Riding the wind of rebirth

Walking along the small street for a short distance, you will arrive at Jingye Hall, commonly known as "Shen Hall".

This is a standard mid-Qing Dynasty building, with a brick and wood structure, a single-eave gable roof, and a small blue tile roof.

Looking at the roof ridge with its blue tiles, Mai Xiaomiao said, "This is kind of fun. There are two people riding on birds."

“There’s a story behind this, called ‘Chicken Ridge’,” Zhou Zhi explained. “During the mid-Qing Dynasty, the hierarchy was quite strict. The dragon ridge and fish-dragon ridge that we often see were actually used for the secondary halls of temples and the residences of wealthy families. On the contrary, the roof ridge decorations used in ordinary houses are rarely preserved.”

"These two birds represent the roof decorations of a house belonging to a wealthy family, but whose members do not hold official positions and whose social status is not very high. The ridge is decorated with chicken-shaped objects at both ends of the main ridge."

"Oh, it's a chicken! I thought it was a phoenix," Ye Xin said, looking up at the roof ridge.

"It is said to be a chicken spine, but it is made according to the pattern of a phoenix, so it is not considered presumptuous. Even the immortals riding phoenixes on the roof of the Forbidden City are actually male and female immortals riding a rooster. In this form, the chicken is the phoenix and the phoenix is ​​the chicken."

"Why is this happening?" Mai Xiaomiao found it very interesting.

“Because it is a combination of two legends.” Zhou Zhi also laughed: “One legend says that the image of the immortal riding a phoenix comes from King Min of Qi during the Warring States period. In 284 BC, the allied forces of Qin, Yan, Jin and other five states launched a major attack on Qi. Qi was defeated by the allied forces west of the Ji River. King Min of Qi fled in defeat, but ended up in a dead end and was trapped on the bank of the river.”

"As the army was about to catch up, King Min of Qi was in despair when he suddenly saw a divine rooster resembling a phoenix flying in the sky. In a panic, King Min quickly rode on its back, and the rooster carried him across the Ji River, thus escaping the pursuit. Because the word 'rooster' is a homophone for 'auspicious,' the ancients placed the image of King Min riding a rooster in front of the roof ridge beasts, symbolizing that he could turn misfortune into good fortune."

"Another legend comes from Jiang Ziya, who conferred the title of gods. After Jiang Ziya conferred the title of gods, the jinx was reincarnated. His wife, Ma, who had always been abusive to him, also wanted to have a divine position. Jiang Ziya could not bear the harassment, so he conferred the title of God of Poverty on her."

"However, this was not the end of it. Ma's younger brother, who was also Jiang Ziya's brother-in-law, also became greedy and wanted Jiang Ziya to give her brother a divine position."

"Jiang Ziya was furious. After thinking for a moment, he came up with a plan and said to Ma's younger brother: 'The gods I appointed are all of too low rank. I need to appoint you to a higher rank. The higher you stand, the higher the rank you will be appointed.'"

"His brother-in-law was overjoyed upon hearing this and searched the house like a headless fly for the highest place. He finally ran to the roof ridge, but still felt it wasn't high enough, so he walked towards the top of the ridge."

When he got there, Jiang Ziya said: "Don't walk any further, or you won't be able to stand still. You won't be able to become an immortal; you'll fall down and die first."

"So Jiang Ziya's brother-in-law had no choice but to stay on the roof ridge and dared not move. He had to stay there. Later, the legend of 'when one attains enlightenment, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven' was added. So the brother-in-law rode on a big rooster and became the 'Immortal Riding a Phoenix'."

Ye Xin laughed, "I don't think either of these legends is very reliable. One is a defeated and incompetent ruler, and the other is a scoundrel. What qualifications do they have to be immortals?" Zhou Zhi laughed, "Chinese immortals are different from foreign ones, and not all of them enjoy a life of luxury. For example, there are the Six Ding and Six Jia who are summoned by Taoist priests to control wind and thunder and subdue ghosts and gods; or there are the City Gods who were mostly filial sons and upright officials in life, but only ascended to the ranks of immortals after death, and still have to protect the peace and harmony of the local society; they have a very hard job."

After saying that, he pointed to the two immortals riding chickens: "Maybe it's because the common people dislike these two people and put them on the roof to be exposed to the wind and sun."

"The story we just heard isn't over yet. After escaping, King Min fled to the border of the Yan Kingdom and sought refuge. Li Yong, the general guarding the city, considering that the Yan and Qi Kingdoms had once allied against Qin, ordered the soldiers guarding the city to lower the drawbridge and personally welcome King Min into the city. He also held a grand banquet to wash away the dust and calm the nerves of King Min, treating him with the courtesy due to a feudal lord."

"Who knew that King Min was truly muddleheaded, not thinking of saving his people and restoring his kingdom, but instead spending his days drinking and making merry. One day, in a drunken stupor, he barged into the inner quarters of Li Yong's house, grabbed a young girl by the sleeve, and attempted to assault her. The servants stepped forward to stop him, telling him that she was Li Yong's sister. King Min, used to being arrogant, ignored their advice and even scolded the servants, saying, 'I don't care whose sister she is, I am the king, I can marry whomever I want.'"

"Li Yong was furious that his kindness in taking in Prince Min had been met with such rudeness. Upon hearing the news, he rushed over with his guards and immediately ordered them to bind Prince Min and take him out to be beheaded."

Li Yong's subordinates advised: "Although he has lost the battle, he is still the king. If we kill him, people will say that we are committing insubordination. I think we should tie him to the flagpole. If Heaven does not take him, let it be dark for three days; if Heaven wants to destroy him, let it be sunny for three days. Whether he lives or dies depends on whether Heaven has exhausted its fate for him."

"Li Yong then ordered his men to tie Prince Min to a flagpole. For three days straight, the sun blazed down, and because he was so unpopular, despite the many passersby, not a single person offered Prince Min a drop of water. On the fourth day, just as the sun rose, Prince Min died. So, from that time onwards, there was an ancient proverb that goes, 'Prince Min sunbathes, with nowhere to turn.'"

Then he pointed to the corner of the room and said, "Look, it's still drying in the sun today."

"If I were in ancient times, I would never put those two on the roof. They're just too disgusting to look at!" Ye Xin said.

“You know what,” Zhou Zhi laughed, “the highest-ranking building still standing in China today, the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City, also has these two figures on its roof ridge. When you have the chance to visit the Forbidden City, you can take a closer look; they are at the very front of the upturned corner of the Hall of Supreme Harmony’s roof ridge.”

Jingyetang is a large mansion, covering an area of ​​nearly 3,000 square meters. It has seven courtyards and five gate towers, with more than 100 rooms in total, roughly divided into three parts, distributed at both ends of the central axis.

The front section consists of a water gate and a river wharf, which is a small dock for mooring boats and washing clothes; the middle section consists of a gate tower, a tea hall, and a main hall, which are used for receiving and sending off guests, handling weddings and funerals, and holding meetings; the rear section consists of a main hall, a small hall, and a rear hall, which are used for living quarters.

"There's a story about this house, a 'prodigal son's return," after viewing the wharf, everyone arrived at the Songmao Hall in the central main hall. "This place was built by Shen Benren, a descendant of Shen Wansan, a wealthy man from the Ming Dynasty. Shen Benren lived during the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, and his family had been in business for hundreds of years. According to local records, Shen Benren was fond of wandering and associating with 'bandits' in his early years; not a single decent person was among them. After his father died, the local people secretly spread rumors that Shen's good-for-nothing son would squander all of his ancestors' property and become bankrupt within three years."

Upon hearing this, Shen Benren prepared a feast, gathering his cronies for drinks. At the feast, he gave each of them some money and said, "Gentlemen, there's no other way. My father is dead, and the family depends on me to support them. From now on, I can no longer hang out with you."

"After that, Shen Benren secluded himself from visitors and devoted himself to managing his family business. He amassed a fortune, then expanded his mansion, building over a hundred rooms, making it a prominent residence in the town. He named it 'Jingye Hall' to signify his dedication to his work." (End of Chapter)