Wuzhi County is located in the northwest of Henan Province, southeast of Jiaozuo City, at the intersection of the Yellow River and Qinhe River, which has long been regarded as the dividing point of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in ancient times. In November, 2121, I visited Wuzhi County. Accompanied by local friends, I punched out several historical sites, such as Thousand Buddha Pavilion, Qinglong Palace, Jiayingguan, Miaole Temple Tower and Chenghuang Temple, and had an authentic Huimian Noodles in Wang Laoshang, so I got some knowledge about this ancient county with a thousand years. Almost all the history of Wu Zhi is related to water transportation and water control, and most of the existing historical sites are born with water, which is very rare in northern cities.
wuzhi county was established in the 16th year of sui kaihuang (596), before which there were two more ancient county towns. One is Huai County, which is located near Miaole Temple Tower on the south bank of Qinhe River. In 221 BC, after Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, Huai County was established on the site of the ancient Huai City in the Spring and Autumn Period. In the second year of Emperor Gaozu's reign (215 years ago), Huai County was upgraded to Hanoi County. After the establishment of Wuzhi County, Huai County was revoked and merged into Wuzhi County, and the old city was abandoned. The other is Wude County, located in Dacheng Village, which was built in 219 BC and abandoned in the early Western Jin Dynasty.
Wu in Wuzhi County refers to Zhou Wuwang, whose original meaning is to ascend the mountain. According to legend, the king of Wu commanded his troops to cross the Yellow River that day, which destroyed the commerce and prospered the Zhou Dynasty. Wuzhi means "the land where the king of Wu ascended". The nearby Xiuwu County is said to be the place where King Wu rested his troops, and Jiaozuo is said to be the town where the local people "eat pot pulp to welcome Julian Waghann". Why did the story of the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty get its name only in the early years of the Sui Dynasty? This is because Emperor Wen of Sui, Emperor of the Sui Dynasty, moved to Qinshui Valley all the year round when he unified the world. After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, ministers compared Emperor Wen of Sui to Zhou Wuwang to flatter him.
in the fourth year of the great cause of sui dynasty (618), yang guang began to build the grand canal as a channel for communication between the north and the south. The Grand Canal in Sui Dynasty was centered on Luoyang and Chang 'an, and the route was in a lying herringbone shape, with Yongji Canal in the north, Tongji Canal in the south, and Wuzhi County at the opening. The reason for this design is that Wuzhi is located at the junction of the Loess Plateau and the North China Plain, with the highest terrain, which is convenient for canal opening and water diversion. There are canyons on both sides of the upper reaches of the Yellow River, and the river course is relatively stable. However, since Wuzhi County, the Yellow River has entered the North China Plain in Ma Pingchuan, becoming a suspended river on the ground. Therefore, it has been called "the head of the river hangs and the mouth of a hundred rivers flows" since ancient times. In a long historical period, people have regarded this as the dividing point of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River.
On that day, after the Grand Canal of Sui Dynasty was completed, Wuzhi was located at the starting point of Yongji Canal, with Qinshui in the north and the Yellow River in the south, with convenient transportation and becoming an important freight terminal. Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the ground of Wuzhi has been prosperous and rich, and it is a transit point for water transportation materials. In addition to the county town on the south bank of Qinhe River, the pier town has also been formed on the north bank of Qinhe River, which is Muluandian Town. There are different local opinions about the origin of the name of Muluan Store. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was once used as a dock for timber shipment. It is said that the original name was Mulan Store, which refers to the timber piled up in the warehouse or the railings enclosed outside.
the old county town of wuzhi is located on the south bank of Qinhe river. It was founded in the fourth year of Tang Wude (621). It was originally a earthen city, expanded into a brick city in the late Ming Dynasty, and was abandoned after liberation. The city is circular, with a circumference of 77 steps. It has three gates: the east gate, the east gate, the west gate, and the south gate. There is a urn outside each gate, and the north wall is close to the Qinhe levee. There is no gate for water prevention. At first, the height of the city was 21 feet and 5 feet. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was gradually heightened, and turrets were built in the north, northeast, northwest, southwest and southeast. There are many streets in the city, with the county government in the northeast and the Confucian Temple in the southeast.
The Qinhe River in the north of the county originated in Pingyao, Shanxi Province, and meandered through the Loess Plateau, with high sediment content and frequent downstream flooding. After the Yuan Dynasty, the Yongji Canal gradually silted up and lost its navigation capacity. In addition, the Yellow River in the south is also a suspended river on the ground. Under the attack of two times, the ground between the two rivers is increasing year by year, and the county town has been surrounded by water for many times. In the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the breach of the Qinhe River destroyed the Yellow River levee, and the Yellow River flowed backward, reaching the North China Plain along the northeast. Pan Jixun, the river governor, made up his mind to eradicate the flood of Wuzhi Qinhe River, and built a golden embankment in the east of the county seat, which blocked the northeast flow of the river. After passing through the old city and Muluandian, the Qinhe River directly diverted to the south and entered the Yellow River from Fangling Village, avoiding the mutual influence of parallel rivers.
After the diversion of the Qinhe River, Muluan Store has gained a broad development space and flourished rapidly, forming a dual pattern of one city and one town. The old county town in the south is the seat of government offices, while Muluan Town in the north has concentrated a large number of merchants, houses, halls and temples, forming main trunk roads such as South Street, North Street and East Street. The famous Thousand Buddha Pavilion was built during this period.
After the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the Yellow River levee was higher than the gate tower of Wuzhi County, and local officials had a plan to relocate the county government. At this time, Muluandian also built a wall, with six gates around the city. Until the Republic of China, the local government officially moved the office to Muluandian. Since then, the old county town has been abandoned year by year. In 1954, Muluandian was renamed Mucheng Town and became the seat of the new county town. In 1982, when the diversion project of Qinhe Yangzhuang was carried out, two new flood control levees were built in the south of the old embankment. Since then, the old county town has been completely submerged into the bottom of the river, and there is no trace left. The only remaining Chenghuang Temple in the city has moved to the vicinity of Laonanguan.
Our trip to Wuzhi County started from Miaole Temple Tower and Chenghuang Temple on the south bank of the Qinhe River. When we drove across the bridge, we found that the Qinhe River was already very weak. After the 1991s, Hekou Village and Zhangfeng Reservoir were built in the upper reaches of the Qinhe River, and the river was stopped. We drove this road on the top of the Qinhe River levee.
Miaole Temple Tower is located in the former site of Huaixian County on the south bank of Qinhe River. It was built in the Tang Dynasty, but it was destroyed by floods. After five dynasties, it was rebuilt in the second year of Zhou Xiande (955). Miaole Temple Tower is a 13-level brick tower with dense eaves, with a square plane and a hollow barrel inside, with a height of 34 meters. The height of each floor of the tower decreases uniformly from bottom to top, and the outer contour is parabolic, and the arc is smaller than that of the Tangta, which is the architectural feature of the Five Dynasties. The four sides of each floor above the second floor of the tower are hidden in the shape of straight windows. There is a niche on the second to thirteenth floors of the south wall, with a bronze Buddha built in it. There are wood-like corner beams under the eaves of each floor, and iron wind chimes are hung on the beams.
The most exquisite part of Miaole Temple Tower is the pagoda brake, which is made of copper and gilded, with a height of 6.74 meters. It is composed of Sumeru, seven-stage wheel, Baohua cover, hookah, Yangyue, triple orb and brake tip. There are four chains on the brake post, which are tied to the four corners of the tower top and suppressed by four gilded bronze masters. All the components of the Tasha are cast in one step, with no joints and rivets, and the technology is exquisite, especially the gold-plated bronze lion, which has a unique shape, a ferocious face and a complete preservation, and is a rare treasure in the country. On the top tip of the pagoda, there are 12 lines of 169 characters cast, with the words "Xiande built the pagoda on February 21, the second year of his life", which records the exact age of the pagoda.
The building quality of Miaole Temple Tower is very good. Although the Miaole Temple calendar around the pagoda has been rebuilt many times, it fell in the late Qing Dynasty. The tower has survived thousands of years of earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters, and is still intact to this day. Especially in the tower brake part, brass was used for one-time casting that day. As time goes by, the metal looks black after oxidation. When it was built, the top of the tower was golden yellow and shone brightly under the sunlight.
On the way back, we stopped by to see the Old Town God Temple, which is the only architectural relic in the old county, but it was already after the relocation. The Chenghuang Temple in Wuzhi County was built in the Tang Dynasty, and it was once the largest in Huaiqing County, and it was very famous. Destroyed by the war during the Anti-Japanese War, it became a ruin. After the Qinhe River diversion project in 1982, the villagers collected the remaining components of the Old Town God Temple, and newly built this Town God Temple, which was completed in the early 1991s. Although the temple is rebuilt, the incense is very strong. Of course, there is no temple in Wuzhi County where the incense is not strong.
The front door of the Town God Temple is full of corn cobs aired by local villagers. On the west wall, there is an introduction of the old county seat and a plan of the Town God Temple. There were many temples in the old county seat, including the Temple of Fire, the Temple of Mawang, the Temple of Sanyuan Taoist Temple, the Temple of Fujun, and guanyin temple, but they are all gone. We walked around the yard twice and saw several parents in the back hall with their children to burn incense. At least the children went to middle school, and it is estimated that they came to fulfill their vows. My sister told me that this folk belief in Wuzhi County is traditional. Both young and old believe in it, and so does my mother. My brother's job was found by an old sister when my mother went to burn incense.
Next article:
Yellow River town, Henan Wuzhi (2) Thousand Buddha Pavilion and Qinglong Palace, Shanxi Guild Hall on Huadian Street
Yellow River town, Henan Wuzhi (3) Miaogong Jiayingguan, those things about the Yellow River water control
Video: Miaole Temple Tower.