Duan Chicheng

At the time of Nanzhao Kingdom，there was a girl who lived by selling grass in Lvtao Village of Dali.She lived in poor life.On a rainy day，the girl cut grass and carried it to the water to rinse the soil when she saw a green peach like a small bowl rushing down from the water.She ate it to relieve her hunger.Unexpectedly，she became pregnant.

The girl got pregnant for 13 months.On the morning of the 23rd of July，she gave birth to a boy named Duan Chicheng in a wheat field.She loved her son very much and raised him no matter how hard life was.

Duan Chicheng followed his mother to mow grass as a child，and later，he learned to work as a stonecutter under the foot of Cangshan Mountain.He was powerful，cautious，and courageous.

At that time，a python came to Maer Peak，endangering the villagers.It was said that when the python swung its tail，the trees would be cut off.And those women，who ate vegetarian，often went to the mountain to worship sutras and were eaten by the python.

In order to get rid of the python，Duan Chicheng consulted it with several villagers nearby and asked a blacksmith to make many steel knives for him.He then tied the knives to his body.Holding a sword，he went to fight with the python.The python opened its mouth wide and sucked Duan Chicheng into its stomach.But the sword and the steel knives he carried were sharp enough to break through the python's stomach.Soon the python died.When the villagers cut open the python's stomach to save Duan Chicheng，he was dead.People buried him in the back of Baolin Village，burning bricks with the python's ashes mixed with mud，and built a tower to commemorate him.The tower was called“Snake Bone Tower”.

The news of Duan Chicheng's killing of the python spread to Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake，and the villagers in Longfeng Village admired him even more.One day，the villagers had the same dream in which Duan Chicheng said to them，“I have become the dragon king of Erhe River.Please build a Longquan Temple by the river.As soon as you begin to construct the temple，I will send the wood to you.”Though being quite skeptical，the villagers chose a site to build a large temple，and went to find a carpenter.On the evening before the construction，the villagers were shocked to see countless pieces of wood drifting along Erhai Lake.But no one in the village could move the wood to the ground.

The following day，a carpenter and a mason came.It turned out that they were Master Zhangban and Master Luban，and they came to build the temple personally.

In an instant，a well emerged on the flat ground，and all the wood from the seaside flowed into the well.Any wood to be used would come up from the mouth of the well，equipped with the mortise and tenon eyes.When lifting the last beam，a villager above the well counted the number wrong and said“enough”.Then the beam stopped coming out.Zhangban and Luban had to use wood shavings and wood dregs to mix rice soup to make one beam.

After the temple was built，people made Duan Chicheng a god statue with more than two zhang high.After Duan Chicheng's mother died of old age，the villagers in Lvtao Village also built a temple for her，which was called“Dragon Mother Temple”.It is said that lanterns often appear in the mountains during the drought，and it indicates that the dragon mother is looking for the source of water.