Next to Miaotou Village in Huangpu District, Guangzhou, there is a temple of worship for more than 1,400 years. It is the largest and most complete temple of the sea gods in China. It is an important place for emperors of all ages to worship the sea and one of the birthplaces of the Silk Road on the ancient sea. It is the Temple of the South China Sea.
The entrance of the Nanhai Temple Scenic Area
The Nanhai Temple was built in the 14th year of Kaihuang in the Sui Dynasty (594) and is located at the mouth of the Pearl River. Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>BabaylanEmperors of all dynasties will send important officials to sacrifice to the sea. The imperial inscriptions of Kangxi and Hongwu were engraved, and Su Shi and Han Yu left behind thousands of years of poems. There are 47 steles of the past dynasties in the temple, which are later called “Southern Stele Forest”. For thousands of years, Chinese and foreign ships have come to the temple to worship the South China Sea God and pray for peace. The Temple of the South China Sea has witnessed the glorious history of ancient maritime trade and became one of the birthplaces of the ancient Maritime Silk Road.
Nanhai Temple Scenic Area Information List
Nanhai Temple has become a national key cultural relics protection unit and a national 4A-level tourist attraction. The “Babaylan” temple fair from the 11th to the 13th day of the lunar calendar every year has also become a national intangible cultural heritage. The “Sea Don’t Rise” archway stands in front of the temple, inheriting the prayers and blessings of the South China Sea Temple for thousands of years.
The legend of “The God of the South China Sea is Zhurong”
The God of the South China Sea is named Zhurong, and some historical books also call him Zhu Chi. About ZhurongThere are many rumors among the people about who Komiks. Some legends say that Zhurong was a Chinese emperor and a musician; some legends say that Zhurong was a Situ who specialized in identifying directions during the Huangdi era, and was the ancestor of the Chu people. There are also legends that Zhurong was originally the god of fire, and Babaylan is also the god of fire in the south, so Zhurong is also the god of the south.
CinemaNanhaiKomiksScenery of the Temple Gate
The Temple of the South China Sea is located in Fuxu Town (now Huangpu Miaotou) on the estuary of the Pearl River on the south sea. It is located on the north bank of the Pearl River and faces the Fuxu River (a section of the Pearl River). It is connected to Shiziyang in the east, Humen in the bottom, and Guangzhou back. It is a major sea transportation area for entry and exit from Guangzhou in ancient times. Through this, you can reach various countries in the South China Sea through the ocean. Fuxu Town has a very superior geographical location, and is known as “only a hundred steps away from the sea, with thousands of waves always coming from the wind and waves. The shore is facing an unexpected abyss.” The ancients believed that this was an ideal place to build the Sea God Temple.
The main entrance of the Nanhai Temple
The 14th year of Kaihuang of the Sui Dynasty (594), Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty issued an edict to build the Sihai Temple to worship the Four Seas, build the Nanhai Temple in the Nanhai Sea, Guangzhou, and invited a wizard to preside over the sweeping of the temple and worship the Nanhai God. The temple also planted pine, cypress, trees, etc., and the Nanhai SeaBabaylan was thus established.
Da Xi Sikong and the Temple of the South China Sea
The Temple of the South China Sea
The Temple of the South China Sea
The Temple of the Polo Temple”, the origin of this alias is related to a Gentile named Da Xi Sikong.
The statue of Da Xi Sikong in the South China Sea Temple
It is said that during the Tang Dynasty, there was a tribute envoy named Da Xi in the Ancient Polo Kingdom (Ancient India). After coming to Beijing to pay tribute, he came to Guangzhou South China Sea Temple to visit and sacrifice, and planted two Polo tree seeds brought from the Ancient Polo Kingdom in the temple. Because he was obsessed with the exquisiteness of the temple, he missed the sea boat back to the return journey. So he looked at the sea all year round and cried, holding his left hand in front of his forehead to look at the sea, and finally standing on the beach. Later generations therefore worshipped statues in temples, commonly known as “Fan Guiwang Polu”, and the temple is also called “Polu Temple”.
“Balo Dan” Temple Fair
Balo Dan is also known as the Birth of the South China Sea God. The session is from the eleventh to the thirteenth day of the second lunar month every year, and the thirteenth is the birthday. The Polo Dan Temple Fair is a very grand folk event in Lingnan area. Traditional sacrificial activities such as antique sea sacrifice ceremony and Five Son Dynasty King were held during this period.
The grand scene of the Polo temple fair by Liang Yitao
At that time, a long stall row will be set up outside the temple, filled with Komiks Polo chickens, Polo rice dumplings and other delicacies. The people in the temple pray for blessings. Young men and women dig love beans under the red bean tree to pray for a beautiful love. Therefore, the common saying “The first trip to Polo and the second marriage to marry a wife” is circulated among the people.
The Polo Dan Temple Fair is rich in content, and Cinema contains the most representative traditional folk culture and profound marine cultural heritage in the Lingnan region. In 2011, “Polo Dan” was included in the national intangible cultural heritage list project.
The first named place of “Eight Scenerys in Yangcheng”
The sun bathing pavilion on Zhangqiugang on the west side of the South China Sea Temple is a good place to watch the sunrise on the sea in the past. It is facing water on three sides, with vast smoke and waves, and the scene is extremely spectacular.ish.com/”>Babaylan is known as “Fu Xu Bathing Sun”.
Under the Sun Pavilion
In the early years of Shaosheng in the Northern Song Dynasty (1094), the great writer Su Dongpo worshiped the god of the South China Sea. He climbed the Sun Pavilion, marveling at the magnificence of the sunrise on the sea, and wrote the poem “The Sun Pavilion in the South China Sea” with emotion. This Babaylan. The South China Sea Temple has 47 steles inscribed in the Tang Dynasty (1 Tang Dynasty, 3 Song Dynasty, 3 Yuan Dynasty, 17 Ming Dynasty, 4 Qing Dynasty, 10 replica steles, 9 modern poetry steles), the Tang Hanyu steles, Song Kaibao steles, Ming Hongwu steles, etc. are all very precious cultural relics. Therefore, the South China Sea Temple is also known as the “Southern Stele Forest”.
NanhaiKomiks is a must-pass place in Guangzhou. The four words “the sea does not rise up” represent the most sincere wish for peace and good fortune when emperors, merchants, helmsmen and shipmen walked out of this prosperous ancient port for thousands of years.
The Qing Dynasty archway “the sea does not rise up”
Some sources: South China Sea Temple