bearing of the ancient temple.

There are clairvoyance and ears on both sides of the head door, and painted door statues of the early Tang Dynasty and Weichi Gong are painted on both sides of the black painted door. These four gods? Guarding the temple day and night, its loyalty can be described as a thousand years. Above the door is the horizontal plaque of "Nanhai Temple". The left and right couplets wrote: "When the white waves rise, the waves break the Tianshan Mountains and breathe the thunder wind; After the dark clouds dispersed, the cloud buds blew and breathed the stars and the moon in Hai Huai. " The original couplet was written by Lin Zijue in Qing Dynasty, and now it is reprinted by Lu Youguang 199 1, a famous calligrapher in Guangdong Province. This couplet vividly depicts the infinite power of the South China Sea God.

On the east side of Toumen, there is Hanyu Monument Pavilion, which is the earliest preserved inscription in Nanhai Temple. In the 12th year of Tang Xianzong Yuanhe (8 17) and 14th year of Yuanhe (8 19), Confucius was the 38th generation of Sun Kong. When Han Yu, a great writer in the Tang Dynasty, was banished from the tide because of his book "Welcome Buddha Bone", he came to Guangzhou to worship the South China Sea God and allocated funds to repair and expand the temple. Kong and Han have always been good friends. Kong admired Han's literary talent and asked Han Yu to write a book to commemorate the temple repair. Han Yu happily wrote a 1000-word "Nanhai Shenguangli Wang Temple Monument".

Han Yubei is 2.47 meters high and 1. 13 meters wide, written by Han Yu and written by Chen Jianshu. Han Yu's inscriptions are of great reference value to the study of the origin and development of Nanhai Temple, the customs of offering sacrifices to the sea in Tang Dynasty and the maritime trade at that time.

On the west side of Toumen is the Kaibao Monument Pavilion in the Northern Song Dynasty. In the fourth year (9 17), Pan Renmei led the army south, destroyed the southern Han Dynasty and pacified Lingnan. In the sixth year of Kaibao (9 19), Nanbo Company was established in Guangzhou in the Northern Song Dynasty to manage foreign trade and allocate funds to repair the Nanhai Temple, hoping to ensure smooth maritime traffic and transactions. Kaibao Monument Pavilion mainly describes the ancestor worship and historical events in this period.

Yimen

The second entrance to the Nanhai Temple is called the Ritual Gate. The middle gate is only for nobles with high status, and other people with low status or ordinary people can only take the side gate. There is also a pair of stone drums at the entrance of Yimen. Four kinds of animals, such as birds, sika deer, bees and monkeys, are carved with stones on the feet of the stone drums. Its homophonic word means "Jue Feng Lu Hou", and I hope all those who come here to worship Nanhai God can be promoted and made a fortune. There is a horizontal plaque above the instrument door, engraved with "Shengdexian Exhibition". The couplet is "the god of Zhenhai rests on harmony, and the temple of Sina looks great".

From Yimen Courtyard to the east and west of the Fourth Entrance Hall, there is a corridor, which displays 45 stone tablets of Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. In addition to Han Yu and Song Kaibao steles in Toumen, there are also famous steles such as Hongwu stele in Ming Dynasty and Kangxi stele in Qing Dynasty. These ancient poems and stone carvings of Nanhai Temple have played a very important role in studying the ancient calligraphy art of China and the historical origin of the temple. Therefore, Nanhai Temple is also called "Southern Forest of Steles".

According to legend, during the Tang Dynasty, ancient Polo paid tribute to China. On the return trip, I went to Nanhai Temple via Guangzhou, where I went to worship Nanhai God, and planted two polo tree seeds brought from the ancient polo country in the temple. Obsessed with the beautiful scenery in the temple, I lingered and missed my boat. So the man shed tears in Wangjiang, raised his left hand to his forehead and looked at the sea, hoping that the boat would come back to pick him up, and then he stood by the sea. People think that tribute ambassadors are friendly envoys from the Maritime Silk Road. He will be buried, the statue with his left hand held high before his death will be enshrined in Nanhai Temple, and he will be dressed in China's clothes, and he will be named "Xi Sikong". During his stay in Shaoxing, Song Gaozong, he was also called Daxi's helper. Because he is a native of polo, he planted a polo tree in the temple, hoping that the polo boat would come back to pick him up every day, so the villagers commonly call it "ghost watching polo" and the temple is called "polo temple". In the Ming Dynasty, Hanshan Zen Master wrote a poem about Daxi, which was very vivid. Poetry cloud:

I thought about how pitiful I was facing the current, sailing west alone and looking empty.

Hold your head high and have a heart to return to your old country, and fly to the wind without wings.

Worry about the clock and drum, worry about the king's food, and tie the clothes and be bitter and ugly.

No need to miss it, the rain and dew will come naturally.

There have always been many textual researches on the identity of Daxi Sikong. During the Tang Dynasty. Guangzhou's overseas trade has been very prosperous, and many foreigners come to China to do business. The above legends about Boluo Tree, Boluo Temple and Daxi Sikong fully reflect the historical facts of Guangzhou's foreign trade prosperity and frequent friendly exchanges between China and foreign countries since the Tang and Song Dynasties.

Ritual pavilion

Out of the door, he entered the third ceremony pavilion. Ritual Pavilion is a place where ancient officials offered sacrifices to Nanhai gods. This is a wooden building with a single eaves resting on the top of the mountain, 3 rooms wide and 3 rooms deep.

The most striking thing about the third entrance is the Kangxi Imperial Monument Pavilion on the west side of the garden. The four golden characters "Wan Li Bocheng" on the tablet are bold and unrestrained. Shining in the sun. This was written by the emperor in the forty-second year of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty (1703), made into a plaque, and then sent to Nanhai Temple by a special person, and a monument was specially erected for this purpose.

To the east of the garden is the Ming Hongwu Emperor Monument. The monument was built in the third year of Hongwu (1370), inspired by Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming emperor, and inscribed by Grace Wai Wong, the lover of Leeb. Because of its complexity, Zhu Yuanzhang cancelled all previous titles of Nanhai Temple and renamed Nanhai God as "Nanhai God".

There is an ancient kapok tree in front of these two monuments, which is said to have a history of two or three hundred years. In ancient times, Nanhai Temple was lush, and there were more than 10 kapok trees alone. Qu Dajun, a famous poet in Lingnan, once compared the kapok tree in Nanhai Temple to a "ten-foot coral" in his book Guangdong Xinyu. Of course, these two plants were replanted by later generations. Because of the long planting history, they are all listed as ancient and famous trees in Guangzhou.

auditorium

Behind the pavilion is the tallest and most important building of Nanhai Temple.

The main hall is the fourth entrance of Nanhai Temple. It is an imitation of the Ming Dynasty wooden structure with glazed tiles on the top of Xieshan Mountain. The roof is covered with green glazed tiles; There is a glazed tile ridge in the middle, decorated with patterns such as double phoenix flying and fish hanging upside down; In the upper part, there are two black dragons. Their bodies bend and take off, and they compete for pearls. It is said that the double phoenix represents beauty, the whole fish represents freedom, the black dragon represents strength, and the orb represents wisdom.

Zhu Rong, a 3.8-meter-high South China Sea God, was placed in the center of the hall. He wore a crown, a dragon robe and a Hosta. He is plump, but his expression is very dignified. He is a kind king.

There are statues of six Marquis on the left and right sides of the main hall. It is said that these six people have made great contributions to the management of the ocean by Nanhai God, so they have won a place in the Taoist view of polytheism. They are Daxi as Huihou, Dusi as Huihou, General Cao as Huihou, some envoys as Zunhou, Prince Ichiro as a supplement, and Prince Jiro as Zanninghou.

On the east side of the main hall, there is also a famous bronze drum in the Eastern Han Dynasty and an iron clock in the Ming Dynasty. The bronze drum has a diameter of 138 cm, a height of 7 1.4 cm and a thickness of 0.4-0.6 cm. It is an extremely precious cultural relic, second only to the big bronze drums in Guangxi and Shanghai, and ranks third among the existing big bronze drums in China. Cast in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the drum surface is in the middle of the sun awn pattern. The drum side was originally inlaid with six copper frogs, but somehow they have separated. Its drum body has square holes, money patterns and moire patterns. The bronze drum is an important sacrificial vessel for the ancient Yue people, representing power and status. This bronze drum is not only used to celebrate God's birthday, but also is said to have the function of killing demons and fixing the sea.

There is a wall behind the statue of Zhu Rong, and a dragon walks on the mighty sea. There are couplets on both sides: "A thousand ships go with the water; Fu Bo Wan Li Xiu Zhenlong. "

Zhaoling Palace

The fifth entrance is called Zhaoling Palace, also called Houdian, which is the living room of Mrs. Nanhai Shen. Mrs. Shen Nanhai was named "Mrs. Mingshun" in the Song Dynasty. It is said that she used to be a sericulture woman in Shunde, and later became a god, betrothed to Nanhai God. In addition to the magic power of the South China Sea God, she also has the function of "sending heirs" and is the protector of women and children.

Yuri pavilion

On the west side of Nanhai Temple, there is a hill called Zhangqiu in ancient times. There is a small pavilion on the hill about 10 meters high. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, it was surrounded by water on three sides, "facing the sea in front, endless". Among the people standing in the pavilion, of course, it is the best place to enjoy the sea view and express their feelings for the sea.

According to relevant historical records, there were 108 steps on this mountain in ancient times, and now there are only 72 steps left. There is a lion ocean in the east, and the smoke waves are vast. As night fell, red clouds appeared, and the blue sea suddenly covered with a layer of golden light. When a red sun rises from Ran Ran at sea, half of it is still in the sea, hesitating. This is a spectacular sight-this is the "Fuxi Bath Day", one of the eight scenic spots in Yangcheng during the Song and Yuan Dynasties in history. No wonder many literati visited Nanhai Temple at that time and liked to go boating here at dusk. They boarded the ancient pavilion at dawn the next day to watch the sunrise!

In the early years of Shaosheng in the Northern Song Dynasty (1094), Su Dongpo, a great writer, was exiled to Lingnan and worshipped the South China Sea God in Guangzhou. He boarded the sunbathing pavilion and marveled at the magnificence of the sea, the brilliance of the sun, the vastness of heaven and earth, and the simplicity of the temple. He wrote the poem "Sunbathing Pavilion in the South China Sea" with deep affection: "The shock wave is inserted into the night, and the bright light destroys the Yellow Bay. Sit and watch? The valley is dizzy, and I think of the Qiantang Yong Snow Mountain in the distance. I feel sad and disgusting, and washing my face is more annoying. Suddenly, the birds began to move and pedestrians flew to the green peaks. "

Poetry is written by the pavilion, and the pavilion is also influenced by poetry. Good-hearted people will engrave the poems sung by Su Dongpo on the stone tablet as a souvenir. In the stele pavilion, the pavilion is also called the bathing pavilion. After the fame spread far and wide, many literati came here to watch the "bathing day in the sea" (because the temple was called Polo Temple in ancient times, it was also called "Polo Bathing Day"), leaving many poems echoing Su Dongpo from a distance. Among them, Chen Xianzhang's Bathing in the Sun Pavilion and Su Dongpo's Rhyme are the most famous. The poem is written like this: "The waning moon shines into the sky without light, and the fishing boat counts to the front of the bay. Yesterday was empty and the green exhibition was boundless. The shadow must mourn in the end, and the negative mystery can offer a dragon face. Who can hold the sun and go into the ravine? "

Later generations also carved Chen Xianzhang's poems on the monument. Now two stone tablets coexist in the pavilion.

Nanhai Temple is like an old man who witnessed the history that the Maritime Silk Road originated in Guangzhou since the Western Han Dynasty. The temple is really a microcosm of Guangzhou's foreign traffic and foreign trade prosperity. It combines Chinese religions, ancient buildings, calligraphy, sculpture and various literature and arts, and has high historical value and tourism value.