Baihe Temple and Partridge Ridge

Baihe Temple and Partridge Ridge

Legend has it that Baihe Lake is where the Yangmei Stream from Bai Zhu and the Pearl River tributary from Xinqiao converge. Reeds grow thickly along the lakeshore, and two small earthen mounds in the lake have long been home to colonies of resident egrets. During peak seasons, the egrets play on the lake, turning the water surface white, hence the name Baihe Lake. During the Yongle era (1403–1424), most of the lake was turned into fertile farmland after a new river embankment was built. Later, local villagers built another mound in “San Yu Wang” Pond for the egrets to inhabit, and it was publicly agreed that no one should hunt them. Until the early days of liberation, people could still see flocks of egrets nesting on this mound, which originally came from Baihe Lake.

During the Jingyou era (1034–1037) of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, Taoism was highly respected, and many famous mountains had Taoist temples built on them. At that time, the Qingyun Temple on the northern foothills of Lingyang Gorge in Zhaoqing sent its chief disciple, Taoist Master Zhihui, to build a temple on an unnamed ridge by the lake. The temple faces south and takes its name from the adjacent lake, thus called Baihe (White Egret) Temple. Taoist Master Zhihui noticed that the ridge resembled a partridge egg, so he named it Partridge Ridge.

The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty were very cruel to the people. During the Zhizheng era (1341–1368) of Emperor Shundi, people across the land rose up against the Yuan. In Gaoyao’s Baitu, Xia Jie and others led a rebellion, and the Yuan rulers retaliated harshly against the populace. To save their lives, many law-abiding citizens sought out remote and desolate areas to hide from Yuan patrols. Since temples and nunneries were still exempt from corvée labor at the time, some joined the monastic registers. Due to the chaos of the era and lack of donations, temples and monasteries struggled financially, so they began recruiting law-abiding locals to reduce their “monastic tax and grain” burdens. Among those who joined the Baihe Temple register were ten individuals from ten surnames: Ou, Li, Li, Chen, Lü, Xu, Mo, Mai, Deng (i.e., Deng Yuanda), and Bai. They cultivated the fields around Baihe Lake and the land on the ridge under the temple register to make a living.

Among them was a Deng named Yuanda, originally named Deng Rusheng, courtesy name Zhongyuan, with two uncles: Deng Ruhong, courtesy name Zhongwei, and Deng Ruoxian, courtesy name Zhongda. The three brothers were the sixth generation descendants of Cai Fu Gong, the founding ancestor of the Gaoyao Deng clan (a great-great-grandson of Deng Min, a Song Dynasty scholar-official, who had migrated from Sanshui’s Baimi to Rong County in Gaoyao). They originally lived on Daqiangan in Sililidagan, Baizu (now Dengkeng). Rusheng, the eldest, fled first to Xinjiao’s Partridge Ridge in Rong County, assumed the alias Yuanda, joined the Baihe Temple register, and after leaving the register, settled by the large well on the ridge, becoming the founding ancestor. Ruhong moved to Changshan in the early Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), then relocated to Ketang Village across from Partridge Ridge (now part of Xinjiang No. 2 Administrative Zone, Ma’an Town) and became its founding ancestor. Ruoxian, around the fourth year of the Zhizheng era (1344), fled with his wife Luo and newborn son Yiqing to the wilderness of Huangniqu (local name) in Xinjiao, hiding there for over twenty years. Yiqing grew up in hardship during their flight, developing a diligent and hardworking character. As he matured, he became diligent and handsome, catching the eye of a widowed small landlady from Butang Village nearby. The widow admired him and was willing to marry her only daughter, Liao, to him. In the 22nd year of Zhizheng, Yiqing married, and on the eighth day of the third lunar month in the 24th year, they had a son named Bin. In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, taking the reign title Hongwu, and encouraged the people to engage in production. People in hiding emerged to resettle and rebuild their lives. In the second year of Hongwu (1368), with support from his mother-in-law, Yiqing and his family moved to settle east of Partridge Ridge. Thus, the ridge gained another permanent resident. Yiqing’s mother-in-law, who had remained chaste after her husband died in middle age, also relocated from Butang Village to live with her son-in-law after he moved to the ridge. After her passing, she was buried at Dapoitou. Later, the eastern branch of the Deng clan referred to her tomb as “Popo Tomb.” Before liberation, people would visit it during Qingming Festival. The ancestral Deng clan once had a rental field called “Popodi Field,” which was part of her legacy.

By the mid-Ming Dynasty (for various reasons), the households of different surnames on Partridge Ridge left the temple register. Except for the two Deng households and some Bai families, they successively moved elsewhere to make a living. The remaining Bai family members had merged into the Deng Yuanda lineage by the late Qing Dynasty and adopted the Deng surname. From then on, the ridge, originally home to eleven households of ten surnames, had only the descendants of one surname’s two major households (Yuanda and Ruoxian). In the second year of the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty (1663), a fire destroyed the entire temple when the abbot was away and a young Taoist apprentice accidentally set it ablaze. Thereafter, all the Taoists dispersed to other temples.

In the fifth year of the Longqing era of the Ming Dynasty (1571), officers from the Gaoyao County government arrived at Partridge Ridge with a writ from the prefecture demanding unpaid labor taxes. Zhu Yuan, the eighth-generation ancestor of the Deng clan in the east of the ridge and serving as the household head (responsible for paying taxes and corvée labor on behalf of several households), argued that he had already paid the taxes—why were they being demanded again? The officers insisted on enforcing the writ. Despite Zhu Yuan’s explanations, he was taken to the county government. The Deng clan was immediately outraged. The next day, Banfeng Gong (a local gentry), recommended by the clan, went to the county government and presented proof of payment. The county magistrate claimed it was the prefecture’s order and suggested appealing to the prefecture. Upon investigation, it was found that the name on the writ lacked a surname—the county officers had mistakenly confused Partridge Ridge with Partridge Pit, and the actual debtor was a He-surname person named Zhu Yuan from Partridge Pit in Xinjiao. The incident alarmed the prefectural governor, who ordered the county government to release the man and invited the two Deng representatives (Banfeng Gong and Zhu Yuan Gong) for a discussion. Slightly apologetic, the governor mentioned how the mix-up arose from having both a “ridge” and a “pit” named Partridge in the same region and proposed renaming one of the places to avoid future confusion. The two Deng gentlemen agreed and asked the governor to suggest a new name. The governor improvised a line: “Denglin towers a hundred zhang high,” and asked if it could be used as the new name. Banfeng Gong, recognizing the reference to the “Kuafu Chasing the Sun” legend in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, nodded in approval. Back in the village, Banfeng Gong shared the governor’s suggestion, and everyone agreed it was fitting. A petition was submitted to the county government for approval, and the name change was granted. From then on, Partridge Ridge was renamed Baizhang Village (today’s Xinjiang No. 1 Village, Xinjiang No. 1 Administrative Zone, Ma’an Town).

Though “Baizhang” (Hundred Zhang) was a meaningful name, outsiders who didn’t understand its significance began falsely claiming to be from Baizhang Village. By the late Qing Dynasty (1911), neighboring villages began calling it “Baizhang,” leading to the saying “Thirteen Villages of Baizhang.” The name “Baizhang” carries deep meaning, rooted in the origins of the Deng clan and the symbolism of the character “Deng” (邓). Legend says it was passed down from the Yellow Emperor to Wuding, who, in honor of his uncle Man’s selfless regency and virtuous rule, ennobled him as the Marquis of Deng State, granting him a fief in Xin Ye, Hebei (north of the Han River, now Deng County in Nanyang, Henan). The Man descendants took the state name as their surname. Thus, the character “Deng” connotes lofty illumination. Later scholars extended this to phrases like “Denglin” (邓林, a vast mythical forest), “Dengjun” (邓君, an upright gentleman), and “Dengshi” (邓事, an honorable deed). In the phrase “Denglin towers a hundred zhang high,” “Denglin” refers to the ancient mythological forest—a bountiful grove for humanity’s welfare; “a hundred zhang high” describes the forest’s grandeur and its role as a blessed land.