East Shouyangshan Shang Boyi Shu Qi Monument
Bo Ji Temple
Luoyang is surrounded by mountains on all sides, and has been known as “the mountains and rivers arch and wear, and the situation is the best in the world” since ancient times. What’s even more rare is that in the thousands of years of history, many famous mountains have formed their own distinctive personalities and have been marked with unique cultural imprints, which is a very interesting phenomenon. Starting today, this column will launch the “Luoyang Famous Mountain Culture” series, and you will go to some famous mountains to “explore the secluded scenery” and have a “winter trip” on paper.
Shouyang Mountain is a section of Bishan Mountain, the highest peak is only 405 meters, the reason why it can be famous all over the world, is because Boyi, Shuqi did not eat Zhou Su, once here to pick roses and finally died of hunger strike. It can be said that these brothers are the image spokespersons of Shouyang Mountain. Although there are many temples on the hill today, people are not sure where the footprints of Boyi and Shuqi Caiwei are left.
“In the past, there were two great sages.”
The story of Boyi and Shuqi, I believe you have heard a lot, I want to tell it again, I’m afraid it will be annoying. However, on the afternoon of the 25th, when I left Luoyang City and came to Shouyangshan Town, Yanshi City along National Highway 310, and asked the locals about Shouyangshan Mountain, where Boyi and Shuqi lived in seclusion, many people said that they didn’t know, which surprised me.
People told me, “There are so many hills, and there are temples on each of them, so you name which temple to go to, or you can’t find it.” “I heard the names of several temples, all of which have nothing to do with Boyi and Shuqi, do people forget that Shouyang Mountain is famous because of Boyi and Shuqi? In view of this, I think it is not superfluous to tell a complete version of “the story that Boyi, Shuqi and Shouyangshan have to say”.
The story goes like this: at the end of the Shang Dynasty, more than 3,000 years ago, there was an ancient Fang country called Guzhu Kingdom. The monarch of Guzhu had three sons, and according to the usual etiquette, he should be succeeded by his eldest son Boyi after his death, but he liked his youngest son Shu Qi the most, so he had the idea of making Shu Qi his heir. But he didn’t expect that after his death, Bo Yi and Shu Qi were embarrassed to take over, and the two pushed each other, and finally escaped from the Lonely Bamboo Country and lived a secluded life.
At that time, King Wen of Zhou was dead, and King Wu of Zhou and the princes met with the princes to fight against the king of Shang. Boyi and Shuqi rushed to dissuade them when they heard the news, and the two of them detained their horses and admonished them, saying that this was an act of disloyalty and filial piety, and King Wu did not listen to them at all. After the demise of Shang, the two did not accept the fact of changing the dynasty, “shame on Zhou Su”, lived in seclusion in Shouyang Mountain, picked roses (that is, wild vegetables such as vetch) and ate, and drank spring water when thirsty.
One day, someone deliberately stimulated them and said: “Ziyi does not eat Zhou Su, and this is also the grass and trees of Zhou.” “Meaning, don’t you eat Zhou Su? This is also Zhou’s grass and trees, how can you eat it? When the two heard this, they did not eat or drink, went on a hunger strike and died, and were buried on Shouyang Mountain.
Confucius praised the two as “ancient sages”, Sima Qian set up a biography for them in the “Historical Records”, and the rulers of the past dynasties also respected Boyi and Shuqi, calling them “two great sages”, and Shouyang Mountain became famous all over the world.
Mr. Xu Jinxing, a famous scholar in our city, said: “When I was a child, I listened to Henan Opera and often heard such lyrics: ‘In the past, there were two great sages, and the brothers both made the country ……’ and there are many lyrics, I can’t remember it now, it is the story of Boyi and Shuqi.” ”
I checked it, and the name of this play is “Shouyang Mountain”, and “There was a second sage in the past” is one of the classic singing segments. Of course, some people think that the practices of these two people are stupid and have nothing to do with “virtuous” at all.
“Cai Ling, Cai Ling, the top of the first sun”.
“Shouyang Mountain is in the territory of Yanshi, because of the ‘sunrise first shine’, it has two meanings: one is the general name of the section of the mountain from Shouyangshan Town to Chengguan Town, which is more than ten kilometers long; Mr. Xu Jinxing told me that from west to east, there are Lion’s Head Mountain, Zushimiao Mountain, Boji Temple Mountain, East Shouyang Mountain, etc., and the highest peak is the 405-meter-high Lion’s Head Mountain in the northwest of Shouyangshan Town. The Dongshouyang Mountain, located in the northwest of Chengguan Town, is also considered by many people to be the place where Boyi and Shuqi are picked.
“In fact, the Shouyang Mountain where Boyi and Shuqi lived in seclusion back then may only refer to it in general, and there is no conclusion on which mountain it is in.” Mr. Xu Jinxing said. In this regard, Li Xiangyang, chairman of the Yanshi City Writers Association, also holds the same view.
Either way, with a relatively clear goal, it’s much easier to ask for directions. In Nancaizhuang Village, Shouyangshan Town, an enthusiastic person pointed to a mountain peak in the north and said that the highest peak should be that, and it can be reached by going up the winding mountain road and walking a dirt road. I drove north as I had been told, and in a short time I reached the foot of the mountain, and I was overjoyed to see the temple at the top of the hill. However, I climbed the dirt slope for more than ten minutes against the wind, and when I came to the top of the mountain, I realized that I was wrong: this is the Boji Temple, which is dedicated to the mother of Emperor Liu Heng of the Han Dynasty and the concubine of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, and the Patriarch Temple Mountain and the Lion’s Head Mountain are still in the west.
65-year-old Wang Jianxin is a native of Dongcaizhuang Village, Shouyangshan Township, and lives in the Boji Temple. Listen to me explain the meaning, he said, the west of the ancestor temple mountain, the lion’s head mountain is indeed relatively high, but “I don’t know what it has to do with Boyi, Shuqi”, Chengguan Town’s Shundi Temple near the monument for Boyi, Shuqi, maybe that’s where I’m looking for, but it’s still far away, you have to go a few kilometers to the east, you can go to Yangzhuang and ask people again.
According to Wang Jianxin’s instructions, I went all the way east to Yangzhuang, where I asked two young people about Shouyang Mountain, and they were not sure, and I said that I was looking for Shundi Temple, and they said: “Turn south to the front, and the hill near the entrance of the highway is.” Sure enough, there is a Shundi Temple on the top of the hill known as the East Shouyang Mountain, there is a red pavilion not far from the west of the temple, and there is a stele on the south slope of the pavilion for Boyi and Shuqi, which shows that the stele was engraved in 1988. The person who dug a tree pit near the monument said that there is also an old monument, which is preserved in the museum under the mountain.
Since ancient times, there are a lot of poems and songs about Shouyang Mountain, there is a sentence in “The Book of Poetry, Cai Ling, the top of Shouyang”, and Xu Kun (pronounced yín) in the Tang Dynasty also said that “Shouyang Mountain has been green for thousands of years, so as to lay curling and hang Boyi”, which shows the beauty of the natural scenery here in ancient times.
“Climb the west mountain and pick its vid”.
Located in the northwest of Chengguan Town, there are inscriptions on the East Shouyang Mountain, and it is close to the Kouma Village of Huimeng Town, Mengjin County, and the Kouma Village is the place where Boyi and Shuqi admonished King Wu of Zhou to buckle the horse, and it should be reasonable to say that the Shouyang Mountain where the two lived in seclusion is here. However, there are also local scholars who have voiced different voices, believing that the Shouyang Mountain should be in the area of Lion’s Head Mountain, Zushimiao Mountain and Boji Temple Mountain, opposite to the East Shouyang Mountain, called West Mountain.
There are many bases for saying this, such as historical records, Boyi and Shuqi lived in seclusion in Shouyang Mountain, and when they were about to starve to death, they once composed a song and said: “Climb the west mountain and pick its violet.” Violence is easy to violent, and I don’t know what it is. Sima Zhen of the Tang Dynasty noted in the “Historical Records of Suoyin” that the West Mountain here is Shouyang Mountain. The elevation of East Shouyang Mountain is 359.1 meters, which is more than 40 meters shorter than Lion’s Head Mountain, which is inconsistent with the highest peak of “sunrise shine”. Ruan Ji’s “Yonghuai” has the sentence “step out of the east gate, look north at Shouyang Cen”, and Emperor Cao Rui of Wei Ming also said “step out of the summer gate and climb Shouyang Mountain in the east”, which shows that Shouyang Mountain is not far from the northeast of the ancient city of Luoyang Han and Wei.
From this point of view, this controversy will not stop for a while, but Shouyangshan Town is named after Shouyang Mountain, which refers to the Bishan Mountain from Shouyangshan Town to Chengguan Town, which is more than ten kilometers long, which is the consensus of the vast majority of people. It has a good scenery since ancient times, and the feng shui is also excellent, and it is also the location of the imperial tombs of Cao Wei and the Western Jin Dynasty, and the Shouyang Mausoleum of Emperor Cao Pi of Wei Wen is here.
Nowadays, there are not only “internal disputes” about Shouyang Mountain, but also “external disputes”: in addition to Yanshi, there are also Shouyang Mountains in Yongji, Yongji, Gansu, Longxi, Shanxi, Yuci and other places in Shanxi, and there are at least seven places in the country, all of which are caused by the stories of Boyi and Shuqi. Mr. Xu Jinxing made it clear that the most credible is the Shouyang Mountain of Yanshi, because the relics of King Wu’s Felling, Horse Deduction, Mengjindu and other relics are near this mountain, how can Shouyang Mountain in other places be compared?
Of course, after more than 3,000 years, on today’s Shouyang Mountain, the stories of Boyi and Shu Qi Caiwei have rarely been circulated, and they are virtuous or foolish, and they do not need to be judged by future generations. What I want to say is that if you come to Shouyang Mountain, it is enough to occasionally think of this history. (Reporter Zhang Guangying/Photo)
