"Record of the Rebuilding of the Tangxi County City God Temple" by Yang Heshu from 1828-32 / 楊鶴書〈重修湯溪縣城隍廟記〉

[Note: The term translated as "city god temple" is literally the "temple of [the god of the] walls (cheng) and moats (huang)." In the first part of the translation we use cheng and huang for reasons that will be apparent.]

Examining into antiquity I find that the Book of Change says " The cheng falls back on the huang;" the commentary glosses huang as "moat." In the Glosses on the Erya [Vocabulary] huang is "empty." The gloss has "what is without water is a huang." These are the first appearances of the term cheng huang in the Classics. According to the Rites of Zhou the Minister of Religion's sacrifices to the earth spirits, in addition to the blood sacrifices, sacrifices put in the earth, and sacrifices out in the water, there is the ritual dismemberment of the victim [to get rid of evil] for all things of the four quarters. The [Canon of Yao] in Book of Documents has "They make offerings to all the spirits." The Book of Rites has "Those who hold the empire make offerings to the many spirits." But none of the commentaries on these passages ever mentioned cheng huang. Thus before the Zhou and Qin dynasties not only was there no such temple there was not an offering with this name either. The Spring and Autumn Annals frequently does not desist from recording the building of walls and digging of moats. Now when the kings or dukes created defenses, building walls to protect dwellings or moats to hold back barbarian horsemen, then the value of their deeds to the people was equal to that of the mountains and forests, rivers and marshes, and mounds and hills being able to produce the clouds to make the wind and rain. And so how could it be that if all the wondrous places in the universe have ghosts and spirits residing, that for the protection of the capital of mighty Tangxi there alone would not be an intelligent and moral deity in charge of the place?

But why was it that [the ancients] made offerings at the winter sacrifice to cats and tigers to repay them for their contribution to farming [by killing rats and boars], that the wolf and otter as different as they are honored for sacrificing to their ancestors origins, and it even happened that the state of Lu made offerings to the seagull, Guo to the spirit descending to Shen, Qin sacrificed at the Western Altar, and there were even those who allowed licentious sacrifices, and yet the cheng huang is missing [in the ancient records]. Is this because the records of the ancient rituals were abbreviated and incomplete? Or is this because the offering were irregular, such as the Yong, Gong, Yue, and Rang [sacrifices in antiquity], so that even if there were occasionally held, the ground would be cleared, the altar removed, and it would be included in the offerings to all spirits without a specific status? Wang Chongjian [1607-1678] in explaining the Eight Winter Solstice offerings took the "shui (water) and yong (wall)" offering to refer to the cheng and huang. Now it is plausible to take yong as cheng, but to take shui as huang obviously is at odds with the commentaries on the Classics [which gloss huang as a dry moat] so this is not the final word. When we look into the histories we find that in the second year of the Chiwu era of the state of Wu [AD 239] they built the Temple of the Walls and Moats of Wuhu, thus it is evident that this began during the Three Kingdoms period. The previous edition of the gazetteer argued that it began in the Tang dynasty on the basis of Li Yangbing's Inscription for Dangtu Temple and a stele in seal script in [neighboring] Jinyun County, but that was a mistake in research. After this Northern Qi in Yingzhou they also built this temple. In the Shaoding era [1228-1233] of the Song an [imperial] plaque was given [to a City God temple]. In the Duanping era [1234-1236] a city god was officially given the noble title of Marquis of Xianying [=Respond Efficaciously]. In the Hongwu era [1368-1398 of the Ming] the title was changed to Earl of Xianyou [=Protect Efficaciously], but soon the title was removed and it was referred to as the "God of the Walls and Moats of such-and-such prefecture or county." Our dynasty has followed this and the temples spread throughout the world.

The gazetteer for this temple in Tangxi says that no one can specifically say when it began. Now when we were taking down the wall at the back of the main hall we found a stele with an inscription for a "living" shrine for Lord Song. Its text says that when the county was established by taking territory from four other counties, Jinhua, Lanxi, Longyou, and Suichang Song was chosen to be responsible for this place. In two or three years the county seat, the school, the offices, the altars, and the temples where all erected, thus it is very clear that this was built by Song. During the Kangxi period [1662-1722] of our dynasty. Magistrates Ke, Yang, and Song and the county gentry Zhang Keyuan and his son all renovated it in succession. In addition they set aside rental income to cover expenses in the long term. From the Chenghua era [1465-1487] to today, however, several hundred years have passed. Rain and wind have battered it, birds and rats have nested in it, it is in such dangerous condition that it will not last another day. In the summer of the wuzi year [1828] I was appointed to administer this county. Soon after I arrived I first carried out the rites and made offerings. I saw that it was in a terrible state of decay. I immediately contributed funds and called on the local gentry Chen Xiangyao and others to supervise the work. They made temporary repairs to the roof and shored up the supports to make the god safe. Considering that a major renovation would have been a huge project, beyond the capabilities of the populace, and that as the Zuo Commentary says: "First help improve the situation of the populace and then spend energies on the spirits," my humble intention was to wait for the proper time. Luckily the harvest was plentiful and there were not natural disasters. Prayers for rain and sun were answered. [The harvest was so plentiful that] it was stored in the fields and left uncovered on the embankments; the farmers and craftsmen were celebrating in the villages and the merchants were plentiful in the markets. There were hymns of praise that this was the result of my virtuous administration. But how would I dare to claim credit for blessings from the god? Now when the god had protects a place against disaster and tribulation and brings good fortune to the people like this, we should grasp the moment and complete the project without delay; it was entirely proper that when the time was right we should give him a decent dwelling, thus to honor his virtue and repay his achievements.

Thus I gathered the officials and the gentry elders and planned it, and contributed a large sum to lead the way. Once general opinion was settled, within weeks and months what was contributed to help mounted into the thousands and ten-thousands. This project began in the fifth month of the jichou year of the Daoguang era [1829] and was finished in the sixth month of the xinmao year [1831]. The old style of the halls was maintained but the galleries were enlarged. The whole layout was made even brighter and more imposing. The stone was set, the wood cut, and it was so firm, delicate and grand that after the efforts for this reconstruction we will never need to do it again. The stone has ground to a fine polish, the wood carved to perfection, and the ceiling decoration is beautiful with golds and greens whose luminosity dazzles the age. And there is the dignity of the god's image, the ranks of the guards, the statues of the women in the inner apartment, and the officers for reward and punishment in the side galleries. Governing the human world and ruling the nether world is the same. In the unseen realms there is one who is in charge of celebrating the good and making the evil suffer, bringing good fortune to the good and ill to the licentious. By serving the spirits with the way of serving men the simple folk are made to pay attention and take warning " this is the subtle intent of establishing moral instruction with the way of the spirits. Those who also serving here at this time were School Instructor Mr. Shen Baolin, Assistant Instructor Mr. Shou Yumin, former Assistant Instructors Mr. Qin Jing, Mr. Gao Xifan, Police Chief Mr. Li Yangqing, former Police Chief Mr. Jiang Quan, all are honest and fair. Much help was received from their prompting the gentry to manage the matter; they took responsibility for various aspects and worked hard from start to finish. Although the costs went beyond several ten-thousands, not a scrap or shaving was wasted. I thus further commend the gentlemen of Tangxi, who like the good and are willing to contribute, who are principled and public-spirited, and who helped make this possible. When the building was finished the gentry asked for some words to engrave on a stele. I thereupon turned to the Classics and commentaries, histories and gazetteers, to trace the origin of the name and meaning and to correct misunderstandings about its beginning, and in addition [mentioned] the traces of earlier renovations, and the greatness of the gentlemen in joining their efforts for a common purpose and of an achievement that will be permanently visible. The names of the gentry who managed the matter and those who contributed are separately registered on a stele to show the future.

However, there is a cycle of what was once new becoming old and what was once complete becoming faulty and back again. If we wish to attract the god's gifts endlessly, then this is what I expect of the successors.