Have you ever been to Langshan Longtou Cliff to touch the dragon's head?
In front of the viewing platform of the main peak of the octagonal village of Langshan, the right hand side is the legendary immortal chess place, and the left hand is the dragon head incense. "Longtou incense" and "immortals playing chess" are the two corners in the octagonal village, like wings about to fly. The cliff wall stands, shaped like a sharp sword, smooth and perpendicular to the foot of the mountain, the relative height is more than 300 meters, and the rock face is steep and narrow.
What is dragon head incense? There are two sayings: one refers to the incense on the 12 o'clock evening of the Chinese New Year's Eve, that is, the first incense of the new year, which means prosperity, wealth and good luck; The second refers to burning incense on the temples located on the top of the mountains or on the cliffs that resemble the dragon's head. This is extremely challenging for the burner, but there is a rumor that the higher the mountain, the more dangerous it is, the better the incense will be. I don't know if this statement is true or not, but it seems that some people believe it anyway.
Octagonal Zhai Longtou incense is one of the two most famous "dragon head incense" in the country, and the other is in Wudang Mountain, Hubei. The dragon head incense in these two places is a Taoist holy place, and it has become a famous cultural landscape. Wudang Mountain dragon head incense is known as "the first incense in the world" because of its profound historical heritage and cultural heritage, as well as myths and legends. However, at present, the dragon head incense of Wudang Mountain is far inferior to the dragon head incense of the octagonal village, and the name of the first in the world has long been unworthy of the name, whether it is the degree of thrill, or the ornamental is far inferior to the dragon head incense of the octagonal village.
Hunan Octagonal Village dragon head incense seems to be coming from behind. Wudang Mountain Longtou Incense Because during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, because some incense burners unfortunately fell to death, Kangxi ordered to prohibit the people from spontaneously going to Wudang Mountain Longtou Incense to burn incense. The dragon head incense of the octagonal village, there are often people who burn incense to go devoutly. The villagers of the nearby Shili Eight Village have burned incense on the faucet. Incense burners include both young and middle-aged people and old people.
At the end of the dragon head of the octagonal village is the cliff cliff, a boulder extends out, lives like a dragon head, is born out of nowhere, raises its head, and makes a volley to fly. Connecting the sky above, facing the abyss below, the tiger stands on the dragon plate, which is magnificent. From the east side of the main peak, there is a 45-degree inclined path down to the dragon's head incense dragon spine, from the south to the northeast, there is a section of more than 10 meters long, only 40 centimeters wide road, go to the small temple to burn incense are like walking on thin ice, every step forward, it seems to be only promised. Because of the steepness of the road, the locals describe it as "fairy road", which means a road that only immortals can walk.
The small temple of dragon head incense, some people say that it is "Guanyin Temple". Legend has it that during the Ming Dynasty, a rare plague occurred in Hunan, and the people fled one after another. Suddenly, one day, a hut appeared on the Longtou Cliff, and an old woman used a clay pot to boil a decoction and distribute it to the local people. It's strange to say, after eating the old woman's decoction, it will get better soon. Gradually, the epidemic also disappeared.
Soon after, the hut on the cliff was gone, and the old woman disappeared without a trace. People speculate that Guanyin Bodhisattva must have incarnated to save the suffering and save the suffering, collected herbs here, boiled them into a decoction, and rescued the victims. Later, the local people built a small temple here.
Because the Yuntai Temple is a Taoist holy place just a stone's throw away, this small temple does not hang the name of "Guanyin Temple", nor does it hold any activities, but it is just left to the people to remember in their hearts.
But there is also a saying that this small temple is the Magu Temple. It is reminiscent of the ancient mythological Shouxian Niangniang - Magu, and also complements the Yuntai Temple in the Taoist holy land. However, this Magu is not another Magu. This temple is to commemorate a local woman named Magu, who was buried in this cliff because she resolutely resisted the forced marriage of the bandit leader on the octagonal village. Therefore, this Magu temple has nothing to do with Buddhism and Taoism.
The horn of the dragon head incense is as long as 99 meters, like a giant dragon standing tall, the sky is connected to the sky, the abyss is below, there is a Magu temple built on the narrow platform at its end, the lonely peak is towering, if the tourists from afar do not approach, it is difficult to find. I don't know when, a high flagpole was erected on the Longtou Cliff, and the national flag was tied to it. The national flag fluttering in the wind pierces the clouds and is very eye-catching.
Climb up the dragon head cliff, the dragon head cliff towers from the ground, steep and abnormal! "It will be the top of the mountain, and you can see the mountains at a glance." Standing on the cliff of the dragon's head, crawling at the foot of thousands of mountains and mountains, I suddenly felt a sense of anger. Fairy feet, stone alleys, conch peaks, seven ditches, eight ridges, nine ravines and ten peaks, far and near scenic spots are in full view.
After learning about the two different origins of Guanyin Temple, tourists from afar all sighed at Guanyin's merits in disaster relief, how selfless and obscure; Everyone sighed with emotion that Magu, who died here, was so righteous and willing to sacrifice her life for righteousness ......I also feel that the local people will build such a monumental temple on such a cliff.
How many years have passed, whether it is the story of Guanyin to eliminate the epidemic and help the victims, or the story of Magu dying under the cliff because of resisting the forced marriage of the bandit, it has now become the deepest memory in the hearts of the locals. With the success of Langshan's application for World Heritage Status, this small temple on Longtou Cliff has gradually radiated unprecedented humanistic vitality.