Qian Yucheng

In addition to the snake-related place name of the snake gate in the ancient city of Suzhou, there is also a snake king temple that was widely worshiped by believers in the Ming and Qing dynasties. During the Daoxian period of the Qing Dynasty, the Suzhou literati Gu Lu mentioned in the "Qing Jialu": "(April) 12th is the birthday of the snake king, and the pilgrims gather in the temple in Loumen. ”

The original site of the Snake King Temple is located near Loumen, and there is no examination of the age of the first construction, and there are relevant records in the middle and late Ming Dynasty at the latest. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Qian Xiyan, a native of Suzhou, contained in the "Snake King" chapter in his "Snake Garden" that "in the Loumen in the east of Suzhou City, there was the old Snake King Temple", and then "I don't know who abandoned the temple today", indicating that this temple existed before Wanli, but it was abolished in the late Ming Dynasty. In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, there were relevant records of the Snake King Temple, and Qian Siyuan, a native of Suzhou in the Qianjia period, said in the "Wumen Supplement": "The Snake King Temple is in Loumen, and the city is near the water. The contemporary "Pingjiang District Chronicle" also contains that the Snake King Temple is "at the foot of the original Loumen City, south of the Water City Gate, and the place name is Snake Pier".

There are three theories about the object of worship and the purpose of prayer at the Snake King Temple. One theory is that the temple is dedicated to the snake general. Since there are many frog catchers outside the nearby city, they stand to prevent snake bites and protect the frog catcher. According to the Ming Dynasty's "Fox Garden": "There are hundreds of frog fishing boats outside the gate all the year round, each boat holds a short green bamboo pole, and the wine paper horse comes to offer." After the dedication, go back to it. Use this pole to open the way every night, and all python poison can catch frogs without trouble. Yuan Xuelan of the Qing Dynasty also said that because people want to go to the Snake King Temple to pray to stay away from snake venom, "the Taoist takes the meaning as a match, bends its shape, stereotypes it, and gives it to pilgrims, and returns to the sticky households, and Yun can stay away from snake venom", especially "fishermen and frog catchers are especially good". Another theory is that the object of worship in the snake king temple is the filial piety of Fang in the early Ming Dynasty, and it is worshiped because of its loyalty and martyrdom. Guo Zeyun at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China said in "Cave Spirit Xiaozhi": "The snake king is Mr. Ming Fangzhengxue." According to legend, after Fang's murder was reburied, because of the snake's cover, it was not corrupted, and the people of the time respected his loyalty and martyrdom and regarded him as the snake king. There is also a theory that the worship of the snake king is to pray for no rain during the wheat harvest season and for a good harvest. As the cloud in "Qing Jialu": "People think that the rain is the main bad wheat, and it is said that the sun is a snake, and the wheat harvest is afraid of rain, and there is this saying." "Wu Jun Sui Hua Ji Li" also explains the origin of the snake king in April, "April is the moon, and the snake is the snake". In Cai Yun's "Wu Xiao" of the Qing Dynasty, there is a cloud "The moon snake position wheat appears, and the Japanese snake is born to test the rain".

The architectural pattern and sacrificial scenes of the Snake King Temple are also recorded in the materials of each period. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the snake king temple is built by "attaching the city to the water", and the letter is mainly based on the frog catcher, "each boat holds a short green bamboo pole, and the wine paper horse comes to offer". In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the Snake King Temple was described in the "Wumen Supplemental Ride": "The negative city is near the water, and the Jie Pavilion is majestic, which is similar to the Biling Boat Pavilion. The front hall is a snake general, and the snake ears are fake. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, it was still the scene of "pilgrims gathered in the temple of Loumen, Jie Pavilion negative city, high window near the water". According to the record of "Pingjiang District Chronicle", the snake king temple was rebuilt in the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1888), "between the pillars of the original main hall, it is full of large and small plastic snakes, and the forms are different." At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, this temple was under the management of the Guandi Temple on Northeast Street. It is worth noting that at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the congregation tended to be more diverse, and the gentry also joined the prayer crowd. Suzhou amateur composer Lu Zonghuang recorded in his "Supplement the New Day" that he also went to the Snake King Temple on behalf of his uncle on the first day of February in the 14th year of Guangxu (0). At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Jinshi Guo Zeyun published in the thirties of the last century in the "Dongling Xiaozhi" on the Loumen Snake King Temple has a detailed description, "its temple negative city facing the river, the ancient trees are around, the list is called the Snake King Ancient Temple, and it is also called the Lingzhu Temple." The wall is embedded with remnants, which have been peeled away". The text also makes a vivid description of the statues and furnishings in the temple, and also mentions that there is a portrait of Fang Xiaoru in another room on the right side of the temple. Judging from the detailed description, it is very likely that he himself visited the Temple of the Serpent King. In the thirties of the last century, the Snake King Temple, on the 12th day of April of the lunar calendar, was still a crowded scene. At that time, there was an article in the "Suzhou Ming Pao" entitled "Snake King Temple Tour", which described the lively scene when the people were crowded, "The cigarettes filled the room. The candles were too late to be lit, so they had to be thrown into the cupola." Until the Anti-Japanese War, because this place was once set as a warning area, the statue of the snake king was moved to the Guandi Temple. Since then, the original Loumen Snake King Temple site has gradually been neglected and demolished in the sixties of the last century.