Wuzhi Folktales: The Legend of Erxiangu Temple

There is a large temple on the north of Dongtou Road in Kuai Village, Xieqiying Township, where two women are enshrined. This is the Erxiangu Temple. So, if gods, Taoists, and Buddhas are not enshrined in the temple, why should these two ordinary peasant women be enshrined? What legendary story is there? According to legend, these two fairy aunts were two women in their late teens, and they were biological sisters. They were only one year apart in grade. They were originally from Zhangjiazhuang, Lingchuan County, Shanxi Province during the Han Dynasty. Their mother's surname was Yang, and she was inspired to give birth to the sisters. They are talented, intelligent and beautiful, but they can't speak until they are seven years old. At this time, her mother had passed away, and her stepmother Li abused her sisters in every possible way: the severe winter forced them to go barefoot and undressed to the fields to pick mushrooms. The two sisters hugged each other helplessly in the fields and cried. When the passing Goddess Yingzhou Golden Mother heard the pitiful cries, she felt pity and turned their tears on the ground into red-leaf mushrooms. During the scorching heat, the cruel stepmother forced the two daughters to pick wheat in the fields. God took pity on them and allowed them to easily pick up the wheat and go home without being tortured by the heat. When the stepmother's plan failed, she got evil intentions and set fire late at night in an attempt to get rid of the trouble and then be happy. Finally, the emperor of heaven did not tolerate the stepmother's behavior, so the Jade Emperor descended the yellow clouds and asked her sister to practice in Xishan. At this time, the elder sister was only fifteen years old, and the younger sister was about Fourteen years old. After the two sisters cultivated themselves into immortal queens, the Jade Emperor allowed them to land on the rooftop. The Queen Mother gave them Yuchi wine, and Taozu gave each of them a golden bowl, allowing them to travel around the world and keep the people safe. Once when I passed by Kuai Village at the junction of Wuzhi and Xiuwu, I couldn't help but praise: "Fengshui treasure land, charming scene!" But I learned that Taishang Laojun had already taken a liking to this place and buried a piece of his talisman in the ground as a sign. The two of them came up with a plan to steal this place by burying an embroidered shoe under Laojun's talisman. They appeared in this place to show kindness to the people and responded to their requests. In order to repay their kindness, the people here built temples and set up furnaces to worship them. When the King of Tang personally led his troops to conquer Korea and passed by this place when they ran out of food and grass, the two fairies showed up to deliver food to the King of Tang's army. Although the rice jars were small, there was inexhaustible food, which solved the hunger problem of the army and horses. Later, when the Tang army was fighting with the enemy soldiers, a hailstorm suddenly fell, and more than half of the enemy soldiers were killed. However, the Tang army turned defeat and returned in triumph without even using an arrow. In order to show his gratitude to the two immortal aunts, the king of Tang Dynasty set up a case and named them "Two Immortals Bodhisattva". He abandoned the ancestral hall and built a temple and gave the temple the name "Zhenze". In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, Xixia was targeting the Central Plains in an attempt to annex the Central Plains. The two fairies disguised themselves as sellers during the Song Army's Patriotic War, and appeared before the Holy Army to help the Song Army defeat the Xixia Army. In the third year of Zhenguan in the Song Dynasty, there was a severe drought. In early autumn and July, the county magistrate Li Moumou heard that the two immortals were powerful, so he prayed for drought and rain at the Zhenze Immortal Temple. With sincerity and sincerity, it rains heavily, and this year’s autumn harvest will be abundant. This miracle was reported to the court step by step by the county magistrate. Song Taizong Zhao Kuangyin was very moved by the merits of the two immortals. He was loyal to the country and benevolent to the people many times. So in the second year, the summer of the Xinmao year of Zhenghe, he decreed the title of two immortals, with the title of "Chongshu" and "Chongshu". Hui", and ordered the construction of his temple, which he worships devoutly to this day.