- 目錄
第1篇 南岳大廟導(dǎo)游詞
位團(tuán)友：
大家好！歡迎各位來南岳衡山觀光旅游，很高興能和大家一起參觀有“江南小故宮”之稱的南岳大廟，并很榮幸能和大家共度一段美好時光，祝大家游得開心，玩得盡興！
我們現(xiàn)在所站的這座石拱橋，叫“壽澗”橋，橋下是壽澗水，盛傳“取岳山之水可以延年益壽”，因為南岳是壽山、壽岳，所以這座橋，是因水而得名的。相傳，如果誰能三步跨過這座橋，便可長命百歲。
各位朋友，請跟隨我一起循著昔日皇宮貴族的足跡邁入欞星門逐一參觀游覽?？缛霗粜情T，即是一個翠柏夾道、古樹參天，綠草如茵的庭院。院內(nèi)左右有水火池（俗稱放生池），兩邊有東西碑亭。東亭中置有明成化年間尚書商輅撰寫的《重修南岳廟記》碑刻；西亭中置有宋代范純?nèi)首珜懙摹都篮庠牢摹繁?/p>
前面所見的這座古樸典雅、精致玲瓏的樓閣叫奎星閣，又名盤龍亭，此為大廟的第二進(jìn)。它為重檐歇山頂建筑，面積139平方米。大家看到，閣樓上有“戲臺”二字，的確，這是 湖南省保存最完好的一座古戲臺。為何稱為“戲臺”呢？據(jù)說歷代帝王天子或朝庭命官來岳祭拜岳神時，地方官員都要請一些戲班子和民間藝人前來演唱，以增添喜慶氣氛。戲臺基座上有四個大銅錢孔，這些銅錢孔起什么作用？它們起擴(kuò)音的作用，同時也象征著國富民強(qiáng)，國泰民安。如今回首看看戲臺兩側(cè)保存下來的“靜聽之”、“細(xì)思之”的題字，實在令人感慨萬千。在戲臺的中央頂部，有一條巨大的木雕盤龍，由香樟樹雕刻而成，雕刻技術(shù)高超，工藝精湛，而且還會轉(zhuǎn)動哩！故此亭又叫盤龍亭。
既是戲臺，又名盤龍亭，那為何稱“奎星閣”呢？大家清楚，魁星乃文曲星之首，《孝經(jīng)》記載：“奎主文章”，后人進(jìn)而把奎星演化為文官之首，主管文人學(xué)士成敗命運(yùn)。在三樓閣頂內(nèi)原塑有一尊右手執(zhí)筆、左手捧斗、形態(tài)森然的奎星塑像，以示崇文之意。相傳誰被他點(diǎn)中，就會連中三元，即古代科舉考試中的解元、會元和狀元?，F(xiàn)在有很多望子成龍的父母都帶著子女前來這神奇的奎星閣祭拜，希望能如愿以償。
閣樓兩側(cè)有鐘、鼓二亭，左邊鐘亭原有一口九千斤重的大鐘，右邊鼓亭原有一個直徑2米的大鼓，據(jù)傳鐘鼓齊鳴可以鎮(zhèn)住洪水，使龍王不敢興風(fēng)作浪，以保國泰民安。
第2篇 湖南南岳大廟導(dǎo)游詞
大家好！歡迎各位來南岳衡山觀光旅游，很高興能和大家一起參觀有“江南小故宮”之稱的南岳大廟，并很榮幸能和大家共度一段美好時光，祝大家游得開心，玩得盡興！
位團(tuán)友，現(xiàn)在呈現(xiàn)在我們眼前的這座宮殿式古建筑群，就是有名的南岳大廟，位于南岳古鎮(zhèn)北端，赤帝峰下。它是一組集民間祠廟、佛教寺院、道教宮觀及皇宮建筑于一體的建筑群，也是我國南方及五岳之中規(guī)模最大的廟宇，占地面積98500平方米。始建年代不詳，地方誌有記載的大廟最早建于唐開元十三年（公元725年），歷經(jīng)宋、元、明、清歷朝各代六次大火和十六次重修擴(kuò)建，現(xiàn)存建筑于清光緒八年（公元1882年）重建，它是仿照北京故宮建的宮殿式的古建筑群，因此有“江南小故宮”之美稱。中軸線上的主體建筑由欞星門、奎星閣、正川門（正南門）、御碑亭、嘉應(yīng)門、御書樓、正殿、寢宮和北后門九進(jìn)、四重院落組成。東邊有八個道觀、西邊有八個佛寺，中軸線上則是儒家的建筑風(fēng)格。雖然儒、釋、道三教信仰不同，追求各異，但他們長期以來友好相處、共同發(fā)展、同存共榮。儒、釋、道三教共存一廟，這是我國乃至世界廟宇中絕無僅有的。早在明清時期，大廟就以其出色的木刻、石雕、泥塑被譽(yù)為“江南三絕”。同時以八百蛟龍為最大特色，無論殿宇的梁柱、屋檐，還是柱基、神座，乃至門框、斗拱，神態(tài)各異的蛟龍，隨處可見，原來這里自古就有八百蛟龍護(hù)南岳的傳說。
我們現(xiàn)在所站的這座石拱橋，叫“壽澗”橋，橋下是壽澗水，盛傳“取岳山之水可以延年益壽”，因為南岳是壽山、壽岳，所以這座橋，是因水而得名的。相傳，如果誰能三步跨過這座橋，便可長命百歲。
各位請?zhí)ь^看看大廟的正門叫什么門？有誰能認(rèn)出第一個字來？（停頓）這位小姐說對啦，念“靈”字音，有好些人認(rèn)不出此字，這也難怪，因為用這個“欞”字冠以廟門的很少見。不知諸位是否去過山東孔廟，孔廟的正門即是欞星門，其實，在中國也只有這兩處“欞星門”。那是為什么呢？因為欞星本是28宿之一，叫天田星。據(jù)《星經(jīng)》記載：門以“欞星”命名，意思是人才輩出，為國所用。因此，一般的廟宇絕不可用“欞星”來命名。要用“欞星”冠以廟門，必須達(dá)到三個很苛刻的要件：第一，是規(guī)模較大、氣勢宏偉的廟宇；第二，必須是人才輩出的地方；第三，須皇帝下詔書。達(dá)到以上三個條件才能建欞星門，可見，我們南岳確實是個人杰地靈的風(fēng)水寶地。凡是出入此門的人，都將成為祖國各條戰(zhàn)線上的棟梁之才。請各位仔細(xì)看看欞星門的對聯(lián)，看有誰能將它正確念出？這位老先生念得很準(zhǔn)：欞環(huán)卐字，檻繞回文，仰臺閣輝煌，是謂仙宸帝闕；星斂貪狼，風(fēng)儀和鳳，喜山河奠定，同游化日光天。這是副老聯(lián)新刻的聯(lián)語，它高度贊揚(yáng)了大廟佛道并存及建筑規(guī)模之輝煌和祖國形勢之大好。在欞星門上方的漢白玉碑上，有金光閃閃的“岳廟”二字，是衡山學(xué)者康和聲所書。門原是木結(jié)構(gòu)的，到民國二十一年（1932年）才換成花崗石門，門高和寬均為20米，厚1.1米，是我國現(xiàn)存的最高、最寬的石質(zhì)牌坊大門。牌坊上的坊頂，方中有圓，圓中有方，大家想想看這是個什么呢？對啦，是顆石印，象征南岳圣帝的玉璽，寓示著南岳廟至高無上的地位。門前這兩只古樸大方、形態(tài)逼真的石獅（西邊一只為雄獅戲珠，東邊一只為母獅戲仔），常年蹲在這里，喜迎四海嘉賓進(jìn)入這吉祥之門。
各位朋友，請跟隨我一起循著昔日皇宮貴族的足跡邁入欞星門逐一參觀游覽。跨入欞星門，即是一個翠柏夾道、古樹參天，綠草如茵的庭院。院內(nèi)左右有水火池（俗稱放生池），兩邊有東西碑亭。東亭中置有明成化年間尚書商輅撰寫的《重修南岳廟記》碑刻；西亭中置有宋代范純?nèi)首珜懙摹都篮庠牢摹繁?/p>
前面所見的這座古樸典雅、精致玲瓏的樓閣叫奎星閣，又名盤龍亭，此為大廟的第二進(jìn)。它為重檐歇山頂建筑，面積139平方米。大家看到，閣樓上有“戲臺”二字，的確，這是湖南省保存最完好的一座古戲臺。為何稱為“戲臺”呢？據(jù)說歷代帝王天子或朝庭命官來岳祭拜岳神時，地方官員都要請一些戲班子和民間藝人前來演唱，以增添喜慶氣氛。戲臺基座上有四個大銅錢孔，這些銅錢孔起什么作用？它們起擴(kuò)音的作用，同時也象征著國富民強(qiáng)，國泰民安。如今回首看看戲臺兩側(cè)保存下來的“靜聽之”、“細(xì)思之”的題字，實在令人感慨萬千。在戲臺的中央頂部，有一條巨大的木雕盤龍，由香樟樹雕刻而成，雕刻技術(shù)高超，工藝精湛，而且還會轉(zhuǎn)動哩！故此亭又叫盤龍亭。
既是戲臺，又名盤龍亭，那為何稱“奎星閣”呢？大家清楚，魁星乃文曲星之首，《孝經(jīng)》記載：“奎主文章”，后人進(jìn)而把奎星演化為文官之首，主管文人學(xué)士成敗命運(yùn)。在三樓閣頂內(nèi)原塑有一尊右手執(zhí)筆、左手捧斗、形態(tài)森然的奎星塑像，以示崇文之意。相傳誰被他點(diǎn)中，就會連中三元，即古代科舉考試中的解元、會元和狀元?，F(xiàn)在有很多望子成龍的父母都帶著子女前來這神奇的奎星閣祭拜，希望能如愿以償。
閣樓兩側(cè)有鐘、鼓二亭，左邊鐘亭原有一口九千斤重的大鐘，右邊鼓亭原有一個直徑2米的大鼓，據(jù)傳鐘鼓齊鳴可以鎮(zhèn)住洪水，使龍王不敢興風(fēng)作浪，以保國泰民安。
眼前這座很象一個“川”字的三個半圓形門叫“川門”，也叫正南門，是岳廟的第三進(jìn)，門洞高15米，全由青磚砌成，川門分為正川門和東西川門。正川門在古代時只有帝王天子和朝庭命官才能通行，平民百姓，只能走東、西川門。門洞上原有一棟造型別致，四周有欞窗的大閣樓，可惜在1944年被日軍炸毀，后來整修成平臺，登上平臺可以俯瞰大廟全景?，F(xiàn)在我們所見的閣樓為1997年重建。
過了川門，即到了第四進(jìn)御碑亭。亭系木結(jié)構(gòu)，為八角重檐攢尖頂，紅柱碧瓦，雀替斗拱，脊獸齊備、玲瓏奪目，八個飛檐角均掛有魚尾鐵鐘，風(fēng)動鐘響，清脆動聽。此亭又叫百壽亭，亭的四周檐板上撰寫了200個篆體各異的“壽”字，每個壽字構(gòu)思巧妙，無一雷同，意思是住在“壽岳”的人們能延年益壽。亭內(nèi)是清康熙四十七年所立的御制青石碑，碑高6.6米，重約四千斤，上刻清圣祖玄燁親撰《重修南岳廟記》碑文279字，內(nèi)容敘述了康熙年間重修南岳大廟的經(jīng)過，遺憾的是康熙皇帝的手跡毀于文革之中，石碑頂上有雙龍捧日的淺雕盤龍，栩栩如生。碑座有龜趺，是由一整塊青石鏤鑿而成，重20噸。我們所見的這青石龜有幾種說法，一說為龍子，相傳龍生九子，各有奇能，此乃龍王的第九個兒子叫贔屃，它好文不好武，且擅長負(fù)重，據(jù)說碑碣立在他的背上便可久經(jīng)滄桑而不倒，永存后世。因此，歷代都用它馱著御碑，供游人欣賞。二說此青石龜叫千年長壽吉祥龜，非常有靈氣，人們都說“摸摸龜頭，一生不愁；摸摸龜背，大富大貴；摸摸龜身，財運(yùn)（官運(yùn)）亨通；摸摸龜尾，辦事不累；摸摸龜爪，一切都好；從頭摸到尾，萬事不后悔”。大家不妨試試，帶些靈氣回家哦！關(guān)于這只烏龜?shù)膩須v還有一民間傳說，由于時間關(guān)系，暫且不說。大家若有興趣，稍后再講述給各位聽。
看完御碑亭，讓我們接著參觀第五進(jìn)嘉應(yīng)門，嘉應(yīng)門是歷史上迎接賓客的儀門。古人云：“天地順而嘉應(yīng)降”，“嘉應(yīng)”是有客從遠(yuǎn)方而來的意思。歷代皇帝及朝庭命官來南岳祭祀，地方官員和廟祝都在此恭候迎接。此門寬36.8米，深16米，高18米，為單檐歇山七開間建筑，是整個大廟最寬的地方。門內(nèi)外原有歷代祭祀祝文，修廟碑記及眾多的名人雅士的詩詞文賦碑刻，不同時代，不同書體，各有千秋，蔚為壯觀?？上г谖母镏斜辉覛?，現(xiàn)僅存有清代張鳳枝、卞寶弟《重修岳廟記》兩塊碑刻。嘉應(yīng)門兩側(cè)是東、西回廊，各有廂房53間，東回廊外有八座道觀，西回廊外為八個佛寺，分別供僧、道居住。這八寺、八觀表示原本勢不兩立、水火不相容、佛道不相存的佛道兩教在南岳衡山這個神奇的地方，兩教地位平等，同存共榮。這種獨(dú)特的佛、道教共存的現(xiàn)象，堪稱一絕。
現(xiàn)在我們往前看到的則是第六進(jìn)御書樓。樓內(nèi)原藏有御制匾七塊和歷代祭文與祝文及加封岳神碑等。遺憾的是這些珍貴文物都?xì)в谑旰平僦?。御書樓現(xiàn)為文物展覽之所，主要展出南岳附近出土及收藏的200余件珍貴文物。這些對研究古代南岳的政治、經(jīng)濟(jì)、軍事、文化等方面都具有重大價值。
穿過御書樓，展現(xiàn)在各位眼前的這座氣勢雄偉，金碧輝煌，雕梁畫棟，仿照故宮太和殿式的建筑，便是整個大廟的精華所在——即第七進(jìn)圣帝殿，又叫正殿。它凌空屹立在十六級石階之上，為重檐歇山式建筑，殿基長35.3米，寬53.68米，高31.11米，占地面積1877平方米。正殿不僅是整個大廟的最高建筑物，而且高出南岳古鎮(zhèn)所有建筑物，以顯示其至高無上的地位。殿內(nèi)外共有72根石柱，象征著南岳72峰。
我們現(xiàn)在所見的正殿前端的兩座對稱的寶庫，是供香客焚化香紙炮燭的熔爐。很久以來，一直盛傳著“南岳圣帝有求必應(yīng)，照遠(yuǎn)不照近”。的確每年來自國內(nèi)外進(jìn)香朝拜的客人數(shù)以百萬計，且很多人年年都來朝拜。右邊的這座寶庫是供活著的人祈福焚香用的，左邊的一座則是為祭祀先人焚香的地方，請各位在燒香時可不要燒錯了香爐喲。“既然南岳圣帝照遠(yuǎn)不照近，那么，南岳人一定不信南岳圣帝啰。”確實南岳人平時很少拜圣帝，但在南岳卻形成了一個約定俗成的規(guī)矩，就是當(dāng)?shù)鼐用裨诿磕甏竽瓿跻蝗臻_門的第一件事一定是帶著香、炮、燭去大廟給南岳圣帝拜年，在給圣帝拜年的途中遇到親朋好友、同事等視而不見，互不招呼。而在大年三十的夜晚，隨著新年鐘聲的敲響，佛、道兩教的高僧高道聚集在圣帝殿前舉行隆重的新年祈福法會，那時人聲鼎沸、鞭炮震天、歡天喜地、熱鬧非凡。因而參加新年祈福法會（燒頭香），便成了南岳最有吸引力的特色旅游項目。大家看到通往正殿前的16級石階中的這條漢白玉拜殿游龍，昂首拽尾，相傳它不甘拜圣，欲飛天遁逃，結(jié)果被雷神擊落在殿前，摔成五節(jié)，讓它永遠(yuǎn)看守正殿，以示懲罰。
請各位抬頭看正殿屋脊上有許多陶龍，大的長達(dá)三米，小的不足一尺，陶龍作為建筑裝飾物始于唐代，現(xiàn)在屋頂所見的這些陶龍都是清朝時留下的原物，涂上彩釉，經(jīng)過高溫?zé)瞥尚停螒{日曬雨淋，冰封雪凍，都永葆色彩鮮艷，是陶瓷工藝中的佼佼者。殿屋脊中央是一個高4.55米，重千斤的七節(jié)青銅葫蘆，脊角兩端各有一把長一米，重三百斤的青銅寶劍，鑄造光潔，歷久不銹，既起避雷作用，又起裝飾效果，使整個大殿增添壯麗神奇的色彩，得到國內(nèi)外不少建筑、冶金專家的稱贊。大殿四周有花崗石鉤欄，126個石柱上雕有獅、象、麒麟、形態(tài)可掬。144塊漢白玉欄板都是雙面浮雕，刻有飛禽走獸，花鳥蟲魚和田園風(fēng)光等，內(nèi)容大都取材于《山海經(jīng)》上的神話和歷代傳說典故。雕刻刀法剛健、線條流暢、構(gòu)圖奇巧。正殿前門的木槅門頁上是一組“臥冰求鯉”的《二十四孝圖》、《十八學(xué)士圖》和三十六臺古典故事浮雕，維妙維肖，形象逼真，精彩動人。在72根石柱中，只有正門前兩根是由整塊花崗石鑿成，柱高6米，直徑1米，重達(dá)14噸，其余70根均由兩截連接而成。
大殿正中漢白玉基座的神龕內(nèi)，供奉著高達(dá)6.3米的南岳司天昭圣帝，也就是祝融火神。祝融是上古軒轅時代黃帝手下的一名火正官，由于他以火施化、教民熟食、生火御寒、舉火驅(qū)獸，其功德光融天下，黃帝命他為火正官（火神、赤帝）。并委任他主管南方事物，祝融以南岳衡山為棲息之所，死后葬于衡山，人們?yōu)榱思o(jì)念他，便以衡山最高峰命名為祝融峰，并建祠紀(jì)念，埋葬他的山頭叫赤帝峰。歷代帝王都派出大臣來南岳隆重祭祀，祈求圣帝“以衛(wèi)社稷，而福生靈”。圣帝左右立著金、吳二將，兩側(cè)是吏、戶、禮、兵、刑、工六部尚書。神龕背面畫有“老龍教子”巨幅壁畫，幅面高7.4米，寬6.3米。各位請?zhí)ь^看，石柱上承木柱，架接大梁，大梁用四個巨大的木雕彩鳳花瓶的葉瓣支撐上面的梁架，幾百個斗拱，一個個、一層層遞疊到屋頂。真是木雕彩鳳繞梁翩翩起舞，梁柱盤龍張牙舞爪，殿上木雕刻畫維妙維肖。殿后大門上的“五龍朝圣”石刻活靈活現(xiàn)，呼之欲出；檐中的丹鳳朝陽，三龍戲珠泥塑更是栩栩如生。整個殿宇由彩繪裝飾得富麗堂皇，真可謂是集建筑藝術(shù)之大成，是一座雕刻的藝術(shù)宮苑。特別是反映數(shù)千年傳統(tǒng)文化的木雕、石刻、泥塑，數(shù)量之多、品種之全、技藝之高超，無不令人驚嘆。這些都反映了古代勞動人民精湛的技藝、高超的智慧。
大廟的第八進(jìn)是寢宮，又稱圣公圣母殿。殿中神座上原設(shè)有南岳圣帝與夫人景明后坐像，圣帝父母親坐像，殿內(nèi)原有萬斤銅佛趺坐，可惜在文革中被付之一炬?，F(xiàn)在所看到的是1990年重塑的圣公圣母坐像。圣公圣母是保佑夫妻恩愛、白頭到老，百年好合的。各位可一定要拜拜他們啰。
北后門為岳廟最后一進(jìn)，是岳廟中軸線上的終點(diǎn)。后門為單檐硬山三開間，東有注生殿，代表道教，祀注生真君，亦稱南斗星君。東晉《授神記》載，南斗注生，北斗注死，注生之名，即由此而來。西有轄神殿，又稱轄神祠，主祀轄神總管像，代表佛教。一觀一寺再次體現(xiàn)了南岳佛道并存的特色。
好，南岳大廟到這里就參觀完了，非常感謝大家的支持與合作，希望這次南岳之行能給各位留下美好的回憶，不到之處敬請各位提出寶貴意見。同時竭誠歡迎各位再次光臨南岳衡山，再見！
第3篇 南岳大廟英文導(dǎo)游辭導(dǎo)游詞
good morning! ladies and gentlemen:
today we will go and visit the nanyue temple, nanyue temple is situated on the northern tip of nanyue township and at the southern foot of chidi peak. in a layout of nine rows, it is the largest and best-preserved ancient palatial architectural complex of south china. magnificent and splendid with resplendent upturned eaves. inside the east in parallel to eight buddhist palaces on the west, it is indeed a wonder in the history of religion that taoism. buddhism and confucian culture can co-exist within a single temple.
the exact time of the construction of nanyue temple is unknown. it existed asearly as in the qin and han dynastis. originally located on the summit of zhurong peak, the temple was later moved to the mountain foot to facilitate the religious activities. the beginning of the tang dynasty witnessed the formal construction of the heavenly lord huo's temple' the 'heavenly master temple'. so as to enshrine and worship the gods of the five sacred mountains, during the song dynasty the immortal of the hengshan mountain was revered as the 'heavenly master zhaosheng',as a result the temple was gradually expanded and enlarged. since the tang dynasty nanyue temple had beed subject to six fires and 16reconstructions all through the song. yuan, ming and qing dynasties. in the 8th year of emperor guangxu's reign in the qing dynasty (1882 a.d), the imperial court ordered the rbuilding of nanyue temple. which had been ruined by lightning, the project was imitative. copying the styles of the imperial palace. and even to the present day it is still well preserved.
fenced with red-brick walls.nanyue temple ccupies an area of some 70.000 square metres. from north to south lies in sequence nine rows and four courtyards-lingxing gate. kuixing tower. chuan gate. pavilion of imperial study, main hall, dwelling palace and the northern rear exit. the whole architecture complex stretches across on axis extending from south to north with its halls linked up together. the winding corridors and wing-rooms on both sides merge with each other. accentuating the magnificence of the stature of the principal part. on the east side of the main temple there are eight taoist palaces. coordinating with eight buddhist palaces on the west side.
the first row is lingxing gate. two gilded chinese characters 'mountain temple' are shining on the white marble at the top of the gate. the marble gate stands as high as 20 metres with a width of 1.1 metres and is meant to imply that during the past dynasties all the religious activities were officiated by real knowledgeable people. the second row is kuixing tower. the most perfectly preserved ancient stage in human province.with a breadth of 35metres and a length of 12. its fa?ade facing the main palace, the stage is the place where people hold religious activities and perform local operas during pilgrimage. before the tower stands a pair of 2-metre tall stone kylin (chinese unicorn). with their furious eyes widely open. they are like two solemn looking sentinels guarding the tower.
the pebble path under the kuixing tower leads to the third row-main chuan gate. east and west gates. the gateway is made of gray bricks with an awesome depth and height of 15 metres. the courtyard within is filled with dense cypress trees and carpeted with green grass. the fourth row is the pavilion of imperial study. distinguished by its gilded tiles. octagonal doubleeaved roofs and exquisitely-crafted arches. inside the pavilion there is a bixi in the shape of a legendary animal like tortoise. legend has it that bixi is the ninth son of the dragon. the bixi carries an imperial stele on which the full text of on rebuilding nanyue temple was carved in the 47th year of kangxi's reign(1780 a.d.) in the qing dynasty.
the fifth row is jiaying gate. named after the line from the annals of han-books of rites and joys: 'this row is the place where local magistrates and monks welcomed ritual officials dispatched from the capital. after the jiaying gate the sixth row comes into view-tower of imperial study. which is the storehouse of the collection of imperial calligraphies .messages and inscribed boards concerning the past emperors' ritual presentations to the mountain. sweeet osmanthus ahead of the tower submerges the building with its refreshing scent when it blossoms every autumn.
the seventh row is the main palace. surrounded by towering old trees. camphor trees planted in the song dynasty and cypress in the ming dynasty compete with each other in setting off the beauty of the upturned double-roofs and the splendour of the palace. adding tremendous awe to the main palac. as it stands 29.11 metres, its girandeur rivals that of the palace of supreme harmony in the forbidden city in beijing. inside the palace there are 72 stone pilliars, standing for the 72 peaks on the hengshan mountain. the two huge pillars upholding the main roofs were cut out of a whole granite. each weighing 14 tons.
encircled by the balustrades are 144 relief sculptures carved out of white marbles. based on shanhai jing . pillars on the forefront overlap. carved on them are 56 historical and legendary thles . on the square door were carved the images. on the square door were carved the images of the 24 filial sons and the images of the 18 scholars. here tourists can get a rough idea of the age-old chinese confucian and taoist cultures. clay statues-heavenly king zhaosheng and general jin and wu line up in the palace with their impressively dignified look, calling forth in tourists a feeling of profound respect.
the eighth row is the dwelling palacewith double roofs and in perfect harmony with the whole mountain. this structure keeps up the architectural style of the song dynasty and is decorated with coloured drawings and patterns whichare popular among palaces in the north. giving a sense of gorgeousness to this palace. the ninth row is the northern rear exit. the end of the axial architecture, with zhusheng palace to the right and chief god palace to the left, at the back of the exit. a path leads farther into the mountain.
nanyue temple occupies a prominent position in the history of ancient chinese architecture. it carries the grandeur characterized by palaces in the north. and at the same time it smacks of the loveliness featured by gardens in the south. the architectural arrangement of the temple is clearly demarcated and gently modulated. strongly indicating the ingenuity and originality of the craftsmen. its ground and upper layouts are like an eternal musical movement with its own overture, main body and coda. demonstrating the excellence of ancient chinese architecture.
nanyue temple carries a profound cultural connotation. it boasts a large number of clay statues. wood engravings and stone carvings, which are all closely linked up with chinese tradition and culture. over 800 dragons of various sizes, which are the symbol of the chinese nation.can be found everwhere in the temple. the carvings on the roof wood and white marble balustrades are an encyclopedia of ancient history and mythology. there are fairy tales- 'pan gu creating the universe.' 'hou yi shooting the suns', 'jing wei filling up the ocean'¡-; real stories about some historical figures- 'su wu shepherding sheep.' 'sleeping on sticks and tasting the gallbladder.' 'da mo crossing the sea'¡- ; legends extolling filial piety- 'melting the ice with body warmth to catch carps.' 'weeping on the bamboo until it turns into shoots'¡- most of the carvings are the lgends about the earliest ancestors of taoist immortals. as early as in the qing and ming dynasties, clay status, wood engraving and stone carving were reputed as 'the three wonders to the south of the yangtze river.'
all through the dynasties nanyue temple has been a thriving place to hold religious activities both for the feudal imperial courts and the ordinary people. every year the temple greets nearly 1.000.000 pilgrims. the offerings, presentation, titles and other customs are almost the same as they were thousands years ago. there are 'bowing pilgrimage' in which the pilgrims bow with each step or with every three steps , and 'hunger pilgrimage' in which the pilgrims bow with each step or with every three steps. 'and hunger pilgrimage' in which the pilgrims refrain from food during their trip. more often. pilgrims would set off in throngs. they wear gray clothes with a red cloth attached to their chest reading 'hengshan mountain pilgrimage.' holding buring incenses in hand. those pious pilgrims chant pilgriming theme' to pray for the peace of the nation and the wealth of people, making it a really spectacular scene on the mountain.
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