Henji Temple

Henji Temple

In He'an Village, Maji Township, about forty-five li west of Mengcheng County, there stands an ancient temple called Henji Temple. For hundreds of years, it has enjoyed great fame in counties such as Wo, Meng, and Bo. Starting from mid-February in the lunar calendar each year, people of all ages and from all walks of life within dozens or even hundreds of li flock here. Although this day is often overcast more than sunny, sometimes dusty, and sometimes rainy, it hardly shakes people’s determination to witness the grand temple fair. At its peak, tens of thousands attend. Within a two-kilometer radius around the temple grounds, the area is bustling with crowds, the sound of suonas, firecrackers, incense smoke, and noisy chatter. The ancient temple, dormant for a year, suddenly comes alive.

According to the Shouzhou Annals from the Ming Dynasty's Jiajing era and the Mengcheng County Annals from the early Republican period, “Henji Temple is located forty li west of Meng County, with the temple fair held on the 29th.” This shows that the temple was built at least as early as the Ming Dynasty. Folklore has it that one year on the 29th day of the lunar calendar, an elegant henjī (also known as a pheasant) appeared here. Local villagers said it was an auspicious spot, so they pooled money to build a three-room temple. Inside, statues of the Three Goddesses — Jinxiao, Yuxiao, and Qiongxiao — were enshrined. Locals referred to them as the Three Grandmothers, and nuns were assigned to guard the temple. Since then, every year on the 29th day of the second lunar month, people have come to burn incense, and thus the temple got its name, Henji Temple. This day also became the date of the temple fair. Later, monks took over the duty of guarding the temple.

In the old days, with low levels of education, people did not understand that having a son or daughter is a normal physiological phenomenon, lacking scientific knowledge, and thus pinned their hopes of having a son on the deities. Initially, people attended the temple fair to burn incense and pray for peace. Later, some who had no sons but wanted one would go there devoutly to pray to the gods for a child. When someone was lucky enough to have a son, they believed it was the “Three Grandmothers” showing their power. These families would return year after year to burn incense and fulfill their vows — a practice commonly referred to as “tying a son.” To ensure the child’s safety, based on the twelve zodiac animals, on the temple fair date twelve years later, families would hire musicians, invite relatives and friends, and bring incense, firecrackers, and other offerings to worship. The father would carry a sachet on his back, the boy would wear a red ribbon, and both would stand on a large square table. Friends and relatives would carry colorfully decorated dragon-and-phoenix flagpoles over four or five meters tall and as thick as a small bowl, with square banners hanging from them, creating a lively scene of reds and greens. Along the way, music led the procession, with the new parent at the center, followed by relatives and friends, all holding small multicolored flags inscribed with the words “Pilgrimage to Offer Incense,” a custom known as “Sweeping the Temple” or “Erecting the Flagpole.” Thanks to these colorful traditions, Henji Temple became widely renowned for “tying a son.” For over five hundred years from the Ming and Qing dynasties to the present, the annual temple fair has seen flourishing incense offerings.

Over the past hundred years, Henji Temple has endured many wars and disasters, but whenever it was damaged, people repaired it. According to a stone tablet preserved in Jizhuang Village of He'an Village, in 1925 (the 14th year of the Republic of China), Ma Youtang, the nephew of Ma Yukun — a famed general from the late Qing Dynasty — along with Feng Kelong, the head of Maji Market, and 684 other families donated funds to renovate Henji Temple. They built a main hall three rooms wide, four meters high, and five meters across, and three side rooms in the west corridor. The structure featured upturned eaves, carved beams, and painted rafters, making it a spectacular sight. In the center of the main hall, the statues of the Three Grandmothers were rebuilt, with each cradling golden clay babies with distinct expressions. The four walls of the hall were painted with images of the Heavenly Generals and Earthly Fiends, distributed around the babies. After liberation, to eliminate superstition, the statues were removed, and a primary school was built there. Later, when the school was relocated, villagers donated money to renovate the temple again, rebuilding the statues in the main hall and planting pine and cypress trees throughout the courtyard.

In recent years, with the development of the rural economy and the improvement in people’s material and cultural standards, the practice of “tying a son” and incense burning has gradually declined. The once grand incense-centered temple fair has slowly transformed into a springtime cultural and material exchange event for working people, as well as an annual trade fair.