What's the use of worshipping immortals?

Legend has it that once upon a time, seven fairies descended from Wuyi and found a dragon coming out of the mountains there and rolling downstream from the source of Minjiang River. The seven fairies thought it was amazing and followed the dragon all the time. When they arrived at Meixikou of Minjiang River (the border between Fujian and Qing), they found that the dragon had disappeared. Meixi is ahead, and the water is fast. The seven fairies thought, is the dragon hiding under the stream? The curious seven fairies turned to Meixi and saw the trace of Long Jiayin by the stream. So, the seven fairies followed Long Jiayin slowly to Meixi until they arrived at Yuping Mountain, the capital of Minqing near Meixi. So far, the beautiful scenery here has amazed tourists. At that time, the seven fairies decided to have a rest here, so they fell from the clouds and became a "fairy pavilion" to rest. In the fifth year of the Northern Song Dynasty (1045), according to this legend, people in Wudu, Minqing built a temple named "Seven The Fairy Temple" in the resting place of the seven fairies that year, and used to call it "Fairy Pavilion". Because the seven fairies chased the dragon here, people from the five capitals of Min and Qing built temples here. Therefore, in order to seek elegance, Yao Xunyi, the magistrate of Minqing County, presided over the compilation of Minqing County Records and renamed it "longxing temple". Moreover, when compiling the county annals, the magistrate of Yao learned that due to the drought in the Southern Song Dynasty, Bai Yuchan, the fifth ancestor of Taoism in Minqing, returned to his hometown and built an altar at the top of Keyang Mountain, the sixth capital of Minqing, to pray for rain, thus alleviating the drought in Minqing. Later, three immortals from Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, Xu, Zhao and Xue, accompanied by three immortals (the elder sister surnamed Ma, the second sister surnamed Ge and the younger sister surnamed Cai), went to Fujian to learn from the scriptures. However, after they entered Fujian, Bai Yuchan led his disciples to preach in Qionghai (now Hainan Province). Therefore, the three immortals, Xu, Zhao and Xue, built a large-scale Keyang Xiange at the top of Keyang Mountain to pray for rain, benefiting the people of the six capitals of Minqing. Ma, Ge and Cai Sanxian moved to the Seven Immortals Temple in Yuping Mountain, the fifth capital of Minqing, the so-called "longxing temple" in Yao County. Therefore, Yao Zhixian recorded this legendary story in his first Minqing County Chronicle. Gradually, the "Seven Fairy Temple" in Wudu of Minqing, namely longxing temple, was also called "Fairy Temple". It is said that after Ma, Ge and Cai Sanxian moved in, they felt that the Seven Fairies were all human beings. It is stipulated that pilgrims and believers who come to the temple must first worship the seven fairies and then burn incense to pray for them.

So, who is Fairy? According to the encyclopedia "Chinese Dictionary", fairy mother refers to the angel of God with foresight. Because it was originally from the sky, the fairy mother only set up an altar to preach, put a bucket full of millet and inserted a pair of scissors. The way to perform magic is to set a seat in front of God, and the fairy mother will sit down and cover her face with a blue silk scarf. Talk about other people's family affairs, children's illness, and the length of people traveling in a half-humming and half-singing way. When it comes to sadness, tears overflow and listeners naturally sob more. Coincidentally, Xian Niang's predictions are clever every time. Therefore, in the vast areas of our country, Fairy Mother is recognized as the son of God, and people are scrambling to worship. Because Fairy Niang's magic is clever, in the old society, children were sickly and fatal, so they worshipped Fairy Niang as their adopted son. If a child has night terrors, he will "turn off the black" with an egg. After a spell, they took it to the street at dusk, shouting the children's names all the way, "Is Babel back?" Another replied, "Babel is back" and shouted all the way home. When I got home, I held the child's hand and spat on his head, and the child recovered. That's great. Fairy mother is mainly for the benefit of women and children. In the old society, women in China lived in poverty and were homeless. They pinned their hopes and dreams on the magic of the fairy mother and relied on her for comfort.

From the usual point of view, why the fairy mother's prediction is so effective is still puzzling. However, in spite of this, a scholar with a little knowledge wants to get rid of superstition, overthrow it and deny this "prophet", which will produce another kind of "ignorance". That is to classify the effect of fairy's prophecy as "coincidence" and "blindness", and at the same time "sarcastically" fairy, calling her a witch and magical witchcraft. Moreover, Shen Congwen, a writer in the Republic of China, revealed in his book why Fairy Mother was so popular among the people. He wrote: Xiangxi woman, 16 to 23 years old, beautiful and introverted, unsuccessful marriage. Fairy Niang is an ancient witch. He further analyzed that witches are mostly beautiful girls when they debut, so they are often described as fairies who come down to earth all day in folk culture and worshipped them. The main performance is that every year in the first month of the lunar calendar, fairy temple fairs are held everywhere, and people are crowded (carrying) "immortals" (sculptures) and traveling around the country (wandering around immortals). The scene was hot and the crowd was like a tide. Along the way, people set up offerings and incense sticks in front of their own houses. With the hope of the New Year, when the "Fairy Mother" passed by their own houses, they set off fireworks and firecrackers to pray for family health, good weather and food and clothing in the coming year. After the "Fairy Mother" goes to the countryside, the folk will also invite the troupe to perform big plays in the Fairy Mother Temple, such as Master Tea Boy and Five Rats in Tokyo.

It is worth mentioning that in the old society, Xianniang was not an ordinary person, most of them knew medical skills and had a skill to cure diseases and save lives. According to legend, Ma, Ge and Cai, three immortals in the "Fairy Temple" in the five capitals of Minqing, specialize in treating infertility, and are highly respected by local people, and their reputation spreads far and wide at home and abroad. Therefore, when the local people rebuilt longxing temple in 1995 (which was demolished during the "Breaking Four Old Houses" during the Cultural Revolution), they changed their name to "Fairy Temple" after repeated discussions (the legend of "Seven Immortals" is almost magical, but it is not credible). After reconstruction, the "Shenxian Temple" in Yuping Mountain, Wudu, Minqing, has a construction area of more than 600 square meters. There is Jifengyan behind the temple. It is said that it was named after the seven fairies who used to dress up in front of the mirror, and it still exists now. Left asked about the firewood pavilion and the Dan well, and asked about the unknown origin of the firewood pavilion. The Dan well was dug by the three immortals, and it overflowed all the year round and would not dry up. It is said that drinking this water can cure all diseases and eliminate disasters. But this pavilion and this well can't be found at present. The temple is built on three floors, and the main hall is on the third floor, dedicated to three immortals, Ma, Ge and Cai. Because the three immortals are kind-hearted and always responsive, whoever goes to the temple to burn paper and incense will often meet Rui and Huangbang High School. Therefore, after the Qing Dynasty, in order to seek the protection of the Three Immortals and read more books, the local people built a wide levee in front of the temple for scholars to rest and climb to the top during recess. Huang Mengxiong, a poet in the late Qing Dynasty, visited this place and was deeply touched. He specially wrote a poem: "The ancient temple is surrounded by Pingshan Cuifeng Cliff, regardless of the year; The Vatican Palace has a small extension of three arches, and the single crystal has a circular culvert. Reading in the morning after the rain is easy, and talking about Zen at night on the rattan couch; Ask the poem by the pavilion, and leave a fragrant fire for a thousand years. "

These beautiful legends add infinite mystery to the "Fairy Temple" in Yuping Mountain, the capital of the five cities of Minqing. Yuping Mountain, as the residual vein of Daiyun Mountain in Fujian, is long and majestic. Climbing the main peak, the view is wide and the sunrise is spectacular, which makes people relaxed and happy. There are many strange flowers and grasses on the mountain, which makes people linger. As an ecological forest area, today's Yuping Mountain is lush with flowers and birds. The Meixi River at the foot of the mountain is green and blue, and the mountains and rivers set each other off. It's really "Yuping is a pilgrim, and Xianniang Mountain Temple is a wanderer drunk."