Travel Notes | "The Romance of the West Chamber" and Pujiu Temple

On July 20, we came up from Fenglingdu on the Yellow River beach, passed through Fenglingdu Town to the north, and then got on the highway until we went to Yongji Xixia Expressway, and arrived at Xixiang Village, Puzhou Town, Yongji City before dark , stay in this small town that once had a famous love story.

We went for a walk to Pujiu Temple in the evening. The melodious music in the temple indicated that there was a performance going on inside. We were late and didn't have time to go in and watch it.

Early the next morning, we walked to the nearby "Pujiu Temple" for sightseeing. Since I arrived early, there were no tourists in the temple yet. Several albizia trees in the square are in full bloom, and their crimson color is very eye-catching.

We entered the temple square from the west side. To the south is the gate of the temple. There is a brick screen wall inside the door. On the front and back are the words "Pujiu Temple" and "Buddha's Light Shining" inscribed by Zhao Puchu, the former president of the Buddhist Association. The fonts are powerful and vigorous. Upright, attractive and beautiful.

On both sides of the screen wall, there are huge six-character sutras: "Namo Amitabha" and "Om Mani Padme Hum".

The brick carvings on the screen wall have exquisite patterns.

Pujiu Temple is located on a hill, more precisely on a loess plateau. The plateau is about 30 meters high. It faces ravines to the south, north and west, but the northeast is the plateau. The terrain here is high and the view is broad. The temple faces south from the north, condescending and built on the plateau.

The Xixiang Village to the west of the temple is in the ditch, and an avenue opens in front of the temple connecting Yongji and the ancient city of Puzhou. Therefore, Pujiu Temple is actually located on what the locals call the Emei Plateau.

After checking your ID card and entering for free, you will see steep steps of approximately 45 degrees standing in front of you. Climbing up in one breath is really a bit out of breath.

There was a bronze bell on it. Chen Ping inspected it carefully and said it was cast in Ruian, Wenzhou, Zhejiang. Take a photo of them in front of the bell.

Pujiu Temple is a cultural relic protection unit in Shanxi Province. It was built during the period of Wu Zetian in the Tang Dynasty. It was originally named Yongqingyuan and is a ten-square Buddhist courtyard. The love story mentioned in "Cui Yingying Waiting for the Moon in the West Chamber" written by Wang Shifu of the Yuan Dynasty, "The matchmaker held the red thread under the moon, and Zhang Sheng met Cui Yingying by chance" happened here.

In recent years, Pujiu Temple has been restored based on the layout of Buddhist temples in the Tang Dynasty and the scope of the story of The Romance of the West Chamber. Its architectural layout from the top of the plateau to the bottom of the plateau is an upper, middle and lower platform, with three axes in the east, middle and west (the west is the style of the Tang Dynasty, the middle is similar to the original appearance of the Song and Jin Dynasties, and the east is the remains of the Ming and Qing Dynasties). Relying on the original situation, the temples, pavilions, pavilions, pavilions and pagodas rise step by step, giving people a sense of solemnity and elegance. Nowadays, the majestic Main Hall, Lihua Deep Courtyard, West Wing Study Room, and spacious pagoda courtyard are built against the mountain, with good density.

Entering the main courtyard of the Main Hall at the top, there are serial story paintings from "The Romance of the West Chamber" hanging on the walls around the courtyard. Through the form of ink serial paintings and text descriptions, a famous local painter showed people that ancient times broke through feudal ethics and pursued freedom of love with a perfect ending. love story.

Going down behind the temple, there is a back garden with undulating terrain and a well-proportioned back garden. In the garden, there are stacked stone rockeries, double pavilion cornices, lotus ponds, winding magpie bridges, and Yingying's "Moon Worship Platform" is hidden among the green pines, verdant cypresses, and lush bamboo forests. middle. In the distance, you can see the vast plains of the Yellow River, with fertile land and luxuriant crops.

It is said that due to the vicissitudes of time and war disasters, all the original temples and monks' houses in the temple have been destroyed and destroyed. Only the 13-story, 37-meter-high relic brick pagoda (commonly known as the Yingying Pagoda) still stands on the loess plateau, looking simple and dignified. .

The original building was a seven-story stupa, which was damaged by the earthquake in the 34th year of Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty and was rebuilt in 1563. The characteristic pagoda of Tang Pagoda is square inside and outside, and the eaves are slightly concave curves.

This tower has a peculiar echo effect, that is, when visitors hit each other with stones in the west of the tower, they can hear the sound of frogs "Whoa! Whoa!" coming from the tower. Therefore, the "sound of the universal salvation toad" is famous all over the world. According to data, it is as famous as the "Echo Wall" of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, the "Toad Cry" of the Baolun Temple Pagoda in Sanmenxia, ​​and the "Sound of the Stone Qin" in the Tongnan Grand Buddha Temple in Sichuan. It is known as one of the four existing ancient Chinese gardens. Echo Architecture.

Xixuan, where Zhang Sheng studied at that time, is on the west side of the Main Hall. The deep pear courtyard where Yingying lives with her mother and maid Matchmaker is on the east side of the Main Hall. There is the main room above the courtyard, and there are east and west wing rooms on both sides. Miss Cui Yingying, the hostess of the love story, lived in the west wing room at that time, so the drama written by Wang Shifu of the Yuan Dynasty was named "The Romance of the West Chamber". The drama was written around the time of the Yuan Dynasty. During the Yuanzhen and Dade years of the Dai Dynasty.

Here is the place where Zhang Sheng jumped over the wall to meet the warblers, and there is also the apricot tree where Zhang Sheng stepped on the wall.

Under the plaque of "Pear Blossom Deep Courtyard", the couplet "The moon melts in the pear blossom courtyard, and the breeze flows over the catkin pond", which expresses the elegance and tranquility here.

On the stone slab on the south side of the west chamber is a seven-character poem "Yingying's Former Residence of Pujiu Temple". According to the postscript, this poem was written by Wang Zhongtong, the co-prefect of Hezhong Prefecture, during his visit to the temple during the Dading period of the Jin Dynasty:

In the corridor around the pagoda of Pujiu Temple, ninety ink paintings are hung, carefully drawn by Mr. Zhao Yunping, a local Yongji native and the honorary president of the Yellow River Painting Academy, which tells the story of the love story between Zhang Sheng and Cui Yingying in Pujiu Temple. .

I spent some time collecting and transcribing all the text below the drawing, and compiled them below. I want you to fully share this synopsis of "The Romance of the West Chamber":

During the Zhenyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, there was a scholar in Xiluo, whose surname was Zhang, whose name was Gong, and whose courtesy name was Junrui. In the spring of this year, he took the piano boy and the books to Chang'an to take the exam. Passing by the Yellow River, I saw thousands of miles of sky and rolling waves. Thinking of my own lake and sea, I became even more emotional.

On this day, Zhang Sheng arrived at Hezhong Mansion and passed by Pujiu Temple. He saw that the temple was spacious, the pagoda towered into the sky, and its momentum was extraordinary.

Zhang Sheng entered the temple, and a monk named Fa Cong led him to watch it in the temple. Everywhere he went, he praised it endlessly.

When they came to a garden, Zhang Sheng was about to go in, but was stopped by Fa Cong, saying that Cui Xiangguo had recently passed away. Mrs. Xiangguo had returned home with her daughter Fushu and was staying in a temple temporarily. The old lady had strict access control and no outsiders were allowed in.

At this time, Miss Cui Yingying and the maid Matchmaker were picking flowers in the garden. Zhang Sheng suddenly saw Yingying and felt that he had never encountered such a dignified and gorgeous beauty. He couldn't help but stop and stare.

Yingying looked back. The matchmaker suddenly remembered the old lady's usual instructions and quickly pulled Yingying away.

When leaving the garden gate, Zhang Sheng was thinking about how to find another chance to see Yingying, but unexpectedly, Elder Faben invited him to have tea in the abbot's house. Zhang Sheng took the opportunity to give the elder some silver and asked him to rent a room in the temple for a while, presumably to review the classics and history.

When he was talking, he happened to meet a matchmaker who came to ask the elder to perform Buddhist services for Cui Xiangguo. After hearing this, Zhang Sheng had an idea and said that he also wanted to recommend his deceased parents and was willing to pay 5,000 yuan to ask the elder to bring him a meal. The elder responded.

Zhang Sheng was born as the abbot, but he was sitting in the corridor again. He was thinking about Yingying. He only regretted that he didn't see her clearly just now, and he didn't know whether she liked poetry or not... He waited for the matchmaker to come out and ask.

After a while, the matchmaker came, Zhang Sheng took a step forward and told her in one breath, "The young man's surname is Zhang Ming Gong, and his courtesy name is Junrui. He is from Xiluo. He is 23 years old and has never married..." But before he could finish his words, he was The matchmaker grabbed a few words and told him not to think too much.

Back in the room, the matchmaker told Yingying the elder's reply. Then, she couldn't help but giggle, and told Yingying about Zhang Sheng's silly look when she met him for the second time.

Yingying also laughed, but told the matchmaker not to mention this to the old lady.

That night, in the dead of night and the bright moon in the sky, Yingying went to the garden, accompanied by her matchmaker, as usual.

The matchmaker lit three sticks of incense and handed them to Yingying one by one. Yingying prayed softly, with one stick of incense wishing her late father to ascend to heaven early, and with two sticks wishing her mother good health.

By the third column, Yingying was silent. The matchmaker said playfully: "I hope the lady will find a good husband soon." Yingying let out a long sigh, revealing the endless resentment in her heart.

Zhang Sheng heard this sigh through the wall and guessed that Yingying had something on her mind. He recited a poem casually: "The moonlight is melting in the night, the flowers are in the shadows and the spring is silent. How can I face the bright soul without seeing the man in the moon."

Yingying praised the good poem and softly said: "The orchid girl has been lonely for a long time, spending her spring with nothing to do. It is expected that the singer should sigh with pity."

Zhang Sheng was overjoyed when he heard this and couldn't help but want to jump over the wall to meet Yingying, but he heard the sound of the latch on the corner door and both of them went in.

Ever since Yingying met Zhang Sheng and listened to his poems, she had been restless for several days, complaining that the matchmaker was always around her.

Yingying also knew that the matchmaker was sent by the old lady to serve her and was wary of her, so she blamed her mother for taking care of her like a bird in a cage, and couldn't help but sigh again and again.

In a blink of an eye, on the fifteenth day, in Pujiu Temple, Elder Faben led the monks to perform Buddhist services; the old lady brought her daughter Yingying and son Huanlang to the hall to burn incense; Zhang Sheng also came to burn incense.

Outside the temple, a group of people suddenly came. It was the rebel general Sun Feihu who came to the temple to snatch Yingying. He ordered the Pujiu Temple to be surrounded. If Yingying was not sacrificed, he would set fire to the temple and kill all the monks and laymen in the temple.

The young monk was so frightened that he ran to the hall and told Elder Farben and the old lady. Everyone was stunned.

Yingying calmed down and saw that everyone was helpless. Seeing that because of her alone, the temple was reduced to ashes and everyone was killed, she would rather give up her body to Sun Feihu.

The old lady refused to disgrace her family. Yingying also said that in order to save everyone, she would rather hang herself. Elder Faben said anxiously that he would discuss the solution with all the monks and laymen in the temple.

Yingying was so anxious that she thought she might as well spread the word: No matter who she is, whoever can kill Sun Feihu will be betrothed to this hero as his wife. The old lady thought this method was better, so she asked the elder to pass on the message.

As soon as the elder's words were spread, a man hurried up to the hall from the corridor and said that he had a plan to retreat - this man was Zhang Sheng.

The old lady quickly asked if there was any plan to retreat. Zhang Sheng first asked the old lady if she took what she just said seriously. The old lady said that Mrs. Xiangguo's words were of course true to her word.

Zhang Sheng asked the elders to tell Sun Feihu that if he wanted to marry Yingying, he must first retreat a stone's throw away, and on the third day his merits would be complete, and then send Yingying to him, otherwise he would rather die than marry him. The elder climbed up the wall tremblingly and told Sun Feihu what Zhang Sheng had taught him.

Sun Feihu sent an order to retreat within a stone's throw, set up camp, and waited for the marriage in three days. Zhang Sheng said that General Baima of Puguan was his sworn brother. When a letter was sent, General Baima would definitely lead his troops to rescue him, and people were relieved.

The matchmaker supported Yingying and said, "Miss, looking at how he looks today, we shouldn't say he is a nerd anymore."

After Zhang Sheng wrote the letter, the elder told him that there was a fire-burning monk in the temple named Huiming. He was extremely strong and courageous, and only he could deliver the letter.

Zhang Sheng took the letter and shouted in front of the corridor: "There is a book for General Baima, who is going?" I saw the monk Huiming shouting his way out from the monks and took the letter.

Huiming picked up the iron rod again, opened the temple door, and asked the young monks to beat the drums to cheer him up. When the bandit soldiers were setting up camp, he shouted and rushed over.

Huiming traveled forty-five miles that day to Puguan, met General Baima, and delivered the letter.

General Baima immediately led five thousand troops and rushed to Pujiu Temple at starry night and captured Sun Feihu.

General White Horse came to the temple to see Zhang Sheng, and both the old lady and Zhang Sheng came to express their thanks.

The old lady immediately asked Zhang Sheng to move to the study room in the courtyard and invited him to a banquet tomorrow.

Zhang Sheng happily moved into the study and waited for the old lady to send a matchmaker to invite him. Early the next morning, the matchmaker entered the study and saw Zhang Sheng well-dressed and with a happy face. The matchmaker just said "please" and Zhang Shengxiang got the military order and agreed repeatedly.

The matchmaker told him that she would not invite anyone else today, but just him and Yingying, and she would definitely hire them both.

Zhang Sheng followed the matchmaker to the hall and met the old lady. The old lady said a few polite words and asked the matchmaker to invite Yingying.

After dressing up, Yingying stunned the matchmaker and said: "Young lady is really born to be a lady. Zhang Sheng is so lucky."

Yingying came to the banquet, but the old lady asked her to match Zhang Sheng's brother and sister. When Zhang Sheng heard this, it was as if a ladle of cold water was poured on his head. Yingying also felt that there was a thunderbolt on the sunny day, and the matchmaker was also stunned.

It turned out that the old lady thought that Zhang Sheng had no reputation and was not a good match for her as the prime minister, so she ignored her credibility.

The old lady asked the matchmaker to pour the wine, and asked Yingying to toast her brother. At this moment, Yingying knew that Zhang Sheng could not swallow even the liquid.

Zhang Sheng couldn't sit still anymore and angrily asked the old lady why she went back on her preamble. The old lady said that Yingying had already been betrothed to her nephew, and expressed her willingness to give Zhang Sheng gold and silk as a reward. Zhang Sheng left the living room angrily upon hearing this.

The matchmaker was very indignant about the old lady's actions. Seeing that Zhang Sheng was so sincere, she felt very sympathetic. She advised Zhang Shengqi not to be discouraged and promised that she would find a way to make things happen for them.

After entering the study room, the matchmaker saw that Zhang Sheng had a piano bag, and she immediately had an idea. She knew that Yingying liked the sound of the piano the most, so she asked Zhang Sheng to play the piano to impress Yingying when Yingying came out to burn incense tonight.

After finally staying up until dusk, I tuned the strings early and said to myself: "Qin, I have been with you for several years, and the success or failure of tonight all depends on you!"

The moon came out, and the matchmaker urged Yingying to go out and burn incense.

The matchmaker set up the incense table and coughed repeatedly to inform Zhang Sheng.

After a while, the sound of the piano came from the study room. The matchmaker said she would go see the old lady and left Yingying alone.

The sad sound of the piano played the song "Phoenix Seeking the Phoenix" mournfully.

Yingying couldn't help but shed tears as she listened. Suddenly she heard Zhang Sheng push the piano and complained complainingly: "It's just that the madam is ungrateful. It's just a young lady, but you shouldn't betray me!"

When Yingying saw that Zhang Sheng had wrongly blamed her, she just wished that she couldn't go over to explain her feelings to him through the wall. At this time, the old lady told the matchmaker to tell Yingying to go back to the room.

Back in the room, the matchmaker told Yingying that Zhang Sheng was leaving tomorrow. Yingying was anxious and asked the matchmaker to send a message to Zhang Sheng, asking him to be patient and stay for another two or three days.

Zhang Sheng received the matchmaker's reply and stayed for another two or three days, but he could not see Yingying and became depressed and sick.

Yingying heard that Zhang was ill and asked the matchmaker to visit her. When Zhang Sheng learned of the matchmaker's purpose, he took out a piece of poetry and asked the matchmaker to take it with her.

After the matchmaker brought Zhang Sheng's poems and notes back, she didn't dare to give them to him in person. She secretly put the poems and notes in her dressing box while Yingying was sleeping.

After Yingying got up, the matchmaker urged her to freshen up. Yingying opened the dressing box and found the poem note, only to know that it was written by Zhang Sheng to her.

Yingying knew it must have been sent by the matchmaker, so she pretended to be angry with the matchmaker and said she was going to tell the lady.

Unexpectedly, the matchmaker snatched the poem note into her hand and pretended to go to the old lady to sue Zhang Sheng. Yingying hurriedly grabbed the matchmaker and said, "I'm just teasing you! Please spare him this time!"

Yingying also wrote a piece of poetry and asked the matchmaker to give it to Zhang Sheng. She told the matchmaker that the poem was written to ask Zhang Sheng to give up his delusions and put an end to his worries. When the matchmaker went to the study, she was afraid that Zhang Sheng would be sad, so she refused to show it to him.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Sheng was overjoyed when he saw the poem. He read the poem to the matchmaker, and Yingying hinted in the poem that she wanted him to meet her in the garden tonight.

The matchmaker thought to herself that Yingying was pretending to be in front of her, but she asked Zhang Sheng to meet her in the letter. That night, she helped Yingying go to the garden to burn incense as usual.

The matchmaker put the incense table on the table, then she hid on an excuse and walked around to the east of the wall, where she saw Zhang Sheng already there. The matchmaker told him to jump over the wall.

Zhang Sheng jumped over the wall. Unexpectedly, because Yingying did not push the matchmaker away, she suddenly changed her mind and accused Zhang Sheng: "I am burning incense here, and you are here for no reason. What should I say if my wife asks about it?"

Yingying called the matchmaker to catch the thief. The matchmaker ignored her at first, but when she saw Zhang was frozen and shaking, she came over and said, "Miss, don't panic, this thief is a familiar one."

Zhang Sheng was ashamed and knelt on the ground. Yingying pretended to be reproachful and said: Sir, I should repay you for saving your life, but now that we are brothers and sisters, why do you think so again? Madam knows that she will never give up. "

After Yingying left, the matchmaker picked up Zhang Sheng and jokingly said: "Sir, how did you guess such an expert at guessing poetry riddles? You should be worried today!"

Zhang Sheng couldn't stand the ordeal and fell ill in bed the next day. After Yingying learned about it, she had no intention of doing embroidery and reading, and was only worried about Zhang Sheng's illness. She sat in trance for a long time, and finally wrote another poem.

Yingying asked the matchmaker to send poems and notes to Zhang Sheng again. The matchmaker refused to send it away because of several changes, saying that she would never cause trouble again. I want Yingying to do well and not to lose his life. Yingying said that this time it was a life-saving prescription.

The matchmaker took the life-saving "prescription" and rushed to Zhang Sheng's study.

Zhang Sheng jumped up after reading the poem. The matchmaker asked why she came back, and Zhang Sheng told her that Yingying promised to visit the patient in person in the study tonight.

That night, the matchmaker found out that the madam was sleeping peacefully. Seeing that Yingying was hesitant and still not moving, she couldn't help but urge her, "If you change your mind again tonight, I'll go to the madam and report you!"

Yingying hesitated for a while before quietly leaving the bedroom with the matchmaker. Zhang Sheng was in the room looking at him with eyes wide open.

Suddenly he heard the matchmaker knocking gently on the door. Zhang Sheng hurriedly opened the door and pushed Yingying gently.

Zhang Sheng and Yingying, after experiencing many twists and turns of lovesickness, finally broke through the shackles of ethics and education. They seemed to be in a happy dream, only worrying about the longevity of love and the shortness of the night.

It wasn't until the third watch that Yingying was sent out of the study by Zhang Sheng. The matchmaker waited outside the door for half the night before she hurried over to accompany Yingying back.

Although the matter was secret, as time went by, it still aroused the old lady's suspicion. One day, his son Huanlang accidentally said that his sister and the matchmaker burned incense until late at night every night. The old lady became increasingly suspicious and immediately called the matchmaker for questioning.

The matchmaker didn't say anything, but the old lady took the crutches, ordered her to kneel down, and asked her if the lady had gone to Zhang Sheng's study. When the matchmaker still didn't say anything, the old lady beat her hard.

The matchmaker couldn't hide it and told what happened. The old lady was stunned with anger. The matchmaker was even more courageous here, and she confidently said that this was all caused by the old lady's ungratefulness and dishonesty.

The old lady wants to send Zhang Sheng to the government and accuse him of seducing the prime minister's daughter. The matchmaker stopped her and said that the dignified Mrs. Xiangguo had betrayed her trust. She advised the old lady to make a happy couple just like that.

The old lady thought about it again and again, and felt that everything the matchmaker said made sense, so she gritted her teeth and asked the matchmaker to call Yingying.

When Yingying saw her mother, she just lowered her head. The lady fell down crying and scolding.

The old lady called Zhang Sheng again and said sternly: "What a scholar, where have you read the books of sages? If I send you to the government, I will be afraid of insulting my family reputation, so I have to match Yingying to you." as a wife".

However, the old lady ordered Zhang Sheng to go to Chang'an tomorrow to catch the exam, and asked his family to arrange a banquet and farewell party for Zhang Sheng at Shili Changting.

The old lady asked everyone to sit down in the pavilion, and told Zhang Sheng that he must seek fame when he goes there, otherwise he will never come back to get married.

Yingying asked the matchmaker to pour a glass of wine, handed it to Zhang Sheng, and told him softly that no matter whether he was an official or not, he should come back as soon as possible to marry him, but he would have to grow old together, which is better than being the first scholar in the imperial examination.

After sitting for a moment, the old lady stood up and urged Zhang Sheng to go on his way. Yingying and Zhang Sheng shed tears at each other, exhorting and admonishing each other.

Zhang Sheng mounted his horse and bid farewell to each other in the pavilion. They each had their things, and they didn't know when they would be reunited.

Nowadays, tourists from all over the country come to Pujiu Temple to visit the pear blossom courtyard where Zhang Sheng and Yingying had a wonderful tryst in The Romance of the West Chamber. The apricot branches that crossed the wall are still there.

This eternal love poem can’t help but conjure up endless artistic conceptions.