The Huai’an Eight Wax Temple dedicated to the Eight Wax God

The Laba Festival originated from the wax sacrifices that people in ancient times used to worship their ancestors and pray for blessings. Later, it was merged with the Laba Festival, and later it merged with the Buddhist Sakyamuni Enlightenment Day to form the Laba Festival that people celebrate now. The gods that people first performed wax sacrifices to worship were called "Eight Wax Gods" by later generations, or "Eight Wax Gods". In some places in our country, there are still temples built by later generations to worship these gods. Then let Urban Culture introduce to you the Eight Wax Temple in Huaian, Jiangsu Province, which worships the Eight Wax God.

There used to be a strange temple in Xiaguan, Huai'an, Jiangsu Province - the Eight Wax Temple. According to local literature, the first person to advocate the construction of the Eight Wax Temple in Huai'an was Zhan Shilong, the prefect of Huai'an during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. In the forty-third year of Wanli (1615), he rented land to build the Eight Wax Temple due to the insect plague that disturbed the people after the Spring Festival. It was built, but soon fell into disrepair. In 1642, King Renzhong of Caochu built the Eight Wax Temple there.

To say it is strange, the first thing is the name of the temple. If you can’t give it a nice name, why should it be called the Eight Wax Temple? And people often mispronounce this name. They should read it as "八拉(zhà) Temple", not "八拉(là) Temple". Secondly, who is the god enshrined on the altar in the Eight Wax Temple?

In Huai'an, many people say that the person enshrined on the altar in the Baqi Temple is General Liu Meng, who was instrumental in exterminating locusts. This mainly comes from a legendary story. The story goes like this:

Liu Meng was the magistrate of Andong (now Lianshui) at that time. In the year when the locust plague broke out, Liu Meng, as a county magistrate, personally led the people to use bamboo brooms and rake rakes as tools to exterminate locusts, from Andong to Shanyang County (where the Huai'an government office is located). Exterminating the locusts, he was overworked. When he arrived in Shanyang, he was exhausted and died of vomiting blood.

In order to commemorate the magistrate who sacrificed his life to eliminate locusts, the people of Huai'an built a temple for him outside the east gate of Huai'an, called the "Eight Wax Temple" to enshrine his statue. A large clay locust is embedded in the forehead of his statue, symbolizing his success in exterminating locusts. Later, people also called him the "Locust King".

However, the actual Liu Meng enshrined in the Baqi Temple was not the magistrate of Andong County at all. The "Ba Wax Temple" written by Huang Da in the early Qing Dynasty revealed the information, "There is the Ba Wa Temple in the east of Huai'an City, which worships Shennong Houji, and is the nephew of General Liu Meng, that is, Liu Qi of the Song Dynasty." Huai'an Prefecture, Shan The officials in Yang County "kneel down before offering sacrifices, staggering, and no one pays attention to ceremony." They don't know the etiquette of kneeling and worshiping, and they make a fool of themselves.

It is said that Tao Gong, the prefect at that time, was very surprised when he saw this scene: "The sacrifice of Bala is recorded in the Book of Rites, and its origin is very ancient." How could General Liu Meng be able to compete with him? Juxtaposition of gods? Then he also explained the Eight Laba God: "The Emperor's Great Laba: One is the first stingy, the second is the stingy, the three farmers, the four is the watch and the grain, the five are the cats and the tigers, the six are the squares, the seven are the water and the eight are the insects. They started from Yiqi It has been listed in the sacrificial rituals throughout the ages and will not be abolished.”

Tao Gong also emphasized that although “General Liu was born in the Shunchang War, he did not have the spirit to drive away locusts. To worship together with the ancient sage emperor would be arrogant." Therefore, at that time, Shanyang ordered Xiao Jun to accept Tao Gong's order, "build doves and wood, repair them with new ones, and specially worship the god of Bala, and build a separate house to worship General Liu Meng. It can be said that serving the gods and governing the people, the two have good relations." That’s it.”

At this point, the Huai'an people finally figured out the gods of the Eight Wax Temple. It turns out that the Bala are eight kinds of agriculture-related gods worshiped by the ancient Chinese people. The sacrifice of Bala is called Bala sacrifice, Dala ceremony or Bala sacrifice. Among them, the "Xianxi God" is Shennong; the "Sisi God" is Houji, the ancestor of the Zhou Dynasty; and the "Farming God" is the god of land officials in ancient times.

"The God of Postal Watches" is the god of farmhouses and roads, thanking him for founding farmhouses, opening up roads, and demarcating boundaries; the fifth is the god of cats and tigers, thanking cats for eating wild mice, and tigers. It ate the wild boar that harmed the crops and protected the seedlings; the sixth was the "square god", thanking it for making the embankment strong; the seventh was the "water yong god", the god who managed ditches; the eighth was the insect god (locust).

From then on, the Huai'an people built the Bashi Temple and the Liumeng General Temple separately and worshiped them separately. This situation remained good until the Qianlong period. Qianlong's "Huai'an Prefecture Annals Huai'an Prefecture Tan Temple" records under "Shanyang County": "The Eight Wax Temple was built by imperial decree. Outside the east gate, worship Xiansi, Sisi, Baigunong, Zhanbiaochui, Maohu, Fang, The god of Yong and insects. The statue of General Liu Meng is attached to the Temple of Bala. The etiquette of sacrifices is also stipulated: "The god of Bala should be sacrificed on the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month. Kneel down and kowtow six times. The local officials wear mended uniforms.”

However, who is General Liu Meng, the god of the Eight Wax Temple? Ruan Kuisheng, a Jinshi in Huai'an Prefecture in the Qing Dynasty, wrote an article titled "The God of the Eight Wax Temple is Liu Qi" after research. The article said, "The Eight Wax Temple, the Temple of General Liu Meng, has a long history. There are temples for General Liu Meng in all counties and cities in the provinces. They are especially worshiped in Ji, Fu, Qi and Lu. I don't know why they are worshiped." It even compiled and compiled "Tan Temple Sacrifice" "Classic", Fang Wenting, a high official who is known as a liberal arts official, also "accepts falsehoods and has no test".

After research, Ruan Kuisheng believes that the records in "Yi'an Miscellaneous Records" are more credible: On March 8, the fourth year of Jingding in the Song Dynasty (1263), Zhao Yun, Emperor Lizong of the Song Dynasty, granted the title of Weihou and recorded the edict. From this, it can be seen that "Zeshen" He is Liu Qi, the famous general of the Southern Crossing." Finally, he believed that "sweeping out the locusts was Qi's contribution and it was appropriate for him to be worshiped", and he made a comment: "Today he is replaced by Liu Chengzhong, which is ugly.

I said that in the prosperous period of the Three Dynasties, horses, silkworms, cats, and tigers were all rewarded, and all the officials except those responsible for pest control, beasts, and flies were appointed as specialists. The rites of the late kings are very clear and have profound meanings. At first, there was no need to give a specific surname and a portrait as a sacrifice. ”

Later, Ruan Kuisheng also told Ruan Zhisheng (also known as Xiu Chu, nicknamed Ziping, Ruan Kuisheng’s younger brother) about his point of view in the article "With Ziping". Then the truth came out. Liu Meng is not the magistrate of Lianshui County, and "General Liu Meng" is not a general named Liu Meng, but a "fierce general named Liu", that is, Liu Qi, the famous southern crossing general in the Southern Song Dynasty.

It's interesting to say. Huaian's Eight Wax Temple has also produced the classic and representative Peking Opera play "Eight Wax Temple", a "Zhao Xian Town", also known as "Na Fei De Gong". The story of the play can be seen in the fifth episode of "Shi Gongan" to Chapter 22. It is a classic and representative play of Peking Opera. In the old days, the title was also written as "爢町 Temple" and "Bawa Temple".

Although the Eight Wax Temple in Huai'an is small, it has many temples. It is not a great Bodhisattva or a great Buddha, but in the old society where science was not developed, there was no insecticide. Whenever there was a locust plague, the prefects and county magistrates would burn incense and pray to the gods who were responsible for destroying the locusts to show their power and drive away the locusts. , No longer harming the bankers, they often win the favor and praise of the common people, especially the flattery of some local gentry.