It was said earlier that Li Bing, the governor of Shu County in the state of Qin, built Dujiangyan to control water in Guanxian county (now Dujiangyan City), so he was honored as Guankou God after his death.
Dayu led the people to preside over the flood control.
In the land of Huguang, there are many rivers and lakes, and there are rivers passing by, which often floods.
In addition, fellow businessmen also began to invest in the above-mentioned guild halls, or establish special merchant guild halls, and merchant guild halls will be subdivided into industrial guild halls according to industries.
Huguang guild hall in Luodai Ancient Town, also known as Yuwang palace, is related to its sacrifice to King Yu.
In addition, Xu Xun also publicized that practicing loyalty and filial piety could become an immortal, which was undoubtedly advocated by the government.
According to the records of Wuhu County annals of the Republic of China, Yu Mo, a Wuhu native who was the head of the Ministry of work in Beijing at that time, bought land outside the front door of the capital to build a hostel.
During the Kangxi period in the early Qing Dynasty, the population of Huguang province (about equivalent to the jurisdiction of Hubei and Hunan provinces) began to migrate to enrich Sichuan Province.
Coincidentally, other records also mention that during the Yongle period, Jin Zongshun, an official, built a Fuliang guild hall outside Zhengyang gate in Beijing, and Wang Zhongming and others built a Guangdong guild hall.
In fact, there were also immigrants from Jiangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Shaanxi and other provinces.
Finally, the flood was finally calmed down.
During his work, he passed through his house three times without entering.
Not only the capital set up guild halls all over the country, but also the provincial capital set up guild halls all over the province.
Xu Xun was born in Nanchang in the second year of chiwu, the great emperor of Wu.
It is said that during Emperor Shun’s period, the flood was surging.
Dayu was the founding emperor of the Xia Dynasty 4000 years ago.
It is said that the history of this town can be traced back to Wanjing street in the Han Dynasty and renamed Wanfu street in Shuhan of the Three Kingdoms.
Because Zhuangzi was also regarded as the “Nanhua immortal” of Taoism in the Tang Dynasty, some Nanhua palaces also offered sacrifices to Zhuangzi.
It is said that he was taught by the god man to kill the Jiaolong and lock the water demon.
Later, however, sacrifice became more complicated.
In short, the image and belief of Erlang God are very complex, but the core theme is to preside over water control, which is the origin of Sichuan guild hall’s sacrifice to the Lord of Sichuan..
Huineng was born in Xinzhou, Guangdong (now the east of Xinxing County) in the 12th year of Zhenguan, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty.
After the war in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, the population of Sichuan decreased sharply and the society fell into paralysis.
The large-scale immigration activities in the Ming and Qing dynasties also led to the increase of guild halls.
However, at this time, the type of guild hall is still relatively single, which is a place for fellow Beijing officials to exchange feelings and close relations with each other.
Later, on the basis of Mahayana Buddhism, he absorbed the traditional Confucianism and Taoism, denied “gradual enlightenment” and advocated “Epiphany”, and became a famous reformer in the history of Buddhism.
The earliest guild hall appeared in the reign of Yongle, Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty.
This article was first published in the fifth issue of “outlook on a clean government” in 2021.
The name card of Luodai Ancient town today is “the first Hakka town in Western Shu”, “famous Hakka Town, hometown of guild halls”.
Some also distinguished between the guild hall used by officials and the test hall used by scholars.
The Guangdong guild hall in Luodai Ancient Town, also known as Nanhua palace, is related to its sacrifice to Huineng, the sixth ancestor of Buddhism.
The book of history and the historical records recorded his achievements in flood control.
Luodai Ancient Town is such an ancient town with Hakka as the main body.
The Jiangxi guild hall in Luodai Ancient Town, also known as Longevity Palace, is related to its sacrifice to Taoist immortal Xu Xun.
In addition to offering sacrifices to Emperor Guan, Shanxi guild hall also offered sacrifices to other gods such as the God of wealth.
In the first year of Taikang, Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty, he was enlisted as a county magistrate in Jingyang, Sichuan Province to cure the people’s plague with a secret recipe.
Because Nanhua temple in Yuling, Shaoguan, Guangdong is the ancestral court of Huineng, Cantonese also call the guild hall for sacrificing Huineng “Nanhua Palace”, which is the origin of Huguang guild hall for sacrificing Huineng.
A typical example is the activity of “Huguang filling Sichuan” in the early Qing Dynasty.
For example, many places offered sacrifices to Emperor Guan and the heavenly concubine.
Therefore, Huguang people offer sacrifices to Dayu most, which is the origin of Huguang guild hall offering sacrifices to Dayu.
Generally speaking, the southern guild hall pays more attention to the imperial examination, while the northern guild hall pays more attention to business.
When he resigned and returned to his hometown, he handed over the property to his fellow Beijing official Jin Jian as a Wuhu guild hall, that is, a venue for the gathering of Wuhu villagers.
According to scholars’ statistics, there are 1414 immigration halls in Sichuan Province.
When visitors enter Luodai Ancient Town, they are easily attracted by the guild halls with various regional characteristics, such as Huguang guild hall (Yuwang Palace), Guangdong guild hall (Nanhua Palace), Jiangxi guild hall (Wanshou Palace) and North Sichuan guild hall, which are known as the “four guild halls”.
At the same time, the functions of the guild hall began to diversify, not only as an activity place for fellow officials, but also serving fellow scholars who came to the imperial examination.
In the setting of the guild hall, a very important point is to sacrifice gods.
The Lord of Sichuan is the Erlang God in folklore, but who he is is is controversial.
So, what are the functions of these guilds? Why are there some aliases? This starts with the origin of the guild hall.
Later generations have the legend that Dayu was the God of water.
The original title: “guild hall: the complex polyhedron of ancient fellow countrymen’s clubs” there is an ancient town of Luodai in Longquanyi District, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province.
Outside Sichuan Province, there are many Sichuan guild halls called Chuanzhu palace, which are related to their sacrifice to Chuanzhu.
Later, it was said that Li Bing’s second son was Erlang God; Later, it was said that Zhao Yu, the prefect of Jiazhou, was the Erlang God when Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, and then absorbed the legend of Erlang God in the immortal belief.
Therefore, he was awarded the title of “divine skill and wonderful aid to the real king” in the Song Dynasty, and the Taoist temple that worshipped him was also changed to “Palace”, which is the origin of Jiangxi guild hall’s sacrifice to Xu Xun.
With the strengthening of regional political concept, the number of guild halls began to increase.
The earliest sacrificial rites in the guild hall were local gods, such as Xu Zhenjun and Xu Xun in Jiangxi, the goddess of heaven in Fujian, Guan Shengda in Shanxi and Huineng in Guangdong.
After resigning and returning to his hometown, he saw the serious flood in Nanchang and stepped forward to control the water for the people.
Sacrifice seems to be a superstitious behavior today, but it is actually an important means to maintain the community in the traditional society, so sacrificing gods is an essential condition for the existence of the guild hall.