Foshan was called the hometown of Ji Hua in ancient times. In the second year of Long 'an in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 398), he sailed to the east in Dakunyeshe, a monk in Shiban State (present-day Kashmir), and built a temple in Tapogang (present-day Tapo Street) to give lectures. After he returned to China, as time went by, the temple collapsed. In the second year of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty (AD 628), villagers dug the ground on the tower slope and got the third-class bronze Buddha. They rebuilt the temple on the pillars and offered three bronze buddhas. Since then, Ji Hua Township has been renamed Foshan, which is the origin of Foshan's name. Therefore, there is a traditional proverb in Foshan: "There is a tower slope in front of Foshan". By the end of Yuan Dynasty, the temple was destroyed by war.
In the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty, villagers rebuilt the temple, but at this time, residential buildings gradually appeared near Tapogang, which brought inconvenience to the construction of Buddhist temples. They chose the reconstruction site in the suburbs (formerly known as Shige, which belongs to the East Production Brigade of Suburban Commune, that is, part of the current site of the Party School of Foshan District Committee) and named it Tapo Ancient Temple. During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, Qin An, a monk, went to Beijing to celebrate the birthday of Empress Dowager Cide and received a batch of Buddhist scriptures from the imperial court. Qin 'an also raised funds to expand the Buddhist temple in Beijing, and built a Buddhist scripture building in the temple to store these Buddhist scriptures, so Tapo Ancient Temple is also called Jingtang Ancient Temple. As for the original Tapo Temple, it was the villagers here who converted it into an ancient temple. Dedicated to the statue of Dongyue Emperor, renamed Tapo Temple.
Later, it was a long time ago, and after many renovations, in order to commemorate the first place in Foshan, during the renovation, the villagers specially embedded two stones in front of the bottom, one engraved with "the first place in Foshan" and the other engraved with "the legacy of pastoral songs" (there were eight scenes in ancient Foshan, one of which was called "Tapo pastoral songs"). In addition, a stone tablet engraved with the words "two years of Zhenguan in Foshan" was installed on the well in front of the temple.
The historical relics of these stone carvings have been removed from the ancestral temple by Foshan Museum and preserved after liberation.
Folklore of the Southern Lion in Foshan
Legend 1:
It originated from a place in Foshan, Guangdong. Every new year's eve, a monster will appear. It has a big head and a small body, and it is more than ten feet long. Its eyes are like two bells, coming and going like the wind, constantly exhaling the sound of years. The villagers named it Nian Beast. This year, when animals appear every year, they don't hurt people and animals, but just chew vegetables everywhere. The villagers were very upset, so they called the villagers together and agreed to make paper with bamboo sticks, tie them into animal heads according to their shapes, paint them in various colors, and then cut them into triangles with various fabrics to make animal bodies. The two of them danced and gathered dozens of villagers and carried them under the bridge in the field. When Nian beast appeared, they all stormed the beast's head and shook the fields. Sure enough, Nian was swept away. In order to commemorate the paper-tied beast that can drive away the Nian beast, people make this kind of beast head every year, which is inspired on New Year's Eve, that is, the Year of Dance. Later, after research, the villagers thought that the lion was an auspicious animal among all animals, so they renamed the Year of Lion Dance as the Year of Lion Dance.
Legend 2:
It is said that when Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty went down to the south of the Yangtze River, he dreamed that a colorful Swiss beast came to worship. After returning to Beijing, Emperor Qianlong ordered people to make one according to the image of the auspicious beast he saw in his dream. Every time he ordered people to dance at festivals and celebrations, it was said that it was peaceful and auspicious.
According to ancient records, lion dance was very common in early China society. "Shaanxi Tongzhi" records: "Miscellaneous dramas began in the Qin and Han Dynasties, with dragons and dragons scattered, high flying phoenixes, elephants and monsters." Lion art matured in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. At that time, lion dancing was called Taiping Music. According to Tang Lezhi, "Taiping Music was created by Emperor Wu of the Later Zhou Dynasty. Also known as the Five-Party Lion Dance. It is decorated with lions and lives in it. It's like a guest taming, and two people are joking with words with a rope. " In the Tang Dynasty, it developed more widely. According to the Tang Dynasty's Yuefu Miscellanies, "The five lions in the play are tall and straight, each with its own color. Each lion has 12 people, wearing red forehead and painting clothes, holding a red lion, named "Lion Lang" and dancing Taiping Music. " It can be seen that the lion art has become a necessary program in the Spring Festival and incense at that time.