Temple of the Goddess of the Nine Heavens

Temple of the Goddess of the Nine Heavens

The Temple of the Goddess of the Nine Heavens is a cultural tourism attraction.

Temple of the Goddess of the Nine Heavens

On the east bank of the Songhe River, north of Kuangmiao Sucun Village, there stands a temple locally known as the "Goddess Temple" or "Kuangmiao." This is the "Temple of the Goddess of the Nine Heavens," where Song Jiang received the three celestial scrolls.

The Goddess of the Nine Heavens, also called simply the Goddess, is a legendary goddess in ancient Chinese mythology and the mentor of the Yellow Emperor. She was later worshipped in Taoism. She wears a robe of nine colors, rides a phoenix, and travels on colored clouds, dedicated to supporting heroes and teaching military strategy.

The origins of the Goddess’s temple are unknown, but at its peak, it covered over forty acres. It featured a theater stage, bell tower, and mountain gate at the front; the Hall of the Goddess of the Nine Heavens and the Hall of the Nine Maidens in the middle; and the Ancestral Hall and Jade Emperor Pavilion at the back. The temple was grand in scale and highly popular. Inside, there was a very peculiar well whose water from each corner had a different taste—salty, sweet, bitter, and astringent—each said to cure different ailments. Because the well was exceptionally large, locals called it the "Half-Acre Well."

Back when Song Jiang was on his way back to Songjia Village to move his father up to Liangshan, he was chased by soldiers. He arrived at Huidaocun, where there was only a small path and seemingly no place to escape. In desperation, he dashed into a dilapidated three-room temple. But the temple was too small to hide in, so he lifted the sacred curtain and crawled into the shrine cabinet. When the soldiers burst in, holding torches and shining them into the cabinet, Song Jiang’s life seemed in grave danger, and he trembled with fear. Suddenly, a black wind blew out of the cabinet, extinguishing the torches and sending the soldiers fleeing in terror, crying for their parents. Song Jiang said, “Thank you, deities, for your protection. I, Song Jiang, will surely rebuild this temple and restore the statues.” Just then, someone called out, “Marshal Song, Her Majesty the Goddess invites you.” Song Jiang peeked out and saw two maidens in green, so he followed them to the back of the hall. There, he discovered a hidden paradise. A stone path led through towering pine trees, with exotic flowers and plants by the stream, willows and peach blossoms in vibrant colors, and lush bamboo and murmuring streams under the bridge. Song Jiang was secretly amazed: having been in Yuncheng for so long, how had he not known of such a wonderful place? Going further, he suddenly saw a grand hall brightly lit, with maidens in green on both sides. The Goddess of the Nine Heavens sat solemnly on a seven-treasure, nine-dragon bed. Song Jiang quickly bowed. The Goddess offered him three cups of wine and had him eat three immortal jujubes, saying, “By order of the Jade Emperor, I pass on to you the three celestial scrolls. May you uphold justice, assist the nation, and protect the people.” Song Jiang bowed again and withdrew. Upon reaching the bridge, the maiden said, “Look, there are two dragons under the bridge.” Song Jiang peered down and indeed saw two dragons playing in the water. Suddenly, the maiden pushed Song Jiang off the bridge. He let out a scream and woke up, only to find himself still inside the shrine cabinet—it had all been a dream. Yet, there was a faint scent of wine in his mouth, three jujube pits in his hand, and, upon checking his sleeve, he found the three celestial scrolls.

Later, Song Jiang rebuilt the temple according to his dream and enshrined a pair of nine-dragon jade cups in the hall. The stone couplet in front of the hall was personally inscribed by Song Jiang. Legend has it that after the failure of the Liangshan uprising, the miracle doctor An Daoquan became a monk in this temple. Since then, the monks and Taoists here practiced martial arts and medicine, forming a tradition of the Goddess Temple. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the abbot Faxing could still crawl upside down up to the Jade Emperor Pavilion. He had two disciples: the elder disciple Yuan Bin once, on a night in 1928, noticed blue flames emerging in front of the Goddess Hall. He dug up the two nine-dragon jade cups there and secretly sold them in Jinan. When his master found out, he beat him half to death. After that, the jade cups disappeared without a trace, and the Goddess Temple also declined. The younger disciple, Yuan Shan, was an expert in medicine and a renowned surgeon far and wide. He continued to practice medicine among the people until his death in 1963.