The cultural legend of Zhenhai Temple
According to legend, there used to be an eye of the sea at the bottom of the mountain opposite Zhenhai Temple. Who knows when the sea water would gush out, destroying the fields and submerging the villages. Manjushri Bodhisattva brought blessings to all the people, so he placed a pagoda on the eye of the sea to calm the flooding of the sea. Later, a temple was built here, called Zhenhai Temple, and the tower was called Zhenhai Tower. There is a beautiful mythical story circulating here. Once upon a time, there lived a family named Zhang at the foot of the "Two Dragons Playing with Pearls" mountain. The head of the family died early, leaving behind a mother and daughter. Mother Zhang, Aunt Zhang, was afraid that her only daughter, Xiaomei, would live longer every day, so she went to Mount Wutai to pray to the Bodhisattva. I make a wish and ask Manjushri Bodhisattva for more blessings. The mother and daughter depend on each other and make a living by picking mushrooms and selling them. Xiaomei grew up to be eighteen years old and became as beautiful as a flower. She went to the mountain to pick mushrooms, and the mountain flowers were too embarrassed to raise their heads; she sang on the mountain, and the lark was too ashamed to speak; she went to the spring to wash her face, and her reflection was reflected in the spring water, and the clear spring rippled with joy. Who would have known that the spring at the foot of the mountain is connected to the East China Sea. Xiaomei often went to the spring to wash her face, but she got into trouble. On this day, Xiaomei picked a basket full of mushrooms, sang songs and walked down the mountain. Then she went to the spring to have a facelift. Suddenly, a flood came out of the spring and formed a vicious wave. Xiaomei was so frightened that she was about to run away with the basket. A strong wind blew and the water surged. Xiaomei was swept into the water and disappeared in the blink of an eye. The spring has returned to its original appearance. Aunt Zhang prepared the meal and waited for Xiaomei to come back. But I can't come back if I wait, and I can't come back if I wait. Look at the sun going down, but Xiaomei is still missing. Aunt Zhang hurriedly asked the villagers to search around. They worked with lanterns and torches for half the night, and finally found two things by the spring: a basket full of mushrooms and a wet flower shoe. Besides, Xiaomei was washed away by the bad waves, and an unknown amount of time passed. When she opened her eyes and took a look, she arrived at a gorgeous small building. Looking out the window, there are fish and shrimps swimming around, and the coral trees are as red as flames.
As Xiaomei was in shock, the door opened and two maids came in. One was holding a dressing box and the other was holding a brocade dress, asking her to dress up. Xiaomei asked where this place was, and the maid holding the dressing box replied: This is the Dragon Palace of the East China Sea! Just because you often wash your face by the spring, your beautiful face is reflected in our Dragon Palace. My young master is the ninth prince of the old Dragon King. He was fascinated by your beauty. He rolled up the sea waves and brought you here in order to make you and him inseparable. Xiaomei was so anxious that she cried: "Send me back quickly!" Send me back quickly! "At this time, I saw the Ninth Prince of the Dragon King walking in. He had the body of a dragon and was covered in scales. With bulging eyes, he stepped forward and said, "I brought you here so that we can get married quickly. Get dressed up. Xiaomei shook her head and said: "You are the crown prince of the Dragon King, and I am a poor girl among the common people. How can I dare to climb high?" Send me home quickly, I want to serve my mother. When the Ninth Prince heard this, he immediately changed his face and said viciously: "Even if you don't obey, you will never come out of the Dragon Palace!" "Xiaomei is a very smart girl. She thought: There is no way she can marry this terrible Dragon King, the Ninth Prince. She has to use a strategy to escape. As soon as she rolled her eyes, the plan came to her mind, and she told the Ninth Prince He said: "I am a Buddhist believer. If you want to get married to me, you must first send me home to fast, and then come to my house to marry me in three days." Otherwise I will never obey! "When the Ninth Prince heard that his wish came true, he happily agreed, and immediately sent the patrolling Yaksha to carry Xiaomei across the East China Sea and out to the sea. As soon as Xiaomei closed her eyes, she heard the roar of the waves beside her ears. After a while, the "Gedeng" stopped and she opened her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she returned to the spring where she often washed her face. The sky was blue, the sun was red, the mountain flowers were still as beautiful, and the spring water was still as clear. Xiaomei seemed to have had a nightmare. Aunt Zhang came to her senses and hurried back home. When Aunt Zhang saw Xiaomei coming back, she hugged her daughter and cried. Xiaomei told her mother what had happened to her. , they went to the Bodhisattva's head with their daughter to burn incense and pray for Manjushri Bodhisattva's blessing. That night, the mother and daughter had the same dream. They dreamed that an old monk said to them: "On the third day, you can go to the Bodhisattva's head to burn incense." , you can avoid disaster. "Three days passed in a blink of an eye. Another evil wave rolled up in the eyes of the sea, and many fish and shrimps came out. The fish and shrimps turned into human shapes, carrying the sedan chair, and opened the way in front. The Ninth Prince of the Dragon King turned into a beautiful young man with happy flowers on his head. Wearing a bright red auspicious suit, he followed. Unexpectedly, the beautiful Xiaomei and her mother disappeared, leaving only an empty house. The ninth prince realized that he had been tricked, and became furious and returned to his original shape, making waves. The water rose higher and higher, flooding villages and fields, and people struggled to escape in the water.
Suddenly, a colorful auspicious cloud appeared in the sky, a large copper pot fell from the sky, and hit the eye of the sea. A green-haired lion descended and sucked up the water in the ground. The fish and shrimps everywhere could not return to the eyes of the sea and had to jump on the ground. The ninth prince was also captured by Manjushri Bodhisattva. The people of Mount Wutai were thus freed from the disaster of floods. Later, another tower was built on the big copper pot covering the eye of the sea, called "Zhenhai Tower". To this day, Zhenhai Tower stands at the foot of Dongshan Mountain opposite Zhenhai Temple. Zhenhai Temple, which is 1,600 meters above sea level, is built on the mountain. According to legend, there is a sea eye with a diameter of two feet on the mountain. Once flooded, it will become a disaster for hundreds of miles around. The Buddha couldn't bear the suffering of the people, so he used the large copper pot from Wenshu Temple to cover the eye of the sea. Later, he built a tower on the copper pot and named it Zhenhai Tower, hence the name Zhenhai Temple. There is also a folk story circulating here. In the past, on both sides of the sea eye on the mountain were two symmetrical mountains, just like two giant dragons. If the sea eye was regarded as a bead, it would form the pattern of two dragons playing with a bead. The Feng Shui master calls this place a treasured Feng Shui place where two dragons play with beads.
According to legend, there were several families living not far from here, but it happened that each family had a girl of seventeen or eighteen years old, and they made a living by picking mushrooms. Among them, Xiaomei, who belongs to Aunt Zhang's family, is outstanding. Not only does she have a good-looking figure and face, but she also has a good voice and is good at singing. Every day after picking mushrooms from the mountains and passing by Haiyan, they wash their hands with water, then pinch a mountain flower and hold it in front of Haiyan (using the water as a mirror) while wearing the flower and singing. Every day. Unexpectedly, this sea eye is connected to the East China Sea. Xiaomei and the others wash their hands, wear flowers, and sing here every day, and they are all clearly seen by the Ninth Prince in the East China Sea Dragon Palace. As time passed, Prince Ninth fell in love with Xiaomei and decided to take Xiaomei as his wife. On this day, Xiaomei and the others came here to freshen up as usual. Suddenly two yakshas emerged from the bottom of the sea and dragged Xiaomei into the eye of the sea. The other girls were stunned and panicked. When Aunt Zhang heard the news, she immediately came to Haiyan and looked at the clear water, waiting for her daughter to come up safely.
The words were divided into two parts, Xiaomei was taken to the Crystal Palace, which was an extremely gorgeous palace. Xiaomei was surprised when a maid walked in from outside the palace door, pointed to the dressing box and said: "Miss, I gave it to you earlier." You are ready, hurry up and dress up, the ninth prince will be here soon." Xiaomei called her eldest sister affectionately and said, "Tell me, who is the Ninth Prince? What is this place? How did I get here?" The maid told her everything. Then he added: "If you don't obey, you have to think of a way to escape, otherwise they will kill you. They are very cruel." When Xiaomei heard this, she was so anxious that she cried: "Sister, please save me, I still have an old mother at home." The maid was about to say something, but was pushed back by the ninth prince who broke in. The Ninth Prince had a thin body and sinister features. He approached Xiaomei and introduced himself arrogantly: "I am the Ninth Prince of the Dragon King. I want you to dress up quickly so that you don't miss the opportunity." Xiaomei is a very smart girl, and she got the advice of the maid. She frowned, took it into consideration, and said to the Ninth Prince: "I am a disciple of Buddhism. If you want to marry me, you must follow our Buddhist rules. I want Go home and fast for three days, and you come to marry me in a palanquin with eight carriages and blowing trumpets. If you don't do this, I would rather die than follow." Seeing that she was determined and afraid that she would rather die than obey, the Ninth Prince agreed, and promised to marry her in three days. Finally, he added: "If there is a mistake, the water of my East China Sea will submerge your whole village." ". After saying that, he ordered the two yakshas to send Xiaomei out of the sea. Aunt Zhang was overjoyed to see Xiaomei coming up. She recited: "Amitabha" and led Xiaomei home. I was afraid that she would be pulled into the eye of the sea by some sea monster again. Xiaomei Xuan told her story while walking. After hearing this, Aunt Zhang was scared, angry and hateful, but she couldn't think of a way. The mother and daughter came to Manjusri Temple together, burned incense to Manjusri Bodhisattva, made a wish, and asked for the Bodhisattva's blessing. Strangely enough, that night, the mother and daughter had the same dream at the same time. They both dreamed that an old monk said to them: "For three days, Xiaomei and the whole village went to Dailuoding to burn incense, and Aunt Zhang was at home. You can avoid this disaster by sitting on a futon and chanting sutras.” The mother and daughter thanked the old monk in their dream and woke up, feeling extremely surprised and excited.
In the blink of an eye, three days later, the ninth prince led fish, turtles, shrimps and crabs, carrying a sedan chair and playing music to the door of Zhang's house. The ninth prince entered the house and saw that there was no Xiaomei, only her mother was chanting sutras, and asked loudly: "Where is your Xiaomei?" Aunt Zhang said without raising her head: "Wutai Mountain is a holy land for Buddhism. You should not come here to do anything wrong." This made the ninth prince very angry.
He immediately called for wind and rain, and in a moment, the fire came out of the eyes of the sea and flooded the entire village. But Aunt Zhang was sitting on the futon as if she were sitting on a boat. When the water rose, the futon could not be submerged. But the water was getting bigger and bigger, and the futon was bumping up and down in the surging waves. Aunt Zhang was in danger of tipping over and falling into the water. At this critical moment of life and death, a fireball flew from nowhere, and with a "boom", It landed squarely on the eye of the sea, and the water level immediately receded. As the water level dropped, the futon that Aunt Zhang was sitting on fell on the big fireball. She took a closer look and saw that it was not a fireball, but a large copper pot from Wenshu Temple. Xiaomei and the whole village ran down from the top of Dailuo. When they saw Aunt Zhang sitting on the copper pot safe and sound, they were so happy that they were speechless. Because the big pot blocked the eye of the sea, the fish, turtles, shrimps and crabs could not go back, and they were jumping around on the ground in an instant, and the people had a good meal. The ninth prince also discovered the truth and was beaten to pieces. Travel guide