Longshan Temple in Anhai, Jinjiang, also known as Tianzhu Temple, commonly known as Guanyin Temple, is a thousand-year-old temple in southern Fujian. It was first built in the Sui Dynasty and continued to be built in the past dynasties. The temple is known to have three treasures. So which three treasures are they? The first is that the Avalokitesvara with Thousand Arms and Thousand Eyes enshrined in the temple was reportedly carved from the entire giant camphor tree in front of the temple. It wears a flower crown on its head, with a seated Buddha carved in the center of the crown, and numerous small Buddha heads carved around it to form a hat shape; The main hands are clasped together, and there are one thousand and eight hands on both sides. Each of the palms has a carved shape, arranged like a round fan, with different postures. Today, Guanyin with Thousand Arms and Thousand Eyes is regarded as a rare national treasure, unparalleled in the world.
The second treasure is the pair of green grass stone pillars standing opposite each other in front of Longshan Temple. Giant dragons are carved around the pillars, shaped like soaring clouds, full of energy and lifelike. A pair of dragon claws with alternate scales hold out a chime and a drum respectively. Just like tapping lightly with a thin iron bar, the chime emits the sound of the chime and the drum transmits the sound of the drum. It is truly a superb and ingenious masterpiece of stone carving craftsmanship in southern Fujian.
The third treasure is that the main hall has a whole camphor wood door leaf, and the bell tower has a whole wood hollow drum, which was made in the Sui Dynasty. In addition, there is a precious plaque inscribed "Through the Body, Hands and Eyes" inscribed by Zhang Ruitu, a famous calligrapher who was a bachelor in the Ming Dynasty, hanging high in the main hall. Inside and outside the temple, there are towering ancient trees and fragrant grass everywhere, and the scenery is very charming. The incense has always been very popular, and pilgrims from home and abroad have come to make pilgrimages. I heard that there are many legends about it.
The first is the legend about Guanyin giving birth to a child. There was a man named Zhang Yanlu, who was a layman of the Five Dynasties. He was originally from Gushi, Henan Province, and later settled in the lake outside the south gate of Quanzhou County. Because of his meritorious service in welcoming Wang Chao, Wang Shenzhi's brother, to Quanzhou, he was favored as a benefactor and became the Minister of Agriculture. He is revered as the founder of Fujian by the Zhang clan in Fujian and Taiwan. The legend of Guanyin giving birth to a child refers to Zhang Yanlu's eldest son Zhang Laisheng, who was in his thirties, but his wife Wu was still not pregnant. The couple was very worried. Because they heard that Guanyin Buddha at Longshan Temple in Wanhai (Anhai) was very efficacious, Zhang Laisheng and his wife went to pray and ask Guanyin to give him a child. So Zhang Laisheng stayed in the temple at night and dreamed that Master Guanyin was holding a baby and passing it to him, saying: "This is your precious son, you should raise him well." After Zhang Laisheng woke up, he talked about this dream with his wife, and unexpectedly His wife had the exact same dream.
The efficacious Guanyin Buddha in Longshan Temple is indeed well-deserved! At that time, Zhang Laisheng's wife Wu was indeed pregnant, and gave birth to a son ten months later. In the next life, I heard his son's cry, wow, it was so loud, and I knew that he must have a precious son. In order to thank Master Guanyin for giving him a son. , so it was named "Buddhaci".
As expected, Foci has been cute and smart since he was a child, and the family loves him like a treasure. Every time his mother held him in her arms and taught him how to read, he had an amazing memory and could memorize them at a glance. When he grew up, he could memorize all the classics and histories by heart. He was also very good at martial arts and proficient in swordsmanship. In the end, he won the Civil and Military Examination and honored his ancestors. Since this story about Guanyin giving away his son, generations of descendants of the Zhang family in the lake have believed in Guanyin Buddha in Longshan Temple.
There is also a story about "Divining the Future with Magic Lots" which is also quite famous. This is about a man named Zeng Gongliang, who was born in Jinjiang, Fujian Province and was the second son of Zeng Hui, who was second on the list. When Gongliang was a child, he followed his mother to the Longshan Temple in Anhai to offer incense and worship the Buddha. His mother specifically asked little Gongliang about his future and got a sign from the Buddha, saying: "When spring comes, thunder shakes the sound of insects, and when you turn over and leave the mud, you know how to go in and out. , Once changed, he became a dragon." His signature is "Cao Cao tests Liu Xuande." Sure enough, Zeng Gongliang ranked fifth in the Jinshi Ake in Jiazi, the second year of Tiansheng's reign (1024), the second year of Renzong's reign in the Song Dynasty. Due to his "prominent political service" in his official career, he was promoted step by step, reaching the rank of prime minister, and was a veteran of three dynasties: Li Shi Renzong, Yingzong and Shenzong three dynasties.
The above are some folklore about Longshan Temple in Anhai and its famous Three Treasures. Speaking of Longshan Temple, everyone has to mention its folk art. Longshan Temple is a thousand-year-old temple famous at home and abroad. It not only has a very exquisite wooden carving and gold body of the Thousand-Hands and Thousand-Eyes Guanyin, but also has many folk art stalls with a strong local flavor of southern Fujian.
Every traditional festival, Longshan Temple is crowded with people from morning to night. Liyuan and Gaojia operas are often staged in the square in front of the temple; various stalls are spread inside and outside the temple, the most fascinating of which is There are various folk crafts such as puppet heads, painted clay figurines, colorful paper products, bamboo and wooden products. Many tourists and pilgrims from home and abroad also love these lively and interesting gadgets.
The most distinctive works of art are "Drumming Fairy" and "Monkey Mill", which can be called "robots" among traditional folk toys.
Both toys are made of bamboo strips and iron wire as the skeleton, and colored paper is cut and pasted on the outside. This kind of "semi-mechanized" folk toy is particularly cute because it is cheap, fun, lively and interesting. "Drumming Immortal" is an "immortal" sitting on a cart with two wheels, beating a drum. There is a string tied in front of the cart. As long as the rope is gently pulled, the cart will move forward on the floor. And the "immortal" sitting in the car played the drum with both hands, with a serious expression, just like a real person!
"Monkey Pushing Mill" is a lively and cute monkey pushing a stone mill. As long as you hold the toy in one hand and gently turn the thin curved wire under the stone mill with the other hand, the monkey will automatically push up the stone mill in circles. Its naughty look makes people laugh more and more the more they look at it. So the two folk arts mentioned above had a revival in the 1970s, but then disappeared quickly. It is now rare in Longshan Temple.
According to historical records and the memories of the elderly, half a century ago, in the corridors on both sides of the main hall of Longshan Temple, there were puppet performances by the Longshan Temple Jia Puppet Troupe of Xingcuo (name of the place). They were invited to perform for Pilgrims from all over the world who came to the temple to offer incense performed live traditional folk art performances, which won praise from people and became famous far and wide. In 1951, more than a dozen puppeteers from across the county joined the newly established Jinjiang County Puppet Experimental Troupe, including Yan Changhua, Yan Changqiong, Yan Chengzu and An Shi from the Anhai Longshan Temple Jia Puppet Troupe. But it is a pity that with the passage of time, these long-standing traditional folk arts of Longshan Temple may have been lost.