Gude Temple

The Buddhist temple is modeled after Ananda temple in Myanmar, which is a typical temple with strong foreign architectural style. It is one of the only Chinese Buddhist buildings with this style in the world. It has important religious, architectural and cultural historical value.

It is hidden in the high-rise buildings of the city. It is a place unknown to many people in the Han Dynasty, so there are few Pilgrims. It can be said that it is really a pure place for Buddhism. For tourists who like quiet and are interested in architecture, it is one of the places that can't be missed!

Gude Temple

Gude temple, located at No.74 landslide, Huangpu Road, Hankou, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, was founded by Longxi in 1877. It was originally named Gude Maopeng. From 1914 to 1919, it was expanded twice by Chang Hong, the director of the temple. It was renamed Gude temple, which means "good nature and good virtue". Li Yuanhong himself inscribed the plaque. The temple covers an area of nearly 30000 square meters, with a construction area of nearly 8000 square meters. The temple combines the characteristics of Eurasian religious architecture and integrates the three major Buddhist schools of Mahayana, Hinayana and Tibetan Buddhism. It is rare in Han Buddhist temples,

It can be regarded as "one of the wonders of the Buddhist resort" and "the first wonder of the Han Buddhist temple", which has high architectural, cultural and historical research value. Together with Guiyuan temple, Baotong temple and Lianxi temple, they are known as the four Buddhist forests in Wuhan.

The core building of Gude temple is Yuantong hall, which uses the structure of ancient Roman architecture. The ambulatory and many square columns between the inner and outer walls, and the round and long windows on the facade wall are the architectural style of Christian Church. The Tasha of its nine pagodas, like both wind vane and cross, is unique in Chinese pagoda culture. In 2012, Gude temple was listed as one of the top ten riverside landscapes in Wuhan, and it is a unique Zen architecture. In 2013, as an important historical site and representative building in modern times, Gude temple was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit.

Evolution of construction

In 1877, the east section of Jiefang Avenue and the north section of Huangpu Road in Hankou were still sloping land. Master Long Chang came here and built a small temple called "Gude Maopeng".

In 1905, Gude Maopeng was expanded for the first time.

In 1911, master Changyang presided over the expansion and named it Gude temple. In October, the monks of Gude Temple spontaneously rescued the uprising army of Wuchang Uprising and buried the revolutionary martyrs, which was praised by the government of the Republic of China.

On April 13, 1912, the first year of the Republic of China, Sun Yat Sen and his entourage made a special trip to maupeng, Gude, to pay homage to the cemetery of the unknown martyrs.

In 1914, Li Yuanhong, vice president of the national government, changed its name to "Gude Temple".

In the autumn of 1921, a large-scale reconstruction and expansion work began. The main hall and other halls were rebuilt, and many large and small Buddha statues were created.

In 1931, Hankou was inundated by floods. After the flood subsided, it continued to be restored. In 1934, it was completed. The main religious buildings include Yuantong hall, Tianwang hall, Zen hall, shanghakang hall, Zhaitang, Guanyin hall, Hakka hall, Putong tower, and the Abbot's jueshe.

During the Anti Japanese War, the vicinity of Gude temple was bombed many times by airplanes, and the buildings of the temple and the cemetery of 1911 revolutionary martyrs in the vegetable field behind the temple were damaged.

In 1956, Gude temple had more than 17000 square meters.

From 1966 to 1976, during the cultural revolution, the temple was closed and the Buddha statues were destroyed. The temple was successively occupied by the 8201 army of the Chinese people's Liberation Army and the fanbie correctional institution of the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

In 1974, the Wuhan Revolutionary Committee assigned the land and houses of Gude temple to Wuhan camera factory. Wuhan camera factory is located in the temple and covers an area of 22.9 mu.

In 1986, in order to implement the spirit of the relevant documents of the State Council, Wuhan municipal government made the decision that Wuhan camera factory should return 6470 square meters of land and all the buildings originally belonging to Gude temple to Gude temple. However, the decision could not be implemented because the factory had no place to move.

In 1996, master Yanshun of Wuhan Buddhist Association led his disciples to live in Gude temple. Gude temple has been reopened, but many buildings have not been restored.

In 1997, Zhang Zishan of Hong Kong made a large sum of money to invite the four Buddhas from Thailand to Gude temple. Simian Buddha is one of the Buddhas worshipped by Hinayana Buddhism, also known as simian God. The four sides of God represent compassion, benevolence, fraternity and justice.

In 2001, Wuhan Religious Bureau and Buddhist Association organized several mages and experts from Gude temple to visit Ananda temple in Myanmar. The purpose is to refer to the architectural style of Ananda temple in Myanmar, and provide reference for the protection and development of Gude temple in the future.

In 2005, with the support and help of Wuhan municipal government, Gude Temple carried out a comprehensive restoration of Yuantong hall, restoring its original appearance, highlighting the historical culture and architectural art.

In 2009, the north side of the temple near the military control area was first restored.

In January 2016, Wuhan Hankou district government planned to develop Gude temple into a 5A level religious and cultural scenic spot, making it another beautiful business card of Wuhan.

Architectural features

Gude Temple preserves the style of Gothic Christian Church, Roman Catholic Church, Byzantine Orthodox Church and Islamic style mosque. As a unique temple, it is quite different from the traditional temple with yellow tiles, red pillars and cornices.

The architectural style of Han Buddhism before 1955, Gude temple was located in the east facing the west, and the overall layout adopted the layout form of Jialan seven hall, a three entrance courtyard of Han Buddhism. The structure was rigorous and well arranged. Among them, Yuantong hall adopts the frame system, which is similar to the traditional Buddhist architecture based on the wooden frame system. This design concept makes Yuantong hall appear broad, especially the nine bay door extends its public space. This design style is very different from Ananda temple. The facade of Gude Temple adopts the traditional Chinese square, and the internal treatment of the main hall also uses the traditional Chinese architectural treatment method of "Jian" shape as the space unit. In many details, Gude temple also uses some Chinese elements, such as the main pagoda of yuantongbao hall. The top of the temple is very similar to the pattern of ancient weapon "halberd", with square halberd in the middle and single tooth halberd on both sides. "Ji" and "Ji" are homonymous, which means "auspicious" in Chinese culture. There are 96 Lotus Square piers on the four sides of the top of Gude temple, which should be originated from the traditional Chinese pillar, implying "four dimensions of the country, round heaven and place"; there are Bodhisattva statues in front of every four Lotus Square piers, adopting the 24 heavens created after the Sinicization of Buddhism; there are nine large and small pagodas on the top of the temple, which is in line with the saying of "Beidou nine stars, seven show and two hide" of Chinese Taoism.

The architectural style of Indian and Burmese Buddhist temples the Buddhist temples in Myanmar are mostly high tower type, which can be divided into two types: pagoda type and temple tower type. The former is equivalent to the talupo (a kind of covered bowl pagoda) in India. The base of the pagoda is overlapped with several layers. At first, the top of the pagoda is a Sri Lankan cone-shaped phase wheel, and then it develops into a thin and high "feiti" form. The latter is a Buddhist hall for worshiping Buddha statues, and the roof is made into a "sikaro" or "Zeti" tower. There are many small pagodas on the top of the temple, forming a tower forest landscape. The entrance porches of temples in Myanmar are often decorated with scallops, inlaid into flame doors, and the mountain flowers move upward in sections to highlight the meaning of "mountain". These have become the typical features of the architectural style of the Theravada Buddhist temple. The Ming room at the top of yuantongbao Hall of Gude temple is arched up and triangular, which is similar to the style of "shikaro style"; the flame gate inlaid with scallop flowers and the style of pagoda on the top of the hall are typical features of Southern Buddhism architecture. The selection of architectural elements also reflects the influence of Theravada Buddhism. The layout of the nine pagodas on the top of the temple of Gude temple is exquisite. Only seven pagodas can be seen from any angle below. This uneven pattern of Pagoda Forest is similar to the Buddhist architecture in Southeast Asia. The architectural details of flowers, lion head, elephant head and Dapeng golden winged bird on the wall of Yuantong hall are all the classic decorative styles of Southern Buddhism, which can clearly indicate that this is a Buddhist building and fully reproduce the architectural style of panava which was once popular in South India and Southeast Asia.

The architectural style of ancient Greek temples is smooth. The square single-layer veranda hall is around the plan of the hall, which obviously draws lessons from the colonnade characteristics of ancient Greek temples. This architectural design is obviously reflected in the Parthenon and Parthenon in ancient Greece. Yuantong Temple is supported by tall and straight pillars, which not only looks majestic, but also effectively disperses the gravity of the top of the temple; moreover, some slender Ionian pillars are added between the frame pillars, and the Corinthian capitals are used. The charm of Greek temples can also be seen in these details.

In Gothic architectural style, Yuantong hall adopts a large and two small door openings with pointed arches between the frame columns, and a large and two small rose round windows with appropriate proportion at the top of the facade, which is consistent with the triangular arch at the top of Mingjian. The porch is triangular and divided into two layers. It is folded backward and upward, which sets off the towering mountain flowers in the center of the top. This is the expression of Roman style architecture and strengthens the religious mystery of the facade of yuantongbao hall. The column structure and the high spire on the top of the hall complement each other, making the whole building present the style of Gothic church, which is consistent with the French style

Chinese PinYin : Gu De Si