Walk into Quanzhou West Street in the early morning and find a roadside shop. You don’t have to go in. You can sit on the bench under the big sycamore tree at the door and order a bowl of noodles. Remember to ask the boss for an extra portion of fried dough sticks to soak in the crispy fried dough sticks. In the thick noodle soup, the warm aroma instantly fills the whole body after one bite – the morning in Quanzhou has just begun.
There is no need to get up in a hurry and watch the vendors opening the doors of the shops along the street, taking out all kinds of pastries and fried foods, and placing them neatly one by one, ready for the day's business. The rich bells of Kaiyuan Temple, passing through the lush trees, and the early morning cries together form the best sketch of the ancient city of Quanzhou.
Half city of fireworks and half city of immortals, it really deserves its reputation.
Chengtian Temple
The starting point of the Maritime Silk Road
Quanzhou, this city was known as the largest port in the East during the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Its name is "Citong Port", which is comparable to Alexandria in Egypt. As the only "starting point of the Maritime Silk Road" recognized by the United Nations, ancient Quanzhou had shipping and trade with nearly a hundred countries and regions at that time, and imported more than 330 types of goods. A large number of merchants from Europe, Arabia, Persia, India and other places came carrying special products from their respective countries. Spices, medicinal materials, and jewelry were exchanged for silk, ceramics, tea and other Chinese goods, and merchant ships plied the oceans, which was a prosperous period.
Kaiyuan Temple
The traveler Marco Polo called it the "City of Light", and specifically recorded the trade gains of Quanzhou Port at that time in his travel notes, which is enough to give a glimpse of the prosperity of Quanzhou, a world-class seaport city, where "traders from all over the world amidst the sound of rising seas" . As businessmen, travelers, and missionaries from all over the country settled in Quanzhou, a social scene of "people from all over the world" gradually formed. Their arrival also brought different cultures, customs and beliefs, and the tolerance of Quanzhou World Seaport provided good soil for cultural growth.
Dozens of religions, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, fetishism, Buddhism, and Taoism, slowly blend and coexist with local beliefs here. There is a temple every five steps and a temple every ten steps. Quanzhou has gradually become an open, tolerant, and diverse city, and is now known as the "Land of the Gods."
Quanzhou Confucian Temple
Dotted with temples and halls
The best way to explore the ancient city of Quanzhou is on foot. Starting from West Street in the early morning, we go to the popular Kaiyuan Temple and pass through the lively Xiaoxicheng. The white bell tower stands in the middle of the intersection. In the afternoon, I took a walk to the Confucian Temple, and after turning a few lanes, I found the Qingjing Temple, next door was the Guandi Temple, and further on I found the Tianhou Temple. In this ancient city covering an area of 6.41 square kilometers, Chinese-style ancient houses and Nanyang arcades are intertwined, and alleys and dwellings are dotted with temples and temples. It is the most densely distributed area of Quanzhou's world intangible heritage.
Kaiyuan Temple is the largest existing Buddhist temple in Fujian. Since the temple was founded in 686 AD, it has undergone successive expansions to form its current layout. When you walk into this thousand-year-old temple, the first thing you notice is not the majestic and majestic buildings, but the ancient banyan trees that fill the courtyard. These ancient banyan trees that have survived for hundreds of thousands of years seem to have some kind of calming power. Huge aerial roots hang down from the trunks, and the dense canopy occupies almost half of the yard, instantly attracting everyone in the yard. Shrouded in its aura, and creating a certain inner sense of tranquility, perhaps thousands of years of chanting have also remained in their roots.
Quanzhou Food
The main hall has nine entrances and nine bays, and is dedicated to the five Buddhas. The Xumizuo on the platform in front of the hall is carved with a Hindu sphinx, and the two pillars in the back eaves of the hall are Hindu stone pillars carved from diabase. The East Pagoda Zhenguo Pagoda and the West Pagoda Renshou Pagoda are both five-story octagonal stone pavilion-style towers. There are giant Buddhist reliefs on each side of the tower. In addition to Chinese Buddhism, the decorative style of Indian Buddhism can also be clearly seen. This architectural form that integrates religion and art is also a major feature of Quanzhou temples. Master Hongyi Li Shutong passed away here, so a memorial hall for Master Hongyi was specially set up in the temple.
You must also visit the Confucian Temple, which is a Confucian sacrificial place and the highest-level educational institution in Quanzhou. The Confucian Temple was founded in 976 AD and took nearly 200 years to reach its current size. The entire building complex faces south, with the Education Palace on the left and the Confucian sacrificial building on the right. What comes into view after entering the gate is the huge carp pond. Crossing the stone bridge, directly opposite is the Dacheng Hall. The glazed bricks and dragon paintings outside the hall, and the tall and majestic hall inside all show the importance Quanzhou attached to education and culture at that time. Prosperity and abundance brought about by maritime trade. Along the side halls on both sides, the architectural development history of the entire Quanzhou Confucian Temple and the ancient city is displayed in detail.
Kaiyuan Temple
Another temple that must be mentioned is Qingjing Temple. You can guess just by listening to the name. It is not a Buddhist temple, but a serious mosque. As the largest mosque along the coast of China, the Qingjing Temple, formerly known as "Masjidal-Ashab", was built in 1009 and is the earliest Islamic temple in Quanzhou. The overall building cleverly combines Islamic and ancient Chinese architectural styles. From the outside, it looks like a tall marble gatehouse and chapel. After entering, you can get a glimpse of the living conditions of ancient Quanzhou in the remaining stone tablets, and the harmonious integration of foreigners and locals.
Thick smell of fireworks
If the temple most relevant to modern Quanzhou people is the Guandi Temple next door to Qingjing Temple, there is another temple with a completely different belief system less than 100 meters away. In the hearts of coastal people, Guan Gong responds to all requests. Whether it is business, marriage, or illness, incense can be used for divination. During the Lunar Festival, the Guandi Temple is overcrowded and the incense is at its peak. It receives hundreds of thousands of people every year. Under the modern development, many interesting ways of praying have appeared in Guandi Temple, such as electronic incense burning and lighting wax. Walking through various large and small halls, watching people praying for blessings in traditional or modern ways, I suddenly felt that this The city has a strong smell of fireworks.
bell tower
In such an ancient city, modernity and antiquity, commerce and culture, faith and life have almost penetrated into everyone's life. Various cultural beliefs have found their own way of existence in Quanzhou.
Half city of fireworks and half city of fairyland, Quanzhou, an open and tolerant city, is always full of attractions.
