Legend of the Temple of Heaven

The hundreds of years of history of the Temple of Heaven have created many strange ancient cypresses, which have become a major feature of the Temple of Heaven. There are nearly 600-year-old cypresses planted when the temple was built during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, as well as a small number of ancient cypresses with an age of more than 800 years left in the "Chao Ri Daming Altar" (Sun Altar) in Jin Zhongdu, and cypresses planted during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the youngest of which is more than 300 years old. These ancient cypresses have gone through hundreds of years of ups and downs and have different shapes. While people are imagining around the ancient trees, they also give them the characteristics of people or gods, creating beautiful legends such as "The Legend of Kowloon Cypress", "The Story of Ancient Berlin and Buddha Belly Cypress in the Temple of Heaven", and "Huai Niang and Bai Lang". Among all the legends, the most well-known ones are "How Ganquan Well came from" and "The Legend of Motherwort in the Temple of Heaven", just because Ganquan Well and Motherwort are unique and unique in the Temple of Heaven. There is a section "A Brief History of Famous Wells in Beijing" in "Miscellaneous News of Yanjing Today and Ancient Times", which specifically describes the Ganquan Well in the Temple of Heaven. Wang Shizhen, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, wrote a poem, "The soil of the capital is sweet, and the spring buds of Guzhu are in vain. Only the stone paving of the Temple of Heaven is good, and a spoonful of clear water costs a thousand coins." The "Chenyuan Shilue" written by Wu Changyuan in the Qing Dynasty, "Shuicao Qingxialu" written by Wang Qishu during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, and "Hongxue Yinyuan Tuji" written during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty have detailed descriptions of the motherwort in the Temple of Heaven. The motherwort in the Temple of Heaven is a story passed down by word of mouth among the people of Beijing. Jin Liang, the Minister of Internal Affairs during the Xuantong period of the Qing Dynasty, also said in "Temple of Heaven" that there were four special medicinal materials in the Temple of Heaven, namely motherwort, Adenophora, Asparagus, and Umbelliferae. Among them, motherwort was the most famous and specialized in treating various gynecological diseases. After the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, the Taoist priests of the Shenle Office moved the wild Aventurine motherwort to the Temple of Heaven for planting, so that it grew in the Temple of Heaven. They boiled the grass into a paste and sold it, which became the world-famous "Temple of Heaven Motherwort Paste". Among the folks, people have interpreted this process into the story of "The Legend of Motherwort in the Temple of Heaven" and "Miao Dixian and the Motherwort Paste in the Temple of Heaven".