Story of Marshal Wen

There is a Marshal Wen well in the south of Dingsheng Bridge, and there is a Marshal Wen Pavilion beside the well, where the statue of Marshal Wen is enshrined, and the title on the pavilion is "Marshal Wen", and the left and right couplets are  "Protecting the villagers' love is as the sun and the moon and avoiding the plague’s deeds moves the royal court".

Legend has it that Marshal Wen was a white-faced scholar, enthusiastic and justicial. One year, there was a drought in Jiangnan and the river dried up. People fetched well water for drinking, and water was as expensive as oil. One day, the scholar found an evil spirit poisoning the well, so the next day, the scholar stayed by the well and refused to let the people get water. Many people who didn't know the truth scolded and beat him. In desperation, the scholar jumped into the well. When the people salvaged the scholar who had drowned, they found that his face was livid, his teeth were cracked and his eyes were protruding, which was a very terrible poisoning symptom. Only then did they know that he was a hero who died for the safety of the people, so they worshipped him as "Marshal Wen" and made a statue for him, hoping that he would drive away the plague ghost in heaven and continue to benefit the place. The statue of Marshal Wen looks fierce with glaring eyes; in fact, it is to suppress the plague ghost.

The day when the scholar jumped into the well to warn was May 15, so there is a custom in Wuzhen that on May 15 of the lunar calendar every year, Marshal Wen Temple fair will be held.

When welcoming the fair, people used a sedan chair to move out the statue of Marshal Wen and paraded on the street, asking him to capture the wandering plague ghosts in the prepared urn. The welcoming team is very spectacular, with gongs to clear the way and hard signs guarding the team; The two people behind them carried an empty wine urn, where there was a green faced ghost with a rope tied to its head. The rope passed through the pulley on the lifting rod, and as they walked, they tugged at the rope. The ghost appeared and disappeared at the entrance of the urn, which was called the "Supressing the plague ghost in supressing plague urn"; Subsequently, two people carried an iron pot filled with charcoal and flickering flames. It is said that fire can deter ghosts; Marshal Wen's sedan chair followed behind, finally, eight sedan chair guards held knives and guns. It is said that in this way, there will be no plague in midsummer.

This is probably due to human fear of the plague, and ancient medicine was not developed enough to eliminate it. Therefore, people imagined the image of the Marshal Wen to soothe fear and pray for peace.