Pangu Palace in Baiyun Mountain

Pangu Palace: The Stopped Clock (Published in Huiyang Daily)

The car stopped at the mountain pass between Baiyunzhang and Longpingzui, with an altitude of nearly 500 meters. Pushing open the car door, the fresh air almost made us stagger. Maybe we have stayed in this city for too long. Under the green mountain, the depression in our hearts seems to have arisen. Looking up, a temple, Pangu Palace, is in sight.

Pangu Palace is located in Baiyun Zhang Forest Farm, Xinxu Town, Yue Chang, just in the nest of Baiyun Zhang and Longpingzui mountains. According to historical records, Pangu Palace was built in the 14th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (1888), and a grand temple fair was held every year. The last temple fair before liberation was on July 7th, 1938, and the host was Mrs. Zhang San from the village. Pangu Palace was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. From 65438 to 0980, people spontaneously donated money to rebuild the statue. After its rebirth, Pangu Palace has enjoyed a prosperous incense every year.

When you walk into Pangu Palace, you will see a big incense burner. This incense burner with the same color and ink has undoubtedly lost its ornamental value here. It seems that it exists to make the pilgrims who are in an endless stream turn their pious prayers and incense into nothing. To our surprise, there is a row of towering iron ladders beside the incense burner, and several iron ropes connected to the ground firmly fix them. It won't be used to worship heaven, will it? Zhang, the accompanying director of Baiyunzhang Forest Farm, immediately proved that our judgment was wrong. It was originally used to tie firecrackers. Without extraordinary courage, it is impossible to tie firecrackers on a ladder at least three stories high.

Pangu Palace is a dual building. The first entrance is a rectangular hall corridor, which passes through the patio to reach the second entrance. The second entrance has three halls, left, middle and right, and each hall has a gilded clay sculpture. Above the palace, the original carved pillars are still preserved, engraved with the words "I lived in Yong, Tongzhi, Meng Dongyue and Ji Hitachi in the 14th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty". Because of the weather, the Pangu Palace, which was originally crowded with pilgrims, also quieted down. The silent Pangu Palace is like a stopped clock, which can make people easily fall into the depths of time. In the palace, we saw wooden doors with wood grains, door panels with natural colors of wood, and old faded window lattice ... What stopped us most was a wing in the left hall, which is said to be a place to provide accommodation for pilgrims from afar. There are two rows of very old beds in the wing. Over time, these beds are getting older and older. It seems that the bed board will turn into pieces of sawdust when it is lightly touched. There is a gentleman named Xie in the palace who has been here with Pan Guxian for more than twenty years. During the conversation, he told us that Pangu Palace has a long history, and it has to be rebuilt every 20 years since Daoguang in Qing Dynasty to maintain the incense. On the 3rd, 6th and 9th of every 10th day of every month, there will be a temple fair in Pangu Palace. There will be a lot of excitement then, and cars entering the mountain can be discharged to the bottom of the mountain. What makes the incense of Pangu Palace last forever? In the right hall, we saw such a couplet: "Open the heavens and the earth, and mankind will shine forever;" It may be of special significance for Pan Gu Xian to pray for the peace of his life from the beginning of the world.

After coming out of the palace, Zhang also told us that Baiyun Zhang Forest Farm has invested nearly 2 million yuan to rebuild Pangu Palace since 1988. With the reconstruction of roads, bridges, parking lots and other construction projects, Pangu Palace is becoming more and more famous.

If you are crazy about Pangu Palace, come here. At night, you can live in it, touch the ancient window lattice and sleep in that very old bed. Text: Yan Yichao Yang Guiping