(Clearwisdom.net)

Loyalty Temple

Deceitful court official Qin Hui of the Song Dynasty murdered Yue Fei and “fabricated charges” in 1142. During the rule of Emperor Xiaozong Yue Fei was rehabilitated and granted the posthumous name Wumu in 1169. The emperor restored his official position and reburied him with a stately ceremony. When Yue Fei's son Yue Lin arrived in Ezhou, the local army and people welcomed him with tears in their eyes to show their deepest regard for Yue Fei.

After Yue Fei's name was reinstated, local people asked the permission to build a temple for Yue Fei. Emperor Xiaozong allowed for a horizontal inscribed board “Loyalty Temple” and issued an imperial edict to appropriate money for the building of the temple. Yue Fei was given the posthumous title Prince of E by Emperor Ningzong in 1204, and the Loyalty Temple was renamed as Prince E Temple, also commonly called Yue Temple. The pine and cypress trees, originally planted by Yuefei were replanted on the two sides of the temple. The trees were named Yue Pine and Yue Cypress.

By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Yue Family held activities mainly in two places, the Loyalty Temple of the old city of Wuhan in Hubei Province in Southern China and Yuewang Temple in Yangyin, Henan Province in the Northern China. During the war in the early days of Emperor Xianfeng who reigned from1831 to 1861 the temple was burned down. An area near the gate of the present day Zhongnan University of Economics and Law was the original site of the temple and the Yue family cemetery. The remaining Yuewang Temple was ruined during the construction of the Zhongnan University when it was moved to Wuchang during the early years of the Chinese Communist Party.

Kneeling Iron Statues of Qin Hui and His Wife in front of Yue Fei's Tomb in Hangzhou

According to the “Jiangxia County Annals” Wuchang built two Loyalty Temples in memory of Yue Fei. The kneeling iron statues of Qin Hui and his wife of Wuchang, Hubei Province was located inside the Yue Fei Temple. The iron statues were cast in 1170. The local people in Wuhan compiled some of Yue Fei's deeds into legends, stories or even fairytales, which were passed on generation after generation.

The Yue Pine: Walk a few hundred of steps east of the Hongshan Pagoda in Wuchang there are several ancient pines. The descendents called the pines as Yue pines in memory of Yue Fei's deeds of "Serving the country with the outmost loyalty".

Baoguo Temple

Baoguo Lane is under the jurisdiction of Cuiwei Street, Hanyang City and was named "Serving the country with the utmost loyalty" to commemorate Yue Fei's heroic deeds. When the news that Yue Fei was murdered spread to Hanyang the local people were filled with grief and indignation. They reached an agreement to donate money to build a Baoguo (meaning to protect the country) Temple on a mound about half kilometers southeast of Cuiweifeng (Now the South Gate of Hongwei Tool Factory). In name, it was built to worship Buddha, but actually it was used to offer sacrifices to Yue Fei. The temple, about 200 square meters in area, was built with red sandstone. There were three rooms in the temple. When the temple was completed the fatuous and self-indulgent ruler Zhaogou was still on the throne and the treacherous court official Qin Hui still in power, therefore, there was no Yue Fei's statues in the temple and there was no horizontal inscribed board, but only the name “Baoguo Temple.”

After acceding the throne, Emperor Xiaozong restored Yue Fei's name. By then, the Baoguo Temple in Hanyang had been named Yue Fei Temple. The four Chinese characteristics written by Yue Fei himself "Serving the country with the utmost loyalty" were inscribed on to a horizontal board and was hung inside the main hall of the temple. People offered sacrifices until the temple was destroyed during the “Great Leap Forward” in 1958.

From the Republic of China to the time prior to the “Great Cultural Revolution” under the communist rule, the people in Hanyang still called a lane and the surrounding residence to the northeast of the Yue Fei Temple as Baoguo Temple in memory of Yue Fei. In 1967, the lane was renamed as Weiwu No. 8 Village. The name of the lane was changed back to Baoguo Lane in 1972 in memory of Yue Fei.

“Bingcangge:” According to historical records, in the spring of 1134 the Jin Dynasty army was moving southward to invade the Central Plains. The imperial court appointed Yue Fei as the Military Commissioner of the Hanyang Army. He was ordered to advance his troops toward Jinghu. After Yue Fei's army defeated the enemy it returned to Ezhou (now Wuchang), and was stationed in Hanyang.

Since Yue Fei's army loved the people as they loved their parents and were well disciplined, it did not commit any crimes against the civilians. As a result it won the heart of the local people. A motto goes like this “It's easy to shack a mountain, but difficult to shake Yue Fei's army.” When the army reached Hanyang it was midnight. In order not to disturb the civilians the General's Headquarters and the army remained in the wilderness, about one kilometer southwest of Hanyang City. They rested and relaxed there for nearly ten months.

Yue Fei stationed his army in the west section of Lanjiang Road and the southern end of Guiyuansi Road. Later, the area was called Bingcangge (The area for stationing troops).

Dunjia Village and Machang Lake were all located to the west of Bingcangge. It's said that Yue Fei's army used to store armors and weapons there. That area is today's Dengjia Village, where Wulidun Street joins Jiangdi Street.

To the southwest of Dunjia (or Dengjia) Village there is a lake. Its ancient name was Eastern Lake of Hanyang. At that time the lake had several run off streams and a lot of ponds. On the lake bank there was abundant grass. It was said that Yue Fei's army were doing the drills and grazing their horses at the lake banks. Therefore, it was also called Machang (horse ranch) Lake or Macang Lake. Today, in the area of Wulidun Street and Jiangdi Street there is a main road leading to Hanyang in the North and Xiama Lake to the South. That section is about two kilometers long, which is also known as Machanghu Road.

Cuiwei Ancient Well and Cuiwei Ancient Pond: At an area around Guiyuan Temple under the Cuiweifeng there are quite a few names of places relating to Yue Fei.

Inside the temple were Cuiwei Well and Cuiwei Pond. It was said that part of Yue Fei's army used to get their water from there. Today, when the tourists stroll around the Guiyuan Temple scenic spots they can see this ancient well and ancient pond.

The Site of Dede, an ancient designation, is situated at about 400 meters southeast of Guiyuan Temple. “A Map of Wuhan City and Townships of the Xuantong Years of the Qing Dynasty,” which was both collected by the Beijing Library and the Hubei Provincial Museum marks the Site of Dede, meaning clatter of horse-hoofs. It is said that the Site of Dede was where Yue Fei returned at night on horseback.

The legend of Cuiziwan: The area to the north of the residential area of Wuqili, Wulidun Street had been named Cuiziwan during the Southern Song Dynasty. The name of the area is related to a story that was handed down in Hanyang from generation to generation.

When Yue Fei was stationed in Hanyan he took a walk one day and heard an old lady cry. He followed the crying, entered the house and asked why she was crying. He learned that an old widowed lady who was very poor raised her son alone. Her son was too poor to get married, so he went to Henan to do some business. No one knew what had happened to him. Yue Fei wanted to help the old lady so he tried to console her, “Don't worry! If your son comes back as poor as he left, please ask him to come to the barracks to see me.”

A few days later, the old lady's son came back empty-handed. He went to see Yue Fei and Yue Fei gave him a bag of silver. The man told Yue Fei that Henan soldiers had captured him and tied him up for several days. He said that he almost lost his life. Yue Fei asked him, “You must be familiar with this path and we need to feel out the enemy's situation before launching an assault. What about you go there again to find it out for us?” The old lady's son agreed. After returning home he married. He no longer wanted to go to Henan.

The old lady became worried, so she urged her son again and again to leave without delay. Her son finally relented and went to Henan. He sent back a lot of information about the Jin Army, which made it possible for Yue Fei's Army to achieve several major victories against the enemy.

Because of this story an unknown bay had a formal name, Cuiziwan (the bay of urging the son).

Yue Fei Street: It was established at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the early days of the Republic of China. It starts from Huangxing Road at the southwest, passing through Chezhan Road and was connected with Zhongshan Street in the northeast. It was part of the French settlement in the older days. French authorities named it Jiangjun Street or Xiafei Street. After China's victory against the Japanese Invasion and having regained control over the French Settlement it was renamed after Yue Fei.

Yue Fei Boxing was very popular in Huangmei County, Guangji County, Jichun County and Guangji County. According to the “Huangmei County Annals” and “Guangji County Annals” Yue Family Boxing was introduced in these counties at the end of the Song Dynasty. It was said that after Yue Fei was murdered, his fourth son Yue Zhen and fifth son Yue Ting were hiding at Yangmeiling, Dahe Township, Huangmei County (Now it's named Yuedongwan and Yuexiwan) to avoid capture. Since Yue Fei was recalled back to the capital by 18 orders in the form of 18 gold plaques, Yue Fei understood that he would be killed, so he secretly handed the Yue Family Boxing Compendium to Yue Zhen and Yue Ting and asked them to hide in Huangmei County instead of accompanying him to the capital. This is how the Yue Family Boxing was widespread in Huangmei County.

In Tianmen City, Hubei Province is a township of historical importance, Yuekou which was called Yuejiakou, according to the record of “Tianmen County Annals.” It was named because he Yue Fei's Army used to be stationed there.”

The legend of Yue Fei and Yuejiakou has been passed on from generation to generation.