Fangfeng Shrine in Deqing
2 min readLocated to the west of Fangfeng Mountain by Xiazhu Lake, this shrine was built to commemorate the ancient water-controlling hero Fangfeng,a state monarch of Wangmang. According to the legend, Yu, the king of the Xia Dynasty successfully controlled a flood, and he invited all meritoriouspersons in controlling flood to celebrate at Kuaiji Mountain. Unexpectedly, Fangfeng was the only one to be late for the celebration. Yu got out of his temper with the late arrival and killed him as the punishment of his slackness, even showed his dead body to the public. Another saying goes like that Yu killed Fangfeng because he came late for a fight against flood.
But the cause of being late is the same that Fangfeng suffered from mountain flooding on his way, and he led local people to resist the mountain flood. It was the torrents of water rushed down the mountain that prevented him from attending the gathering in time.Fangfeng as a local official governed the state well.He was esteemed by the civilians.When Yu was told the fact，he exonerated him from blame and conferred the honorary title of“King of State Fangfeng”on him，and he gave an ordered to build a Fangfeng Shrine in the state to worship the statue of Fangfeng.When the shrine was completed on August 25th on the Chinese lunar calendar that year，Yu personally arrived to Fangfeng Shrine to worship.He ordered thecourt that the great sacrifice should be included in records of the Xia Dynasty and passed down to the future generations.The original shrine was built at the center of ancient Fangfeng State in the first year of Yongping（291）of the Western Jin Dynasty（265-317）.It was rebuilt during the Five Dynasties（907-960），and a stele with the inscriptions about the shrine was set by Qian Liu，the Monarch of Wuyue.The stele was originally set in theFangfeng Shrine at the southern foot of Feng Mountain，and now it is kept in Deqing Museum.The stele is 2.22 meters tall，0.97 meters wide and 0.245 meters thick.
Today’s Fangfeng Shrine was rebuilt in 1988，and repaired in 1996.It covers an area of 455 square meters and the built-up area is 377 square meters. The main construction with fine eaves is 15.88 meters high. It is agrand shrine. The tall statue of Fangfeng is enshrined inside, and it looks peaceful and respectable.
