Places of interest in Ximu Town
Ximu Town has three scenic spots and historic sites, namely the stone shed, the golden pagoda and the iron pagoda. The stone shed, also known as the Sister-in-law Stone, is a testament to megalithic culture. The golden pagoda is an octagonal thirteen-level brick pagoda with dense eaves. It is a typical ancient pagoda from the Liao Dynasty. It is a provincial cultural relic protection unit together with the stone shed. The Golden Pagoda, built in the Liao Dynasty, is located in the mountains on the right bank of the Yangliu River to the west of Liangjiakuma Village, Ximu Town, Haicheng City. The golden pagoda was built on this ridge. There is also a legend: Once upon a time, there lived a rich man Huo in this area. The Huo family has thousands of hectares of fertile land and occupies more than ten mountains. They have a lot of wealth and have everything they want. They are the richest man in the local area. He is a bully who runs rampant in the countryside. People from all over the country gnash their teeth when talking about Mr. Huo.
Mr. Huo married three wives, but only gave birth to one son, Huo Guang. Huo Guang was spoiled since he was a child, and he was a swinger, idle and doing nothing. When his son grew up, Mr. Huo wanted his son to become an official to establish a family. However, some dignitaries and dignitaries were visited and a lot of event money was given away. However, when he saw that his son was a loser, he could not do anything and could not arrange a job for him. Therefore, I can only let it go and put it off for a long time. However, Mr. Huo believed that it was not his son who had no future, but bad luck. Therefore, he told fortunes and worshiped Buddha everywhere, always hoping that his son would have good luck.
On this day, a Feng Shui master came from afar. The rich man Huo invited him to his home and asked him to tell his son's fortune. The Feng Shui master was worried about where he would end up. Seeing that rich man Huo was easily deceived, he was secretly happy. He quickly used sweet words to make rich man Huo fascinated and couldn't tell the difference. Please, southeast, northwest, actually regard this Feng Shui master as a life-saver and believe whatever he says.
From this moment on, Mr. Feng Shui lived in Mr. Huo’s house. After eating and drinking every day, he went up the mountain to look for Feng Shui treasures.
On this day, he led Mr. Huo to a hillside west of the Liangjiakuma River. I found that the mountains here are surrounded by mountains, and the mountains are surrounded by mountains. Between the two ditches, there is a mountain ridge that is both broad and protruding. This mountain ridge is high but not steep. It is backed by a peak and faces the river. When you stand on the mountain ridge, you can see as far as the eye can see. There are shady pine forests on the mountain, and the sea of forests is like waves. The green grass at the foot of the mountain is like felt, and the vast plains are flat. There is a gentle breeze on the top of the mountain, lingering clouds and mist, and the water in the small river at the foot of the mountain is clear and refreshing. After looking at it for a long time, Mr. Feng Shui happily made nonsense to Mr. Huo, saying, "This is the best Feng Shui treasure land" and "This is the best place for a ghost house."
The rich man Huo immediately decided to move his ancestral grave here. So, Rich Man Huo seized this mountain and forced several poor families who used to live here to leave their homes and live a wandering life. However, Rich Man Huo chose auspicious days, chanted sutras, worshiped ancestors, played music, moved tombs, and planted monuments. Build a temple and do some work. Rich Man Huo thought that this time his wish had come true, and he was waiting for his descendants to be prosperous and prosperous in his official career. Unexpectedly, less than two years after the Huo family moved the tomb, this geomantic treasure was discovered by the imperial envoy of the current dynasty. According to legend, this imperial envoy went on a visit to the customs for a long time.
One day, while staying in Ximu City at night, with the drums playing at three o'clock, the imperial envoy walked to the courtyard and looked up at the sky. Suddenly, he found a flash of light ten miles to the north of the city, and then he found this geomantic treasure. After an on-the-spot investigation, the government decided to build a pagoda here. As a result, the Huo family's tomb was ordered to be relocated. From then on, the Huo family suffered a complete defeat. After Lao Tzu's death, his son Huo Guang was lazy and lazy, and his family business declined. He later lived in a foreign land and was buried in the wilderness. Besides, the imperial envoy recruited laborers and built a large-scale construction project. After many ups and downs, he finally built the golden pagoda. After the pagoda was completed, a large temple was built next to the pagoda for monks to live. This site still exists today. The Iron Tower is located in the northwest corner of Ximu Town, 20 kilometers southeast of Haicheng City. It was built in the Jin Dynasty and is a municipal cultural relic protection unit. The entire tower is small in shape, about 10 meters high. It is a brick tower with six sides and seven levels and solid eaves. The Xumi base at the base of the tower has long been destroyed, and the base is carved with lotus petals. The six corners of the tower body are made of brick imitation wood round columns with capitals, and four paved brackets are used as brackets. Each side has a brick-carved standing Buddha, about 1.5 meters high, with a treasure cover on it.
The second floor of the pagoda is shorter. There are two small sitting Buddhas carved in bricks on each side, with different shapes. Bowl type, with iron brake rod inserted on it.
The tower's carvings were rough and severely damaged. The tower base was repaired in 1954, and the foundation was reinforced after the 1975 earthquake. There was originally an Iron Pagoda Temple behind the pagoda. According to the inscription on the Iron Pagoda in the ninth year of Daoguang (1892), it can be seen that the temple was built earlier, but it no longer exists. It is located on the south mountain of Gusao Shi Village, Ximu Town, 17 kilometers southeast of Haicheng City.
The stone shed is divided into two parts: upper and lower. The one on the mountain is called Gusao Stone, and the one at the bottom of the mountain is called Sisters-in-law Stone, so it is called Gusao Stone.
Local villagers say that in ancient times, there was a family living there, and the sister-in-law lived together. The sister-in-law was very wise and hard-working, and took on all the housework, but the sister-in-law was lazy and often beat, scolded and abused her. As time went by, the sister-in-law could not bear the abuse and abuse from her sister-in-law, so she ran to the mountain and turned into a stone shed.
My sister-in-law regretted it so much that she turned it into a stone shed at the foot of the mountain. The stone shed is composed of six smooth polished granite slabs. One is for paving the ground, three are for vertical walls, one is for the roof, and a small stone slab is for the south door. The stone slab on the roof is the largest, about 6 meters long, 5 meters wide and 0.5 meters thick. The stone shed is about 2.7 meters high. The shape of its building is very much like a hut, so it is called a stone shed.
What is the purpose of the stone shed? There are three theories in the archaeological community. The first is that it is an altar with mysterious symbols used by ancient people for religious sacrifices; the second is that it is a place for public activities in primitive society; and the third is that it is a tomb. Most scholars prefer the third theory, believing that the stone shed is a tomb structure from the Bronze Age.
Since building a large-scale stone shed requires a lot of manpower and material resources, the owner of the tomb must have a certain social status and power during his lifetime. Only after his death can he build a huge stone shed tomb. His identity should be that of the person at that time. Chief or noble. The stone sheds are magnificent in scale and are called megalithic culture. Some wall stones or cover stones weigh several tons or dozens of tons. Every step of its mining, transportation and erection embodies the blood, sweat and wisdom of the ancient working people. It is a symbol of ancient my country. An earlier type of building, it is of great value for studying the development of ancient Chinese architecture and the state of primitive society.
In September 1963, the Liaoning Provincial People's Government announced the Haicheng Stone Shed as a provincial key cultural relic protection unit. In 2001, it was announced as a national key cultural relic protection unit by the State Council.