Chapter 47 of Volume 1: Worshiping the Gods

  Thank you for the reward from Chang Chong Super Car! Once again, I ask everyone to collect and recommend! Thank you!

  The next day, Second Aunt killed a chicken, cooked it whole and had Chu Jiaqiang go with his second uncle to worship the gods. They brought along incense, firecrackers and other things, Ye Caipeng felt fresh and also went along.

  Today, mainly to worship the three gods of Bai San Road. First, I went to the temple in the village, where the gods are enshrined. In the south, almost every village has a temple, but there are no monks or nuns, and the management is simply handled by villagers who have been elected. Moreover, the deities worshipped inside are not the Buddha, but rather He Xian Gu, Yu Huang Da Di, Wen Shen Wu Guan, etc.

  Secondly, it is the local land god, and finally, it is the river god. In fact, the river god is not very popular in the south, and few people worship the river god, but Chujia Village is an exception, as the entire village was moved from the Yellow River region in northern China.

  When they arrived at the temple, Ye Caiping was puzzled. Chu Jiaqiang smiled and understood what she was thinking: "Although rural areas may be poorer, they won't be poor to the point of temples."

  The Chu family village may not have a single building, but the temple is quite impressive. Although it can't be described as magnificent, it's absolutely ancient and simple. The statues inside are all carved from camphor trees. When Chu Jiaqiang was still young, everyone in the village chipped in to bring back several large tree trunks from afar, each requiring two people to hug. They also invited a famous sculptor from far and wide, and after more than half a year, this project was finally completed.

  The exterior of the statue is also decorated with many gold and silver ornaments, even jewels. Chu Jiaqiang also knew that each statue had a lot hidden inside. Of course, these gold, silver, and jewels were not very valuable.

  The inner wall of the temple has exquisite murals and various fonts of hymns. When this temple was first built, it mobilized the manpower and resources of the entire village. The villagers are relatively superstitious, and they don't mind spending money on it at all.

  The construction of the temple is also very particular, first of all, the feng shui must be good, its orientation is generally opposite to that of our houses. Our houses are usually facing downstream, representing smooth sailing. The temple, on the other hand, faces upstream and is often built at the entrance of the village, so the great god inside can take care of the villagers at all times.

  The structure of the temple has three main parts: base, body and roof. The base is very important in domestic architecture. The so-called base includes the entire space: from the ground to the platform and including the railing and steps. Sometimes the platform has two or three layers, making the main building on the platform stand out in shape and form.

  The Temple of Heaven in the capital is a typical example, with three-tiered terraces and balustrades unfolding upwards. Another important function of the base is to enhance the unique personality of the building's main body, usually expressed by the height of the base and platform to show the nobility and status of the building.

  The factors of the domestic temple's wooden structure: the pillars, tie beams, main beams, transverse beams and supporting pillars are all exposed. Rows of pillars connected to the main beam and tie beam support the roof, on top of which tiles are laid, and then bricks are filled in between the pillars to form walls, building the concept of domestic architecture.

  The temple is not big, but it should have some. In the corner there are copper cymbals, a big drum and morning bells. The copper cymbal is rarely hit, the temple is managed by an elderly widow in the village, every day is sweeping the temple, tidying up things inside the temple. At the same time, there is also a very important task, that is to beat the bell and drum, generally ringing the bell in the morning, beating the drum at dusk, which is the morning bell and evening drum.

  "Hey! Shengmin, you're here to burn incense today! Something big is happening at home?" Chu Xianke, the temple manager, smiled and said.

  "Hehe! Brother Ke is going to smoke a cigarette first, and then we'll start building the bridge at the reservoir today. I've come to inform the gods so that the project will go smoothly." Second Uncle immediately took out a pack of cigarettes and gave one to the old man.

  Chu's family was also busy greeting the old man, whose prestige in the village ranked third due to his special identity as a result of the temple. He was very welcome. It makes sense that this old man is equivalent to the messenger of the gods in the temple, how can he not be welcomed?

  The old man didn't decline, took it and said: "That's right, with the blessing of the gods, this bridge building will definitely go smoothly. Alright, I won't bother you, busy yourselves!"

  "Come on, Jiaqiang, burn some incense." Second Uncle brought out the cooked chicken, a piece of pork, and several apples. Then, he also took out tea and wine, and poured them into the cups on the table.

  Chu Jiaqiang didn't hesitate and immediately opened the newly bought incense on horseback.

  Ye Cai-ping dragged Chu Jia-wen around to look at everything, especially the murals and inscriptions on both sides.

  Burning incense originally referred to an ancient ritual of worshiping gods and Buddhas. During the ceremony, incense was lit and placed in a censer to show respect. Sometimes, burning incense was done to appreciate its fragrance. In modern society, burning incense is used metaphorically to describe seeking favors from others by treating them to meals or giving gifts.

  Burning incense is a major event in Chinese folk life, with three notable features: Firstly, it is universal, Han people burn incense, and the vast majority of ethnic minorities also burn incense, from south to north, from east to west, almost everywhere.

  Secondly, it has a long history. The existing documents "Book of Songs" and "Book of History" have records, so its origin must be earlier than the era of poetry and books, that is, the Western Zhou Dynasty.

  Three is popularity, almost everything needs to be incense: ancestors need to burn, heaven and earth gods Buddha various immortals need to burn, in the temple to burn, during festivals to burn, usually also to burn; as a kind of life atmosphere to burn, so-called burning incense for the moon, burning incense for flowers, burning incense for beauties, elegant and charming, wonderful beyond words; as a kind of door identity, so-called sinking water fragrance land, treating guests with fragrant wine, showing luxury; when devout need to burn, there is incense playing piano, incense reading books; when solemn also need to burn, warding off evil spirits, removing filth and odor; things need to burn, nothing needs to burn.

  Incense was burned, Chu Jiaqiang disassembled the firecrackers and hung them in a special place for hanging firecrackers at the door. After Second Uncle informed the gods of the matter, everyone joined their hands together and bowed three times before Chu Jiaqiang lit the firecrackers.

  Then, the second uncle walked to the side of the big bronze gong and took a wooden hammer to strike it three times. The bronze gong is usually beaten when villagers have something to do or when there's a happy event, asking for divine protection.

  "Yeh sister, let's go and test our luck." Chu Jia Wan said.

  "What's fortune-telling? How does it work?" Ye Cai Ping's interest was piqued.

  Chu Jia Wan pulled Ye Cai Ping to one side, where there was a small platform with two sets of Lingyun cards on it, made from the horns of unknown beasts. One horn had split open in the middle and become a set.

  "Pick up the divination blocks, put them together and raise them high, then think of your wish in your heart, and finally let go. The two divination blocks fall onto the divination table, if both are face up, it means you have good luck and your wish can come true. If one is positive and one is negative, that's a mix of gain and loss, but if both are negative, then you're out of luck." said Chu Jia Yan.

  "It seems a bit unfair! The probability of getting a positive result is the smallest, and then it's either one positive and one negative, or most likely two negatives. Forget it, I'm not going to try my luck." Upon hearing this rule, Ye Cai Ping immediately lost interest, sparing herself from worrying, as she could tell that this fortune-telling method would most likely bring bad luck.

  At this time, Chu Jiaqiang was already standing behind him. Hearing these words, he couldn't help but smile and say: "You think it's unreasonable?" Seeing Ye Caiping nodding her head, Chu Jiaqiang continued to say: "Life is not as one wishes eight or nine times out of ten. These two Lingyun plaques are a reflection of this philosophy. Don't you think that good luck and bad luck are not equal either?"

  Ye Cai Ping also felt that it made sense, and she too picked up a pair of divination blocks to start measuring her own luck. The old man heard Chu Jia Qiang's explanation and nodded in satisfaction, thinking to himself that this young fellow was indeed the only university graduate in the village.

  Chu Jia Wan was the same as Ye Cai Ping, they both drew one positive and one negative, indicating that whether their wishes could be fulfilled depended on how they chose. Seeing Ye Cai Ping unwillingly pick up the Lingyun card again, Chu Jia Chong hastily stopped her: "Hey! You can only draw once, opportunities are not limitless."

  Ye Cai Ping said with a sly tone: "Isn't that opportunity also not the only one? Can't I have three games and two wins?"

  Everyone present was at a loss for words upon hearing such shameless remarks.

  Inside the temple, there is also a donation box for everyone to donate incense money voluntarily. Chu Jiaqiang was not stingy either, and put all the money in his wallet into it. Er Shu saw it and couldn't help but shake his head with a bitter smile. This kid still has this attitude towards money. He simply turned his head to one side, out of sight, out of mind, so as not to get angry in front of the gods.

  And unexpectedly, Ye Cai Ping also took out 200 yuan and stuffed it into the box.

  Chu Lao smiled with a nod, very satisfied with the generosity of the Chu family. The previous bet was at least 400 or 500. He nodded and said: "Since you're so sincere, I'll talk to the gods again about your project before the evening drumbeat, and guarantee its success."

  Then turned to Ye Caihong: "Miss, don't worry, I'll also help you with the wish you just made."

  "Then thank you, Uncle Xianke. You're old now. After we finish the work, I'll treat everyone to a meal." Chu Jiaqiang said immediately.

  Leaving the temple, several people hurriedly worshiped the Landlord and River God.