体会中国千年历史--山西太原的晋祠 Appreciate ancient Chinese history at the Jin Temple in Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.

WS 85: 体会中国千年历史--山西太原的晋祠 Appreciate ancient Chinese history at the Jin Temple in Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.

公元前1060年，周武王之子叔虞封侯于唐，即今日的山西一带。叔虞的儿子继父位后，因地临晋水，改国号为晋。为纪念贤王叔虞而建的晋祠，位于太原市西南，大规模建设始于北魏(公元550-559年)。晋祠一直受到历代君王的认可，多次重修扩建。公元1023-1032年，宋仁宗扩建晋祠，也为叔虞之母邑姜(姜子牙之女)修建了规模宏大的圣母殿。

晋祠是崇拜祖先的庙宇，与宗教无关。晋祠是中国现存最早的皇家祭祀园林。晋祠公园里的建筑群是文化和历史宝库，包括主殿在内的许多建筑物都有近一千年的历史。圣母殿中有43尊真人大小的女侍彩塑，其中41尊是在宋代1087年塑造。圣母殿前有个鱼池，鱼沼飞梁，呈十字桥形，也是建于宋代。而金人台上有四尊铁人，其中一尊铸于1097年，已有九百多年的历史。公园里有多棵参天古树，其中一棵柏树，位于圣母殿左侧，相传为西周时所植，故称周柏，距今已有2700多年。树身已高度倾斜，但仍充满生机。

晋祠公园是具几十座古建筑的中国古典园林，已成旅游胜地，我们在2013年曾到此一游。前三张照片所示的是圣母殿，第三张是大殿前廊柱上雕饰的木龙，共有八条，雕于1087年，木雕盘龙是中国现存最早的盘龙雕柱。第四张是鱼沼飞梁，第五张是难老泉，泉水自岩层涌出，是晋水的主要泉源。第六张是周柏，第七张是金人台上的铁人。最后一张是乐师彩塑，塑于元朝，七百年历史。这元塑并不是前面所提到的女侍宋塑，因圣母殿内不可拍照，所以没有女侍宋塑的照片可贴。

About 3,000 years ago the Jin Dynasty was established in present-day Shanxi province in China by the founding emperor Shuyu. A clan temple was built after his death for ancestor worship in the place now called Taiyuan. The clan temple was greatly expanded around the 550s AD and was called Jinci. It has been rebuilt and expanded in subsequent dynasties. 

Jinci is a temple for ancestor worship and has nothing to do with religion. The building complex in Jinci is a treasure house of culture and history. Many buildings including the main hall have a history of near to a thousand years. There are 43 life-size coloured sculptures of maids in a hall created in 1087 in the Song Dynasty. There are four iron guards on a stage, one of which was cast in 1097. There are many towering old trees in the park, one of which is a tilting cypress tree, said to be more than 2,700 years old. 

Jinci has become a tourist attraction. We were here in 2013. The first 3 photos show the mall hall, the 3rd one showing the wooden dragon carved on the front porch of the main hall. There are eight dragons, carved in 1087. Other photos show an old spring, the old cypress tree, an iron guard and the sculpture of a musician created in the Yuan Dynasty, about 200 years younger than the more famous sculptures of the maids.