Luoyang Folklore
White Sword
Bai Juyi spent eighteen spring and autumn years in Luoyang, the eastern capital, in his later years. After his death, he was buried on Pipa Peak on Dongshan Mountain in Longmen. His descendants multiplied and lived in Luoyang for generations. Descendants of the Bai family are proud of the merits of their ancestors and have spread many legends and stories, which are magical, confusing, vivid and touching, which fully reflect the infinite respect and love that the descendants of the Bai family have for their ancestors. ?
1. The sacred deer leads the way
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Hongwu army invaded the Central Plains, Emperor Shun of the Yuan Dynasty lost his throne, and Luoyang was in chaos. More than a hundred members of the Bai clan fled to other places to escape the chaos, and most of them fled and never returned. Bai Jie and Bai Chao, the 32nd generation descendants of Bai Juyi, fled west to Yiyi to avoid the war and settled in the north gate of Yiyang City. In the 14th year of Hongwu's reign, Duke Jie returned and moved to Nanzhuang, Luocheng, while Chaogong settled in Yiyi. The first thing that Duke Jie did after returning to Luo was to go to Xiangshan to pay homage to his ancestors. The family prepared sacrifices and a group of more than ten people passed by the Yi River. The boatmen heard the news and rushed to ferry them across. Jie Gong wanted to pay the silver, but the boatman quickly declined: "We can't accept it, we can't accept it. If the ancestors of the Bai family hadn't dug the Bajie Beach back then, we would still have to launch the boat!"
Due to years of war, Bai's Cemetery monuments destroyed. There were overgrown weeds around Pipa Peak. After many twists and turns, Jie Gong and others still could not find Xian Tomb. Duke Jie thought: "Don't I, the descendant of the Bai family, have no way to sacrifice to my ancestors from now on?" Suddenly, a yellow sacred deer appeared in front of everyone. Duke Jie said to everyone: "It must be the ancestors who show their spirits, and the sacred deer leads the way." So everyone followed. The sacred deer walked, and when it arrived in front of the cemetery, the sacred deer disappeared. As expected, Jie Gong and others found the remains of the white tombstone in the grass. Seeing the state of the tomb of their ancestor, Duke Jie and others burst into tears and decided to rebuild Baigong's tomb. After two years of careful planning, in the spring of the 16th year of Hongwu's reign in the Ming Dynasty, Bai Gong's tomb was rebuilt and the Bai family genealogy was compiled into a book to avoid interruption of the Bai family's genealogy. So far, descendants of the Bai family are well-known for the work of building the tomb and erecting the stone for Duke Jie and continuing to compile the genealogy.
2. The general pays homage to his grave
During the Republic of China, the great warlord Wu Peifu lived in Luoyang, bullying the superiors and the subordinates, and dominating one side. General Feng Yuxiang was ordered to attack and besieged the city for three days, but still could not capture it. The soldiers suffered heavy casualties and the morale of the army was in chaos. General Feng's heart was on fire. That night, he inspected the military situation and found Bai Gong's tomb under the moonlight. He ordered his followers to step down and pay homage to Bai Gong in person. After he kowtowed, he raised his head and said: "The spirit of the God of Poetry in the sky, if you can help me successfully attack Luoyang, I will build your tomb for you." After General Feng paid homage to the tomb, he organized another attack on the city the next day, and sure enough, he attacked Luoyang in one fell swoop. The Wu army was retreating steadily, and Wu Peifu was also driven out of Luoyang.
After the celebration banquet, General Feng continued his western expedition. Due to his busy military affairs, he forgot to repair the tomb. Traveling to Tongguan, Shaanxi Province, suddenly a white-haired old man fell from the sky and stopped the general's tall horse. The general asked: "Which god is blocking the way?" The old man asked back: "General, do you remember the battle of Luoyang? The old man was promised in front of Pipa Peak. What happened?" General Feng woke up from a dream and immediately dismounted and said, "Please come back, God of Poetry. We will return to Luo Xiu's tomb in three days." As soon as General Feng finished speaking, the old man had quietly disappeared. General Feng Yuxiang quickly returned to Luoyang and made a special trip to repair Bai Gong's tomb. When repairing the tomb, he was surprised to find that Pipa Peak was a rocky mountain and only a natural cave was used to bury Duke Bai. He exclaimed: "This is truly a masterpiece!" From then on, the incident of General Feng Yuxiang paying homage to Xiu Baiwen Cemetery became a favorite story among Luoyang people. !
3. White peonies
There is a peony pond in front of Bai Cemetery, planted with white peonies of all colors. When they are in full bloom, they look like jade and clouds, very dazzling. It is said that this was a deliberate arrangement made by Bai Gong before his death.
According to legend, during the Yuanhe period of the Tang Dynasty, a gust of wind blew from nowhere: "Red peonies are for wealth, white peonies are unlucky." After a while, the white peonies were pinched off one by one, and some flower growers simply removed the white peonies. Peonies are uprooted and trampled on at will. At this time, Duke Bai resigned from office due to his mother's death due to illness. Three years later, he returned to the court for the first time and was appointed as Prince Zuo Zanshan. The Duke's ambition to "help the world at the same time" could not be realized, and he was very distressed. Seeing that White Peony was so neglected, he thought of his own situation and recited a poem: "The white flower is lonely and unloved, and it also has the reputation of Peony. It should be like Bai in the East Palace praising good, and being called a court official." Bai Gong pities Bai. For peonies, he collected the abandoned white peonies and transplanted them in the atrium. From then on, Bai Mansion only planted white peonies. In his later years, when he lived in Ludao, Luoyang, the white peonies he cultivated were already beautiful. The garden is full. In the winter of this year, the white peonies in the Baifu courtyard suddenly bloomed, competing with the white snow in beauty, and the flowers were surprisingly large. Duke Bai invited relatives, friends and members of the "Nine Elders Association" to come and enjoy the flowers, which caused a sensation in Luoyang.
After admiring the flowers, a public banquet was held to entertain everyone, and the guests were sent back home. Suddenly he saw a group of beautiful girls in white clothes and jade flowers walking from the peonies. They danced in front of him and sang loudly: "Only the peerless pomegranates, the most fragrant ones are peonies." , There is osmanthus in the moon, and the world is full of orchids..." After Bai Gong woke up from the wine, he was overjoyed and realized that Bai Mudan was the real "Peony Fairy". Before his death, he asked his family to plant white peonies in front of his tomb.
4. One Bai and Two Surnames
The most widely spread among the descendants of the Bai family in Heluo is the "One Bai and Two Surnames", or "Shibai's distinction." That is. Some of the Bai surnames in Luoyang area flourished after "Shi Jingtang". The surname "Bai" with the word "Bai" spoken is Shi Bai, and the surname "Bai" left unspoken is the authentic descendant of Bai Juyi.
It is said that Bai Juyi and "Shi Jingtang" served the emperor in the same dynasty. Once, "Shi Jingtang" was playing chess with the Emperor's Empress. A gust of wind blew and the chess pieces were scattered all over the ground. When "Shi Jingtang" picked up the chess pieces, he accidentally hit the Empress's foot. The Empress burst into tears and reported it to the Emperor. The Emperor was furious and reported Purpose: "The nine clans of Shi Jingtang, the criminal who molested the empress, will be destroyed." After Bai Gong found out the truth, he hurriedly went to the palace to meet the emperor. When the emperor saw Bai Juyi come up to write a memorial, he wrote a poem: "The bold Shi Jingtang dared to touch the empress' feet. Juyi came to protect her. "Why?" Faced with the emperor's question, Bai Gong also wrote a poem to answer: "It's not that Shi is brave, it's not that he wants to do evil. The wind blows the chess pieces and accidentally touches the empress's feet." Although Bai Juyi tried his best to save his capital, "Shi Jingtang" still failed. Escape the fate of destroying the nine clans. Some people with the Shi surname painted out the character "石" across their ancestral tombs, changing the word "石" into "白" in the character "口", thus escaping the pursuit of the imperial court. These "Shi" surnames have also changed to Bai surnames from generation to generation.
This legend is actually a ridiculous legend, because Shi Jingtang was from the Later Jin Dynasty, more than a hundred years later than the Tang Dynasty where Bai Gong lived, and it was impossible to serve the emperor in the same dynasty. This story reflects from another perspective that Bai Gong faced the emperor, spoke out and dared to remonstrate. This is the intention of the person who compiled this story!
It is said that in ancient times, there was a vast lake in the south of Luoyang, surrounded by green mountains and luxuriant grass. People graze their cattle in the mountains, fish in the lakes, and live a peaceful life. There was a hard-working child in the village who went to the mountains to herd sheep every day. He often heard the strange sound of "not turning on" coming from the ground. When he returned home, he told his mother about it. His mother thought for a moment and then told him to answer: "Open!" if he hears it again. Unexpectedly, before he could say anything, the sky collapsed and the earth split. Longmen Mountain immediately split from the middle, and the raging lake poured out from the crack, roaring and roaring around him. After passing Luoyang City, it flows thousands of miles to the East China Sea. After the water flow, countless clear springs burst out from the cliffs and rocks, forming fragrant pools and flowing down into waterfalls. There are countless honeycomb-like caves on the cliffs of the two mountains. The caves are full of shadowy stone statues, some with beautiful features and some with unclear outlines. They are in various shapes and forms, making it a wonder. Since then, Longmen Grottoes have become famous all over the world.
It is said that after Peony was demoted to Luoyang City by Wu Zetian, she took root in the beautiful Mang Mountain. In the late spring of the following year, peonies bloomed everywhere in the ravines and fields, attracting thousands of people to the ancient capital Luoyang.
Wu Zetian was very unhappy when he heard that the peony flowers that had been demoted to Mang Mountain were blooming extremely huge. So he took the gorgeous phoenix chariot to Mang Mountain. Looking up, Mang Mountain has become a sea of ??flowers. The peonies in various postures showed their power to the noble queen, blooming proudly and beautifully, and the queen immediately walked away in anger.
Back in the palace, Wu Zetian summoned the military generals in the court and ordered them to lead the officers and soldiers to Mang Mountain quickly. This time, they would uproot the peonies and burn them so that no one would survive!
The leader of the officers and soldiers, whose surname was Zhu Mingtou, immediately led his minions to Mang Mountain in a murderous manner after receiving the order. They drove away the tourists and posted guards. After a while, Peony They were piled up like a hill, covering the entire mountain ridge. Just as the officers and soldiers set fire to the peonies, a strong wind blew. The strong wind blew out the torches in the hands of the officers and soldiers, and the blown gravel blinded their eyes, and each piece of gravel hit the officers and soldiers' heads. When the strong wind passed, the officers and soldiers were dumbfounded to see that all the peonies were blown away by the strong wind. Strangely enough, this peony elephant has wings and flies around. Zhu Tou led his minions and chased him around until dusk, but failed to catch a single peony. It turned out that the peonies flew to the people's homes, and the people hid the peonies.
The next day, Zhu Tou ordered the people to hand over the peonies. A door-to-door search began, and the whole village was in a state of chaos due to the harassment of these officers and soldiers. Due to the power of the officers and soldiers, many peonies were found.
But it is said that at the foot of Mang Mountain, there lives a beautiful girl named Chunhong. Her parents died when she was young, and she grew up with the help of her neighbors. Now she is eighteen years old and is well-off. Like flowers. Since Wu Zetian demoted Peony to Luoyang, the girl has formed an indissoluble bond with Peony and cherished Peony more than her own life. This girl has a good friend named Guisheng. The young man is smart and capable, with two thick eyebrows like swords, and his sun-dark face is glowing red, making him look very strong. Guisheng and Chunhong grew up together and were childhood sweethearts. Guisheng cherished this relationship very much and took good care of Chunhong in every possible way. Under the influence of spring red, Guisheng is very good at planting peonies. The peonies they planted have many varieties and beautiful colors, and are known locally as the "King of Peonies".
Now that they saw Wu Zetian sending people to burn the peonies, their hearts were as sharp as a knife. In order to protect the peonies, they decided to hide the peonies in the cellar. In this way, the two people worked from morning to night, and they hid most of the peonies. Only the peonies planted in the backyard could not be hidden because the officers and soldiers had already searched the place.
As soon as Zhu Tou led a group of officers and soldiers to Miss Chunhong's house, they rummaged through the boxes and cabinets. No matter how Guisheng tried to stop them, the bandits still showed their teeth and claws, and the small courtyard that was very tidy just now was suddenly filled with chickens. The dog jumps. At this time, Chunhong was hiding behind the big rock in the backyard and listening to the noise. In the end, the officers and soldiers broke into the backyard. Zhu Tou was a famous old pervert. When he saw such a beautiful girl hiding in the backyard, his eyes immediately went straight and he stammered and couldn't say a word. For a moment, greed gradually arises, and he wants to dominate the girl Chunhong. I saw him slowly approaching Miss Chunhong, and said with a smile on his face: "Girl, it's so pitiful to see you living alone, how about I take you as my concubine and enjoy endless glory and wealth?"
Chunhong was already angry at the behavior of the Zhutou people, and now she was even more angry. She cursed at Zhutou: "If you want me to marry you, unless the sun rises in the west, the rivers flow backwards, and the king of hell digs them up, Your heart has cut off your head!" Upon hearing this, Zhu Tou said angrily: "Come here, tie her up, dig up all the peonies in the courtyard, and burn them!" During the fight with the officers and soldiers! , Guisheng was knocked unconscious, with blood flowing from his face. Seeing his beloved being beaten and the peonies in the courtyard being plundered, Chunhong reluctantly said to Guisheng who was unconscious on the ground: "Brother Guisheng, I'm going , You must protect our peonies in Luoyang!" After saying that, he hit the big stone, blood splashed on the peonies in the courtyard, and the flowers immediately turned purple. When Zhu Tou saw the formation, he was afraid of external branches and hurriedly ordered the officers and soldiers to dig up the peonies in the courtyard. However, as soon as the officers and soldiers approached the peony, the peony flower immediately emitted a dazzling light, which made the warriors dizzy. In the end, none of the peonies in the courtyard were damaged, and even the peonies that had been collected before were gone.
Reluctantly, Zhu Tou returned to his life. After hearing the report from the officers and soldiers, Wu Zetian was very surprised and admired the courage of Miss Chunhong. She looked up to the sky and sighed: "It seems that peonies are multiplying in Luoyang." , It’s just God’s will and public opinion, that’s all.” From then on, peony took root in Luoyang.
Besides, when Guisheng saw his beloved girl dying to protect Peony, he wanted to end his life there, but then he remembered Miss Chunhong’s last words and decided to stay with Peony, and he would be splashed with the blood of his sweetheart. He cultivated the peonies carefully, and gradually, the streets, alleys, and fields of Luoyang were full of these peonies, and Guisheng became a famous gardener. In order to commemorate the spring red girl and the Luoyang people's unswerving determination to protect peonies, people named this peony: "Burned Bone Red Peony". Later, after people's careful cultivation, this peony bloomed more and more red. It was changed to the current "Luoyang Red".
There is a Jinshui River on Mang Mountain in the north of Luoyang. The river originates from Xin'an County. There are "Yangma Reservoir" and "Shunwangmiao Reservoir" in the upper reaches, and "Jinshui River Reservoir" in the lower reaches. Like several pearls strung together by a silver thread, each reservoir area has formed a sparkling lake. , summer attractions with lush trees.
Why does the Jinshui River get its name?
Legend has it that in the early years there lived an old single man named Liu Yi by the official road next to the Jinshui River, and he made a living by opening a restaurant. The old man was kind and kind to others, and his business was fair. He never looked down upon those who couldn't pay for food or shop, and he often gave the money he saved to poor people in nearby villages. Therefore, people around him respected the old man. The old man had to run a long way every day to fetch water from the spring in the mountain, because the spring water was cleaner and sweeter than the river water. The old man said: "Only when you treat people with sincerity can your heart be at peace."
On March 23rd of that year, the old man got up early to carry his burden and came to the spring. Suddenly he heard voices.
Looking around, it was early in the morning and there was no one on the mountain. The old man thought it was because he was old and deaf, so he put down the bucket and went to scoop water. As soon as he bent down, his voice became clearer. It came from the spring water: "Old man Liu, he is sincere and is praised by his neighbors from all over the country. Come and take the gold ingot from my mouth on March 23rd every year." The old man was stunned and thought: Could it be that there really are immortals and ghosts in the world? In surprise, a stream of water bubbles gushed out from the mouth of the spring. The water bubbles rose up, and a piece of bright yellow gold was exposed underneath.
The old man picked up the gold and carried the spring water down the mountain. As he walked, he thought: This gold came because I was honest and kind to others, and I can't embezzle it alone! So he still used this gold. Gold is given to the poor.
From then on, year after year, on March 23rd every year, when the old man went to the spring to fetch water, he could always get back a gold ingot. The old man used the money to do good deeds and help the poor.
Old man Liu is getting old slowly. A passerby named Wang Tan saw the old man giving food and clothing to the poor. He thought that the old man must have saved a lot, so he suddenly thought of it and took the initiative to stay and serve the old man. He said that the old man was a good man and he wanted to die for him. Before he died, the old man solemnly told Wang Tan the secret of spitting gold ingots from the source, and warned: "Give more and give less, and don't force it; you can't enjoy the gold you got for free, but give it to the poor."
After Wang Tan buried the old man, he remained confused until March 23, when he picked up a bucket and ran to the spring. Sure enough, as the water bubbled, a gold ingot spit out from the spring mouth. Wang Tan stretched out his hand to fish it out, and was so surprised that he smiled till his ears. He thought: This spring only spits out a gold ingot every year, how many years will it take to wait? So he went down the mountain to get a shovel and a hoe, and started digging at the mouth of the spring. After digging, it turned out to be a gold ingot. The more the pit was dug, the more gold was dug out. Finally, all the gold nuggets were reflected in the water! Wang Tan was so happy that he jumped into the water to fish out the gold nuggets. Who knew? Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered, the spring water surged and became a river, washing Wang Tan out of sight.
After that, people occasionally found some scraps of gold by the river. Of course, only kind-hearted people were so lucky. Therefore, people called this river "Golden Water River".
A long time ago, before the Longmen was opened, the Yishui River flowed here and was blocked by Longmen Mountain, and a large lake accumulated in the south of the mountain.
The carp living in the Yellow River heard about the beautiful scenery of Longmen and wanted to go sightseeing. They set out from the Yellow River in Mengjin, passed through the Luo River, and followed the Yi River to the place where the Longmen water splashed. However, there was no waterway on Longmen Mountain and they could not go up, so they had to gather at the foot of the North Mountain of Longmen. "I have an idea. How about we skip Longmen Mountain?" A big red carp said to everyone. "It's so high, how do you jump?" "If you don't jump well, you'll fall to death!" The friends were all confused and couldn't make up their minds. The big-line carp then volunteered and said, "I'll jump first and give it a try." I saw it using all its strength from half a mile away, like an arrow leaving the string, leaping into the clouds halfway up the sky. Walk forward following the clouds and rain in the sky. A ball of sky fire chased from behind and burned its tail. It endured the pain and continued to leap forward, finally crossing Longmen Mountain and falling into the lake in the south of the mountain. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a giant dragon. Seeing this scene, the carps in the north of the mountain were so frightened that they huddled together and did not dare to take the risk again. At this time, suddenly I saw a giant dragon descending from the sky and said: "Don't be afraid, I am your partner Big Red Carp. Because I jumped over the dragon gate, I turned into a dragon. You must also jump bravely!" The carps listened. Inspired by these words, they began to jump over Longmen Mountain one by one. But except for a few who jumped over and turned into dragons, most of them couldn't get through. Anyone who fails to jump and falls from the air will have a black scar on his forehead. To this day, this black scar still appears on the head of the Yellow River carp.
Later, Li Bai, the great poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem specifically about this incident: "The three-foot carp in the Yellow River originally lived in Mengjin. It failed to become a dragon when it touched its forehead. It returned to accompany ordinary fish."
The legendary story of the goldfish in the Longchi in Luoyang
Among the eight small scenes in Luoyang is the "Goldfish in the Longchi". The Longchi is the Qinling Valley north of Yanqiu Village in Xindian Township in today's suburbs. This valley, known as Longchi Valley or Longtan Valley, is a famous flower valley in history. It is filled with fragrant peaches and plums in spring, ponds full of lotus flowers in summer, thousands of wild chrysanthemums in autumn, and fragrant winter plum blossoms in winter. Deep in the valley, there is a deep pool with a spring in it. The clear water flows down the valley all year round, nourishing the valley full of flowers and trees, and full of spiritual energy. This pool is the "Dragon Pool". There used to be fish of five colors in the pond, red, white, yellow, green and black. They were colorful and amazing when swimming.
Behind the pool there was the Longtan Temple, also known as the "Kowloon Notre Dame Temple". It has a majestic hall, shaded by green trees, and a very beautiful scenery. What is hateful is that when the Japanese invaders arrived in Luo, they blew up the ancient temple and threw several grenades into Longtan. Even the innocent fish could not escape. In recent years, the villagers rebuilt the deep pool, built a wall, stocked small black crucian carp in the pool, built a temple next to the pool, and blocked the flowing pool water into a reservoir, making the village rich. Raising fish and letting ducks in the reservoir has become a new scene.
Speaking of the fish in the dragon pond, that is called evil! Why? It is said that year after year, no more, no less, there are always 360, no old ones die, no young ones live, Always the same length. The fish swam away, reflecting the rays of sunlight falling through the gaps between the trees, and the surface of the pool radiated colorful lights. Everyone knows that these five-colored fish are gods, and anyone who catches them will die. Therefore, for thousands of years, no one dared to hurt them. Where do the five-color fish come from? Speaking of which, this is related to the origin of the Holy Mother of Kowloon.
A long time ago, there was a family next to Longchi ditch. My sister-in-law once went into the ditch to pick mushrooms. As they walked, my sister-in-law felt thirsty, so she came to the deep pool and pushed aside the mushrooms. Fallen leaves floating on the water surface, drank two handfuls of clear spring water. The spring water was sweet and cold. When my sister-in-law smacked her lips and straightened up, she suddenly felt pain in her stomach. She covered her stomach and squatted down, calling her sister-in-law in a tight voice. The sister-in-law came over to take a look and thought that her sister-in-law was in labor, so she hurriedly ran home. While asking a neighbor to call the family members who were working in the fields, she took the swaddling clothes that had been prepared and a pot of mixed bean soup cooked on the stove. , hurried back to the deep pool. When I arrived at the pond, I saw my sister-in-law lying on the ground, her belly split open, and nine little dragons crawling on her body. The sister-in-law screamed and fainted to the ground in fright. The earthen pot was smashed beside the pond, and the bean soup flowed into the pond. When the bean entered the water, it turned into a swimming fish. Since there are five kinds of beans, the fish turned into five colors. When my aunt's family members arrived, they saw a golden glow surrounding the pond. Just as he was in shock and doubt, the golden glow turned into several rays of golden light and flew into the pool. Everyone looked closer and saw that only the fainted sister-in-law was left by the pool.
Later, people built a temple next to the pool, made a statue of their sister-in-law, and carved nine flying dragons flying in the clouds and riding the mist on the beams and eaves. They respected the statue as "Our Lady of Kowloon", hence the name of the temple, also called "Longtan Temple".
The nine dragons born from the Virgin Mary have different personalities. According to Li Dongyang's "Huailu Hall Collection", the big dragon is called "Prison Ox" and likes music, which is the beast carved on the head of the Huqin; the second dragon is called "Yai Pi" and likes to fight, which is the "Long Tun" on the hilt of the sword. "mouth"; the three dragons are called "Chaofeng", which likes danger, and are the beasts in the palace corners; the four dragons are named "Pulao", which are happy to sing, which is the animal button on the ancient bell; the fifth dragon is named "Suanni", which likes to sit, that is The lion on the Buddha's throne; the six dragons named "Ba Xia", who love to bear heavy loads, are commonly known as the "Old Turtle" who carries stone tablets; the seven dragons named "狴犴", who love litigation, became the lion's head on the prison gate in the old society; The Eight Dragons are the "Wenlong" carved on both sides of the stone stele; the Nine Dragons are named "Mankiss", which means the animal head on the ridge of the palace.