The legend of the Four Dragon Kings of Hougou and Longtian Yu Shuniang (1)
There is a spring on the bank of the Longmen River in Yucihougou Village, which is called Longmen Divine Spring. On top of the sacred spring, the Hougou people enshrine a dragon king. It is said that the mother of this dragon king gave birth to five of their brothers in one child, and he was ranked fourth, so people called him the four dragon kings of Hougou. In the legend, the four dragon kings of Hougou are a very humane deity, he is very concerned about the suffering of the people, and when the common people encounter disasters, he always tries to help solve them. Moreover, the Four Dragon Kings also married a mortal woman as their daughter-in-law. The daughter-in-law of the Four Dragon Kings has a name, a surname and a hometown, and she is Yu Shuniang of Yuci Longtian Village.
It is said that Tatsuda Village was originally called "Tamura". After the Four Dragon Kings married Shu Niang, in order to commemorate the marriage between their village and the dragon god, the people of Tamura added the word "dragon" in front of their village name and renamed it "Longtian Village". The people of Longtian not only added the word "dragon" in front of the name of their village, but also imitated the shape of the dragon in the architectural layout of Longtian Village. According to the records on the ancient tablet in the temple of Longtian Village, Longtian Village "resembles a dragon." Take the temple as the dragon's head and claws, the well as the dragon's eye, and the street as the dragon's body". To the north of the village is the largest temple in Longtian Village, Shengshou Temple, which represents the dragon's head. In the Shengshou Temple, there is also a special place for the four dragon kings and Yu Shuniang to rest, called "Xielong Hall". There is a well on each side of Shengshou Temple, which represents the dragon's eye. The streets of Tatsuda Village are curved rather than straight, modeled after the curling body of a dragon. On the crooked streets, there are also Wenchang Temple, Dongmen Temple, Guandi Temple, Dawang Temple, etc., which represent the dragon's claw. The houses in Tatsuda Village are not neatly arranged in rows, but are staggered according to the curved shape of the streets. It is usually the house of one family pressing the corner of the house of another. With the changes of history, the various temples in Longtian Village have disappeared one after another. However, the curving and roundabout streets of Longtian Village and the staggered pattern of houses have not changed until the present day.
And Hougou Village and Longtian Village also formed a family village because of the relationship between the Four Dragon Kings and Yu Shuniang. The villagers of the two villages regard the villagers of the other village as their own in-laws, and treat each other with the courtesy of their relatives when they meet. For example, if a villager from Hougou goes out to sell a small white pear and goes to Longtian Village, the villagers of Longtian will not only help him sell the little white pear, but also keep him to eat. The villagers of Longtian went to Hougou to worship the Four Dragon Kings and Yu Shuniang, and the villagers of Hougou would also receive them as if they were in-laws. In the village community activities are also to help each other, such as Daoguang eight years after the ditch to build Guanyin Hall, Longtian Village generously gave silver three to pick up two, the existing inscription, and Longtian built the dragon hall also received strong support from Hougou Village.
Every year on the second day of February, the villagers of Longtian will go to Hougou Village to worship the Four Dragon Kings and Yu Shuniang. On the third day of February, the villagers of Longtian will ceremoniously pick up Yu Shuniang and return to her parents' home. At that time, Longtian Village will select strong young people to form a team to welcome the gods, carry the statues of the Four Dragon Kings and Yu Shuniang from Hougou Village, and go all the way to Longtian by beating gongs and drums, blowing and blowing. In the villages they passed along the way, the villagers had to put incense sticks and welcome them, hoping that the Four Dragon Kings would also give them some rain and dew. There is a saying in these villages: "Grandpa Silong rests, and the wind and drizzle fall".
When the team to welcome the gods carried the statues of the Four Dragon Kings and Yu Shuniang back to Longtian Village, the villagers of Longtian Village had already splashed the streets with clean water and padd the road with loess, waiting for the Four Dragon Kings and Yu Shuniang. The procession carrying the statues of the Four Dragon Kings and Yu Shuniang had to go around the village for a week, and then carry them back to the village to worship in the Dragon Hall. The statue of the god is usually enshrined in the temple for three days before being sent back to Hougou Village. In the past three days, the villagers of Longtian have to invite guests to sing operas, like a festival. Later, it evolved into a temple fair in Longtian Village, and the villagers of Longtian called it "Silong Grandma Huimen Meeting". There is a poem on the wall of the original Xielong Hall, saying: The second dragon raises its head in February, the third mother of the first year returns to the village, and the eight towns come to pay homage, and the wind and rain are good for a good year.
The Four Dragon Kings also took special care of Longtian Village. He not only blessed Longtian Village with good weather and good weather, but also opened a river for Longtian villagers to irrigate their farmland. Because this river was opened by the Four Dragon Kings, and the Four Dragon Kings were a white dragon, the Longtian people called this river "White Dragon River". The Bailong River originates in the mountainous area northeast of Yuci and is a seasonal river that comes from the rainwater that gathers in the mountains during the rainy season. Every time after heavy rain, the Bailong River, which is formed by the rain, will rush down the valley, from the Lijia River to the Shentanggou. After leaving the Shentanggou, the Bailong River will run parallel to the Jianhe, an important river in Yuci. Although they are parallel, the two rivers do not mix, and each has its own waterway, flowing parallel to each other. The spectacle of two rivers flowing at the same time on a riverbed is formed. Villagers in the area around Longtian Village call it "River in the River" or "Hetao River". The Bailong River and the Jianhe River run parallel to the vicinity of Niedian Village in the north of Longtian Village, and the Bailong River rushes out of the riverbed of the Jianhe River and goes straight to Longtian Village.
Every rainy season, Longtian Village will arrange special personnel to guard the Bailong River. When they found that the Bailong River was coming down, the guards would bang the gong to report the news, and shout after the head of the water: "The Bailong River has come down......." ”
As soon as the men of Longtian Village heard the sound of the gong, they would take up their shovels and go down to the ground to water them. Since the water of the Bailong River is formed by rainwater from the mountains, the rainwater will wash the firewood, grass and animal feces from the mountains into the river and bring it to Longtian Village. Therefore, the water of the Bailong River is very fertile, and under the irrigation of the Bailong River, the land of Longtian Village is becoming more and more fertile.
The Bailong River not only benefits the people of Longtian, but also brings convenience to the villages around Longtian. Villagers in the surrounding villages of Longtian Village can also divert water from the Bailong River to irrigate their fields. However, since the Bailong River was opened by the son-in-law of Longtian Village, the Four Dragon Kings, the villagers around Longtian Village reached a consensus: the Bailong River belongs to Longtian Village. Generally, the villagers around Longtian Village will wait for the villagers of Longtian to finish watering the land before they go to divert water from the Bailong River. It is said that this custom has been passed down until the People's Commune period in the sixties and seventies of the last century, when it was still the people of Longtian Village who first brought water from the Bailong River to water the land. After the villagers of Longtian finished watering, the other villages began to water. Moreover, the distribution of water in the Bailong River is in the hands of the cadres of Longtian Village, and whichever village village cadres let water first can be watered first. When the surrounding villages have also watered the land, the remaining water of the Bailong River will pass through Yujia Street in Longtian Village to Shengshou Temple and Wenchang Temple, and then pass through Zhongjie Guojiaqi Cave Temple, Dongmen Temple and Guandi Temple in the west of the village to join the Huanglong River. In conclusion, the Bailong River is a happy river that brings well-being to the local people. For thousands of years, it has never brought disaster to Longtian and the surrounding villages, so the villagers of Longtian and the surrounding villages call the Bailong River a sacred river that enriches the people.
Later, due to changes in the environment, the Bailong River was cut off, and this custom was terminated. Now, due to the expansion of the city, there is no longer a shadow of the Bailong River near Longtian Village. However, in the area of Lijiahe, Shentanggou and Sucun in the northeast of Yuci, the ruins of the Bailong River can also be found. You can also vaguely see the traces of the two rivers flowing together.
Under the protection of the Four Dragon Kings, Longtian Village can be said to be rich and talented. In the history of Longtian Village, there are many people who have passed the Jinshi examination, and there have been many giant businessmen, not to mention the prosperity of the villagers' lives. In Yuci Longtian Village, it is known as "Little Taigu". Yuci people once circulated such a saying: "The millet of Shiti, the carbon of Mingqian." Longtian's children don't need to look at it, men and women are talented. ”
The rich life of Longtian people has attracted both envy and jealousy. Later, whenever Longtian Village rushed to the "Four Dragons Grandma Returning to the Door", things often happened inexplicably. The fire prepared to welcome the Four Dragon Kings and the Four Dragon Grandmothers, before the Four Dragon Kings and the Four Dragon Grandmothers were brought back, they were lit by someone. Fights and brawls at temple fairs are even more commonplace, and in the end, people died. Longtian Village's "Four Dragons Grandma Returning to the Door Meeting" could not be held, and the Longtian people had to sell the meeting period to the neighboring Zhao Village, and the third day of February became a temple fair for Zhao Village. But the people of Longtian Village still want to treat them on this day, in fact, the people of Longtian are still silently grateful in their hearts for the merits made by the Four Dragon Kings and Yu Shuniang for everyone. Therefore, there is a local saying that "Zhao rushes to the meeting, and Longtian treats guests" has been passed down to this day.
As for the custom of worshipping the Four Dragon Kings and Yu Shuniang in Hougou on February 2 every year, Longtian people have been passed down to the present. The villagers of Longtian devoutly guard the tradition, but in fact, they are also guarding their yearning for a better life. So, how did the Four Dragon Kings marry Yu Shuniang as their daughter-in-law? Speaking of this, there is also a moving legend.