Folk stories in Xingtan Town

The Digging-tailed Dragon Worships the Mountain

Speaking of Fengjian, in ancient times there was a student who was studying in a private school. He picked up an unusually shaped insect on the edge of a field on the way to school. After returning to the private school, he quietly Put it in a drawer and bring a rice ball from home every day to feed it.

The little bug is taken care of and grows up. The rice balls fed to the children every day were not enough, so they had to wait until night to go out to look for food. The insects eat so much that people near the school often have their livestock and crops stolen, but they don't know why.

The neighboring families discussed it together and decided to send a few watchmen to keep watch and investigate. Late at night, several watchmen noticed a cloud flying from the sky, and the cloud slowly fell in the courtyard of the private school. They felt strange, so they quietly followed the private school, opened the door, and looked inside, but found nothing.

The next morning, the private school teacher checked the drawers one by one and found a strange insect with shiny scales coiled in a student's drawer, which looked very much like a legendary dragon. The school teacher was shocked and feared that it was a sacred object and did not dare to offend it. So he asked the students about the origin of the strange insect and asked the students to put it back into the field immediately.

The students were forced by the teacher's orders, so they had to carry the bug to the field, caressing the bug, and reluctantly parted. Suddenly, the student had the idea of ??meeting the insect in the future, so he took out a knife and cut off a bit of the insect's tail as a mark. As soon as he let go, the little insect immediately jumped into the air, and his body suddenly enlarged and turned into a giant dragon. He nodded goodbye to the child, turned around and flew towards the sky. In an instant, the sky was filled with wind and clouds, and the dragon was nowhere to be found.

It is said that dragons are in the sky. Because this dragon digs its tail, it cannot go to heaven, so it has to hide in the mountains and swamps. Every time it travels, it will be accompanied by violent storms, destroying houses and breaking trees. Injuring passers-by. Every year in April and May, whenever there is such weather, people say it is a tail-digging dragon worshiping the mountain.

But heavy storms never harm Fengjian. Legend has it that one of the ancestors enshrined in an ancestral hall here was Qiujiang Ancestor (surnamed Liang, born in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty), and he was the student who raised the dragon. During the Qingming Festival every year, a thick layer of leaves is sometimes spread in front of the sacred table in the ancestral hall, much like a worship mat. Sometimes a large lantern is hung on the tree in front of the door. People say that it is a dragon that comes to worship. Sacrificed to repay the kindness of raising him.

Scholar Couplet Fighting Spirits

In Xingtan Village, families with the surnames Huang, Su and Luo have lived since ancient times. The two surnames Su and Luo are located in the east of the village, and they usually work together to do things together. The surname Huang is located at the end of the village and has little contact with the people at the head of the village. One day, scholars with three surnames gathered in a wine shop to drink and have fun. Someone suggested that they should recite poems and write poems to promote their elegance. Su Luo and Su Luo had long wanted to blame the person named Huang, so they colluded together and made a first couplet, and asked the person named Huang to make a second couplet. The first couplet of Luo Liangxiucai read: "Su Luo made a jingle sound, which scared the yellow dog and howled." When Huang Xiucai heard this, he knew that it was an excuse. After thinking about it for a while, he was not to be outdone, and said slowly and thoughtfully Said: "The yellow tiger came down the mountain so bravely, it smashed Su Luo with a bang bang sound." When the two scholars of Su Luo heard this, they were speechless. From then on, the Su and Luo surnames no longer dared to bully the people surnamed Huang.

Maning's "Fairy Footprints"

In ancient times, Maning did not distinguish between east Maning and west Maning. Maning has always been known as a "magical geomantic treasure land", especially Maning Mountain, which is a famous scenic spot. A local folk proverb describes it as "a dragon's head, a moon horn above, a horse's nose and a golden ox below, and a crucian carp on the left." Beach, Baihua Rock on the right, three villages, six cities and eighteen towns, nine wells and thirteen pits." This shows that there were many places of interest and the beauty of the scenery at that time. According to local legend, there are ninety-nine hills in Maning Mountain, and these hills were moved one by one from far away places by an immortal overnight. She had one foot on a hilltop in Jun'an and the other on Mount Maning. That night it happened to be moved from distant hills one by one and placed on the land of Maning. It has been moved to ninety-nine hills. Just as he moved to the 100th hill, which was the last hill, it was almost dawn and he was exhausted and sleepy. Suddenly a rooster crowed loudly. The immortal was frightened in his sleep. He loosened his hands and the hilltop fell to a certain place in Jun'an. Therefore, Ma Ning only had ninety-nine hilltops. Legend has it that if there is a person on the top of a mountain, you can get a prize, so Ma Ning and most of his people will be awarded Jinshi. Now at the northern foot of Maning Mountain, there is a groove on a rock, about 70 centimeters long and 30 centimeters wide, shaped like footprints. Where the footprints are recessed, water has accumulated all year round. Someone once drained the water, but it soon filled up again. Local villagers called it the "fairy footprints." People say that this footprint is the place where the immortal stepped on one foot when he was moving the mountain that night.

Longtan Dragon Mother Temple and Water Village Festival

Every year on May 8th, Longtan villagers happily hold Water Village Festival activities, rowing dragon boats, worshiping Dragon Mother, beating gongs and drums, and colorful flags Piaopiao, men, women and children from far and near came to watch the fun. Why does Longtan Village hold the Water Village Festival on this day? It turns out that there is a famous Dragon Mother Temple located in the center of Longtan Market. It has a history of hundreds of years. There is a magical story about this Dragon Mother Temple. It is said that the Dragon Mother in the Dragon Mother Temple in Yuecheng, on the upper reaches of the Xijiang River, stood by the river one day and looked at the river flowing eastward, and she couldn't help but feel a little lonely and empty. I thought, why not take a ride on the water of the Xijiang River and enjoy it? Thinking of this, a piece of wood happened to float up, so the Dragon Mother shrank her body, jumped off the wood, and followed the Xijiang River down Zhaoqing, passing through Shuiteng, entering Santong, crossing Leliu River, and heading straight to Rongqi Waterway.

Maybe it was because the flow was too fast and the sights along the way were flashing by so fast that my eyes were tired. After swimming through the mouth of Beishui, the Dragon Mother fell asleep leisurely. The wood she was riding on flowed into Longtanyong along with the rushing river water. At that time, many fishermen had settled in Longtan, and Chen Degong was one of them. He set up a bamboo frame beside the river and set up a fishing rod to catch fish. Every time he tried to pull up the fish basket that day, there was no fish or shrimp in the basket except for the wood. He repeatedly threw the wood in the basket toward Yongxin, but the piece of wood always flowed back into the fish basket. De The male couldn't catch the fish and shrimp, so he couldn't help but became anxious, and said casually: "Wood, wood, if you have a spirit, please bless me with fish and shrimp. I will put you on the throne of God and worship you with incense and candles every day." After saying that, he picked up the wood and put it next to him. Besides, the Dragon Mother, who was sleeping on the log, had been thrown to Yongxin several times by De Gong. She had already woken up. When she opened her dragon eyes, she saw that she was in Xiaoyong. Looking around, she saw that the terrain was flat and crisscrossed with chasms. The fish ponds were covered with mulberry trees, and I couldn't help but exclaimed: "Hey, it is indeed a good place with outstanding people and people. Could it be that people had known that I had been in Yuecheng for many years and was very lonely, so why not enjoy the fragrance of the world here." So he went there. Immediately summon the shrimp soldiers and crab generals. The fish and shrimps in the aquarium that have committed capital crimes are escorted into the fish cage. Besides, after praying, Mr. Virtue had just put the wood next to him and picked up the fish basket. There were many fish and shrimps in the basket. Within a few baskets, the fish basket was already full. Duke De was so happy that he couldn't open his mouth from ear to ear. That night, Mr. Degong specially prepared wine, meat and fruits, placed the piece of wood on the altar at home, lit incense and candles, and bowed devoutly to the wood. After worshiping, he had a hearty drink, and went to bed with a bit of drunkenness. In the middle of the night, I dreamed that a woman wearing a phoenix crown and brocade silk was sitting in the hall at home. I heard her say: "Gong De, I am the Dragon Mother of Yuecheng. I came here by chance. Longtan is a unique place. , I also want to build a palace here, and I want you to help me take care of everything. As for the craftsmen who will build the palace, the materials will be available by then." The woman also told De Gong that the palace would be on her birthday on the eighth day of May. Completed recently. Duke De was startled when he woke up. He felt a strange fragrance coming to his nostrils. He knew it was a divine manifestation, so he burned incense and knelt down to the east to worship. A few days later, a large ship loaded with bricks, wood, stones, and dozens of craftsmen arrived at Longtanwei. The owner of the ship found Chen Degong and said, "I have been entrusted by my employer to build the Dragon Mother Temple. Please give me your guidance to start the work." ." Degong did not refuse and worked hard to build the Dragon Mother Temple. As expected, a spectacular Dragon Mother Temple was built before the Dragon Mother's birthday. At the entrance of the temple, there is a couplet "Zhongzhong Honghua educates, softness enlightens civilization", and the horizontal scroll is Kaotong Hall. There are two dragons playing with beads on the ridge of the palace, and the walls are covered with gray sculptures of figures, birds, beasts and landscapes, which are exquisite and lifelike. The wood carvings such as beams and altars are exquisite and magnificent. In the middle of the hall, the Dragon Mother is sitting, with four Vajras standing on both sides. There are auxiliary temples on the left and right sides of the temple. The Five Dragons Temple is on the left, Thean Hou Temple is on the right, and the dressing room of the Dragon Mother is at the back. On the night when the project was completed, Degong dreamed that Dragon Mother would come again on the eighth day of May. The next day, Duke De asked the villagers to write a list of gods and post them everywhere. I would like to inform the benevolent people in Ruxiang that the eighth day of the fifth lunar month is the birthday of the Dragon Mother. The Dragon Mother will come on that day and spread her kindness. I hope everyone will accept it sincerely. So, on the eighth day of May, dragon boats from all over the country came to celebrate the birthday of the Dragon Mother, and the newly built dragon boats also came to "put the finishing touch". This custom has been passed down to this day. After liberation, local villagers renamed this day "Water Village Festival".

Ganzhutan Dragon Temple

Ganzhutan is a main waterway in Shunde. One end leads to Guangzhou and the other end connects to the Xijiang River. The mouth of the beach is narrow and densely covered with reefs. When the floods come every year, the floodwaters gather at the mouth of the beach and form a waterfall that pours down the beach like thousands of horses galloping and thundering in the ears. It is very dangerous for ships to travel. If you are not careful, you will hit the rocks and sink. In the past, the embankments on both sides of the beach were thin, and successive officials and township officials ignored the construction of embankments and dams. When the embankments collapsed and floods occurred, the people on both sides of the river were left homeless. Because they lost confidence in the government's construction of the dam, the villagers had no choice but to build various temples on both sides of the river bank to seek help from the gods for protection.

The pious heart of the people in the world finally moved the gods. At midnight one day, many people saw two bright lights flashing on Ganzhu Beach, with the rushing beach water rushing straight towards the mouth of the beach. When the fishermen saw this scene, they were shocked and knelt down to worship. A giant monster that was long, covered in scales and looked like a python rushed to the beach and disappeared in an instant. A few days later, a villager picked up some scales as big as a bowl at the foot of Xiangshan Mountain, not far from the beach entrance. At that time, Xiangshan was a grazing place for villagers, and they often lost their cattle. The people speculated that the lost cow must have been eaten by the snake demon that appeared that night. People were frightened for a while, so they built a temple at the foot of Elephant Mountain and named it the "Demon-Fu Temple".

One night in the middle of the night, a rainbow appeared over the top of the temple, and the entire area within a radius of twenty to thirty miles was illuminated like daylight. Villagers came out to watch it. Suddenly there was a burst of lightning and thunder, strong winds and rain, and a long dragon rushed into the sky. Soon everything calmed down again. As a result, the villagers gradually believed that what appeared that night was not a monster, but a divine dragon, so they changed the name of the original "Devil Temple" to "Dragon Temple".

Oddly enough, since then, on both sides of Ganzhutan, except for the occasional loss of cattle, no livestock has been stolen, floods have also reduced, and the people have lived a long and stable life.