Who's Lv Dongbin?

Among the people, Lv Dongbin, like Guanyin Bodhisattva and Guan Gong, is well known to women and children and is called "Three Gods". Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, He, Han Zhongli, Lan Caihe, Zhang, He Xiangu, Han Xiangzi and Cao Guojiu have been called "Eight Cave Immortals" together. Among the folk beliefs in Shanxi, he is the most famous of the Eight Immortals and has the most folklore. Speaking of the legend of the Eight Immortals, people can't help asking: Is Lv Dongbin a fairy or a human being? Where is his hometown?

Lv Dongbin, formerly known as Lv Yan, was born in Yongle Town (now Yongji County, Shaanxi Province). He was born in a bureaucratic family for generations, and his ancestors were officials in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Lv Dongbin has been familiar with classical literature since childhood. Some people say that he was buried in the first year of Tang Bao calendar (AD 825) and became a local official.

Later, because he was tired of the troubled times of the mutiny, he abandoned the fame and fortune in the world and took his wife to practice in Jiufeng Mountain on Zhongtiao Mountain. He and his wife each lived in a pit, so they changed their names to Lv Dongbin. "Lu" refers to a couple, and the two are Lu; "Cave" is a cave where people live; "Bin" means to tell people that they are guests in the cave. His road number is Chun Yoko. Before he abandoned his post and left, he extended his kind hand to the poor and did many good things for the people. According to folklore, during his practice, he met the immortal Zhong Liquan and worshipped him as a teacher. After the success of cultivating immortals, I went down the mountain to treat the people and never asked for any reward. Lv Dongbin was a philanthropist all his life, helping the poor and winning people's admiration. After his death, people in his hometown built the "Lv Gong Temple" as a memorial for him. In the Jin Dynasty, because Lv Dongbin believed in Taoism, he changed the name "temple" to "view". In the early years of the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan knew that Taoism believed by Lv Dongbin was very popular among the masses, so he wanted to use religion and Lv Dongbin's reputation to consolidate his rule, sent the Buddhist Qiu Chuji to take charge of Taoism, demolished the "Lu Public Relations", and built the "Yongle Palace". It took 1 10 years from the construction of Daxiong Hall to the drawing of murals in several halls, almost the same as the whole Yuan Dynasty.

Lv Dongbin was originally a little-known ordinary figure, but in the long-term folk circulation, like snowballing, the story became more and more rich and became a legend of arrows. Lv Dongbin's folklore has three remarkable features. One is the blending of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Lv Dongbin became an immortal through alchemy, which is the idea of the birth of Taoism. After he became an immortal, he wanted to "do the best of all sentient beings in the world", which reflected the Confucian thought of "helping the world at the same time" The behavior of being born and willing to give is the embodiment of Buddhist thought. From the legend of Lv Dongbin, we can see the imprint of the cultural integration of the three religions in Shanxi folk beliefs. Second, the content of secularization is increasing. For example, Lv Dongbin often appears in restaurants, teahouses and restaurants. Eat and drink, and leave an immortal mark after leaving. His bohemian, informal, good wine and loving his daughter, the so-called "Lv Dongbin with rich wine and color" and the so-called "Lv Dongbin playing peony" (Bai Mudan was a famous prostitute at that time) are all well known. These secular life contents make Lv Dongbin, a fairy, more human and win people's love. The third is to combine with the legend of literati. Lv Dongbin's experience of Confucian scholars before becoming a monk, as well as his drinking, writing poems and pursuing the interest of mountains and forests, are more suitable for the tastes of middle and lower literati. In the process of spreading the story, there are many legendary factors attached to it, which makes him a fairy representative of the image of frustrated intellectuals at the same time. These characteristics of Lv Dongbin legends are gradually formed in the long-term spreading process, and are the accumulation of various cultural phenomena, which makes the research on such legends more in-depth.

Yongle Palace consists of five buildings: Gongmen, Longhu Hall, Wuji Hall, Chunyang Hall and Chongyang Hall. They are arranged on a central axis from south to north in turn, and there are no ancillary buildings on the east and west sides. They absorbed the "building method" of Song Dynasty in terms of components and adopted the "column lowering method" of Liao and Jin Dynasties in terms of building structure, forming their own unique style. Among these temples in Yuan Dynasty, the most valuable ones are Wuji Hall and Chunyang Hall.

Wuji Hall, also known as Sanqing Hall, is named after the worship of Jade Qing Yuan Shi Tian Zun, Qing Lingbao Tian Zun and Taiqing Moral Tian Zun in Taoist mythology. Looking up, the yellow and blue glass relief on the temple ridge is colorful. The figures, flowers, dragons and phoenixes, and reflection groups built on the top of the temple are various and lifelike. The four walls of the temple are covered with murals, mostly figure paintings, with an area of 4O3.34 square meters and 286 characters. This is the famous "Yuan Chaotu". A large number of figures, arranged in the form of symmetrical rituals, take the eight statues of Antarctica, East Pole, Wei Zi, Gouchen, Jade Emperor, Houtu, Mu Gong and Jinniang as the main body, forming a scene of congratulating the pilgrimage to Sanqing. Among them, there are emperors with dragon robes, queens with phoenix crowns and Xia quilts, charming and light ladies-in-waiting, and eager officers. In addition, the military commanders are brave and strong, mighty and strong, and the jade girl is graceful. The whole picture is magnificent, the scene is magnificent, the brushwork is vigorous and smooth, the colors are gorgeous and harmonious, and the characters are exquisite and vivid, which not only shows the grand occasion of the fairy party, but also reflects the etiquette ceremony of the feudal court in China, just like a "Han Palace", which can be called a masterpiece in the history of China painting.

Chunyang Hall, also called Lvzu Memorial Hall, was built to worship Lv Dongbin. There is a statue of Lv Zu in the temple, with a kind face and a dignified manner. The murals in the temple depict the life of Lv Dongbin. From birth to enlightenment, cosmic life and game world are all forms of comics. Each picture is connected by rocks, clouds, trees, rivers and other natural scenery, which is seamless from a distance and has different contents from a close look. Although it is a religious painting, it reflects the living customs and social features of our people before the Yuan Dynasty. These murals vividly show the material folk customs such as pavilions, bridges, culverts, restaurants, teahouses and village houses. , and shows the life of officials, students, civilians, businessmen and other classes and figures, as well as boating in the river, the ceremony of baby birth, the memorial ceremony after the death of the old man and other scenes, which provides important information for us to study the social history and customs history of the Song, Jin and Yuan Dynasties.

At the exit of the back door of Chunyang Temple, there is a picture of Zhong You talking about Taoism, commonly known as "Pan Dao", which depicts the scene of Zhong Liquan inducing Lv Dongbin to cultivate immortality and learn Taoism. The background of the picture is rolling mountains, gurgling water and ancient and vigorous pine trees. The scenery is beautiful and quiet, and the master and apprentice sit sideways. Zhong Liquan was topless and generous. Lv Dongbin stared intently, raised his eyebrows and listened humbly. This painting successfully shows the inner world of the characters, which is full of charm and lifelike.

Yongle Palace was originally built in Yongle Town. 1958, Sanmenxia reservoir project of the Yellow River started, and Yongle Palace was in the flooded area. In order to protect this precious historical relic, the state allocated huge sums of money and carried out a large-scale relocation project. All the murals were cut into pieces, installed and repaired as they were, and Yongle Palace was moved to Longquan Village in the north of Ruicheng County intact. It used to be the site of the ancient acropolis. Longquan Temple was built in the Tang Dynasty, with the Yellow River Reservoir in front and the towering Zhongtiao Mountain in the back, surrounded by clear springs, adding a charming scenery to Yongle Palace.