臨汾魏村牛王廟-中國第2古老的木製戲臺｜Temple of the Ox King, Linfen City With 2nd Oldest Wooden Opera Stage of China

Located in Weicun village, Linfen city, Shanxi province, Temple of the ox king owns the second oldest wooden opera stage in China, which was rebuilt in 1321 after a big earthquake!
According to the stone tablets, in Song dynasty, during a war between Song court and Jin minority, a Plague suddenly affected all the war horses and oxens for farmers. The Emperor immediately sent out 3 government officials to solve the problem. One of them was a doctor, who cleverly dumped all the herbal medicine into the river and asked the farmers and soldiers to drive their horses and oxen to the riverside and to drink the water. All of them got recovered magically! So the locals honor the three officials as "Yaowang" king of medicine, "Niuwang" king of ox, "Mawang" king of horse.

魏村牛王庙的主殿为广禅侯殿，也叫三王殿，是这个庙之所以得名的大殿。庙内供奉牛王、马王、药王，正中的主祀神就是牛王，也就是广禅侯。据碑文记载，北宋年间，宋金大战。时值秋收时机，突遇瘟疫，宋军战马无力出征迎敌，民间耕牛卧槽不起。朝廷闻报急忙派了三位使臣前往救治。他们中的一位精通医道，采集草药熬制成汤药投放到水井和河流中，牛马饮后，立刻痊愈。战马重新上阵杀敌，民间则又能驱耕牛犁地抢收。此后，当地人们为感谢三位救世能人，便分别立庙祭祀，分别尊称为牛王马王药王，岁岁祭祀，年年酬报，庙会兴盛延续至今。