Zhaojue Temple

Located 5 km away from the northern suburb of Chengdu, Zhaojue temple is quiet and quiet. This famous temple, known as the "first jungle" in Western Sichuan, was built during the reign of Tang Zhenguan (627-649). Up to now, many Buddhist temples in Japan and Southeast Asia still regard Zhaojue temple as the ancestral court. One of the "wonders" you have to see in Zhaojue temple is the famous "tree king of Tianfu". This Huangjue tree is just outside the main hall in the temple. It has grown into one after years.

So far, many Buddhist temples in Japan and Southeast Asia still regard Zhaojue temple as ancestral court. Its main buildings are: Mountain Gate, octagonal pavilion, Tianwang hall, xianjue hall, Yuanjue hall, Yushu building, Guanyin Pavilion, Nirvana hall, sutra collection building and Yuanwu Zen master's cemetery.

Zhaojue Temple

Zhaojue temple, located 5 kilometers away from the northern suburb of Chengdu, is known as "the first Zen forest in Western Sichuan". It was changed into a Buddhist temple in the reign of emperor Zhenguan of Tang Dynasty (627-649). It was named Jianyuan temple, and was given the name of "Zhaojue" in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. During the reign of song Chongning (1102-1106), foguo Keqin (named Yuanwu Chan Master by song Gaozong) said that he lived in the temple and got his name back to Zhaojue. In the early years of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhaojue was changed into a Buddhist temple. It was destroyed in 1644. In 1663, it was rebuilt. The temple is one of the famous ancient temples in Chengdu with large scale and verdant trees. In 1983, Zhaojue temple was designated by the State Council as the national key Temple of Buddhism in the Han nationality area and the key Buddhist temple in Sichuan Province.

Zhaojue temple is also a key place for Buddhist activities in China. It is not only known as the "first jungle" in Western Sichuan, but also known as the "first Zen forest" in Western Sichuan.

Historical evolution

Zhaojue temple was the former residence of Sima Dongchang in Meizhou in the Han Dynasty, and its name was Jianyuan.

During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, it was initially named "Jianyuan Temple".

It was named "Zhaojue" in Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty.

In the fourth year of Qianfu (877) of emperor Fu Zong of Tang Dynasty, monk Xiu Meng, a descendant of Cao Dongzong, was the abbot of Jianyuan temple. He built the temple, expanded the temple, and changed the name of the temple to "Zhaojue". Zen master xiumeng had been abbot of Zhaojue temple for 23 years. He spoke highly of enlightenment and inspired people's thinking. Zeng Yingzhao said for Fu Zong, who gave him three things: Purple mill and Nayi, a carpet of dragon wind, and a letter to open a branch of Buddha's teeth. During the period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, wars broke out repeatedly, and only "five houses and three hundred fields" remained in Zhaojue temple. The back hall is decaying and the temple is desolate.

Back to the old

In the first year of dazhongxiangfu (1008) of Zhenzong in the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Jue, the abbot of Zen master Yanmei, the Fifth Law successor of xiumeng master, spent more than 30 years to carry out comprehensive restoration. The hall has more than 300 rooms, including main buildings such as Daxiong hall, changfan Hall, Luohan hall, liuzu hall, Yishan hall, liesu hall, Dabei hall, Luncang Pavilion, etc. the statues, portraits, inscriptions, temple forehead, etc. have been restored.

The temple has strong economic strength. In the book of rebuilding Zhaojue Temple written by Li Wan, it is said that "the abundance and cleanness of food supply, the brilliance of Dharma seats, the assembly of time, the thousands of people in court, the accumulation of Yin, and the lack of anything, love false external demand". In the last year of Yuanfeng (1085) of Shenzong of Song Dynasty, Chunbai, a Zen master, was appointed as the abbot of Zhaojue temple. There were many followers of this theory, and he was known as "the first Zen forest in Xichuan". During the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty in Chongning (1102-1106) and the early years of Emperor Gaozong of Song Dynasty in Shaoxing (1131), Yuanwu Keqin (formerly known as foguo Keqin) was the abbot of Zhaojue Temple twice, and passed away in the fifth year of Shaoxing (1135). Up to now, the tomb of Zen master Yuanwu still exists in the temple.

Abbot of the temple

In 1387, the 20th year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered King Xian of Shu to welcome zhirun Zen master to be the abbot of Zhaojue temple and expand the temple. According to the records of rebuilding Zhaojue Temple written by Li Yu Zhongai in Qing Dynasty, "the king of Shu in Ming Dynasty extended it again. The walls around it were more than 700 meters. The hall was covered with beautiful clouds, and the body of gold supported the Han Dynasty. As a result, the pavilion, the monk's corridor, and the Buddhists of all heaven were all magnificent."

It was destroyed in 1644. In the Qing Dynasty, the eminent monk Po Shan monk initiated the reconstruction, opened up wasteland for farming, planted trees, and built a stone weir of 7.5 kilometers. In 1663, the second year of Emperor Kangxi's reign in Qing Dynasty, Master Zhang Xue gathered money to rebuild his Buddhist residence in Maomao. He successively built the main hall, Yuanjue hall, Tianwang hall, Jingang hall, shuotang hall, sutra collection building, octagonal pavilion and other halls, rebuilt Buddha statues, welcomed Buddhist scriptures, and restored the Grand View of the jungle. In 1673, master Foyuan was the abbot of Zhaojue temple. In addition, he built more than 300 rooms, including xianjue hall, yuhoulou, Wuguan hall, guest hall, bell and Drum Tower and squatters.

Related allusions

He was also sent by the Qing government to ABA, Songpan and other Tibetan areas for nearly six years, and was respected by the Tibetan people. When he returned to Sichuan, the Tibetans gave him a breast (coconut) and a string of rosary beads. After returning to Zhaojue temple, he hung it on the main hall to show friendship. In the 41st year of Kangxi (1702), when the Buddha was old, he sent his disciples to Songpan to welcome the Tibetan gexizhufeng to the throne, and became the third Abbot after restoration. Zhufeng set up a secret altar in the temple for Mongolian and Tibetan lamas and monks to practice the secret law. Until today, most Tibetan monks come to Chengdu and live in temples.

In 1919, Zhu De took refuge in Zhaojue temple.

During the "ten years of turmoil" of the cultural revolution in 1966, Zhaojue temple was seriously damaged. At the beginning of the "Cultural Revolution", Zhaojue temple was the first to be impacted. None of the Buddhist statues survived. The main hall and shuotang in the temple were completely destroyed and razed to the ground. All the magic weapons in the temple disappeared. Because of the timely entry of the PLA, although the sabotage activities were stopped, the temple was no longer there. In 1975, the zoo moved into the temple and built a variety of playful venues by cutting wood in the garden area. The remaining buildings of the temple were redesigned and reconstructed. First, the Gonghu lake was excavated from the ruins of the original Daxiong hall and shuotang hall. Only the yellow trees in front of the original Hall were preserved and looked around the water in isolation to observe the changes of the world.

Opening to the outside world

Wuguantang was changed into a lakeside restaurant and opened to tourists. All the monks were incorporated as collective workers, and religious activities were interrupted.

In 1981, long Lian Kuanlin, Li Xiting and Jiang fucao, members of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Chinese people's Political Consultative Conference, jointly launched the case of "please quickly delimit the scope to protect the cultural relics and historic sites of the dangsi Temple". On April 29, 1981, after deliberation, the Sichuan provincial government formally signed the opinions on the case submitted by the provincial people's government to the Chengdu Municipal People's government for study and handling. In order to safeguard the party's religious policy and respect the religious feelings of the people, the provincial and municipal Party and government should pay close attention to the religious issues The relevant departments took the lead in implementing protective measures for Yuanwu national master's tomb within the scope of Cheng zoo, and designated an appropriate enclosure to be managed by Zhaojue temple.

Transformation plan

In 1983, after the State Council designated Zhaojue temple as a key Buddhist temple in the Han nationality areas of China, the people's governments of Sichuan Province and Chengdu City, through many consultations with religious circles, made the decision of "delimiting, building walls and completely separating" the two sides of the temple garden, which has been transformed and has a large scale. Zhao Puchu, the president of the provincial and municipal government departments, came to the temple twice to discuss and study the implementation plan.

Since 1984, it has maintained dashanmen, Bajiaoting, Tianwang hall, dizang hall, Guanyin Pavilion, yushulou, Weituo hall, cangjing hall, Wuguan hall, Shifo hall, Putong tower, xianjue hall, etc.

Layout adjustment

In the temple of heavenly kings, Maitreya Buddha, four statues of heavenly kings, and wood sculptures are newly built. In the Guanyin Pavilion, there are three great scholars, four grandfathers and eighteen floating sea statues of Luohan on the wall. In the Weituo hall, there are Tibetans, weituos and twelve images of Yuanjue. Xianjue hall is dedicated to the statues of the founder of the temple, master Poshan, master Yuanwu and master Zhangxue. The Sutra collection building is dedicated to Jade Buddha statues, classics and cultural relics. By 1986, more than 80 monks had come to Zhaojue temple, including 16 monks over 60 years old, 44 monks between 31 and 60 years old, and 21 young monks under 30 years old. Among them, there are 3 people with university degree, 45 people with high school education, and 29 people who graduated from primary school or can read. The monks elected master Qingding, President of Sichuan Buddhist Association, to be the abbot of Zhaojue temple.

Zhaojue temple not only occupies an important position in the history of Chinese Buddhism, but also has made outstanding contributions to the history of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.

So far, many Buddhist temples in Japan and Southeast Asia still regard Zhaojue temple as ancestral court. Bi Yan Lu and Yuan Wu Xin Yao, written by the famous monk Zen master Yuan Wu, have been listed in the Dazheng collection of Japan.

His work "tea Chan Yiwei" was introduced into Japan for more than 300 years, and has been regarded as the most precious in the Japanese tea ceremony circles.

Architectural pattern

Zhaojue temple is located in qinglongchang behind the zoo outside the second ring road of Chengdu, which is connected with Chengdu Zoo. According to the old people, the zoo was a part of the temple at that time, which shows the magnificence of the temple in the past.

"The first Zen forest" is the gate of Zhaojue temple. The gate with the plaque of Zhaojue temple is close to the zoo, which is hard for tourists to notice. The overall layout of Zhaojue temple is perfect. The central axis is composed of dashanmen, octagonal pavilion, Tianwang hall, Daxiong hall and Sutra collection building. On both sides are Guanyin Pavilion, yushulou, Shifo Hall (Nirvana Hall), master Hall (yushulou), xianjue hall, bell tower, Drum Tower, Putong tower courtyard, Yuanwu Zen master tower, Zen hall, guest hall, monk's room, Zhaitang, Fangsheng pool and so on. Through the spacious Avenue, it is the octagonal pavilion, followed by the first one The main hall is called "Tianwang hall".

Maitreya Buddha and four statues of heavenly kings are worshipped in the heavenly king hall. The stone bridge in front of the heavenly king hall is the oldest, and it should be a rare calendar

Chinese PinYin : Zhao Jiao Si