Introduction

Once I had retired I made a point of travelling to China two or three times a year for some ten years, each time spending at least a month visiting temples in Hong Kong and Macau, Taiwan and Mainland China. I soon discovered that Shanxi province was a paradise with more temples than I could ever manage to visit, many undamaged during the Cultural Revolution and containing imposing and fascinating images of deities dating back three, four and even five centuries. Whenever possible I endeavoured to take along friends, always travelling around the province by cab enabling us to visit obscure temples well off the usual tracks. As we rarely knew what we were going to discover we enjoyed many unexpected pièces de résistance, each of which made our days.

In April 1999 whilst driving along back roads in Central Shanxi we chanced upon a temple dedicated to a major and yet comparatively rare deity, the legendary Emperor Yao. It was close to the town of Yaocheng, literally ‘City of the Emperor Yao’, in Qingxu county, on the flood plain of the River Fen and some thirty miles as the crow flies south of the provincial capital at Taiyuan.

Our excitement quickened as this was the first time that I had come across an image of Yao in Mainland China, though in Taiwan a number of god carvers had claimed that Emperor Yao is portrayed and honoured on murals in several temples in rural areas.


Part One

Emperor Yao

The Three Emperors, San Huang 三皇, were legendary rulers in ancient Chinese mythology, commonly known as the Sage Kings and regarded as perfect men. They were the first, the most shrewd and sagacious of legendary rulers, and were claimed in Chinese annals to have lived, if not as individuals, then each as a line of rulers of Chinese kingdoms during the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. Ancient Chinese realms were relatively small, with the greatest now believed to have been Yao.

The first of them, Yao, is often described as the Lord of the Golden Age and said to have reigned from 2356 BC for seventy or ninety-eight years, depending upon the source, after which he abdicated. According to legend Yao had nine sons, all of whom he considered unsuitable to succeed him. He sought a successor and is claimed to have found him “with Heaven’s assistance”. This was Shun, to whom he gave two of his daughters as wives, and tested him with an official post to judge his ability to rule. Finally, at ease, he abdicated in favour of Shun.

Yao and Shun have had a tremendous influence on Chinese culture and from the early days, Chinese philosophers have quoted their moral philosophy. Among early ceremonies described in the Classics and instituted by Yao were thanksgivings made at the end of the year for the harvested crops.

Confucius referred to Yao as "great indeed', Shun as "entirely good" and the third Emperor, Yü "without deficiencies". Confucius, however, was inspired by these three legendary Sage Kings, the first of whom was Yao, and claimed that he had promoted moral cultivation through the proper use of ritual and music.

Emperor Yao is known as a man of many parts. He is credited with the creation of the Xia (lunar) calendar夏曆, calculated by his astronomers, and as a master of divination he read the future by interpreting the cracks on ox bones and turtle shells caused by the application of hot irons. He introduced orderly government and civilisation to the Chinese, performing the functions of both emperor and high priest. As a soldier of some renown he not only pacified the south as far as the Yangzi, he also expanded his kingdom to the north and to the west.

Yao appears in several myths such as the story of the appearance of ten suns appearing in the firmament, leading to a severe drought. Yao commanded the great archer Yi to destroy the false suns, with the real sun remaining and still shining to this day.

As with all legendary figures his features have been exaggerated and descriptions embroidered down the centuries. After a miraculous birth, he was said to have eyebrows in eight colours and nine orifices in his body instead of the normal seven.


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The Temple in Yaocheng

The temple complex in Yaocheng proved to be larger and more heterogeneous than it first seemed, and we soon realised that there were two separate temples, side by side. The temple dedicated to Emperor Yao was unusual and exciting, whereas the other, the smaller of the two, a two-storey Buddhist temple containing standard Buddhist images, was dedicated to The Buddha, Sakyamuni, although the temple is also referred to locally as the Guan Yin temple, due to the universal popularity of the Bodhisattva Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy. Yet another smaller building stood beside the Buddhist temple, which proved to be accommodation for resident and visiting Buddhist monks.

An insignificant tiny shrine against the outside wall of the Yao Di Temple, located within the roofless passageway between the Sakyamuni Hall of the neighbouring Buddhist temple and the temple dedicated to Emperor Yao, was so inconsequential that a passer-by would be unlikely to heed it unless it were pointed out by local residents. It proved to be the shrine of Fox Immortals 狐仙, even though the images looked remarkably like the ubiquitous Earth God and his wife, Tu Di Gong and Tu Di Po 土地公婆.

A photograph of the Temple to Emperor Yao Wang in Yaocheng village provides an enigmatic, undated colour shot of the building (refer to End Note on Wang – Ruler in a Chinese coffee table book, A Panorama of Ancient Chinese Architecture in Shanxi. Even though it appears in this photograph to have been derelict it is certainly the same as the building today and taken well before it was renovated. It is difficult to visualise whether the photograph shows what is today’s front elevation or a rear view. Presumably Emperor Yao’s temple had either been laid waste, possibly during the Cultural Revolution, or had fallen into disuse and had simply been allowed to deteriorate. Then at some point, probably post-Mao, it had been completely restored and new images installed. The caption in English under the photograph reads:

The temple to Yao, a legendary leader of allied tribes before the 21st century B.C. is located in Yaocheng village. According to prevailing folklore King Yao settled down in this location as his capital. Now only the Hall dedicated to him remains.


The three Inner altar halls within the overall main hall

Despite the temple in Yaocheng being dedicated to Emperor Yao and known as Yao Du , the arrangement of the inner altar halls in order of seniority is, to say the least, abnormal. The typical arrangement of temple altars consists of a main altar in the centre, facing the entrance doorway, flanked by secondary altars. This is relatively standard. Here, in Yaocheng, the temple consists of a single-storey large main hall, which, unusually, in turn contains three separate smaller, partially enclosed and open fronted altar halls, side by side, all facing the main entrance.

The senior altar in the temple, that is the altar in the central inner hall, is a Fertility Hall dedicated to Xue San Laomu 血三老母, the Three Old Matrons of the Blood, whereas one would have expected it to be the Yao Wang Hall. The Fertility Hall deities are the Fertility Goddess and two lesser therapeutic goddesses of Maternity. thus relegating the Hall dedicated to Yao Di to one side.

The second of the three inner altar halls, The Yao Wang Hall, is stage left within the overall main hall, dedicated to and dominated by a large, modern and impressive image of Emperor Yao attended by his maid and a male servant, and is supported by four of his Ministers or Advisers.

Finally, the third of the three inner altar halls, the Hall of Yao Wang’s Mother and wives, is stage right within the central hall. Dedicated to the Mother of Emperor Yao, her image is flanked, on separate side altars, by images of two of the wives of Emperor Yao. This inner altar hall, the Hall of Yao Wang’s Mother and Wives, is located in the most junior position within overall main hall.

This layout provides us with a conundrum. Which came first, Yao Wang or the Fertility Goddesses? As the overall temple is accepted as the Temple of Yao Wang and with the local town being named after him, it would suggest that the initial temple had been a Yao Wang Temple and only later, probably during the post Cultural Revolution renovation, did local sentiment lead to the decision to situate the Fertility Goddesses into the senior position. This too may also allude to an earlier Fertilty temple, now no longer extant, having been amalgamated with the Yao Wang Temple, with Fertility prayers and being regarded locally as more important than prayers to Yao Wang. As there was no one around who would have been able to clarify the matter all that I could manage, during the short time we were in the temple, was to try to obtain some sense from locals who, bemused by the presence of foreigners, revealed not the slightest comprehension of what was puzzling me.

The Chinese classic, Shujing 書經, (Book of History), is a compilation of documentary records related to events in the ancient history of China, with the first five chapters of the book describing the legendary deeds of emperors such as Yao. He is credited with having established the calendar and with introducing official appointments, with one such Minister being responsible for ensuring that the best use be made of each of the four seasons of the year.


Images of four of his Ministers standing in pairs at ground level before his altar face inward across the temple. The front pair are
(a) Minister responsible for agriculture, holding a green shoot, standing to the right of the Emperor,
(b) Minister responsible for calculating time and the calendar, with a sundial in his left hand and standing on the left of the Emperor.

The rear pair of Ministers are
(c) Minister responsible for the development of Chinese characters and the written word, standing on the right of the Emperor. He is holding an ink-brush and scroll,
(d) Minister responsible for the weather, holding his left hand high as though shielding his eyes from the sun’s glare, standing on the right of the Emperor.
______________________

In general, major deities on the main altars within in Chinese temples are flanked by relatively standard and commonplace images of aides or guards; personal servants; often a clerk or a pair of demonic guardians. However, occasionally one encounters unusual, even exotic images of individual members of the deity’s entourage. Here, in the altar halls in Emperor Yao’s renovated temple, are a number of interesting and unusual minor images.

The temple in Yaocheng, known as Yao Du is dedicated to Emperor Yao and is a single storey large main hall, which, unusually, contains three individual open-fronted separate altar halls, side by side, facing the entrance. Despite being dedicated to Yao Di, its order of seniority within this layout is, to say the least, exceptional and peculiar, with the central of the three inner altar halls, being dedicated to Xue San Laomu, the Three Matrons of the Blood, Goddesses of Fertility and Maternity.

The second of the three inner altar halls, inexplicably relegated to stage left of the overall central hall, is dedicated to Emperor Yao, who is supported by his four ministers,

The third of the three inner altar halls, stage right of the central hall, is dedicated to the mother of Emperor Yao, whose image is flanked on separate side altars by images of two of the wives of Emperor Yao.


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The central inner altar hall within the overall Yao Di Temple,
dedicated to Goddesses of Fertility and Maternity

The layout of altars within Fertility Halls in temples across North China dedicated to the Goddess of Childbirth are stereotypical, as are the images of this popular and ubiquitous Daoist mythological deity. She is a protectress of women and children and patron of wet nurses, optimistically claimed to be responsive to requests for sons. She is also referred to across northern China either as Tai Shan Niangniang or Bixia Yuanjun, the Goddess of Maternity, though she is known by a number of parochial titles.


The Three Matrons of the Blood , Xue San Laomu, 血三老母, are three fertility Goddeses of Maternity,

Here, in the Yao Di Temple in Yaocheng, the senior goddess is a matron known as Xue Laomu, flanked by two lesser goddesses, with the latter two supported by two minor female deities. Regarded as a multi-purpose deity whose rôle is complex, Xue Laomu is primarily a fertility deity who assists with problems encountered during pregnancy and maternity, and regarded by many as the special protectress of pregnant women, women in labour and new-born babes. She is prayed to not only for an easy and safe labour but also for a son. In some places it is also believed that she can help regulate the menstrual flow. She is also a comforter to the sick and weary and a confidante in times of trouble. These are very similar to the functions of the of the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Guan Yin, with individual Daoist fertility cults having been created or possibly developed by Daoists just over a thousand years ago to counter Guan Yin’s growing influence, as she was rapidly becoming the most popular protector of women and children.

The second Xue Laomu stage right, is the Lady of Good Sight, Yanguang Pusa 眼光菩薩, a deity with miraculous powers, such as the belief that the supplicant having first touched the deity’s image and then rubbed their own eyes is supremely efficacious. The third Xue Laomu stage left, is the Goddess of Smallpox, Doumu Niangniang. Generally the Goddess of Eyesight and the Goddess of Smallpox are individuals or a pair of deities in their own right, both afflictions being widespread scourges across northern China, especially in areas where dust storms are prevalent.

On the Xue Laomu altar, immediately in front of the two flanking Laomu, are their two assistants, one clasping a large eye in front of her waist, known as the Maid of Eyesight, Yan Nainiang 眼奶娘. The other holds a decorated box of medications and although identified as the Maid of Smallpox who is simply referred to here as Nainiang 奶娘.

All three of the Xue Laomu receive offerings from pregnant women who kneel before the altar, often together with their husbands.

Aides and Nursemaids in the Fertility Hall

The Three Matrons are supported by aides and maids - nursing, breastfeeding and training babes and young children.

Stage left, against the sidewall stage stands a wet nurse and an image portraying an elderly man with two faces, bearing a babe in a sling, presumably a boy. Alongside the elderly man with two faces is a wet nurse sitting and suckling a child. Behind her is a large coloured mural depicting the Three Matrons (Xue Laomu) each mounted on a peacock flying through the clouds, and surrounded by their aides and maids, as well as numerous supporters.

Stage right, there are two nursemaids, one is holding out a male babe either to display his sex or to permit him to urinate and the other nursemaid, with two faces, is carrying two babes in a sling.

The images of the nursemaid and the elderly man are iconographically unusual, both having a normal face and a second face at the back of their heads. One is labelled Zi Nai 子奶, literally a wet nurse or nanny, and the elderly man Zi Gong 子公, usually the term for the son of a feudal prince or of a high official but locally appears to be used for a grandfather. Zi Nai has a normal female face with a second, a male face, at the back of her head. Whilst the elderly male, Zi Gong, has a normal face facing forward, whilst the back of his head has a much younger female face. As no temple staff were around, apart from in the Buddhist halls, it was not possible to discover more, though one of the attendants in the Buddhist hall when asked about the double-faced images simply muttered that they were Yin and Yang. Which left us no wiser as there must be a reason for the two faces as well as an explanatory story.

However, Baumer in his extensive and impressive description of the Wu Tai Shan complex revealed a similar two-faced image in the Bairen Yan Si白仁岩寺, a Guan Yin temple on the pilgrim trail close by Dai Xian, a town in northern Shanxi on the main route north from Taiyuan, some 120 miles from Yaocheng. He described the image of a woman as having the front and pleasant face of the image turned towards visitors and having two happy babes – possibly twins, slung in pouch across her chest, and so unlike the rear and second face which looks mean and bitter and carrying a lone babe. He was informed that “the two-faced feature symbolises the fact that whether one has a healthy or sickly baby is a matter of fate and karma determines what kind of child a woman will bear – healthy or sick, intelligent or stupid”. Baumer also revealed that the images in the Guan Yin Temple had been constructed comparatively recently by specialist workmen from Qinghai province.

The unusual feature portraying images with two faces, one normal face and a second one on the back of the head, has also been seen in one other temple, in the Zi Niang Hall (子娘神廳, the Fertility Hall) of a large and comparatively old Jade Emperor Temple close by Yaocheng, where a pair of images stand at ground level. One image is of an elderly woman with a grey demonic face at the back of her head and a small babe in her arms. The second image has only one face, that of a fierce demon, and is bearing a small blind-folded child on his shoulders. Both were prayed to by barren women. Yet again a local devotee knew little about the images other than the woman with two faces is known as the Yin Yang Old Wife, Yin Yang Lao Po 陰陽老婆, but without any idea why. The images within the Jade Emperor Temple were all modern and as this temple is within seven miles of the Yao Di Miao in Yaocheng more than likely they were made by the same artisans as those in the Fertility Hall of the Yao Wang Temple.

As I have not encountered similar two-faced images in fertility halls in temples across northern and central Shanxi during my excursions it would seem more than likely that there had been a connection with the local Yaocheng artisan at some time having visited the Bairen Yan temple or more likely, Qinghai workmen passed through Yaocheng and constructed the images there too.

It could possible that the images in the Yao Wang Temple were based on the images in the major pilgrimage site of Bairen Yan, the Guan Yin temple 120 miles north of Yaocheng, both with their relevance to maternity.

The Adjacent Buddhist Sakyamuni Temple

The Buddhist temple is comparatively small. It consista of two halls, separated from the main Yao Di temple by a roofless passageway with a side exit from the main hall of the Yao Di temple leading across the passageway into the Buddhist temple.

The main hall of the Buddhist temple, at ground level, is dedicated to the Buddha, Sakyamuni, whose image is flanked by two separate altars, one dedicated to Amitabha (Emituo Fo) and the other, Yaoshi Fo.. The upstairs hall is dedicated to the bodhisattva Guan Yin who is flanked by two lesser bodhisattvas, Pu Xian and Wen Shu. The sidewalls of the Sakyamuni Hall is lined by two rows each of five of his disciples, whilst the Guan Yin Hall is lined with images of the Eighteen Luohan.

Both the upper and lower halls in the Buddhist temple contain standard Buddhist images with normal attributes. However, one of the Eighteen Luohans is unusually portrayed with the outer skin of his face peeled back revealing a second face, the face of the Buddha within. Possibly the unique work of a local artisan.



Wang Lingguan 王靈官

At the closed end of the roofless passageway between the Sakyamuni Hall in the adjacent Buddhist temple and the main hall of the Yao Di temple there is an outdoor enclosed shrine containing the image of (Marshal or General) Wang Lingguan, the Protector. Most devotees repeat tea house story tellers' tales mostly taken from the Fengshen Yanyi which relate how Marshal Wang was deified as a reward for the assistance he gave to Wu Wang during the dynastic wars between the legendary Shang and Zhou dynasties and that, after deification, he was a guard at the palace of the Jade Emperor. Wang is a second or third rank deity, the traditional protector of Daoist scriptures, and is also the guardian of popular religion temples where he is regarded as a potent destroyer of demons. Although there are a number of Daoist Spirit Officials responsible for the protection of Daoist scriptures who are also deities of law and justice, the most celebrated of all is Wang Lingguan.

During our visit a group of schoolboys were typically delighted to open the “cupboard” doors in front of the altar revealing the image of Wang Lingguan. He is readily identifiable in his standard form as a soldier, wearing 'tiger' armour and a small Daoist crown. He is generally portrayed with a reddish face, red beard and three eyes, two of which are normal eyes, round and slightly protruding, whilst his third eye is vertical and in the centre of his forehead. His mouth is partially open in anger, and he has 'ear-pressing tufts'. He holds a 'whip' above his head in his right hand; however, his unique characteristic is the magical sign he is making with his left hand which is held forward at waist height, the middle finger is extended and pointing vertically, with the other fingers and thumb entwined.

Statuary within the Temples of Yao Di and the Buddha Sakyamuni

The images of the deities have all been constructed and decorated comparatively recently suggesting that the temples may have been ravaged during the Cultural Revolution. Despite their modernity most images were unusually well finished, which has not always been the case.


Other Temples dedicated to Emperor Yao

The temple we visited in Yaocheng would appear not to have any legendary claims connecting the site to Emperor Yao. However, as far as I am aware, there have been two other former temples in north China both dedicated to Yao Di, one in Linfen in south-western Shanxi, and the other near Baoding in Hebei province, both of which having been claimed to have been the location of the grave of Emperor Yao. The temple near Baoding has another temple nearby dedicated to the Mother of Emperor Yao.

Yao’s image, again as far as I am aware, has not been noted in any temples south of the Yangzi River, though there may well be or have been other temples across north China dedicated to Emperor Yao. However, in Taiwan, a number of god carvers claimed that Yao Di is to be seen on several temple murals in the rural areas of central Taiwan. Also, a temple keeper in a temple dedicated to the San Guan Dadi in all seriousness explained that the three images of deities in the back row were the San Huang; Emperors Shun, Yao and Yu, whilst the three images in front of them were the San Guan Dadi. This is unlikely but it does reveal that images claimed to be Emperor Yao and his two successors, Shun and Yu cannot be completely disregarded south of the Yangzi, especially as so many refugees from north China settled in Taiwan post-1948 and could well have brought the cult with them.

The Emperor Yao Temple in Linfen

Today’s Linfen tourist guides claim that the original temple dedicated to Emperor Yao was built during the Jin Dynasty, some 1700 years ago, with the temple having been moved to its present site in 658. It has long been claimed to be the cult centre of Yao Wang, containing his tomb and the well he is said to have had dug in the forecourt. Yao’s cult centre is now a museum and is no longer a working temple.

His tomb and temple at Linfen were referred to by a Christian missionary in 1868 as an active centre for worship on the route between Tianjin and Wanxian, and were said to have been built on the site where Yao had had his residence before he ascended the throne. During the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (1662-1722), a major earthquake on 8th May 1695 caused the Temple of Emperor Yao (three miles south of Linfen) to collapse. It was substantially renovated under orders of the Kangxi Emperor and is a fairly simple two-story building, with enclosed verandas on each floor. The first building in the complex is the Five Phoenix Palace 五鳳宮, so named because Emperor Yao and four of his ministers were known as the Five Phoenixes. His image on the main altar in the Linfen former temple, currently a museum, has been decorated in the bright, solid colours used in northern China, and depicts him as an awesome ruler sitting on a throne flanked by four youthful-looking ministers. It is highly probable that the four ministers in the Yaocheng temple could well be four of the same Five Phoenixes.

Boerschmann’s major work on Chinese temple architecture has unfortunately a limited repertoire of Chinese temples in Shanxi province and covers only one temple dedicated to the Emperor Yao. This was the temple near Linfen, known as the Yao Wang Miao. In practice it was dedicated to the Three Emperors, Yao, Shun and Yu, and divided into four halls, with the main hall sub-divided into three inner halls each dedicated individually to the Emperors, with the image of Yao flanked by the images of Shun and Yu. A later hall, on the extreme stage right within the overall temple, was dedicated to the Kangxi Emperor with the altar bearing his tablet.


The Yao Di Temple in Wangdu in Hebei
Within the walls of the memorial temple dedicated to the Emperor Yao, outside the North Gate of the old city of Wangdu 望都, some 20 miles south-west from Baoding in Hebei province, was a grave said to contain the body of his mother. It was a small temple when the Reverend Alexander Williamson visited it in 1868, and in a sorry state of repair. Opposite the door on a raised dais stood a large clay image of Yao sitting in his chair of state with two 'bland-looking' attendants either side. Williamson added that the image of Emperor Yao’s mother in her temple nearby, a larger and more imposing one than her son's, portrayed her as a placid old lady, seated, and more plainly adorned than one would have expected. She too had two attendants. However, local memory of any such temple would appear to have been lost in time.