2024 Cultural 'Summer' Journey (Twenty-One): Nanyang Fawang Temple in Jishan

In Nanyang Village, not far from Jishan County in Yuncheng City, walking about 500 meters along the main alley, an ancient temple comes into view. The door of the ancient temple is an old wooden door. The plaque on the mountain gate reads 'Temple of the Law King of Xuantian Emperor,' and the inscription on the ridge reads 'Built in the ninth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty, the year of Gengwu.' On both sides of the mountain gate, there are couplets on the pillars, 'With a sword leaning on the long sky, the universe is bright and clear; Xuan Ying blesses the earth, the country is prosperous,' which is very imposing. It is said that the earliest statues of war gods were enshrined between the left and right walls. There are murals on the walls, and now only the south side has a plain ink painting of a tiger descending the mountain, coming with a roaring majesty. Pushing open the mountain gate, an ancient stage with flying eaves and upturned corners comes into view, which is shocking. Compared with the ancient buildings seen before, Nanyang Fawang Temple has a kind of 'natural beauty without adornment.' The ancient stage here, as a carrier of traditional Chinese opera culture, has witnessed the vicissitudes of history. Every wear and tear, every crack seems to tell an ancient story. In the middle of the back wall of the stage, there is a painting of 'Azure Dragon Emerging from the Clouds,' with paintings of the Eight Immortals on the left and right. These paintings were originally colored, but after being covered in dust for a long time, the colors inevitably became slightly dim, but the postures of the characters are varied, their clothes fluttering, extremely lively. The stage of Nanyang Fawang Temple is also called Wuting or Lelou. The horizontal plaque in the middle reads 'Harmony in Spring,' and the couplet reads 'Praying for a bountiful year with sacrificial vessels; singing of peace with flutes and strings.' The construction date of this stage is unknown. According to the stone tablet in the temple, it was rebuilt in the seventh year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty and has undergone several repairs since then. However, from its form, it has obvious characteristics of the Yuan Dynasty, making it a precious Ming Dynasty building with Yuan Dynasty features. Walking onto the stage, there are no exposed pillars inside, and the load-bearing pillars at the four corners are all built into the walls, making the space more spacious. The upper part of the stage, with interconnected beams, corner beams, upward beams, and dougong structures layer by layer, forms a delicate eight-trigram caisson. The caisson structure is very spectacular and rare, looking complex and ingenious, yet retaining an ancient and exquisite beauty. The large scale of this caisson allows one to intuitively feel the beauty of the wooden structure. Nanyang Fawang Temple has important value for studying the situation of opera activities in the northern region during the early Ming Dynasty. Ancient stages like this, where pictures, texts, and objects coexist, are rare and can be considered treasures of opera relics. Nanyang Fawang Temple has a kind of restrained and grand beauty. It avoids the disturbances of the world, standing quietly in the countryside, telling thousand-year-old stories, showcasing its unique charm, making it unforgettable at first sight. Fawang Temple