Weizi Temple in Royal City

Qi Yanhong

Experts and scholars agreed that Shangqiu is an important Royal city in that many emperors and kings were always participating social activity in Shangqiu. Next I will introduce a famous person for you so as to spread my hometowns culture.

Weizi was the founding ancestor of the State Song （now Suiyang district of Shangqiu in Henan province） in Shang Dynasty， the first generation of monarchs. He was the oldest son of the King DiYi and had two brothers， including Weizhong and Zhou. King Zhou was the last emperor of YinShang Dynasty， who was a tyrant， being cold-blooded and brutal for his people. Weizi remonstrated against his brother repeatedly and gave his suggestions in the aspect of politics， but Zhou never adopted his advice. Finally， Weizi was so disappointed to his brother that he left his country， staying away from King Zhou in the fear of Zhou revenge. When King Wu was rebelling the King Zhou， Weizi surrendered to King Wu， and then he was rewarded his own State， the tile of Song for his State. Moreover， he can worship his ancestors in the emperors rite level. He was a diligent King， being loved by his people. Because his state was named as Wei in Shang Dynasty and his surname is Zi， thus， late people called him as Weizi. Weizi was died and buried in his own State Song. In the State Song period， people built an ancestral temple for Weizi and Weizi Tomb stands on the Mountain Wei.

The Song generations shrine temple is originated from their ancestral temple of YinShang dynasty. After the State Song， Song temples were always located in the royal garden around the capital and followed the sacrificial system of the YinShang Dynasty. JiaZhi， the scholar of Tang Dynasty， came to State Song as an officer appointed by the emperor， and wrote one article Ode to the Weizi Temple. In the article he explained that as an officer in the Tang Dynasty， he was so admired of the Weizis characteristic and his noble moral integrity. Then he asked the old people about Weizis story and then he got the news about Weizi temple. In Ming Dynasty， a famous scholar NiYue wrote inscription in one Temple Tablet rebuilt and it showed that Weizi Temple is located in the GuiDe road in the east of Confucian college， since from the Song， Yuan dynasty， Weizi is always worshiped by people， after many years although the temple got rotted and damaged， people and governments rebuilt it for many times. According to the Song genealogy records， Weizi tomb is surrounded by four ancient cypress trees. There are tablets and monuments in stone in front of the temple. Weizi temple is constructed by high walls and a spacious courtyard. There is a monk Temple in the East of Weizi temple， and the monk temple is responsible for temple Institute and the worship event. There is more than 80 acres farmland for the monk temple. After Yuan dynasty， the Temple was moved into the inner city. In Ming dynasty， the officer Xiao Mingfeng removed the Weizi temple into the northern corner of the city. In Qing dynasty， the prefecture， Hu Guozuo rebuilt the temple， and one stone tablet described that Weizi temple was destroyed in the early 1950. Originally， there is one monument of Weizi in Han dynasty， Prime Minister Kuangheng wrote inscription in memory of Weizi. Meifu， a famous calligrapher of Han dynasty， seals books for the Weizi monument，but the words are illegible on the monument. Until Qing Dynasty Kangxi made inscription for Weizi temple again， obviously， Weizi plays an important role in Chinese history.

Nowdays， Weizi Temple is located in Suiyang district of Shangqiu， built originally in the Tang dynasty. It has been destructed repeatedly and rebuilt several times. Wanli 40 years （1612） in Ming dynasty， the prefecture， Zheng Sanjun reconstructed the Weizi temple in its huge size， but it was damaged when new China was founded. Indonesia Chinese Song Lianghao who has tracked down the origins of his ancestor ever rooted in Shangqiu donated more than 4 million Yuan to rebuild Weizi temple. Now the whole temple covers an area of 6650 square meters， 70 meters long， 95 meters wide. The scenic area of Weizi temple was composed of three courtyards， including WeiZi temple， Sage Hall and Weizi tomb. WeiZi Temple is in the middle of them， and the Sage Hall and the Weizi tomb stand on the East and west side of the temple. Inside the Weizi temple， there is a screen wall and a copper incense burner placed in the center of the yard. People worshiped their ancestors in front of a large bronze altar. The temple layout is sophisticated and chic .The whole courtyard was designed scientifically with rational layout and beautiful environment. On March 30， 2009， the Taiwan people-first party Chairman James Soong and his wife Chen Wanshui with tour groups arrived in Shangqiu and worshiped Song ancestor. Moreover， he also wrote an inscription for Weizi Temple.

After reading this article about my hometown， I believe that you have fallen in love with the culture and beautiful scene of my hometown. At the same time， I have to say that the Chinese culture is rich and we are so glad to be your guide in order to achieve cross-culture communication with each other.