Jindeng Temple Grottoes

Jindeng temple is a national key cultural relic protection unit. Beiquan Village East, located 60 kilometers southeast of Pingshun County, was founded in the Northern Qi Dynasty. All the existing relics are relics of the Ming Dynasty. There are seven courtyards in the East and West. There are 16 large and small grottoes, 8 Buddhist niches and more than 500 cliff statues. It is the second largest Buddhist grottoes group in Shanxi Province. Known as "Taihang grottoes, Shangdang hanging temple.".

Jindeng Temple Grottoes

Jindengsi Grottoes is located in the east of Beiquan village, yuxiaguan Township, Pingshun County, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province. It is located in a natural cliff on the top of Taihang Mountain / Linwu mountain at an altitude of 1700 meters. It is adjacent to steep cliff in the north and deep valley in the south, with a construction area of 516 square meters. The temple was founded in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. There are 34 halls in the East and the West. The former Tao and the latter Buddha. 25 Grottoes have been excavated on the cliff, and more than 10000 stone Buddhas have been carved on the cliff. Among them, 18 Grottoes still have more than 200 Buddha statues. The statues of Buddha, Bodhisattva, Vajra, heavenly king, arhat in the grottoes of Jindeng temple, as well as the figures in Buddhist stories, are beautiful in shape and rich in decoration. They inherit the mellow style of the Tang and Song Dynasties, and are unique in the elegant and quiet features of the Ming Dynasty. They are of high cultural and artistic value. Jindengsi grottoes, with large scale and exquisite carving, are the pinnacle of Chinese grottoes.

brief introduction

Jindeng Temple Grottoes (the Sixth Batch of national protection)

Time: Ming Dynasty

Address: the top of Linwu mountain in the east of Beiquan village, Xingcheng Town, Pingshun County

Formerly known as Baoyan temple. The grottoes are dug in the natural stone pits on the top of the mountain. It took more than 60 years from the 17th year of Hongzhi (1504) to the 44th year of Jiajing (1565). The grottoes and buildings face south and lie on the cliff. There are now seven courtyards, 14 caves, 37 Buddhist niches and more than 500 cliff statues. There are 34 wooden buildings, such as Yanshou hall, Guangong hall, Zhangba Buddha Hall, etc. in the temple, more than 20 ancient steles and tablets are preserved.

The Jindeng Temple grottoes are located on the top of Linwu mountain, 65 kilometers northeast of Pingshun County, Shanxi Province and at the junction of Linxian County, Henan Province. The mountains are undulating, and the hillside is thin with trees and grass. There are three seasons in the whole year. It was originally named Baoyan temple, but later it was renamed today because of the fluorescent night. It is surrounded by steep cliffs in the north and deep valleys in the south. It forms a long courtyard with five entrances from the east to the West. It has a temple for the emperor, a bell drum tower, a Juxian tower, and finally three big Buddha halls. There are 14 caves on the North cliff of the mountainside, the largest of which is called Shuilu hall. Also known as Shuiluo hall, it covers an area of about 125 square meters. It has a flat top on the top and a crystal clear pool below. The spring water gushes out from the northwest stone gap and is clear to the bottom. There is a stone dike bridge with Tian character carved on the marsh. Visitors can watch along the bridge. There are Thousand Buddhas of the same size carved on the cliff. The outer eaves of the grottoes are carved from the cliff to build a palace with a door in the center and "e Fang" on the square eaves

The layout is well arranged and the carving is very beautiful. There are many Ming Dynasty stone tablets in the temple, which indicates that the grottoes were excavated in Jiajing of Ming Dynasty and Wanli of Longqing. The front and back of the fan wall in the Ming Dynasty are rectangular Buddha platforms about 50 cm above the water surface, with three Buddha statues sitting side by side on the front and three gentry statues sitting upside down on the back. There are also three Buddhas sitting on the back platform. The front trough is octagonal gold column with lotus petal column base. On the top of the cave, there are exquisite niches and main shaped caisson, around which Buddha statues are carved. Four wall relief water and land painting, the upper part is also carved around the Buddha, Bodhisattva, arhat and other images, with flexible and diverse manners. In the fifth entrance, cave 12 is a small-scale cave with a relief of Manjusri Bodhisattva story. The rest of the caves are carved with Maitreya, Kalan, Thousand Buddhas, Guanyin, Luohan, Taishan gods, etc., with different expressions and styles.

Architecture

Key cultural relics protection units in Shanxi Province. Located on the Longwu hillside, 4km to the east of Beiquan village, Pingshun, once entering the seven courtyards, it was first excavated in the Northern Zhou Dynasty (557-581). It was expanded in the Ming Zhengde, Jiajing, Longqing and Wanli years (1506-1620). There are 17 large and small grottoes, 281 statues and more than 1200 relief statues. The height of the statue is 3.1-0.3 meters, and the height of the relief is 20-15 cm. The largest cave is Shuilu hall, covering an area of about 125 square meters. The ground inside the cave is chiseled into a pool. The water is clear to the bottom, and it does not dry up. There is a stone bridge with the word "Tian" on the top of the pool. More than 30 stone Buddhas and 79 relief murals are carved around the Buddha platform and caisson. There are more than 20 wooden buildings in the temple, including emperor hall, bell and Drum Tower, Zhangba Buddha Hall, Yanshou hall, Juxian tower, and more than 40 steles in Ming and Qing Dynasties. There are 46 stone pagodas outside the temple.

Most of the existing halls in the Jindeng temple complex have the architectural style of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Due to the precipice in the north and the deep valley in the south, seven courtyards have been built from the east to the West. Each courtyard has its own hall. The main buildings are the mountain gate, the bell and Drum Tower, the Great Buddha Hall, the Guandi hall, the Juxian tower, and the dizang Pavilion. They have been destroyed by mutinies in the past dynasties, and there are more than 30 existing temples. Because the temple is located in a remote area, the traffic is inconvenient, and restricted by the development level of productivity at that time, the building is relatively simple, even rough. Its construction materials are mostly excavated on the spot, and the installation is not very standardized. Compared with those buildings with carved beams and painted buildings and exquisite workmanship, it is more ancient and dignified. The construction of Jindeng Temple highlights the excavation of the grottoes. There are 25 caves of different sizes, most of which are excavated in the south, and most of them are excavated in the Jiajing and Wanli periods of the Ming Dynasty. The outer edge of the cave is carved on the cliff. A gate is built in the center of the hall, and the square eaves and columns are horizontally decorated with an e Fang. Jindengsi grottoes are known as the end of Chinese Grottoes art. Temple hall grottoes, cliff statues, steles, pagodas, for the provincial heritage protection units. Among them, shuiludian grottoes are the largest and the best preserved.

Shuilu Hall

Shuilu hall, also known as Shuiluo hall, was built in 1488 A.D. in the first year of Hongzhi reign of the Ming Dynasty. It sits in the north to the south, with square eaves carved on the outer eaves and rectangular cave doors in the middle. There are several stone tablets in front of the hall, which are hard to recognize because of the weathering handwriting. When you enter the cave, you can see that it covers an area of about 20 square meters, with a flat ceiling on the top, a square caisson carved on the bottom and a clear pool of water. Where is the source of water in the hall. It turned out that the clear spring water gushed from the northwest corner stone gap all the year round. There is a Tian shaped stone bridge on the pool, which connects the left and right walls, the cave door and the front and back of the fan wall. There are about 50 cm wide steps. We can visit all parts of the hall along this stone bridge. You see, in the middle is a rectangular Buddha platform about 60 cm above the water. There is a fan wall in the center of the platform. Three Buddha statues about 3 meters high are seated on the lotus throne (cross legged meditation). The Buddha body is well proportioned and has a kind look. On the back, there are three statues of scholars. Behind the fan wall, there are also three Buddhas sitting side by side. Due to the flexible layout, there are many Buddha statues in the hall. The front trough is two octagonal gold pillars, the front of the pillars is carved with dragon shaped patterns, and the other sides are carved with flowers. There are 9 niches on the upper part of the left and right walls, with 18 Arhats carved inside, with different shapes and spirits. There are 90 relief murals on the lower part of the left, right and back walls, which are beautiful and neat. They depict vivid Buddhist figures and tell beautiful Buddhist stories, just like an exquisite three-dimensional comic book. Take a quiet look and feel the profundity of Buddhism.

When you walk out of Shuilu hall, you should pay attention to the honeycombed cliff statues and small Grottoes on the cliffs outside the hall, which are carved with Maitreya Buddha, one Buddha and two Bodhisattvas, Songzi Guanyin, etc. For the convenience of viewing, cliff sculpture refers to chiseling a shallow niche on the cliff. At the same time, the Buddha statue is chiseled in the center of the niche, mainly in relief, also known as niche sculpture. Grotto statues are carved on the cliff, and then the Buddha statues are molded or chiseled in the caves.

In the other temples of Jindeng temple, there are also many Taoist statues, such as Mount Tai God, Guan Gong statue, wood carving or clay sculpture. Taoism is different from Buddhism. It is a native religion in China. Influenced by the worship of ghosts and gods in ancient times, Taoism has become a polytheism, and the other side of Taoism is also rich and colorful.

Finally, take a look at the Pagoda Forest 100 meters away from the back of the temple. There are a large number of pagodas in order, square, round, solid and hollow. You must have noticed this ten meter high thousand Buddha pagoda. It was built in 1500 A.D. in the 13th year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty. The plane of the pagoda is square. Under the base of the pagoda is an arched hollow tower room. There are stone plate doors in the south. The lower part of the pagoda is covered with nearly a thousand relief Buddha statues. On the upper part is a hexagonal eaves. The eaves are flat and the wings are slightly tilted. The shape of the pagoda is beautiful. According to legend, there was a bony statue of Zen master Jingzhen, founder of Jindeng temple, which was destroyed in the war.

Related Legends

According to legend, the Jade Emperor believed in slander and demoted the pigeon sisters to the world. The Emperor gave the two sisters a pair of gold lamp cardia hairpins, hoping that they would concentrate on their cultivation and return to heaven as soon as possible. The two sisters chose this green place to live. One day,

When they were burning incense in Baoyan temple, Liu Hei Chui, the son of the rich man, gave birth to her beauty and wanted to take them home. She was saved by Shi Xiaohong, a poor boy who was cutting firewood. Bai GE's sister testified in front of the temple, betrothed her sister to Shi Lang, and gave him her golden lamp Ben hairpin to wish them love and grow old together. As time goes by, the heat goes away and the cold comes, the couple's days are getting more and more prosperous. Who knows, disaster comes from heaven, the son of the rich man Liu Hei came to pick, killed their son, knocked out the factory Shi Lang, and robbed the pigeon sister. After recovering, Shi Lang killed Liu hei and set Liu's house on fire. He became a monk in Baoyan temple. In the chaos, sister pigeon fled home, only to see her sister to Shi Lang's golden lamp Ben hairpin thrown on the ground, the feeling is not good, had to find sister pigeon. The two sisters turned into pigeons and searched for Shi Lang all day, but Shi Lang couldn't hear her voice. Every night, sister pigeon goes to Baoyan temple to watch Shi Lang recite scriptures

Chinese PinYin : Jin Deng Si Shi Ku