It was already two o'clock in the afternoon when the family came out of the restaurant.
At this time, Xiao Hongdou had long lost the excitement he had when he came. He lay on Daya's shoulder and yawned continuously.
Seeing this, Xu Jianguo decided to cancel the afternoon schedule and took everyone back home.
After returning home, everyone simply washed up and went back to their rooms to take a nap.
Xu Jianguo came to the courtyard and found a bamboo rocking chair to sit down.
The afternoon sun shone through a small bamboo forest by the wall, casting patches of light onto the yard. This gave Xu Jianguo a rare opportunity to enjoy this moment of tranquility and leisure. After a short while, he fell asleep to the rocking of the rocking chair.
Due to the development of the times, the city of Gusu became completely quiet after dark, and there were no attractions for people to relax and entertain.
So after dinner, Xu Jianguo and his family just walked along Pingjiang Road, which was paved with bluestone slabs in front of their house, in the moonlight.
Little Hongdou's left hand was held by Erya, and her right hand was held by Funiu. From time to time, she would lift up her two short legs and be carried forward by her two aunts. The backs of the three of them gave people a particularly peaceful and harmonious feeling.
Taking advantage of the fact that there was no one around, Xu Jianguo took out a tripod and SLR camera from the space. After quickly adjusting the aperture, exposure time and other settings, he pressed the shutter button at the backs of the three people.
Fortunately, the moon was bright today, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to take such great photos.
The next morning, after breakfast, the whole family took a car to Hanshan Temple.
Along the way, Little Hongdou excitedly leaned against the car window, watching the streets of the ancient city of Suzhou gradually waking up, babbling non-stop.
The distance from Pingjiang Road to Hanshan Temple is not far, only about ten kilometers, but because the road conditions are really bad, it took everyone nearly half an hour to arrive.
At that time, Hanshan Temple had not yet been rated as a 4A scenic spot, so it looks a bit dilapidated. However, despite this, every blade of grass, every brick and tile in the entire temple gives people a feeling of simplicity and solemnity.
Hanshan Temple was first built during the Tianjian period of Emperor Wu of Liang in the Southern Dynasties when Buddhism was prevalent. It was once named Miaoli Puming Pagoda Courtyard. It was renamed Hanshan Temple in the Tang Dynasty, Puming Zen Temple and Fengqiao Temple in the Song Dynasty. The name Hanshan Temple has been used since the Yuan, Ming, Qing and Republic of China periods.
In the previous few years, Hanshan Temple, as a Buddhist holy place, naturally suffered serious damage. Countless cultural relics were confiscated and staff were dismissed. It was not until the first few years that it gradually recovered and became what it is today.
Hanshan Temple is one of the ten major temples in Longxia Kingdom, and is as famous as White Horse Temple, Lingyin Temple and Shaolin Temple. It is a provincial cultural relic protection unit in Jiangzhou Province.
Hanshan Temple is located in Fengqiao Ancient Town outside Gusu City. The temple is not big, but it is famous for the poems that have been passed down through the ages.
The Feng Bridge in front of the temple spans the ancient Grand Canal. The bridge is paved with bluestone slabs. After years of wear and tear, the slabs have been worn smooth by the footsteps of countless pedestrians.
The water in the canal flows slowly, as if telling a story from thousands of years ago. Occasionally, a small boat passes by on the river, causing ripples.
When the group stepped into Hanshan Temple, the first thing that caught their eyes was the solemn and majestic Main Hall.
The temple is filled with curling incense and the Buddha statues are compassionate and solemn, which makes people feel awe.
The buildings in the temple have been wasted over the years by successive dynasties. The architectural style of the Tang and Song dynasties is no longer common. Most of them are in the style of Ming and Qing dynasties, with flying eaves, brackets, carved beams and painted buildings, showing an ancient charm.
Poems by writers and poets throughout the ages are inscribed on the walls, the most famous of which is undoubtedly Zhang Ji's "Night Mooring at Maple Bridge": "The moon sets, crows cry, frost fills the sky; maples by the river, fishing fires across from me, make me sleep in sorrow. Outside Gusu City, the midnight bell of Hanshan Temple reaches the passenger ship."
The verses seemed to carry a thousand years of melancholy, lingering in every corner of the temple.
Xu Jianguo and his family walked slowly in the temple, feeling the tranquility and sacredness of this thousand-year-old temple.
Daya, Erya and Funiu held hands and discussed in low voices the architecture and culture of the temple.
Wen Sitian and Lele took Xiao Hongdou by the hand, accompanied the little girl to look around, and patiently answered her various strange questions.
After entering the temple, the group simply visited and did not take the initiative to burn incense.
While everyone was immersed in the beauty and culture of Hanshan Temple, Xu Jianguo accidentally met an old monk.
The old monk was wearing a tattered monk's robe, his face was thin and his hair and beard were white. He exuded a peaceful aura from head to toe, especially his eyes, which gave people a feeling of being particularly bright, deep and wise, as if he could see through everything in the world.
The old monk was slightly stunned when he saw Xu Jianguo.
Xu Jianguo naturally noticed him, smiled politely at the old monk, and prepared to leave to continue to enjoy the beautiful scenery in the temple.
Unexpectedly, the old monk put his hands together and bowed slightly to Xu Jianguo.
Upon seeing this, Xu Jianguo hurriedly returned the greeting, but he used the Taoist "bowing gesture", which is what we often call the etiquette of pressing the left hand on the right hand.
Since we mentioned the "bowing gesture", let's say a few more words about it. According to the "Tao Te Ching", the Taoist bowing gesture means that a gentleman values his left hand, a soldier values his right hand, and using military force is inauspicious, so one should cover the right hand with the left hand.
To put it simply, it is to follow the principle of left being up and right being down. In ancient times, the right hand was usually used to hold weapons, which was responsible for killing. Using the left hand to suppress the right hand means harmony.
Of course, there is another saying, that is, when we hold our left hand with our right hand, it is regarded as carrying yin and embracing yang, containing the five elements, pinching the Ziwu secret inside and presenting the Tai Chi diagram outside.
In other words, when people bow, they can think of their hands as a yin-yang pattern.
Regardless of which of the two statements is correct, it can be seen that this is the profound cultural heritage left by our Longxia country's thousands of years of civilization inheritance.
Ask those Western idiots to explain the origins of their cheek kisses and hand kisses, and they won't be able to come up with anything!
After the two of them exchanged greetings, the old monk said to Xu Jianguo with a kind face, "Your family has come to Hanshan Temple. I believe you have a connection with this Buddhist place."
His voice was like the sound of a bell in an ancient temple, ethereal and distant. Even if he stopped talking, the sound seemed to still echo in the air, lingering for a long time.
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