The name of Pangu Country, which originated from the Pangu legacy of the Yao ancestors, first appeared in the book Shuiyi Ji written by Ren P, a Liang man in the Southern Dynasty, which mentioned that there is a Pangu Country in the South China Sea. There is a Pangu King Mountain in Huadu District of Guangzhou, and there is a Pangu King Temple on the mountain, which is celebrated with songs and dances at the Pangu Festival on the 12th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar every year. In Laibin, Guangxi, there are a large number of Pangu ruins, inhabitants of the Pangu surname, as well as stories and songs circulating in the folklore, which seem to be more in line with the description of the Pangu Kingdom in the Book of Descriptions of the Dissimilarities.
This strange book is very interesting in that it not only gives a specific and clear account of the geographical area and source of the Pangu myth, but also portrays the characteristics of the Pangu country: the people there take Pan as their surname; there is a tomb of Pangu in Nanhai; and there is a shrine of Pangu in Guilin....... So where should the ancient Nanhai, where the Pangu country is located, be located? ? In fact, this question should be answered by Qin Shi Huang.
After Qin Shi Huang pacified Lingnan, he established three counties including Guilin, Xiang County and Nanhai respectively. Ancient Nanhai was actually the Nanhai County at that time, which is today's Guangzhou City. In the Huadu District of Guangzhou City (formerly known as Huaxian), there is a mountain with a peculiar atmosphere, and on the lush foothills there is a Pangu King Temple, which is not only an important site of the Pangu culture, but also a temple known far and near, with an unending stream of incense throughout the years. In the Qing Dynasty, Pangu Smoke and Haze was already one of the eight scenic spots in Huaxian.
On the origin of Pangu King Mountain and Pangu King Temple, Chen Disheng, Chairman of Huadu District Folk Literature and Artists Association, told me that the area around Shiling Town, Tiemian Town and Huashan Town under the jurisdiction of Huadu District was the residence of Yao people in ancient times, and the ancestors of Yao people worshipped Pangu as the first ancestor, and built the Pangu Temple in the Furnace Mountain foothill of Shiling Town, which was celebrated every year at the Pangu's birthday (the twelfth day of August on the lunar calendar).
At the Pangu Festival, folk artists dance the delicate Pangu King Dance in honor of King Pangu. And the *** of the festival is none other than the heart-stopping grabbing of the firecrackers. It is said that if the people of any village pick up the firecrackers, the Pangu King will bless all the villagers of that village with peace and good will. To the Ming Dynasty, Hongzhi years, the government soldiers to conquer the Yao people, Pangu Temple was burned down, Pangu Festival and other folk activities were forced to suspend.
Until about 300 years later, in the early years of the Qing Jiaqing (1796), Qiu Maosong, a local scholar, found a stone tablet halfway up Shiling Furnace Mountain, engraved with the first heaven and earth, Pangu, the king of the Holy Spirit God. Qiu Maosong thought: this is the place where Pangu opened up the sky and the earth, so he practiced medicine here every day and persuaded the people around him to worship him, and Pangu King gradually became known far and wide, and the people also rebuilt the Pangu Temple, which was very incense-heavy. Finally, Furnace Mountain was renamed Pangu King Mountain, and the annual Pangu Festival celebrations were resumed and have continued until now.
Throughout the Pearl River Delta, which is under the jurisdiction of Nanhai County, no relics or legends about Pangu have been found, except for Huadu. Therefore, many experts have determined that the ancient Nanhai Pangu Kingdom was located in what is now Huadu. However, in recent years, the claim that Pangu Country was located in Huadu District of Guangzhou has been challenged. Some experts have pointed out after research that the mysterious Pangu Kingdom may not be in Huadu.
They believe that the South China Sea mentioned in Ren P's Shuiyi Ji does not refer to the Nanhai County at that time, but should refer to today's South China region, as recorded in many history books. From this, it is speculated that: in the ancient South China - Pearl River Valley, there once existed a Pangu State centered on the belief of Pangu.
In order to confirm the speculation from the literature, folklore experts conducted a large number of investigations, and the results of the investigation against the records of ancient literature. The experts investigated and found that in the Three Kingdoms period, Wu belonged to the Guilin County under the jurisdiction of the zone, that is, the current Guangxi Laibin City area, *** there are 28 Pangu Temple. Moreover, in Laibin City, Guangxi, all over the world are prevalent in the worship of Pangu birthday temple activities, such as playing Pangu theater, singing Pangu song. This coincides with the "Description of differences" recorded in Guilin, there is a Pangu shrine, today's people worship coincide.