There is an ancient well in Zhanghua Temple. What secrets did the monks find when they went down to dredge?

There is a mysterious ancient well in Zhanghua Temple in Hubei Province. The well was silted up, so the monks had no choice but to go down and dredge it, but they accidentally discovered the secret hidden at the bottom of the well. What the hell is going on here? If you want to know, let me reveal the secret for you:

Zhanghua Temple, located in Taishi College, Shashi City, Hubei Province, is a famous ancient temple in Jingchu area. According to historical records, the place where zhanghua Temple is located was originally the palace of King Chu Ling during the Warring States Period. After the general of the State of Qin attacked the capital of Chu, Ying capital, the palace of Chu was immediately abandoned, no longer brilliant, and became a piece of broken walls.

Around 1325, a monk visited here and saw the beautiful scenery of Zhong Ling, so he invested in building a temple named "Zhanghua Temple". Although zhanghua Temple was built in the Yuan Dynasty, it flourished in the Qing Dynasty, covering an area of about 6,543,800+0,470 square meters and a building area of 6,543,800+0,200 square meters. As a palace-style temple, its layout is quite reasonable. Daxiong Hall, Tianwang Hall, Sutra Hall, Buddha Hall and Guanyin Hall are all available, showing solemnity.

However, it is worth mentioning that the real "treasure of the town temple" in zhanghua Temple is not a cassock, scripture or rosary, but an ancient well named "Aquilaria Sinensis Well". According to legend, compared with the monarch of Chu, King Chu Ling was extremely fatuous and corrupt. The so-called "King Chu has a thin waist and Gong E starved to death" all originated from this person. In addition, King Chu Ling has special requirements for drinking water, stipulating that the water he drinks must be fragrant. It is precisely because of this that the craftsmen of Chu put Daphne in the ground to meet the special requirements of King Chu Ling. However, this is a legend after all and has not been strongly proved. However, after this well became the water source of zhanghua Temple, it did have many seemingly magical functions.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the prosperity of two sand canals (now the canal from Shashi to Shayang, connecting the Yangtze River and the Han River), a large wharf for Gu Mi transportation spontaneously formed in a place called Taishiyuan near the eastern part of Zhanghua Temple, and more and more merchants came to the wharf to carry goods. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the surrounding environment of Yuzhang Port had been improved unprecedentedly, and the economic level was once very developed, and it successfully became one of the "Eight Scenes of Jiangling" and became a scenic spot of "Zhangtai Springs". During Tomb-Sweeping Day, many people came here to worship their ancestors. After burning paper to sweep the graves for their loved ones, they often stop by Zhanghua Temple to make a prayer, or take out silver coins and ask the monks in the temple to make a ceremony for their loved ones. Before setting out, pilgrims often put a bucket of well water in person to make tea or wash their faces, so that they can not only get rid of bad luck, but also enjoy the unique agarwood in well water.

At this point, readers can't help but feel suspicious. Is it true that King Chu Ling put Daphne into the well? Why else would people smell the heavy fragrance in the water? This matter has been a mystery until the last century, and the final answer was completely revealed.

1937 One day in February, Jingzhou Gale Weekly published an important report. According to the report, a reporter of our newspaper visited Zhanghua Temple and inadvertently learned from the abbot of the temple, Master Miaoquan, that as early as 1934, the agarwood well was blocked, which made it difficult to get water. Faced with this situation, in order not to affect the wishes and prayers of pilgrims, Master Miaoquan personally selected several strong young monks in the temple, asked them to tie the rope and go down to the well to dredge it. Unexpectedly, however, after the monk came up, he immediately told the abbot a rock-breaking news. It turns out that the substance used to filter water underground is not conventional sediments, but neatly discharged blocks of wood. Then, a piece of wood was given to Master.

Master Miao Quan was well informed. After careful identification, he found that the piece of wood that the monk found underground was actually a Daphne plant. Thus, the secret of agarwood well was officially revealed. The legend that King Chu Ling put Daphne at the bottom of the well is not fiction, but fact. Aquilaria sinensis well really deserves its reputation.

After liberation, the local government thought that Daphne odora was extremely expensive and should be protected. So the relevant personnel were ordered to fill the agarwood well, and the monks in the temple were not allowed to draw water here. However, this incident caused widespread controversy. Many people think that the so-called "family members will not die, running water will not rot". The Daphne family in the underground of Aquilaria sinensis is well preserved because the water in the well is continuously used. Once water is not used, the decay rate of Daphne underground will accelerate rapidly, and then it will completely rot into mud. We dare not comment too much on this statement, but Bian Xiao still hopes that relevant experts can give a clearer and more reasonable statement.

More than 2,000 years ago, King Chu Ling was so extravagant that he filled a well with Daphne plants, which was indeed a move by local tyrants that we never dreamed of. On the other hand, with the continuous development of science and technology in modern society, we can also enjoy the convenience brought by modern life, even if we can't afford to eat agarwood well water, it is a very happy thing.