Tiantianzhang, the Holy Land of Three Religions in Southern Guangdong

Pictures collected in the spring of 2017

Text/Liu Fu Zhihui in the winter of 2014

Paradise Peak, It is the place I am most familiar with in my life, it is also the place where I grew up, determined and worked hard all my life, and it is also the place I miss the most. No? On September 1, 1966, I set foot on Tiantianzhang and lived the life of a student in Tiantangzhang in Tiantang Agricultural Middle School in the north of Zhangbei. By February 1969, I devoted myself to the life of a soldier and gun-carrying soldier in defense of the motherland. Eleven years later, by some strange coincidence, the army arranged for me to return to Pingding Town at the foot of Tiantang Mountain. I first worked as a civil servant in the town government, and two years later I became a police officer and director of the Pingding Police Station. I was busy running around here and there, and I worked there for eighteen years. Fortunately, the work paid off, and he became known as the "Protector of the Heavenly Mountains." After more than 10 years, it seemed that a mysterious force pushed me to have the courage to climb Tiantang Peak three times again on October 1, 25, and November 5 of the lunar calendar in 2013. The experiences and world affairs of different years are indeed worthy of my endless thoughts and aftertaste.

The majestic Paradise Peak stretches from west to east, across the borders of Lianjiang, Huazhou and Luchuan, and consists of Wujiashan and Zhupianshaiwang Peaks It consists of , Luolou Peak and Shiban Peak, stretching for more than 30 kilometers, like a dragon swimming in water. About 10 kilometers in depth, bounded between Jiuzhou River and Jianjiang River, Liuwangzhang and Banguatieshizhang in the northern part of Tonghua Prefecture form a tripod like Optimus Prime. Tiantianzhang has abundant rainfall, fertile land, dense forests, lush flowers and plants, warm winters and cool summers, and is like spring all year round. It is truly a natural treasure land for planting orange, white agarwood (also called agarwood) and other precious traditional Chinese medicines. On Tiantian Peak, clouds and mist linger from morning to night, showing the beauty of the holy land of heaven. Sometimes, after a summer rainstorm, when the rain stops and the sun rises, a rainbow appears, and the peaks of heaven are dazzling and brilliant. Looking around from the top of the mountain, you can see mountains, rivers, villages and farmhouses, fields and ravines, all of which are magnificent and beautiful. What a paradise on earth! How magnificent! Beautiful! Our paradise!

Tiantianzhang, its location can be found on the map. It is located in three counties and cities in Guangdong and Guangxi (Guangdong and Guangxi) (Lianjiang City, Luchuan County, Huazhou City), Wuxiang (Shijiao Town, Gucheng Town, Qinghu Town, Pingding Town, Hejiang Town), Jiuweichang ( The distance between Rongshuwei, Shijiaowei, Panlongwei, Guchengwei, Getangwei, Qinghuwei, Pingdingwei, Xinwei and Hejiangwei is only about 5 kilometers or 20 kilometers. The south of Tiantang Zhang belongs to Shijiao Town, Lianjiang City, the east of Zhang belongs to Hejiang Town of Huazhou City, the north of Zhang belongs to Pingding Town of Huazhou City, and the west of Zhang Tian is adjacent to the ancient city of Luchuan County. There are thousands of people and tens of thousands of people living around Zhang, which is really lively.

Because Tiantangzhang is located in Guangdong, Guangxi, and three cities and counties, with complex terrain, high mountains and dense forests, it was a good place to carry out guerrilla warfare before liberation. It is commonly known as "Mountain" "The bottom area" is a holy land of revolution and the location of old revolutionary base areas.

It is said that on the evening of July 23, 1947, Wu Youheng, commander of the People's Liberation Army of the Guangdong-Guangxi Border Region, led the New 1st Regiment and the New 4th Regiment to march into the Gouluo Mountains for the third time, passing through the bottom of the mountain. At that time, he saw the lakes and mountains of Tiantang Peak, which were very beautiful and majestic, and full of poetry, so he wrote "A Song of the Moon on the Xijiang River": "The dawn has not yet risen, and the clear peaks are still about to speak. Where can the mountains and rivers not be sentimental? Kuang is on the top of Tiantang Peak. His eyes span the two regions of Guangdong. He leads thousands of soldiers and camps at the foot of Tiantang Peak to occupy this hilltop. It is said that in the past when the guerrilla war was carried out, seven heroes (Liu Fuzhen, Huang Jihua, Liu Fu Huangfeng, Liu Fukun, Liu Fuyajin, Luo Funan, Luo Huaxing) fought to the death with the enemy in order to cover the transfer of more than 60 comrades, and heroically sacrificed their lives. Lost his precious life. There is a cave at the place where they sacrificed their lives, which is now known as the "Seven Lies Rock", and a monument "Revolutionary Martyrs Are Immortal" was built next to it. It is also said that in the past, for the people's liberation cause in the mountain bottom area, under the leadership of the party, the revolutionary people experienced arduous and ups and downs in the struggle against the enemy, and more than 100 heroes including Li Hong sacrificed their lives.

Tiantianzhang, you not only have the beauty of fairyland, but also have a glorious revolutionary history - an old revolutionary base and revolutionary holy land. How worthy of the admiration, remembrance and yearning of future generations!

What other secrets are there in Tiantianzhang? I really have a lot of respect in my heart, and I am determined to climb, get involved in viewing, and explore it.

At about 10 a.m. on October 1, 2013, my clan members Liu Fu Wenshu, Liu Fuxin, Liu Fukun and I, as well as the videographer Master Li sent five people to go. Starting from the foot of the mountainside of Chentangwei Village, Hejiang Comrade Fort, after dozens of minutes of walking efforts, we climbed to the "Tanyun Temple" on Qingfeng Mountain on Tiantang Peak. This temple is also called "Liu Gong'an", "Yulun Gong Temple" and "Liu Gong Temple". As soon as I and my group of five arrived in front of the temple, we saw more than 10 pilgrims chatting, chatting and drinking tea in front of the temple. When they saw our arrival, they all greeted us warmly, offered their seats and offered tea, which was a great welcome. As the saying goes: "When you go out, you have to ask people, and when you enter the temple, you have to worship gods." This way you can ensure you don't go astray and stay safe. We were no exception. After drinking tea, we went to "Tanyun Temple" to burn incense and worship the gods, asking them to bless us for a smooth and safe climb. When you arrive at the temple gate, you will see three characters "Tanyun Temple" on the top and four characters "Yulun Temple" below. Every word stands out. Also see the left door couplet "Lonely and Inviting to the Green Mountains" and the right door couplet "Sitting half-idly and talking about flowing water". Entering the temple, there is a word "Buddha" above the central hall, and 12 big Buddhas such as "Tathagata and Guanyin" are enshrined on the brick altar below. There is a word "God" above the inner hall on the left side of the temple, and a statue of a god is enshrined on the altar below. The incense table in the right hall of the temple is enshrined with the "Yulun Gong" tablet; the couplet on the east wall of the hall reads "I followed the inspector to the capital to study and control the meandering water of the Weihe River"; The merits of being good at allocating rent and building a nunnery and prolonging life will still remain." The couplets on the front pillars of the middle hall are "When the golden rooster crows, all nations and nine continents are awakened", and on the right pillar are the couplets "The jade rabbit fixes the three realms and all the sands of the Ganges River take refuge". After we put the incense sticks on, we recited silently: The first incense is placed in the incense burner to make offerings to the Three Treasures of the Ten Directions and Three Realms; the second incense is placed on the left side of the burner to make offerings to our parents and teachers; the third incense is placed on the right side of the burner to make offerings to all sentient beings in the ten dharma realms. . Then, worship the gods one by one. After praying, we looked around the temple's surroundings. The gurgling springs and towering ancient trees made it a fairyland. It is said that this temple was built by Yulun Gong in the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty. It has a history of more than 380 years. Behind the temple is Sanmaoding Peak, also known as "Qingfeng Mountain" and "Liugong Peak".

The three hats are truly worthy of their name. They are three Buddha hats created in heaven and earth. Its shape is so lifelike that it is difficult to describe its natural beauty with pen and ink. It is difficult for people to imagine that there is such a magical place in the world. The tops of the three hats are really like the three Bodhisattvas "Tathagata, Ksitigarbha and Manjushri" sitting on the peak of heaven, silently worshiping and chanting sutras toward the southeast, praying for the safety of the gods and believers in the world. There is a deep pool in front of the top of the three hats. The water is as clear as a mirror. Next to it is a flat stone slab called "Shengxian Terrace" and two pairs of stone-shaped cups of different sizes. Why are there such strange mountain shapes, stone shapes, and table shapes here? Why did Duke Yulun choose this place as "Tanyun Temple"? There must be some consideration on his part, so there is such an arrangement. Could it be that God had already made arrangements to make this a "Buddhist" holy place? When people go to observe, they can clearly see it.

Master Li took the photo on October 1, 2013

According to legend, 526 years ago, that is, in 1488 AD, Fu Luan (named Mingfeng), the ancestor of the Liu Fu clan, and Liu Rong, his younger brother and ally Liu Rong, responded to the imperial court's call to develop southern Xinjiang. They took the incense burner of the three great gods Luo Zhou and Feng on the road together and found it at the bottom of Shicheng Mountain in Gaoliang. Then he settled down in Shantangwei Village, Shanyao Village, Shijiao Town today. The incense of the great god Luo Zhou and Feng Sanxiang has also settled in the Fengshu Temple in the lower village of the mountainside village committee. Why did the incense of the great god Luo Zhoufeng and the three phases be settled in the village and built a temple here? It is said that the great gods Luo Zhou and Feng Sanxiang have already found the Daluo Jinxian who has been active in the Qingfeng Mountain area of ??Tiantangzhang for more than 1,000 years. Some people have also seen Daluo Jinxian sometimes riding a white bull around the Luojiang River, sometimes in Shilong City (i.e. Huazhou), and sometimes riding a white bull to stroll by the Liuwangzhang Tianchi. These are the legends of the ancients, and they are waiting for people to study and determine the truth.

Photographed by Liu Fushuiwang during the Spring Festival in 2011

According to legend, beside Jitian Village in Pingding Town There is a stone slab where a ditch crosses the water. On the stone slab there are the footprints of immortals and the footprints of immortal cows, all of which are clearly visible. This Immortal Stone Seal is said to be quite miraculous. It is said that a villager surnamed You once carried the fairy stone back to his home without permission to use it as a stepping stone. Unfortunately, he became seriously ill for no apparent reason. Later someone said to him: "You have offended the fairy stone." When the villager surnamed You heard this, he immediately put the fairy stone back to its original place, and he recovered without taking any medicine. This was a strange event, and it became a local legend for a while. Are these immortal footprints left by Daluo Jinxian? Are these immortal bull footprints left by the white bull ridden by Daluo Jinxian? There is no way to study it. It's just a folk legend.

Photographed by Liu Fushuiwang during the Spring Festival in 2011

Tanyun Temple, also known as Yulun Gong The temple is located halfway up the mountain at Sanmaoding Peak, surrounded by dense forests. The monk in the temple, Uncle Wu, was honest and hospitable, and he was particularly enthusiastic towards the revolutionary comrades at that time. In the autumn of 1945, when two revolutionary comrades Liu Fuyong and Li Ruineng withdrew from Lianjiang to the mountain bottom area for covert activities, they stayed at Tanyun Temple. On the sixth day of the sixth lunar month in 1947, Wu Youheng, the commander of the South Road People's Liberation Army, came here and was warmly received by the monk Wushu. Commander Wu set up a temporary headquarters at Tanyun Temple and fought with more than 500 pursuing Kuomintang troops. At the low ebb of the revolution in 1948, the Kuomintang carried out a massacre of rural areas at the bottom of the mountain. Revolutionary comrades had no access to food and accommodation. Liu Fujin, Liu Fuyahuang, Ou Huaqing, Tao Hualong, Huang Zhensen and other revolutionary comrades were active outside the temple during the day and returned to the temple at night. Food and accommodation. Due to the hiding place of Tiantianzhang and the cover of the revolutionary people in the mountain bottom area, these revolutionary comrades are very safe.

It is worth mentioning that Huazhumei Village under Tiantian Mountain also produced a revolutionary comrade and a great woman at that time , her name is Liu Fumei (originally named Liu Fuguangmei), a poet and writer. In the construction of socialism, he has been rated as the "Hero of the Construction of the Republic of China", "Model Worker", "Moral Model" and "Outstanding Chinese in the World" nationwide. oh! Tiantianzhang is truly a "land of outstanding people" with numerous talented people who have Buddhist connections, immortality and spirituality.

According to legend, the ancestor Yulun Gong was determined to study since he was a child, and his heart was as hard as stone. In order to obtain fame, as a young man, he traveled to Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, and transferred to the official ship of the "Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal" to study in Beijing. But he was forced to return home due to the war. However, his ambition to study is commendable. How many people can achieve his thirst for knowledge and perseverance?

Picture collected on April 15, 2018

It is said that later Yulun Gong became a monk and became a monk for more than 10 years. During the years, he spared no effort to go to temples in Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Shanxi and other places to practice the three religions of "Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism". Later, he attained the golden body and attained enlightenment at "Longquan Temple" in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, and was named "Maitreya Bodhisattva". After becoming a Buddha, he returned to his hometown to build "Tanyun Temple" on the south side of Qingfeng Mountain, opened an altar, installed twelve Buddha statues and one god statue, and worshiped and chanted sutras here all year round.

Tanyun Temple is also the place where Yulun founded Taoism and accepted disciples. Sometimes he would take his disciples to the countryside to do good deeds and do good deeds for the believers of God and serve the villagers, which made him very famous.

The Taoism created by Yulun Gong is very distinctive and has its own style. He is the founder of Taoism in Guangdong and Guangdong. He received the first The apprentice is Wu Fazhu, the fourth generation ancestor of the Wu surname in Nadao Village, Dipo Village, Pingding Town. So far, this Taoism has been passed down to 44 generations, and the current successor is Gao Chengzhong. This Taoism is also called Nuo opera. Nuo opera is an ancestral culture, not a superstition. At this point, Liu Fu Guangfu, the former retired principal of Shijiao Middle School, has written a report on applying for Nuo Opera as a cultural heritage, and the Guangdong Provincial Government approved it as one of the cultural heritages in February 2012. Nuo opera should be carried forward without criticism.

Photographed by Liu Fushuiwang during the Spring Festival in 2011

It is also said that when Duke Yulun was in Beijing, he led troops to attack Li Zicheng During the war in Beijing, I picked up 10 scriptures and a bronze Guanyin from the Tang Dynasty. If Lord Yulun got the treasure, he would take it back to his hometown and enshrine it in "Tanyun Temple". Later, it was lost when the "Four Olds" were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, and it has not been found yet. What a pity! If anyone knows about this and takes the initiative to return it to Tanyun Temple to its owner, Duke Yulun, it will be a great merit and will shine with the sun and the moon.

Pictures collected in the summer of 2016

In recent years, Taoist believers have raised funds by themselves and built a new building on the left side of Tanyun Temple. Chen Yilang Nunnery is dedicated to Taoist Taoist Chen Xing Baima Pioneer. Recently, the statue of the ancient great sage Xuanyuan Patriarch, the Great Holy Spirit Treasure Heavenly Lord of the Infinite Supreme Pure Realm, the Daluo Yuanshi Heavenly Lord of the Infinite Jade Pure Realm, the moral statue of the great sage Daode Tianzun of the Infinite Taiqing Immortal Realm, and the Five Thunders Zhenshi Talisman, etc., have also been included with the incense burner. Along the way to Chen Xingyilang Temple, worship incense. At the same time, the Great World Bodhisattva (Bronze) and Amitabha Bodhisattva (Bronze) will also settle in Tanyun Temple to offer incense. What does all this mean? It means that they will herald that Tiantianzhang will be a holy place for the three religions of "Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism". When the incense is at its peak and burning all day long, it will be a prosperous world.

The original site of Chen Xingyilang - the coffin stone is where the Pioneer Master Altar is located | Liu Fushui Wang took the photo during the Spring Festival of 2011

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As far as I know, at the bottom of the mountain For hundreds of years, villagers in the area have attached great importance to Confucian education and actively and enthusiastically cultivated their children to study hard and learn etiquette to become talents. They successively opened Shanshan Primary School on the mountainside of Shijiao, Quncheng Middle School and primary school in Wangdong Malik, Binding. Paradise Middle School, recruiting teachers, has trained batches of students and cultivated a large number of talents for the rejuvenation of the nation and country. It can be said that the area at the foot of Tiantangzhang Mountain is the place where Confucianism is most active and prosperous.

Photo taken by Liu Fushuiwang during the Spring Festival in 2011

According to legend, Huazhou is also called Shi Dragon has been famous since ancient times. It was once set as Shilong County and also as Shilong County. Why is Huazhou called "Shilong"? There are two theories: one is that it is said that there was originally a stone dragon hanging in Huazhou. The head of this dragon is on the left side of the state court, and its tail flows into the river. The gate of the Dragon "Palace" is placed in the state office. According to legend, this stone dragon always sings, and its sound is like a goose. "When the dragon roars and the auspiciousness arrives, great men emerge from the state and the land." Another way of saying it is that the stone dragon in Huazhou has its head at Tanyun Temple in Tiantianzhang and its tail at Nanshan Temple in Jianggangling. The Luojiang River is the blood of the dragon. Huazhou has formed a real underground network connecting the north and the south. Shilong. How to make this stone dragon benefit the people now? I hope knowledgeable people will study and plan. At present, "Nanshan Temple" is prosperous and benefits the people, and Shilong's tail is swinging happily. "Tanyun Temple" has a history of more than 380 years, and it can be said that the incense has lasted for a long time. The Yulun Gongxuan Temple is located here. Perhaps it is Tiantang Peak, a sacred mountain, and a place for immortals to be worshiped by heaven and earth. There are reasons such as heavenly destiny, earthly destiny, immortality, Buddhist destiny, and human destiny. We now want to build Tiantangzhang, the leader of the country, into the world's largest and most ideal holy place for "Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism" and a revolutionary holy place that people can admire. Therefore, we sincerely hope that knowledgeable, virtuous and wealthy people can actively participate in its construction and work together to promote it.

Our wish is: to turn Tiantianzhang into a paradise in China or the temple capital of the world; to turn Tiantianzhang into a paradise for worshipers and tourist attractions around the world!

Photographed by Liu Fushuiwang during the Spring Festival in 2011

Note: This article was first published in the second issue of "Liu Fu Homeland"< /p>

This article only represents the author’s opinion, not the position of this public account, and is for your reference only.

Note: For related legends about Yulun Gong, please read:

○Tanyun Temple on Tiantianzhang—Liu Fu Haiyuan;