Guangren temple in Xi'an

Guangren temple in Xi'an is the only Tibetan Buddhist temple in Shaanxi Province. It was built in 1703 by Emperor Kangxi, the emperor of Qing Dynasty. Historically, it has played a role in condensing and promoting the multi-ethnic unity in the northwest frontier. "Thousand handed Avalokitesvara" is located in Tianwang hall, the main hall of Guangren temple. It sits on the lotus throne of Vajra platform and is carved from precious Russian basswood. The Buddha is about 6.6 meters high and weighs two tons. The whole body of the statue of Guanyin is covered with gold, glittering, kind-hearted and hands clasped in front of the chest. It took half a year for the statue to be carved by Mr. Qi Maochun, an American patriotic overseas Chinese, and Chen Weiyang, a Zhejiang folk artist.

Guangren Temple

synonym

Guangren temple in Xi'an generally refers to Guangren Temple (AAAA scenic spot in Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province)

Guangren temple, located in the northwest corner of the Ming City Wall in Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, is the only Green Tara main Taoist temple in China, and the only Tibetan Gelug temple in Shaanxi Province. It was built in 1705 when Emperor Kangxi visited Shaanxi Province.

Guangren temple, also known as "Lama Temple", is a palace where the great lamas from the northwest and kangzang areas, including Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama, make pilgrimage to Beijing and pass through Shaanxi. The temple houses one of the only two 12-year-old Buddha statues in the world and the largest thousand handed Avalokitesvara in Shaanxi Province. It has the only exquisite thousand Buddha Hall in China and is also the site of Princess Wencheng's sacrifice in Chang'an.

In 1983, Guangren temple was listed as a national key Temple by the State Council and is a national AAA scenic spot.

Historical evolution

Guangren temple is also called "Lama Temple" because it is the palace of the great lamas in the northwest and kangzang area when they pass by Shaanxi Province. Guangren temple is the only main Taoist temple of Green Tara in China and the only Tibetan Gelug temple in Shaanxi Province.

In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing government established monasteries along the way of Tibet and Qinghai Tibetan Buddhist upper class lamas coming to Beijing to meet the emperor, indicating to the Mongolians and Tibetans that the Qing government fully respected their religious beliefs and customs and protected Tibetan Buddhism, so as to win the hearts of the people and consolidate the northwest border.

In 1703, Kangxi intended to build Shaanxi into a military fortress and base camp for the Qing Empire to manage the northwest and southwest Mongolian and Tibetan areas. From October 12 to 25, Kangxi visited Shaanxi, offered sacrifices to mountains and rivers and imperial tombs, rewarded scholars, prospered sages, gave preferential treatment to disaster relief, and won wide popularity. At the same time, he also reviewed the garrison, rewarded military achievements, and received and received people Given to the Mongolian leaders in various regions, he repeatedly emphasized his intention of "taking care of the world and paying attention to the western border" and his viewpoint of "only the area of Guanlong is the most important frontier". Therefore, in addition to taking a number of positive measures from the political, economic, military and other aspects to ensure the implementation of its security strategy, Emperor Kangxi also started from the policy of "suiting the people to the customs", personally "touring" the terrain of Xi'an City in the "reading of the military", and chose a refreshing highland. The imperial edict was granted by the imperial court, and a Buddhist temple was built in 1705 to make the city prosperous It became the holy land of Lingshan and the pure land of Xiangcheng like lingjiu mountain, so as to attract "the people of Wuling and six counties" and "the vassal states", so as to achieve the purpose of "helping the king", "Xi min Xiu", and "long-term stability" of the frontier and even the whole country.

Kangxi gave it the name of Guangren temple. At the same time, he wrote the plaque of "Ciyun Xiyin" and the inscription of "imperial stele of Guangren Temple". The temple name, plaque and inscription became the "three imperial gifts" given by Emperor Kangxi to Guangren temple. Because Emperor Kangxi built the temple in suiding the northwest and southwest border areas according to the customs of the Mongolian and Tibetan people, after the temple was built, it was appointed as a special Taoist center to carry forward the theory of "the origin of emptiness" of the Gelug Sect of Lamaism. Living Buddhas and lamas from Tibet, Mongolia, Qinghai, Gansu and other regions live in temples when they pass by Shaanxi.

 

After the revolution of 1911, Guangren temple was once occupied by the limen government, and soon restored to Lamaism. In 1931, the gunpowder buried in the wall outside the gate of the temple suddenly exploded. All the trees outside the east gate were destroyed, and the roof tiles of the temple were destroyed. The Abbot's room was blown down, but the Sutra statue was intact. Later, General Yang Hucheng paid for the restoration.

In 1952, the people's government allocated funds to renovate the Guangren temple, making the main hall, the Sutra collection hall, the Bodhisattva hall, the monk's hut and the wing room all look new and solemn. When the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama Erdeni passed through Shaanxi, they were welcomed by the monks of Guangren temple, and the Panchen Lama was still speaking for the public in Guangren temple. Master xirao Jiacuo also many times in Guangren Temple "for the public to say conversion, general knot law edge."

Since 1983, Guangren temple has been managed by monks. In the same year, it was listed by the State Council as a national key Buddhist temple in the Han area.

 

Architectural features

Guangren temple is located in the northwest corner of the city wall of Xi'an, facing south from north. Its architectural layout is unique. Its overall shape is like a Wolong, which is rare in temple buildings. Generally, the height of the temple from the mountain gate to the back hall (single building) increases one by one, forming a spectacular momentum of low front and high back, while Guangren Temple decreases one by one from front to back.

Guangren temple covers an area of about 20 mu, with more than 300 buildings. The layout is rigorous, the central axis is clear, and the left and right rooms are symmetrical. The temple sits in the north and faces the south. Once entering the three courtyards, the main buildings are arranged in a straight line along the South and north direction on the central axis, with auxiliary halls, wing rooms, cross courtyards, etc. on both sides. It is a Lamaist temple with the characteristics of temple architecture in Han area.

From south to north, the buildings of Guangren temple are as follows: Square in front of the temple; parking lot; flag pole of Tibetan Buddhism; eight pagodas of Buddha; mountain gate; eighteen Arhats screen wall; Jingshen Pavilion (toilet); faliu tongchu; Kangxi stele Pavilion; Fangsheng pool; Drum Tower; bell tower; Tianwang Hall (thousand hands Guanyin Hall); underground palace; Wannian lamp Pavilion (Changming lamp); Changshou hall; Dharma King Kong hall; main hall; reception room; Hall of the God of wealth; Hall of the Thousand Buddhas; kaiguangchu; Sutra hall; Hall of the great male.

 

Guangren temple has strong characteristics of Tibetan Buddhism temple. From the decoration outside the hall, on the main ridge of Tianwang hall, the two deer are opposite and neutral to Falun, which is rare in the decoration of the main hall of the monk Temple (Qingmiao) in the Han nationality area. From the layout of the hall, the Manjusri hall is decorated with a bronze statue of Zong Kaba, the ancestor of the Yellow religion of Lamaism, and wears a pointed hat. On the wooden lattices of the two walls are also small bronze statues of zongkaba, which are called qianzun. Inside the Great Buddha Hall, there is a bronze statue of Maitreya in the center. On the two walls of the scripture stand are Tibetan scriptures "ganzhur" and "danzhur". Guangren temple is a Lama Temple specializing in esoteric Buddhism, so there are many bronze statues in the temple, such as ox head Buddha, horse face Buddha, twin Buddha (or Huanxi Buddha, Huanxi Vajra), etc.

 

Main buildings

Guangren Temple Square

Guangren Temple Square is located in front of the mountain gate. The two flagpoles standing on the East and west sides are called Shengli building (mani pole for Tibetans), which has the function of subduing demons and eliminating demons in Tibetan Buddhism.

There are eight Tathagata pagodas on both sides of the gate to praise the eight merits of Sakyamuni's life. The eight pagodas were built in 2008, with different styles and different meanings. They are made of top-grade white marble and have fine carving techniques, with a total height of 4.6 meters. The eight pagodas are: Lotus gathering pagoda (to commemorate the seven steps of Sakyamuni's birth, opening a lotus step by step), Bodhi pagoda (to commemorate Sakyamuni's cultivation), Sidi pagoda (to commemorate Sakyamuni's first turning of the wheel of Dharma), Shenbian pagoda (to commemorate the miracle of Sakyamuni's surrender to the world), Jiangfan pagoda (to commemorate Sakyamuni's return from heaven), Xizheng pagoda (to commemorate Sakyamuni's return to the world) They are the tower of victory (in memory of Sakyamuni's victory over all demons) and the tower of Nirvana (in memory of Sakyamuni's entering nirvana, immortality).

Shanmen

The plaque on the entrance of the temple is inscribed with Guangren temple, which is the plaque of Emperor Kangxi. The seal is engraved with the eight characters "treasure of Emperor Kangxi's imperial brush". The original plaque has been destroyed, and the present plaque is a duplicate.

On the top of the door is the double deer Falun pattern. In the middle is Lunbao, and next to it are two deer, which means that Buddha first turned Falun in Luyeyuan. Falun symbolizes the three treasures of Buddha, Dharma and monk. The tame double deer refers to the masses of believers, which is another important symbol of Tibetan Buddhism.

Screen wall

The screen wall of Guangren temple is six meters high, ten meters wide and one meter thick. It is the first barrier of palaces and temples and serves as a screen for the gateway. This is the characteristic of the royal temple. Visitors can not enter the temple directly, but enter the temple from both sides of the screen wall. The top of the wall is stacked with bricks to form the eaves. The eaves are covered with tiles above, and the eaves are stacked with one meter thick stone bricks in parallel to form a line, running through the East and West. The center of the wall is decorated with a relief dragon pattern. The brick carvings on the screen wall are dense flower decorations, in which the eighteen Arhats in Buddhism (Ju arhan, Fu Hu arhan, Xi Qing arhan, guard arhan, long eyebrow arhan, dig ear arhan, riding elephant arhan, riding deer arhan, happy arhan, exploring hand arhan, tota arhan, Bajiao arhan, river crossing arhan, sack arhan, dragon subduing arhan, laughing lion arhan, meditation arhan) Sakyamuni are evenly carved Buddha and dragon sculptures are vivid and lifelike. They are the best among brick sculptures and have high historical and artistic value.

Kangxi imperial stele Pavilion

Kangxi imperial stele Pavilion is located behind the screen wall, which is an octagonal architecture. Its height is 5.16 meters, its pedestal is 98 cm, its head is 1.4 meters high, and its carving is exquisite. There are two groups of erlongxizhu on the front and back sides of the pedestal, and two groups of Shenglong steles on the left and right sides. With clear handwriting and proper layout, the inscription is a rare monument. Moreover, the calligraphy of this inscription is exquisite, and it is one of the most excellent works of calligraphy in the past dynasties.

Kangxi inscription

Chinese PinYin : Xi An Guang Ren Si