Memory of the Old Village of Leling: The Mysterious Tomb of the Two Kings of Leling - An Ancient Story of Guanmiao Licun

There is Guanmiaoli Village thirty miles south of Leling County along the 248th Provincial Road. When talking about the origin of the village, the old people in the village always compare the prosperous Guanwangmiao in the early years with the village head. The two mysterious ancient tombs are connected together.

According to the genealogy records of the village, during the great migration period in the second year of Yongle (1404) of the Ming Dynasty, the ancestor Li Long moved here from Luokou, Jinan (now Luokou, now part of Tianqiao District, Jinan City) and settled here. The village was named Xiaolijia, and later it was renamed Lijiazhuang as the village grew in size. It is also said that during the Qing Dynasty, villagers listened to others' advice and built a Guanwang Temple in the southeast of the village near the official road south to Jinan, the provincial capital, so it was renamed Guanwang Temple Lijia. Therefore, nearby villagers also used to call it Guanwang Temple Lijia. The village has been preserved to this day.

Guanwang Temple, also known as Guandi Temple, was built by the people to commemorate Guan Yu, the hero of the Three Kingdoms, also known as Guan Gong - Guan Yunchang, who is deified and worshiped by the people for his loyalty and bravery. In the Qing Dynasty, he was even worshiped as the God of Loyalty and Righteousness, the God of Loyalty and Righteousness, Wu Ling You, Benevolence, Yong Might, Guan Sheng, the Great Emperor, and he was revered as the "Martial Saint", directly as famous as the "Literary Saint" Confucius. It is said that there were 72 Guandi temples of various sizes in Leling. The villagers of Guanmiao Village associate their village with Guan Gong, which reflects the simple villagers' admiration for heroic qualities or behaviors such as loyalty and bravery.

Next to the Guanwang Temple, there is also a Yueyang Bridge. In addition, it is on the official road to Jinan, and the ground is flat and wide, so a market place is formed nearby. Around the 13th day of the fifth lunar month, there is also a large-scale temple fair. Men, women, and children all come to offer incense, pray, perform, open markets, sell goods, etc. It is very lively, just like the New Year scene, and all the passing tourists Businessmen have also spotted this day, just to do more business.

It is also worth mentioning here that there are two ancient tombs at the head of the village, one is called "Hui Wang Tomb" and the other is called "Yi Wang Tomb". The villagers often call them "One Tomb" and "Er Tomb". Tsukako". These two ancient tombs were discovered by a villager while plowing the land more than fifty years ago. When he dug out the old bricks and pottery jars, he thought they might contain gold and silver treasures, but after further digging, he found that they were just old pottery vessels. Then it was reported step by step, which attracted the attention of the archaeological department. After some research by archaeological experts, it was identified as a relic of the ancient "Longshan Culture" period. Cultural relics such as stone axes, perforated stone axes, stone sickles, twisting threads, etc. were also unearthed. Some of the cultural relics were even collected by the Shandong Provincial History Museum.

The unearthing of these cultural relics shows that there have been human activities here for a long time. However, the origins of the two ancient tombs are mostly unknown. "Leling County Chronicles" written by Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty also called "Huiwang Tomb" as "Huiwang Tomb" or "Hui Tomb", while "Leling Township Chronicles" of Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty listed it directly These two ancient tombs are called the "Tomb of the Two Kings". In addition, they are located on both sides of the road leading to Jinan, the provincial capital, so they are "known as the gatekeepers of the Two Kings." The early villagers must have believed that these two ancient tombs were full of spiritual energy. In the hope of keeping the village safe and bringing good luck, a simple shrine is still built on the top of King Hui's Tomb.

In addition, there is also a folk myth and legend related to Chang'e flying to the moon circulating around the "Yiwang Tomb". It is said that in ancient times, the Youqiong and Lu Zhong clans were active in the areas of Majia River and Goupan River in southern Leling (there are no traces of them in the territory). They both belonged to the Dongyi tribe. Among them, Hou Yi, who was good at archery, belonged to the Youqing clan. Chang'e, who is good at dancing and fortune-telling, belongs to the Lu Zhong clan.

One autumn, there was continuous rain, the river surged, and many settlements were washed away by the flood. The tribesmen were very panicked, so the tribal leader asked Chang'e to go to the platform to perform divination and sacrifice. She threw it into the river as a sacrifice to heaven and asked for forgiveness. The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month arrived, but the big, round moon did not appear, and the weather was not completely clear. Just as people were tying up Chang'e and preparing to throw her into the Majia River, it was too late. Suddenly, a young man on horseback wearing a raincoat and carrying a quiver on his back flashed past. He picked up Chang'e and ran away, leaving only a panicked and stunned crowd. It was Hou Yi who rescued Chang'e. Later he married Chang'e and became the leader of the Dongyi tribe, also known as the Dongyi King.

But Chang'e's beauty was missed by a treacherous minister named Hanzhuo. Later, he used a vicious trick to kill Hou Yi and seize the power of the Youqiong family. He also forced Chang'e to marry him. Chang'e put forward two conditions: first, she must bury Hou Yi generously and build a temple to worship him; second, she must mourn Hou Yi and get married on the night of the full moon in Mid-Autumn.

After the temple was repaired and the full moon rose, people lit a bonfire around Hou Yi's altar. Chang'e walked up and danced a graceful sacrificial dance. The fire grew stronger and stronger, and the dance became more and more popular. Soon, I saw Chang'e flying slowly, causing people to scream in surprise and kneel down to pray. As a result, Chang'e flew farther and farther, higher and higher, until she flew towards the moon...

Later, people protected the altar where Chang'e flew to the moon and flew to the sky, which is the Yiwang Tomb. The Huiwang Tomb was a mound made of burned ashes at that time, so it was called the "ash tomb" ". According to folklore, Han Yun, who was forced to marry Chang'e, turned into a toad that day. He refused to give up and eventually flew to the Moon Palace with Chang'e. This may be the original origin of "the toad wants to eat swan meat".

Coincidentally, the legends of Chang'e and Hou Yi and the era of their lives coincide with the Longshan Culture period when the cultural relics were unearthed.

To this day, the two ancient tombs are still more than two meters high. They lie quietly on the ridges in the fields on both sides of the road south of the village, covered with weeds and trees, and seem to be lonely and somewhat ancient.

Time flies, Haisangling Valley. No one knows the true origins of Huiwang Tomb and Yiwang Tomb, Guanwang Temple has disappeared, and the incense temple fair has become a memory of the past in the minds of some elderly people. However, whenever the village holds a yangko performance or celebrates the New Year, people will come to the old site for a few visits. Elderly people who believe in gods will burn paper and burn incense in front of the ancient tomb, and kneel down to pray a few words piously. Performing an ancient ritual, praying for some blessing and peace for the village and descendants, and striving for some goodwill and justice for the world and all living beings.