The establishment of the ancestral temple is the embodiment of the concept of filial piety in the feudal etiquette system of China. It requires people to "die as their life, and die as their life" to their ancestors (the golden mean). Both the emperor and the royal family attach great importance to this practice, which is convenient for the upper and lower levels to rule the people.
The establishment time of Taiyuan Imperial Temple is unknown. According to data analysis, it was built in front of Zhu Jiufan, Duke of Jinxiang, Taiyuan. According to Ming History, Zhu, the third son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of Ming Dynasty, was made King of Jin in the third year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty (1370), and lived in Jin in the eleventh year of Hongwu (1378). According to the custom, when determining the address of the palace, the ancestral hall should be built in the southeast of the mansion for memorial. According to this calculation, the Forbidden City in Taiyuan was built 48 years earlier than the Forbidden City in Beijing. Only in this way did the White Horse Temple in the Tang Dynasty be expanded to Chongshan Temple in the 14th year of Hongwu (138 1) to commemorate his mother, Gao Huang. For Zhu, who respects Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and is particularly filial, it is in line with the ancient ceremony and reasonable to build the ancestral temple first and then expand the Chongshan Temple.
The Forbidden City in Taiyuan is a palace-style ancient architectural complex. Although it was renovated in Ming and Qing Dynasties, the overall layout and brick-wood structure still retained the characteristics of Ming Dynasty. Its front yard is luxurious and magnificent, its middle (main) courtyard is magnificent, and its backyard is simple and simple, which is the essence of ancient architecture. The front yard is five rooms wide, about 22 meters wide and about 6 meters high, with yellow glazed tile roof and yellow glazed sumitomo. All arches, foreheads and sides are carved and ground with yellow glazed tiles to form a wood-like structure. There are 40 single-fold arches under the eaves, and the walls of the arches are decorated with yellow glass relief dragons. The front eaves are divided into five rooms with yellow glazed lotus columns, which is quite ingenious. The four corners of the wall are decorated with yellow glass dragons, and there are several round high-relief yellow glass dragons in Ming Dynasty, which roll left and right and fly up and down. There are two dragons on each side, which are like beads, vigorous and vivid (now abandoned). There are three palace gates, with a width of12m and a height of about 8m. The yellow glazed tile rests on the top of the mountain, and the forehead, square and bucket arch of imitation wood structure are also carved with yellow glazed brick, which echoes the zhaobi. Only the archway facing north in the door is in the form of archway, the lotus petals of lotus column stigma are turned out, and the pattern of recurrent grass is renovated, which has changed in unity. The palace gate is arched, and the ticket mouth is pasted with yellow glass, engraved with the words "Wanshou Palace". The open room is 3.3 meters wide, the secondary room is 2.8 meters wide, and each room is 5.5 meters deep. There are doors in the middle, and each door has a huge and heavy red spray-painted door that can be opened and closed at any time. The Intermediate People's Court is the main court and is divided into three courts. The first five palaces are 22 meters wide, the middle three palaces are 14 meters wide, and the last seven palaces are 28 meters wide. They are all built on earth mounds with a height of 1.2 to 1.5 meters. The roof of the palace always hangs from the mountain, covered with yellow glazed tiles, and all the vertical ridges, tile mouths and dripping water are decorated with embossed dragon patterns. The main ridge is towering, and there are large dragon-shaped kissing animals at two corners, which open their mouths and bite the main ridge. There is a colorful painting of He Daidai under the eaves of the front hall, and a colorful painting of Su-style figure Daidai in the back hall, which was painted when it was rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty. The east and west halls, the front yard five halls and the back yard nine halls are all hung with yellow glazed tiles. These 43 palaces are arranged in seven groups, with three central axes and two groups of things. The layout is rigorous and the momentum is very grand. Between buildings, the ground is wide, which is convenient for large-scale festivals. The backyard is in the north of the harem, and another courtyard is built, connected by doors. All adopt the hard mountain building pattern with blue-gray tile roof, and each quadrangle is a deacon residential area.
Sangong is a place for sacrifice and celebration, but there is no historical record to explain it. Only according to the ritual system of the Ming Dynasty, the harem should be the bedroom. In the middle, Zhu Gao Zuheng, Huangdi Yizu, was enshrined; In the East, the great-grandfather Huangdi was worshipped; In the west, the ancestors of Zuchun Huangdi are worshipped. Zhu Yu, king of Gong Jin, died in Taiyuan in the 31st year (1398). In the same year, Zhu Yuanzhang, his father, died in Nanjing, and Zhu Zhizi was awarded the title of Queen of Jin. Both his grandfather and father sacrificed in the temple. At that time, there were no shrines, only clothes were used instead. Later, there was a shrine, carved with wood, decorated with gold patterns and carved with green characters, and placed on the shrine carved with red paint and gold.
The ancestral temple sacrificial ceremony was established in the first year of Hongwu. Every year, the "four monks" in Meng Chun, Xia Meng, Qiu Meng and Mengdong offer sacrifices to the royal ancestors. Later, it was changed to Qingming in spring, Dragon Boat Festival in summer, Central Plains in autumn and solstice in winter as the day of ancestor worship. Besides three animals, millet and millet, fresh fruits and vegetables are also provided. In addition, all the major events in Beijing, such as Deng Ji, Xunxing, stone appreciation, tombs, canonization, crown wedding, and golden festive events, should also be told to our ancestors here.
The Qing dynasty inherited the ritual system of the Ming dynasty, and the imperial temple is still a place for offering sacrifices to saints and heroes. Besides four-year-old Meng and four-year-old Meng, there are many complicated celebrations. Later, the governor of Shanxi, the governor, and the officials of the state and county all came here to congratulate, so it was also called "Wanshou Palace". "The Bamboo Slips of Shanxi Tongzhi Mansion" records that "Wanshou Palace is the place where the new Nanmen Street returns to the east and is the place to celebrate longevity, New Year's Day and winter solstice." At the beginning of Shunzhi, there were three major festivals, and all civil and military officials living in other places also put incense tables and saluted at the court like officials in Beijing. There are detailed regulations on the number of flights to congratulate the DPRK. In the late Qing Dynasty, the provinces respectfully built the Wanshou Palace, and some counties also had it. During this period, the layout of Taiyuan Wanshou Palace was roughly like this: the front palace was dedicated to close relatives and ancestors, the middle palace was dedicated to ancestors who lived in the same room, and the harem was the temple of ancestors in previous dynasties. There is no wood carving shrine, the emperor sits and carves dragons, the back seat carves phoenixes, there is a yellow satin backrest, and the button is placed in the niche. There is also a big shrine in the harem, which reads "Long live". There are sacrificial tables and incense tables in the palace, and containers such as bamboo, rice, beans, wine, food, dried and fresh fruits, and various cakes are placed during the sacrifice. There are also sacrificial vessels and sacrifices for courtiers and military commanders. Etiquette is numerous and prosperous. There is a road behind the temple called Ma Shang Street, which is the place where officials ask to dismount, get off the sedan chair or get on the sedan chair when attending the ceremony, hence the name, which still exists today.
In the long history, the situation is changing, the world is cold, and the imperial temple has suffered several disasters. The Qing Dynasty abdicated and the Republic of China was founded. The Forbidden City became the Zhao Yi Temple to commemorate the martyrs who died when the Republic of China was founded. Later, it was changed to Guan Yue Temple, dedicated to Guan Yu, the general of Shu in the Three Kingdoms.
The Temple of Heaven-Zetian Temple, also known as Zetian Temple, is located 5 kilometers north of Wenshui County and north of South Xu Cun. Luliang Mountain in the west and Wenyu River in the east. National Highway 307 passes through the mountains, and dozens of miles east of Zetian Temple. Flat terrain and convenient transportation. It can be reached from Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province, by car southbound for 60 kilometers.