Quanzhou Kaiyuan Temple
Quanzhou Kaiyuan Temple was built on land donated by Huang Shougong, and Huang Shougong and his descendants were honored as the Lords of Tanyue. The temple was first built in the second year of Chui Gong of the Tang Dynasty (686 AD), and was renamed Kaiyuan Temple in the 26th year of Kaiyuan (733 AD) of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. There are many famous monks in this temple, and there are landscapes such as the famous East and West Pagodas in the temple. At present, it is a national key cultural relic protection unit, one of the top ten scenic spots in Fujian Province, and one of the eighteen scenic spots in Quanzhou.
1. The legend of temple construction
Huang Shougong, the master of Tanyue of Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou, was the son of Emperor Huang of Xuanyuan and a descendant of the Xiong family.
Landscape photos of Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou (16 photos) According to the "Jiangxia Ziyun Huang Family Dacheng Genealogy", Huang Shougong was the 112th descendant of the first ancestor of the Huang family, born in 629 AD. Died in 712 AD. Huang Shougong became an official in Quanzhou (it is also said that Huang Shougong's family grew mulberry and raised sericulture, making him the earliest pioneer of the mulberry and sericulture industry in Quanzhou). He became extremely wealthy and owned 360 villages. A monk named Zen Master Kuang Hu asked Huang Shou for land to build a temple, but Huang refused to give it. Zen Master Kuanghu then came and went in the morning and evening, and he was diligent as time went by. Huang Shougong said to Zen Master Kuanghu: If you want my land, wait until the mulberry trees in my back garden bloom with lotus flowers. I will give you the land of the house. Zen Master Kuanghu left happily. The next day, Zen Master Kuanghu came again and said to Huang Shougong, the mulberry tree in your back garden has bloomed lotus flowers, please go and admire them. When Huang saw the flowers, he was quite uneasy and wanted to brush his words. The monk drifted away without a trace. The male fell ill and did not recover for three years. The mulberry tree blossomed continuously for three years.
The Duke (note: Huang Shougong) sighed and said: This monk is very human. It's posted on every street looking for it. The monk suddenly arrived. Gong worshiped and said, "The preface has been made, so it is what I want, but I don't know how much land I want?" The monk said, one shadow of cassock is enough. Promise it. The monk threw his cassock for half the sky, and the 360 ??villages were covered with shade. Huang Shougong dedicated the land to build the temple. Starting in the second year of Chuigong in the Tang Dynasty (AD 686), the Lotus Temple, Xingjiao Temple, and Longxing Temple (Tang Dynasty) were successively built. In the 26th year of Xuanzong's Kaiyuan reign (738 AD), it was renamed Kaiyuan Temple). Because there are often purple clouds covering the ground (it is also said that after the temple's main hall was built, purple clouds suddenly fell from the sky and covered the ground, causing the grass in the front hall to be unable to reproduce for more than 1,300 years. This historical unsolved case became the 1992 " UFO Exploration magazine's UFO site research object), the big book "Ziyun" was unveiled at the mountain gate. The land of Kaiyuan Temple was donated by Huang Shougong. Tanyue Temple was built in the temple to enshrine Huang Shougong's position and honor Huang Shougong and his descendants as the masters of Tanyue. -
2. Temple attractions
1. Tianwang Hall
The mountain gate of Kaiyuan Temple is also called Tianwang Hall. It was built in the third year of Chui Gong reign of Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty (AD 687). It has been destroyed and rebuilt after several fires. The existing building was built in the fourteenth year of the Republic of China (AD 1925). Please take a look at this stone pillar first: it is slightly thinner at the upper and lower ends, thicker in the middle, and is in the shape of a shuttle. Its scientific name is shuttle pillar. According to research, it is the stone pillar style of the Tang Dynasty. It is very old. There is also a wooden couplet hanging on the stone pillar. This place was called the Buddhist Kingdom in ancient times, and the streets are full of saints. This was written by Zhu Xi, a great Neo-Confucian scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty, and written by Master Hongyi, a eminent monk in modern times. It is a true portrayal of Quanzhou, an ancient city with strong religious and cultural features. Sitting on both sides of the Heavenly King's Hall are the Secret Vajra and the Brahma King arranged according to the rules of Buddhist Tantric Buddhism. They are angry with their chests raised and their appearance is very majestic. They are quite different from the four king kongs sculpted in ordinary temples. Some people jokingly call them the two generals of Hengha.
2. Baiting
After crossing the mountain gate, you will arrive at Baiting. We can see the east and west towers rising from the ground and the spacious and bright east and west corridors symmetrically arranged on both sides, and our location is on the central axis of Kaiyuan Temple. Buddhism has a history of more than a thousand years since it was introduced into my country. It has flourished in China and has been integrated with Chinese culture. The layout of Kaiyuan Temple highlights the characteristics of ancient Chinese buildings with the south facing and the central axis as the main focus. Quanzhou Kaiyuan Temple Map
This data comes from Baidu Map, the final result shall be subject to Baidu Map data.
3. Baiting
The large stone pavilion in front of the Baiting is a barren Baiting, used for worship and activities by officials and people of ancient and modern times. On the 26th day of the lunar calendar, there are huge crowds of people here, the sound of Sanskrit chanting, and the scene of a Buddhist country in Quannan. Perhaps it is also because there are no admission tickets on this day, attracting many tourists to visit on this day. On both sides of the stone courtyard are eight large banyan trees, which are between 200 and 800 years old. Their shadowy and tangled roots add to the quiet and solemn atmosphere of Kaiyuan Temple. Under the tree, there are 11 ancient sutra buildings, small stupas, and two stupas of different styles from the Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties.
There is also a stone-carved silk burning furnace over 3 meters high in the courtyard. The cover button is carved with a squatting Suan Ni, and the furnace body is carved with flags, dragons, auspicious clouds, lotus petals, creepers and other patterns. The shape is beautiful and the carving is exquisite. On both sides of the silk burning furnace, there are two square stone towers donated by Liu Sanniang in Nanxiang, Quanzhou, built in the 15th year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1145 AD). On the towers are engraved the story of Prince Sachui sacrificing himself to feed tigers. The story is the trace left by Hinduism in the Southern Song Dynasty.
4. Main Hall
The main building on the central axis is the Main Hall in front of you. Because it is said that purple clouds covered the ground when the temple was built, it was also called Ziyun Hall. This huge plaque above the main hall is written with the four Wei stele-style tycoons of the Sanglian Dharma Realm, in response to the saying that the Sanglian blooms the white lotus. As early as the early Tang Dynasty, Quanzhou was already rich in silk. This land was originally the mulberry tree garden of the wealthy Huang Shougong, and was later donated to Master Kuang Hu to build a temple. There is a very touching legend about this matter: One day, Huang Shougong dreamed that a monk asked him for land to build a temple. He said that when the mulberry trees bloomed with white lotus flowers, he would offer the land to form a happy marriage. A few days later, the mulberry trees in the garden were full of white lotus flowers. Huang Shougong was deeply moved by the boundless Buddhism and donated the mulberry tree garden. In fact, Huang Shougong was a philanthropic person, and the theory of blooming mulberry and white lotus came from people's admiration for the Buddha. However, this magical legend was talked about by the people of Quanzhou and passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, Kaiyuan Temple also received the mulberry and lotus Dharma Realm. reputation.
The Main Hall was built in the second year of Chui Gong in the Tang Dynasty (686 AD). It has been damaged and rebuilt several times in the Tang, Southern Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties. The existing buildings were built in the 10th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1637 AD). relic. The main hall is 20 meters high, with nine rooms wide and six rooms deep, covering an area of ??1387.75 square meters. The hall has far-reaching arches and a majestic appearance, preserving the majestic and majestic architectural style of the Tang Dynasty.
Enshrined in the center of the main hall is the imperially given Buddha statue Vairocana Buddha, which is translated into Chinese as the Great Sun Tathagata and is the highest deity of Tantric Buddhism. On both sides of it are the four great Buddhas that were sculpted when the Five Dynasties kings reviewed and built the main hall. They are Akho Buddha in the East Xiangji World, Baosheng Buddha in the South Joy World, Amitabha Buddha in the West Paradise World, and Achievement Buddha in the North Lotus World. They are collectively called the Five Buddhas. , also called Five Wisdoms Tathagata. These five Buddhas are shining with golden light, have clear clothing patterns, kind faces, and solemn Dharma appearances. Their hands are respectively used to express sermons, give, receive guidance, and meditate. The craftsmanship is exquisite and amazing. The five Buddhas are accompanied by Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Ananda, Kasyapa, Guanyin, Shizhi, Wei Tuo, Guan Yu, Brahma, Sakyamuni and other heavenly Bodhisattvas, and 10 gods and generals. In the middle of the back of the main hall, the first of the six Tantric Avalokitesvaras, the Holy Avalokitesvara, the Shancai, the Dragon Girl and the Eighteen Arhats with different looks on their wings are enshrined. The successive abbots of Kaiyuan Temple have converted to different sects: Faxiang Sect, Vinaya Sect, Pure Land Sect, Tantric Sect, Zen Sect, etc. However, the main hall can maintain this rare regulation, which is both worthy of boasting and worthy of study.
The Main Hall is also known as the Hundred Pillars Hall. The entire hall was originally planned to have 100 pillars. Later, because of the need to place Buddha statues and make room for Buddhists to worship, the beams were lengthened and the columns reduced, making it the Hundred Pillars Hall with 86 pillars. In the 10th year of Chongzhen (AD 1637), when Zeng Ying, the right-hand political envoy and the inspector general, and Zheng Zhilong, the commander-in-chief, rebuilt the Ziyun Hall of Kaiyuan Temple, they replaced all the wooden pillars with stone pillars. The pillars in the Hundred Pillars Hall are of various shapes, including Begonia style columns, columns and square columns from the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. Lengshuo column, Panlong column, etc. In particular, the pair of 16-sided diabase stone pillars in the eaves at the back of the hall are carved with 24 stories and floral patterns of the ancient Hindu god Krishna spread in ancient India and Ceylon, which have aroused great interest among Chinese and foreign scholars. It and the 72 diabase sphinxes and lion reliefs on the platform of the platform in front of the temple were both moved from the destroyed Zhuyin Temple of the Yuan Dynasty during the construction of the temple. They are historical witnesses of Quanzhou's prosperous overseas transportation and friendly cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries during the Song and Yuan Dynasties.
In front of the Five Directions Buddha, where the stone pillars and pedestal beams meet, there are two rows facing each other of 24 goddesses with plump bodies, gorgeous patterns, colorful patterns, and outstretched wings. According to the Buddhist scriptures: This bird's voice is subtle and the fairy voice is elegant, even the singer Kinnara is not as good as her. They were originally the attendants of the Buddha, and skilled craftsmen embedded their lower bodies into the tenons of the pillars, with their claws and feet exposed under their wings, their upper bodies stretched forward, their heads held high, their short clothes half uncovered, their skirts wrapped around their shins, and their arms Stretching out, the wrist is holding a tame bracelet, the four treasures of the study are on the stick, melon and fruit snacks, silk and bamboo orchestra, as graceful as an immortal. They not only provide people with beautiful artistic enjoyment, but also replace brackets, rely on thick hoisting beams to reduce their excessive spans, and integrate religion, art and architecture extremely skillfully, which is admirable.
5. Sangpeng Historic Site
On the west side of the back of the Hundred Pillars Hall is a thousand-year-old mulberry tree that is said to have bloomed white lotus, which is the Sangpeng Historic Site. Seeing its senile appearance, everyone believed that it was more than a thousand years old, and most people ignored whether it had ever bloomed white lotus. However, under the old mulberry tree, there is an ancient stone tablet, which seems to be true. In a thunderstorm in 1925, the old mulberry tree was split into three by lightning, and one of the branches fell to the ground. So the monks used a piece of granite to hold it up, and engraved a couplet of "the lotus will hang down for two years," with the order not to Despite all the bad things, the old mulberry tree miraculously survived, and its branches and leaves are luxuriant and youthful. A few years ago, strong winds blew the tree off the supporting stone. Before people could help it again, it had already taken root. Today, three old mulberry trees with the same root are like a blooming flower, extending in three directions: north, east and south, and are lush and green all year round.
6. Nectar Altar
The Nectar Altar behind the main hall is built on the second step of the central axis. It is said that during the Tang Dynasty, nectar often fell here, so a monk named Xingzhao dug a nectar well here. In the third year after coming to Tianjin from the north (AD 1019), an altar was built on the well, so it was called the Manna Altar. In the second year of Jianyan of the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1108), Monk Dunzheng believed that the altar did not meet the standards, so he rebuilt it into five levels according to the "Nanshan Illustrated Classic", with strict restrictions on height, width and width. It was rebuilt many times during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. The existing building is a four-eaves, octagonal and pointed structure rebuilt in the fifth year of Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (AD 1666). The caisson in the middle of the top of the altar is made of Ruyi bucket arches, which overlap and close up, like a spider web or a tapestry tapestry. The structure is complex and exquisite. There are 24 flying musicians on the pillars and brackets around the altar, wearing colorful ribbons and holding pipa, erxian, dongxiao and castanets. They sing and dance as gracefully as if they are flying. Like the Pinga of the Hundred Pillar Hall, they are not only treasures of architectural art, but also valuable image materials for the study of Nanyin and Nanxi opera.
The caisson is divided into five levels. The top floor of the altar is dedicated to the seated wooden statue of Lushena Buddha from the Ming Dynasty. The lotus pedestal on which it sits has a thousand lotus petals. Each lotus leaf is carved with a 6 cm Buddha statue, which is very exquisite. There are four Bodhisattva statues around Lusena: Vajra Hook, Vajra Cord, Vajra Bell and Vajra Lock, as well as 24 statues of Bodhisattvas including Sakyamuni, Amitabha, Hanshan, Shide, Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara and Wei Tuo. Among them, the Eight King Kong statues are the best. They have angry eyes and bare chests, looking extremely majestic. There are also 64 various divine trump cards surrounding the altar to protect the three refuges and the five precepts. The ordination altar is the place where Buddhists receive ordination. This mysterious and solemn atmosphere can make people feel in awe, eliminate all thoughts, and take refuge wholeheartedly. It is said that this kind of ordination altar is already rare in the country. As the saying goes, rare things are more valuable, so everyone is lucky. Scenery pictures of Kaiyuan Temple
7. Sutra Pavilion
After the altar, there is the Sutra Pavilion, which is known as the Baibao Pavilion. This was originally the Dharma Hall, which was built by monk Lu Liu Jianyi in the 22nd year of the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1285). It had been renovated many times during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. In the 14th year of the Republic of China (AD 1925), Monk Yuanying rebuilt it into a two-story pavilion with a cement imitation wood structure. The downstairs is now a place where monks chant sutras and worship Buddha. The upper floor houses more than 3,700 volumes of sutras in various versions. Wang Shenzhi, the king of Kai Min in the Five Dynasties, was on the throne and dominated the territory of Fujian. It was purely by chance. Therefore, when he became the queen of Fujian, he became associated with the Buddha, developed great faith, made great vows, took refuge in his heart, accepted it, and upheld it, in order to seek spiritual enlightenment. balance. He successively gave up millions of dollars to build the main hall and other buildings, and collected 10,000 taels of gold and silver, grinding them finely into clay. He asked Master Yiying of Kaiyuan Temple to write two gold and silver Tripitakas. There are still fragments of pages on the second floor. . There are also the Lotus Sutra written with the blood of Master Ruzhao from the Yuan Dynasty and the Bayeux Sutra in Tamil. They are precious Buddhist classics in our country. In addition, the Tibetan Scripture Pavilion also preserves cultural relics from the prosperous Tang Dynasty to the Republic of China. Among them are 32 large and small Buddha statues, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, heavenly kings, and generals of jade, copper, porcelain, and wood from various generations. The calligraphy and wooden couplets of famous calligraphers such as Zhang Ruitu of the Ming Dynasty and modern eminent monk Hongyi are also collected here. The hall on the first floor also has a collection of 12 square bells dating from the Southern Song Dynasty. Among them, the particularly valuable one is the iron bell built publicly in the suburbs of Lukang in the 17th year of Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty (1837 AD). The inscriptions of 46 businesses in the suburbs of Hong Kong are valuable information for studying the economic history of Taiwan and Quanzhou.
8. East and West Towers
A brief description of the octagonal five-story pavilion-style imitation wood structure stone towers standing in the squares on both sides of the court, about 200 meters apart, is the East and West Towers of Quanzhou. It is an important cultural relic of Kaiyuan Temple. It is famous throughout the world for its majestic tower body, wonderful shape, magical construction and exquisite carvings. It has attracted countless Chinese and foreign scholars and tourists from the Song Dynasty to the present to visit, observe, speculate and study.
East Pagoda
The East Pagoda is famous as the Zhenguo Pagoda. It was built as a five-story wooden pagoda in the sixth year of Xiantong (865 AD) by Zen Master Wen Kan, who initiated its construction. After being destroyed and rebuilt several times, the wood was replaced with bricks. In the second year of Jiaxi (AD 1238), Master Benhong converted the bricks into stone. Later, Master Faquan and Master Tianxi continued the construction. It took ten years to complete. The east tower is 48.24 meters high. The plane of the tower is divided into four parts: the corridor, the outer wall, the inner corridor and the octagonal column in the center of the tower. The tower is a frame structure. The central pillar of the tower runs straight through each floor and is the support of the entire tower. There are stone beams at the eight corners of the tower core pillars on each floor, which are connected to the 2-meter-thick tower wall and leaning pillars. The top pillars are supported by arches layer by layer to reduce the span of the stone beams. The stone beams and beam supports are like chisels, and the mortise and tenon joints make the tower core and the tower wall stress-connected to form one body, which greatly enhances the firmness of the tower body. The walls of the tower are made of processed and carved granite, stacked in a criss-cross pattern, with precise calculation and meticulous construction. A solid foundation and a solid tower core that conforms to mechanical principles enable this building, which weighs more than 10,000 tons, to stand firm despite more than 700 years of wind, frost, rain and dew. Even the eight-magnitude earthquake in 1604 AD could not shake its foundation. The stone tower is not only extremely strong, but also exquisite in shape. The eaves of the tower extend outward in a curved arc shape, and the corners of the eaves are high, making the tower appear to be flying in the air and appear light. Each floor is equipped with four doors and four niches, which are interchanged floor by floor. This not only distributes the gravity evenly, but also makes the appearance of the tower more vivid and beautiful. A bronze bell is tied to the eaves of each floor of the tower. When the breeze blows, the bell makes a pleasant tinkling sound. There are eight large iron chains on the top of the tower, connecting the eight corners and the top of the brake, making it appear majestic and swaying in purple. There are also 16 reliefs carved on the walls of each floor of the tower, which are respectively engraved on the human and heavenly vehicles, the Shravakayana, Pratyekabuddha, Bodhisattva and Buddha vehicles, totaling 80 life-like figures. The knife work is delicate, the lines are smooth, and the workmanship is amazing. The East Pagoda was selected as one of the four most famous pagodas in the country in 1997, and it can be called: the King of Stone Pagodas.
West Tower
The West Tower is called Renshou Pagoda. In the third year of Liang Zhenming in the Five Dynasties (AD 917), Wang Shenzhi shipped wood from Fuzhou Panhai to Quanzhou to build this pagoda, which was originally named Wuliangshou Pagoda. In the fourth year of Zhenghe in the North (1114 AD), he petitioned for the name Renshou Pagoda. It was destroyed and rebuilt many times, and the wood was turned into bricks. It was self-certified from the first year of Shaoding to the first year of Jiaxi in the Song Dynasty (1228-1237 AD). The master converted bricks into stone and built it ten years before the east tower. The west tower is 44.06 meters high, slightly lower than the east tower, and its scale is almost identical to the east tower. Only the reliefs of the male bearded Guanyin and the Monkey Walker have aroused widespread interest among tourists and scholars.
Evaluation
The stone tower of Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou is a treasure of ancient stone architecture in my country. Judging from the architectural scale, shape and craftsmanship of the stone tower, it can be said to be exquisite. It fully reflects the high degree of wisdom and great creativity of the working people of the Song Dynasty. It is not only the best among Chinese stone pagodas, but also the best in the world. It is not only a symbol of the unprecedented prosperity of Quanzhou's overseas transportation in the Middle Ages, but also a unique symbol of Quanzhou's historical and cultural city. Now, the shadow sculptures of the East and West Towers have become precious gifts given to guests by the city's top leaders. Therefore, it can be said that the East-West Tower has become a symbol of Quanzhou. It is not only the pride of Quanzhou people, but also the hometown image that overseas Chinese and Taiwan compatriots long for. Even people who have never been to Quanzhou often say that a person should stand like the East-West Tower and lie down like the Luoyang Bridge, which shows the importance of the East-West Tower in their minds.
6. Anping Bridge
Commonly known as Wuli Bridge, it is located on the bay where Jinjiang Anhai and Nanan Shuitou meet. Construction began in the eighth year of Shaoxing in the Song Dynasty (1138) and was completed thirteen years later.
It is the longest existing large stone bridge in the harbor in my country. The whole bridge is 2255 meters long, 3-3.8 meters wide, and has 361 piers. There are water center pavilion, building pavilion, middle pavilion, rain pavilion, There are five palaces and pavilions. There is a white tower at the east end of the bridge, 22 meters high, a five-story hexagonal hollow brick tower with white ash on the outside. High towers and long bridges form an interesting contrast to each other.
In March 1961, Wuli Bridge was announced as a national key cultural relic protection unit.
In recent years, huge sums of money have been allocated to rebuild the collapsed piers and slabs, and to repair the three bridge pavilions, bridge towers and bridge railings. The siltation on both sides of the bridge was excavated to restore the beautiful scenery of the long bridge reflecting the water. A highway and a gate bridge were built downstream of the bridge, making transportation more convenient.
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