The Cangzhou Iron Lion is located 16.5 kilometers north-southeast of the Cangzhou municipal government seat in Hebei Province. It is situated 0.5 kilometers west of Dongguan Village. Iron Lion is 5.78 meters high, 5.34 meters long, 3.17 meters wide, weighing about 50 tons. Carrying a huge basin is said to be Manjushri bodhisattva lotus sitting, lion body to the south, head to the southwest, two left feet in front, two right feet in the back, in the shape of a forward, majestic posture, headstrong, lifelike iron lion is China's large-scale exquisite cast-iron craftsmanship, but also China's famous monuments. More than a thousand years ago, it fully demonstrates the wisdom and artistic talent of the ancient Han Chinese working people. After the liberation of the iron lion by the party and the government's attention and protection, the State Council first listed it as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units, and it carries out a variety of repairs.
Myths and legends
It is said that a long, long time ago, Cangzhou is a piece of beautiful scenery, fertile land, the land of fish and rice. It was bordered by the sea on one side, thus the sea was blue and the sky was blue as far as the eye could see. Coupled with the mild climate, people and hardworking, family life, are so beautiful. So even the birds and animals are willing to come here to settle down.
One year, when the grain was yellow and the stick was pale, a black wind suddenly blew on the sea, rolling the waves, roaring like a tiger barking and howling like a wolf, and swooping down on the city of Cangzhou. Seeing the boat overturned mast folded, house collapsed, full of puddles of good crops were swallowed by the sea. The black wind and waves came quickly, the people could not hide, people also drowned a lot. The scene is really called miserable ah!
How did the black wind and waves suddenly come so violently? The original is an evil dragon in the rise of the demon. It looked at the Cangzhou this place is good, it is bent on monopolizing this place to do its dragon palace. Just when the evil dragon is making a mistake and harming the people, people heard a roar
Like a landslide, the roar of the earth. A reddish-yellow lion leaped up from the seashore, like an eagle catching a rabbit, and with a whoosh, rushed to the sea, taking the evil dragon directly. The sea suddenly water columns in the sky, windy, dragons and lions leaping, the lion and the dragon from the dark until dawn, the dragon could not resist, turned around and ran. As it ran, it thought, "I can't occupy this place, and I'll tell this place not to be good." So it ran while spitting bitter and alkaline white foam. The male lion chased after it until it reached the depths of the East China Sea, forcing the evil dragon to take back the sea water that flooded Cangzhou, and only then did it give up. The evil dragon left a deep ditch on its way to escape. Legend has it that this deep ditch is now the Black Dragon Harbor River. In this part of Cangzhou, especially in the Heilonggang basin, the white salt and alkali is said to be the white foam spat out by the evil dragon.
The evil dragon ran away, the sea water receded, the people around Cangzhou, to avoid a bigger disaster, and can live in peace and happiness. People in order to thank for the people to get rid of the lion, we asked a famous iron smith called Li Yun, led by nine hundred and eighty-one skilled apprentices, with nine hundred and eighty-one tons of steel, casting nine hundred and eighty-one days, and finally in the year the lion jumped up place, cast this living very majestic iron lion.
The dragon did not die, but it looked at the iron lion, it was soft, paws numb, and no longer dare to raise the demon, so later people called this iron lion Zhenhai roar.