The stage of the Sansheng temple fair is set up on the square in front of the temple gate, and a big tree was transplanted in the center of the square at the beginning of the construction of the temple, and the leaves are like a small fan, and in autumn it is full of golden trees. Cultivating listened to his father-in-law Ye Shifang say that this is called a ginkgo tree, the whole body is a treasure, and the leaves and fruits can be used in medicine.

After more than a year of growth and restoration, this ginkgo tree has taken root and come back to life. But it's winter, and the trees are full of bare branches. The tree is very tall, enough to have the appearance of two people hugging, standing under the tree and looking up, you can see the main trunk of the dragon, the branches of the tree are like dragon claws, which makes people very amazing!

It is said that this ginkgo tree was brought over by the Taoist Zhang Li in some way, and it is very miraculous: this ginkgo tree is more than 300 years old, and it has been cultivated to the essence, but it was born in the mountains and wilderness, and it has not accumulated merits, so it cannot achieve positive results. I had the fate to meet the Taoist Zhang Li, so I cast a spell to move it here, one to regulate the feng shui in front of the temple, the other to shade the believers who came to the incense in the summer to accumulate merits, and the third to be worshiped by the incense of the world, one after another, in order to transform the human form as soon as possible, be taught and trained, and attain the Tao as soon as possible.

Whether this rumor is true or not, since the ginkgo tree was moved here, a brick and concrete balcony has been built along its roots, which can also be used for people to sit on. On the east side of the platform, five or six meters away from the ginkgo tree, there is indeed a huge cement incense burner.

Before the temple was built, some people bowed in front of the tree and burned incense, so it can be said that this ginkgo tree received incense a year earlier than the three saints in the temple.

Taoist Zhang Li is very thoughtful and prescient in construction planning, and seems to have considered the location of the temple fair stage and the capacity of the venue for watching the theater early on.

The stage was temporary, built on a high platform on the west side of the square, which was originally excavated from the foundation of the temple when the temple was built, and part of it was used in the backfilling, and the rest formed an earthen platform. Such a high stage allows people in the square to see clearly no matter where they are.

It was already past nine o'clock, the big play had not yet started, and the square in front of the stage was already full of people. Most of them are navy blue or black cotton clothes and cotton pants, which look like a piece of black pressing, but there are also white towels tied to the top of their heads, which can be regarded as a few points of white in the black clouds.

Almost all the people sitting in the square waiting for the big play to start are the old people, including the old ladies with small feet who came on crutches, the old people are all kind and amiable faces, and some of them are holding their little grandchildren in their arms, but those children are restless, and always want to jump away from the protection of adults. Of course, there are also timid and quiet ones, squatting and squeezing in the arms of the old man, only revealing a small head, with a curious and shy look, peeking at the surrounding situation.

Under the stage, a group of older children gathered, they would climb onto the stage, sit in the corner and look in, and the staff on the stage would also come out to catch up, and after a while, they climbed up again, which often formed a tug-of-war. However, as soon as the gong started, they dispersed, and the grandfathers and grandmothers sitting below wanted to watch the play, but they were not allowed to mess around like this. Besides, the actors with painted faces on stage blew their beards and stared, and they were also scared.

The children also like to squeeze backstage to watch the actors put on makeup, and of course there will be one or two rural singles, who mainly want to see the actresses change their clothes, instructing the children to take the lead, lifting the backstage curtains, and constantly peeking through the cracks.

In the winter, who is not the inner and outer three layers, they naturally can't see anything, but when they brag with others, they naturally see everything.

The common denominator of the children is that they have a red face from the cold, which is a characteristic of the northern winter, especially the children in the countryside, the more naughty they are, the redder their faces are. It's not that adults don't care about children, but the alabaster that is prepared, and children don't want to apply it.

Every morning and evening, after washing his face, his grandmother or mother would put alabaster on his fingers, dot it on his forehead, nose, and face, and then the rough or warm big hands would rub the alabaster evenly like kneading dough. That kind of alabaster is applied to his face, and the greasy and slippery feeling is very uncomfortable, and he doesn't want to apply it, but he can't help it, he can't resist the "claws" of adults, so he has to let them knead it.

Father-in-law Ye Shifang held a handful of incense and a stack of yellow table paper in his hand, and he first took the cultivator into the temple to burn incense.

These three holy temples are really magnificent, facing a mountain gate, green tiles and green bricks, the shape is square and solemn, the atmosphere is not luxurious, and it is very popular with the taste of the people. The mountain gate needs to go up nine steps, the door is the three big characters of the three holy temples of the official book, simple and powerful, there is no payment, and I don't know whose handwriting it is.

The place of the couplet on both sides is vacant, and it is said that it is reserved for the day of the main meeting, and there are famous people who come to inscribe it.

After entering the mountain gate, it is the front yard, the left side of the courtyard is the loess cliff wall, and now a small cave has been dug out, and the cliff wall has been repaired and leveled, and the white wall has been painted.

The small cave dug on the left is symmetrical with the small hall of a brick kiln built on the right, and a shrine is set up on each side, the mountain god on the left and the land on the right.

Ye Shifang took the cultivation in both places and bowed three times and bowed once, and then came out and walked into the Heavenly King Palace. The Tianwang Hall is located on the central axis of the mountain gate, and the believers who come to enter the incense must pass through the Tianwang Hall if they want to go to the Three Holy Lords' Hall.

In fact, there are symmetrical side doors on the wall separating the front yard from the back yard, but they are all closed at this time, so that the believers can worship after the Heavenly King Hall before they can continue to worship inside.

The scale of the palace of the heavenly king is not large, but it is very exquisitely repaired, on the altar, the four heavenly kings of Buddhism are molded in four directions, the east is the king of the country, holding the pipa in his hand, the south is the king of growth, holding the sword, the west is the king of wide eyes, the arm is wrapped around the giant snake, the north is the king of many smells, carrying a big umbrella on his shoulder.

The statues of the Four Heavenly Kings are all burly and mighty, with distinctive armor and flowing crowns. The master of the statue, with exquisite craftsmanship, depicted the sparkle between the eyebrows and eyes vividly, coupled with the facial expressions and colors, he saw the kings with round eyes, looking down on the people of the world who bowed in all directions, full of majesty and solemnity.

Behind the four heavenly kings, each has a wall painted with patterns, and there is a circular pattern painting above the wall, which is also determined according to the four directions, and he has heard his father-in-law Ye Shifang say, this is the Taoist Quartet Shenjun, namely: "Mengzhang Shenjun, Eastern Qinglong, Lingguang Shenjun, Southern Vermilion Bird, Supervisor Shenjun, Western White Tiger, Zhiming Shenjun, Northern Xuanwu." ”

In addition to the north and south sides of the Heavenly King Hall, the east and west sides are walls, on which are murals of human figures. Ye Shifang introduced to the cultivator that the mural is a Confucian figure again, painting a group of disciples of the Confucian sage, and 36 people are painted on each of the two walls, adding up to the 72 sages of Confucianism.

Bow to the palace of the king of heaven, enter and go inside is a big courtyard, a big hall in front of you, stand on the high platform, heavy eaves stacked buildings, the forest is very imposing. In front of the main hall, there is a copper incense burner in the shape of a long tripod, which has been inserted into many incense sticks of different lengths and thicknesses, and the green smoke is seen, which adds a sense of sacredness to the main hall.

In the middle of the main hall, there is a plaque with three big characters written vertically: "Three Temples". Ye Shifang waved his hand and pointed in the direction of the main hall and said: "Cultivation, this hall is the center of the Three Holy Temples, which is dedicated to the three saints of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. ”

Cultivator agreed, but saw that his father-in-law did not take him directly into the main hall, but went to the two caves on the left and right to bow.

The layout of this courtyard is also symmetrical, but the caves on both sides are wider, the yard area is larger, and two ancient cypress trees are planted.

The cave excavated on the left is dedicated to Guanyin Bodhisattva, and a three-legged incense burner made of cement is also set up in front of the cave, there are a lot of incense in it, and it seems that the hearts of the common people are still very respectful and pious to Guanyin Bodhisattva who is compassionate and compassionate.

The cave with the brick arch on the right is dedicated to the old mother of Wuji, and a large incense burner is also placed at the entrance of the cave, in which there are a lot of incense.

After worshipping these two places, Ye Shifang went to the main hall with cultivation, and offered incense in the incense burner outside.

However, it is not difficult to judge the position of the three saints from the clothes and costumes of the statues and the items in their hands, and the statue in the left hand is wide, holding a copy of the "Analects" in his hand, and the handwriting on it is clear: "Zi said, there must be my teacher in the threesome." Choose those who are good and follow them, and change those who are not good. Ye Shifang thought to himself, this person holding the Analects must be the icon of Sage Confucius.

The statue in the middle stands on a lotus platform with folded hands on its chest. This cultivator is known, and naturally it is the Buddha Shakyamuni.

One on the right hand, the Xuanhuang robe, the decoration of the Bagua Taiji, holding the dust in his hand, even if he doesn't look at his face, he can feel the breath of the fairy wind and bones. Needless to say, this is the idol of Taishang Laojun.

There were a lot of people in the main hall, and the believers who had come in before did not go out after worshipping, and they sat next to each other on a futon, only to see a Taoist sitting cross-legged over there, his eyes closed and he didn't know what he was doing.

Ye Shifang glanced at the Taoist, who was not the Taoist Zhang Li he had seen, so he asked the person who came in first next to him, why didn't everyone go out after worshipping? I only heard the person say that this Taoist was telling fortunes to everyone one by one, and there was no charge, so everyone was sitting on the futon and waiting in line.

Ye Shifang couldn't help but laugh in his heart, he only felt that on the first day of the temple fair of the Three Holy Temples, how could he guide people's hearts in such a way? Even if a person's fate is already predestined, it also depends on the efforts and deeds of this life.

He is already an old man in his eighties, so he naturally doesn't pay so much attention to fortune telling, but looking at the past, there are many old people among those who sit on the futon and wait. He couldn't help but sigh softly, shook his head, and led the cultivator outside.

"Hey, that kid at the door, wait a minute!"